Richard Montgomery High School
PTSA Meeting Minutes
SEPTEMBER 29th 2015 / 7:30 PM / Cafeteria
ATTENDEES
All attendees signed in.
Notes
PTSA President, Nancy Downing, call to order, declaration of quorum and introductions.
Call for approval of minutes from May 19, 2015. Seconded and approved
Treasurer’s Report Lori Merrill
Treasurer presented budget from last year and and draft budget for this year for approval. Explanation of budget
items from previous year and the big budget items for current year i.e. Post Prom. After a short explanation that
Post Prom is a safe environment for students after the prom from midnight to 5 a.m., the budget was presented for
approval, seconded, and approved by the membership.
Principal’s Report - Damon Monteleone
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Get parents to ask the City of Rockville to put lane dividers between lanes to prevent illegal U-turns and
keep students safe.
Give out flyers to drivers at drop-off time.
Send out a connect-ed message as a reminder to be a RM PTSA was recognized at the Montgomery County
PTA event.
Focus of the school this year:
● to close the achievement gap and decrease the ineligibility percentages in the population. This will be done
by drilling down into the data on the students and creating watch lists to more closely monitor progress of
the students throughout the year. Provide teachers with the time to work collaboratively to discuss and help
the students achieve.
● create a tight unified community - the school demographics very closely mirror the ethnic diversity of the
county.
● leverage the IB program so that all students benefit.
Student Drop-off and Traffic around RM:
● Cones on Richard Montgomery drive helped traffic flow and the feedback from that change was good.
● safe driver.
● One member would try to get this issue on the agenda at the Rockville Transportation Committee meeting.
Exams:
● County decided that due to state mandated tests, schools should not have county wide final exams.
● In March schools administer the PARCC and/or HSAs. In April, high schools have the IB, AP, SAT/ACT
exams.
● Without the final exams schools get back approximately two weeks of instruction time.
Grade Calculation Options - Tadhg Larabee
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There are 4 options/proposals for calculating grades without the county final exams. Information on these
are on the website and BOE (Board of Education) is receiving feedback on the options till 10/19.
Communications Cynthia Griffiths
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Clarified rules for posting to listserve which is monitored
Clarified that the information on the listserve, Facebook, and Twitter feeds are the same.
SGA Report Zack Khan, SGA President
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Need for volunteers to run the concession stands and coat check at homecoming.
Canned food drive next week, encourage students to bring canned good but no tomato paste.
Make-a-wish carnival - more information to follow but have a need for volunteers to run games. It will be
a Halloween theme.
On October 18th, there will be a walk for the homeless.
Volunteer Coordinator Gayle Santiago
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Student directory will be ready on Edline next week.
New effort for recruiting more volunteers using the forms
Continue sending out requests on the listserve as needs arise.
Reflections
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Deadline for submissions is November 9th
More information will be out through the listserve.
Post Prom Rori Kochman
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Explained that the event is for juniors and seniors; prom attendance is not required to attend Post Prom.
Plea to parents to get involved
Need to raise money. Cost of Post Prom to students is $15.00 but the actual cost is $55.00/student. Raise
money by running the concessions at athletic events in November through March.
Need to get corporate sponsors for event.
Need volunteers to sell tickets in May but also during the night of the event.
Need for more involvement by IB parents.
Grants - Kimbery Agnew
● Need for 2-3 people to help with making decisions on grant recipients.
● Teachers solicit grant money for various student related items or activities.
Old Business - Belinda Tilley
● Bylaw review volunteers needed before submitting to MD
New Business
● Outreach: Have a social gathering for Hispanic parents in October; need bilingual volunteers. In February,
reach out the African American families as a Black History Month activity.
● Career Day: Need for volunteers to represent a variety of careers. It is a half day commitment.
● Need for volunteers to assist with college application reviews.
Meeting ended at 8:42pm