Category Archives: PTA Meeting

PTA GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING TONIGHT

Events, Issues, math curriculum, PTA Meeting, Uncategorized, Vote

This is our last planned meeting of the school year and we need your vote!

Please join us at 6:30pm and lend your voice to some HOT topics including:

  • Help vote in the proposed budget for the 2014/2015 school year.
  • District math adoption: What is the difference between enVision (recommended by the committee for District-wide adoption) and Math in Focus (a newer, Singapore-based text)?  Hear from teachers and parents of Schmitz Park children who have benefited from the Singapore Math model.
  • What is the best way to keep Singapore Math at our school when the district has recommended enVision for all Seattle schools?
  • Help nominate next year’s board…we are looking for interested candidates for the following positions: Vice President, Assistant Treasurer, Legislative Chair, and Volunteer Coordinator.

FREE Childcare will be provided in the gym to school age children

PTA Budget for discussion at May 15 meeting

Issues, math curriculum, PTA Meeting, Uncategorized
It’s the last planned member meeting of the year and we’ve got some big decisions to make.
Key issues:
  • Schmitz Park’s legacy of excellence in math, and what we can do to preserve it.
  • The PTA budget for next year.
We hope you can join us to learn about these critical options, partake in the discussion and vote to ensure we map the best path for our children. Follow the link below for the budget proposed by the budget committee and recommended by the board. Please note the budget proposes a very significant increase in expenditures. Stay tuned to the Schmitzville Blog for additional information in advance of the discussion.

may-15-2014-budget-proposal

(this spreadsheet is password protected. members should receive the password via e-mail today May 14. Check your e-mail for the password, or send an e-mail to board@schmitzparkpta.org to request it).

Excellence in Math – future in question

Fund Raising, Issues, math curriculum, PTA Meeting, Subjects, Uncategorized

Seattle Public Schools will adopt a new math curriculum for the 2014-2015 school year. The Math Adoption Committee reviewed the final 3 programs and will recommend envision as the program to implement.

Rick Burke, a Math Adoption Committee Member states in his post at Save Seattle Schools, “Although the public feedback clearly favored Math in Focus, the program ranking [was] based on the CCSS-based evaluation criteria. MIF, following the Singapore framework, was noticeably advanced compared to the CCSS topic pacing. “

Thanks to years of commitment from Schmitz Park faculty and PTA support, Schmitz Park’s proven use of Singapore Math Curriculum has our kids entering middle school with a solid understanding of math. They are consistently at an advantage over non-Singapore math students in their grasp of the curriculum.

What did it take to make this happen? First, the school leadership, with PTA support, successfully lobbied the school district to grant a waiver, to give the school permission to use a different curriculum. Second, PTA supporters contributed over $180,000 over the past several years to pay for the curriculum and materials.

Next steps? If the school board adopts the recommendation, we will be faced with two choices:

  1. Use the school district’s new math curriculum, and risk leaving our legacy of excellence in math behind
  2. Go through the process of lobbying the district for another waiver, and raise $30,000 a year (plus a one-time $30,000 fee in the first year) to provide our own curriculum again

We need your help now to continue our legacy of excellence! Help us convince the school board of the importance of our tradition. Here’s how:

Marty McLaren
MS 11-010
PO Box 34165
Seattle, WA 98124-1165

Let us know you are taking action, and stay in touch as this issue develops. Send a message to PTA Legislative Chair Derek Birnie.