CPMS PTC Community Meeting Minutes

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ATTENDEES: Dr. Shannon Anderson, Bettina Jeszenszky, Jenna Dornblaser, Hannah Donohue, Skye Kutansky, Tina Meier-Nowell, Shannon Sherry, Rehana Malik, Vicki Shumate, Phil Kodachi, Keily Perez Galvez, Penelope Smith, Vida, Jesus Soto, Brenda Raubuch, Jennifer, Karen, Shawn Adams, Whitney Easton

****Due to the fluidity of zoom/virtual gatherings, this list may not accurately reflect all participants/attendees.

CALL TO ORDER (6:31pm)

APPROVAL OF MINUTES (from Feb 3, 2021)

Cedar Park staff hard at work to get ready for hybrid learning

• Safety protocols and procedures: Cedar was the “model middle school” for demonstrating walk-thru for district leaders. 45 district level principals and administrators came to visit, meaning CPMS had to be the first to basically have a plan in place. While stressful, this forced CPMS to get the plan done early, and received a ton of constructive feedback

• Student training - ADVISORY MATTERS: Next week’s advisory lessons will be super important, as staff go over expectations, show staff-made videos, and go over protocols and procedures. There will be a “day-in-the-life of a 6th-grader” video, made by staff, as they understand our 6th graders have limited knowledge of the building.
  




• First week schedule: Monday (4/19) & Tuesday (4/20) will be asynchronous for those students at home, as teachers focus on teaching in-person protocols and procedures.
  




• No early drop off: no supervision, can’t let kids in the building until 9:45am.
  

Cedar Reader Hybrid Edition will be a MUST READ! While lengthy, this month’s Cedar Reader Hybrid Edition will have a lot of important information, including maps, lunch info, schedule info etc. In addition, look for materials sent to your mailbox, including a one pager with info & a template for students to fill out with teachers.

• Drop off/ pick up and walkers need to know where to enter: See the Cedar Reader Hybrid Edition for maps.

• Parents not allowed in the building: Parents must call ahead or call after drop off if student needs to leave early
  

• No volunteers allowed in the building yet, though they can volunteer for outdoor events

Hybrid Info Meeting on Thursday, 4/15 @ 5:30 - Zoom link in Cedar Reader (Spanish translation will be available)

More than ever, Cedar Park has dependent on PTC support this year, including teacher carts, technology, classroom requests, art kits & science kits. Huge thanks to all the parents who donated.

Principal and PTC President Visits to Feeder Schools: Cedar is going through the biggest change & transition of any middle school next year, with 60-65% of the student body being brand new. Dr. Anderson & Bettina will be dropping into our new feeder elementary PTC meetings to make connections & promote the PTC and Cedar Park, in hopes to recruit for next year’s Board & start planning next year’s fundraising.

Dept. of Ed denied Oregon’s request to waive testing; though BSD has sent a request to reduce testing (which was approved since this meeting). At this point, the State is being required to test all three grades at some point at the end of the school year, parents can opt out or opt in.

• Pros/Cons of opting out: Normally Dr. A values assessment for teachers to help guide instruction; under normal circumstances, it is hard to opt-out. However, with academic insecurity/struggle/trauma of these past months, professionally Dr. A doesn’t feel that the data gained will be valuable & that her colleagues or BSD leadership will view the data with merit. Additionally, the data wouldn’t really identify any gap closure unless tests taken in the fall, as students are not in a place right now that would give authentic, focused data.
  

• Items to Remember: BSD must test or we lose all federal funding dollars. Test results don’t affect high school or the following year at all as high schools don’t use them as placement exams. We will have to see the state statute to see if publishing results in “Oregon report cards” is required.

Open Board Roles (2021-22): President, Vice President, Treasurer, & Director of Volunteers are all open. Working on the PTC is a valuable position to provide feedback & ideas directly to Dr. A and the Cedar Park admins. Anyone interested should email Bettina (president@cedarparkptc.org).

Huge thanks to Tina Meier-Nowell for volunteering to be next year’s Secretary!

April Staff Appreciation Event: Sunshine & Rainbow Snack Table for Cedar Park staff. “Food is their love language.” Sign-up will be out week of 4/12.

