General PTA Meeting, September 23, 2014
In Attendance: Nancy Downing (President), Belinda Tilley (Vice President), Anne Simcox
(Secretary), Lori Merrill (Treasurer), Yun-Ling Zheng (Assistant Treasurer), Robert Haddad (IB
Liaison), Chris Schauer (Staff Representative), Damon Monteleone (Principal), Nathan Poland
(SGA President), Frank Most (SGA Vice President), Linda Brenner, Belinda Chang, Linda
Baumgold, Rosemary Seminario, Aura Triana, Olive Kizito, Karen Johnson, Phil Page, Karen
Galley, Muhamed Khan, Farizana Khan, Andre Arnett, Kimberly Agnew-Heard, Vincent Mickens,
Esther Travore, Paula Strange, Tonya Lee, Myra Dudley-Byrd, Hailie Yeshaneh, Kavita Dawson
Welcome: Nancy Downing welcomed everyone and had the membership do introductions.
Minutes: Paula Strange made a motion to approve the May minutes. Richie seconded. All in
favor.
Community Chairs: Brenda Tilley made a motion to approve. Chris Schauer seconded. All in
favor.
Treasurer's Report: Lori Merrill presented. At the end of August, we had $16,000 in the
account. There is only one account for the money, but it is separated on paper into two
accounts: General PTA and Post Prom. If the budget is approved by the General Membership
tonight, all anticipated expenses in General PTA and Post Prom, will allow Lori and Ling to sign
checks up to the itemized line amount. For the past several years, the Post Prom Committee
has under spent, but it allows this committee to go up to that amount. Lori explained what
each of the line items for both General PTA and Post Prom represented. Post Prom will be held
at Bowl Mor. A student does not need to go to the Prom to attend.
*Bricks are not put in annually. The money is saved from year to year until there is enough
money to put in 75/80 bricks.
*Due to new health regulations, all food sold directly after school needs to meet certain
nutritional requirements. The healthier food is more expensive to buy, thus cutting into our
profit margins.
*Brenda Tilley made a motion to approve the budget. Vince Mickens seconded. All in favor.
*Our PTA books need to be audited by November 15. Three people are needed. Ling Zheng,
Chris Schauer, and Kavita Dawson will conduct the audit.
MYP: Tonya Lee presented that Molly Clarkson is the supervising staff member. This year, all
450 sophomores are required to complete the project. Various RM staff members will be
assigned to the students to help them through the project. Parents and community members
will also be needed to assist. This would only require parents and community members to
make two-three email contacts with their students with Ms. Clarkson cc'ed on all emails. A
sign-up sheets was distributed and a Sign-Up Genius will be set up. Ms. Clarkson will match the
students with their mentors. There will be a parent information meeting for all sophomore
parents on October 2 from 6:30-7:30PM.
Principal's Report: Damon Monteleone presented. RM is ranked #4 in the State of Maryland
and in the top 200 of the country. It is the oldest public school in Montgomery County.
*RM has professional learning committees that are looking at target groups to increase their
performance. They are collaborating, pulling knowledge, pulling resources. Teachers are to
apply content and make meaning of it in all classes, not just the IB classes. They are to increase
student engagement and receive feedback from the students at the end of class to find out
what worked and what they found engaging. They are developing common formative tests and
then meeting to discuss the varying results amongst teachers and students.
*In 2013, 65% of students scored a 3 on an AP exam or 4 on a IB exam. These are college level
assessments. 58% of RM scored a 3.0 or higher. 3.0 is the magic number for college. There is
still room for growth especially amongst the African American and Hispanic populations.
Fleet Street: Paula Strange stated that the portion of Fleet Street that is of concern to the PTSA
is the part that is not currently open to traffic. It is a grassy walk way taken by many students.
The purpose of making this into a road is to decrease traffic from the Pike to Fleet Street. To
gather further insight, it can be read in Chapter 4, page 16 of the City Plan. There will be some
upcoming City Council hearings in which we can make our stance known. Nancy made a motion
to keep our 2013 stance the same until we can research and revisit the issue in greater detail.
Robert Hadeed seconded. All in favor with one opposition.
Homecoming Dance: SGA President and Vice President presented that it is October 11 from
9:00 PM-12:00 AM. The theme is: Atlantis, Under the Seas. Chaperones are needed. Any non
RM students invited needs approval from RM to attend. The cost is $30 per ticket with a can of
food for the Manna Food Center.
Grocery Stores: Please sign up your card numbers.
Career Events: This will be held once a month in the gym. We will need a panel of parents who
will speak as to what they do. We are hoping to draw in students by offering free food. The
PTSA will provide the food, but will solicit and accept donations.
Minutes Respectfully Submitted by Anne Simcox