Year to Date Numbers:

• Our income is lower than budgeted, but still waiting on some sponsors. Without the 5K this year and a much smaller fundraising push, our income is substantially reduced from the budget projection
  

• Around $19k (all expenses) has gone directly to the school and students, including staff appreciation, obob, remote learning set-up, kits, teacher incentives, and our walk-thru event
  

• Expenses budgeted for hybrid include PE equipment & teacher carts
  

• Next month the Board will be drafting the 2021-22 budget. We will collectively identify our priorities, gathering input from school/staff, and evaluating each line item.
  

Dive into our financials HERE.

Dr. Anderson generously answered community questions.

Here is a brief summary of those questions & discussion.

The learning model will differ by teacher and their comfort level with simultaneous instruction. Teachers have been given training in both the computer-heavy model (all students continue on zoom) and the more tech-savvy model where teachers are balancing lecturing both in-person & online.

Dr. Anderson expects most teachers to begin with everyone on Zoom and as their experience grows, evolving into a more dynamic in-person experience as they learn to manage talking to students in person and online at the same time. However, she knows some teachers are already experimenting with external cameras and projecting their zoom screens for a more advanced approach, so again, it will be teacher dependent.

Dr. A modeled for her staff on what simultaneous learning could look like, with staff acting as “roomies and zoomies.” She learned a few things about how hard it is to stand in one spot and lecture, while also talking to a screen. Another important lesson was that roomies will need to turn their screens off. The school has upgraded wifi and during testing periods (in previous years), the wifi has handled the entire school online at once.

Cedar has the highest percentage of schools coming back as hybrid than other schools in the district with 69% in hybrid (and more calling each day).

Cedar’s school hours are changing, mostly due to transportation schedules being adjusted for elementary/high school. Students will arrive no earlier than 9:45am. Students will have an assigned entry/exit point. They will all be given a visual screening for symptoms. Hand sanitizer will be at every classroom door.

Dismissal begins at 3:50pm and will be a controlled, staggered event. Walkers will be released first, then busses. Dr. A hopes that it won’t take much longer than pre-COVID dismissals, as there will be significantly less students.

Lunch is the most complicated part of the day. Every grade level has three teams. Two teams will start outside for their “lunch recess,” while one will be in the two cafeterias (Cedar has converted the small gym into a cafeteria). After 15 minutes, each group will rotate.

Students will be able to interact with other hybrid students in their team during this time. Limited contact physical activities will be available (shooting hoops, four square, etc). All equipment is sprayed down and sanitized between groups.

Tables will be cleaned in-between and only three students per long tables. Teachers will escort cohorts back to classrooms, meaning Cedar will have more of an elementary feel.

**PARENTS A grab-and-go lunch is free for all: If a student is bringing their own lunch, please use paper sacks/disposable as much as possible. This will make life so much easier for all. There will always be a vegetarian grab-and-go option.

No. While Oregon’s Ready Schools, Safe Learners guidance has changed to allow three feet for students, this was not the case when parents were asked to decide between hybrid and CDL. BSD is keeping with the original parameters that it had laid out when parents were asked to decide, which was 6 feet, 35 feet in the classroom per student, and no more than 17 in a cohort.

In the past year, many Cedar students have experienced trauma, lost family members, been locked down with family, and had no travel and limited social opportunities. Teachers will be focusing on building relationships, giving kids joy, and teaching them how to socialize again.

Time has been built into the schedule to focus on social-emotional skills, how to smile & talk (in person, on screen), feel comfortable looking at each other, and connecting as human beings again.

Additionally, teachers will prioritize keeping the CDL students engaged and connected as well. The first week back will focus on teaching in-person protocols/procedures, but staff are aware that students at home will need support as well.

Yes, many teachers are already talking about taking classes outside. Cedar has bought two more tents in hopes for more eating outside when the sun is out.

Dr. A is a part of the team making decisions for middle school and many things are still in the air. However, BSD will not be offering CDL-- students will choose between in-person or full-time FLEX. More info will be coming soon, including the deadline to sign up for FLEX.

ADJOURNMENT (7:41pm)

All current parents and guardians of CPMS students are automatically members of the PTC. Our events, programs, school support, and enthusiasm make up this vibrant volunteer community and are indeed, POWERED BY YOU.

Email: secretary@cedarparkptc.org
Website: www.cedarparkptc.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CPMSPTC