RCO Meeting
3/1/16 meeting called to order at 6:05
Welcome
Christine Evert, CE
gave us a warm welcome
Attendance count: 18
(more came late)
Introductions (see attendance list)
Ground Rules and introduction of Minute Taker (told everyone
to stay on task). Read minutes summary
from 2/2/16. Minutes will be approved at
the end of RCO Business.
Parent Education (Screen Time – Jennifer McConnell)
JM is site director at Children’s Choice Montessori in
Eugene. Has been doing research for a number of years. JM has worked with Jen Wylde (former MS) and
Diana Fitzer (Kinder). American
pediatrics say no screen time before the age of two.
A maximum of two hours per day for any child (see
slide). Those with more than two hours
of exposure are more likely to: have increased psychological difficulties,
hyperactivity, emotional and behavioral problems, irregular sleep patterns,
childhood obesity. Example: if you plan
to do a movie night, that should be all for the entire day.
Kids in US watch an average of 4 hours per day.
Dretzin & Rushkoff (Kaiser Foundation) study from 2010
showed that kids have less ability to demonstrate empathy or recognize social
cues, focus for extended periods of time, follow linear thought.
Every successful relationship must have the three Cs:
Communication, Compromise, Commitment.
Screen time erodes these character traits.
You don’t have to answer the phone when it rings. Urgency to respond is teaching immediacy;
need for instant gratification. Screens
are habit forming. The more time
children engage with screen, the harder time they have turning them off. (www.commercialfreechildhood.com)
11-13 second part of brain is developing constructing
meaningful cognitive functions (frontal lobe). Based on usage, up to 60% is
pruned away if not sued (when you are using screen, you are not using these
meaningful cognitive functions. Parents
need to also be mindful about their own screen time. Do not check phones and emails during dinner,
for example.
TimezUpKidz (windows)
you can set it to make breaks happen and you can set it for time limits. Also try using a timer.
Screen-free meal times.
This is a very counteractive method to ensure communication in the
family. Used to be: Read to your
children every day and show your kids that you read for pleasure. These two things recommended for Diana Fitzer
because it build relationships. Now the
number one thing is to have a family dinner without a screen.
The Surprising Power of Family Meals by Miriam
Weinstein. “…learn conversation skills,
exercise good manners, serve others, listen, solve conflicts, and compromise.”
Social etiquette is learned. Meals are also a great opportunity to talk about
food groups and nutrition.
Technology free day (try it out). Or TV Turn Off Day. One day per week, parents can decide amongst
themselves first. Everyone has to
participate. You cannot have one parent
opt out.
Have fun activities, share interests, be a role model.
Board Report (Amy Sage)
Amy Sage: We meet the
third Thursday of each month. The
meetings are open and please feel free to attend. The BOD is responsible for the legal and
fiscal responsibilities of the school, and also engage in long-range planning.
At our last meeting, Sharon Dursi gave us a report from the
American Montessori Society (consultant) and they did some work with the upper
el teachers. The need for upper el to
have more of a unified experience while also maintaining the uniqueness of each
room. Idea of having portfolio from
different classrooms, and also having teachers moving around.
We are paying for our own building. We receive instructional funding for managing
our education and facilities, but we are not a recipient of the property tax
that supports school building. The CC
pays for the building. I fell in love
with Montessori as a grad student and wished that I had it when I was in grade
school. This made me want to teach along
these lines. Once I had my own kids, I
wanted to seek this type of edu for my kids, so that they can learn the way
that they like to learn. Because this is
a school we all opted in to, we all have a story about why we picked RM. We have to raise $300K. We need to do this within the next year. 4/10/17 $259K total due (this is the 5 year
note at the end of the loan from ECS).
$184K by next April. Then she had us write down names of people we
know. Then she said put a check next to
any of those people who support us, our children and/or our cause. Put another check by those people who also
give to causes. You will hear two things
over the next month: 1) 20 new sustaining donors, and 2) the 1,000 name
challenge. Taking that list you just
wrote and getting them to the school. We
will have a way you can submit it. And we will outreach to them. Online
crowdfunding. In the fall, there will be
a fall festival. Then the holiday giving
push at the end of 2016.
We are looking for 20 donors to commit money each month (any
amount). If you are interested, please
see Amy or the BOD.
$230,843 for the year, but we have a long way to go. We owe $248K.
This will not pay for the school.
This will pay off the ECS note that they are carrying for us.
There was talk about the 1,000 names campaign. This includes gathering names and contact
info from people who might possibly contribute to the school on their
behalf. This leads to letters, email,
phone calls, even tours.
Admin Report (Chrystell Reed)
Chrystell
Reed thanked the co-conveners for the pasta dinner and she thanks Cynthia for
all of the volunteers. 16th
is the lottery date. We had a large
attendance at the lottery session. 170
application for about 10 clear openings in the entire school. This can shift based on siblings and or
people leaving to go to other schools. We
often invite people at the top fo the wait list to visit. Lots of excitement at the Capital
Campaign. Crowd Funding is coming in June. CR introduce Pete who is working with Sally
and Eduardo to make a video for the
Crowd Funding campaign. The video is the
big pull. They are trying to get a lot
of footage of people and students involved with the school. Last thing: I am asking for parents to take
charge of being a crossing guard at Crossfire Church. Having an adult presence at the intersection
will make the crossing safer.
Site Council (Sally Steinman)
Sally
introduced herself. She is a parent rep
for Site Council. She is one of three
parents on the committee. They talk
about project for the school, and the survey is their big project. Parent survey is a tool that we use to get
feedback from everyone who is part of the school about FR and programs,
facilities, and anything. The survey
will come out in a few months. This
really helps us plan for the future and for the next year.
It is a three year cycle and we are looking for a new parent
rep for next year. Write a little blurb
if you are interested and send us your picture and we would love to consider
you for the SC.
Site Council Vote: three parent reps on the SC and each year
one rotates off. Valerie Jamison is
going to read her blurb and we would vote on her becoming the next parent rep
for the site council. We voted and she
was elected.
RCO
BUSINESS
Christine motioned to accept the minutes and Michelle Lodwig
seconded. Minutes are accepted.
DDD Update Our goal is $40,000
Total collected is $33,846
DDD $30,459 (SOME of
this is in pledges) %64 percent
$7,328 in general fund (escript, rest night, amazon, etc)
Left to raise $2,159
We still want to have ppl participate in DDD even though it
is over.
Events coming up are restaurant night. Read-a-thon.
Next two RCO meetings we will look at how we want to spend
any extra money. T-shirt colors will be
picked by the kids via survey. Last
year’s extra money was presented to the board because the money is general and
we gave each classroom as certain amount and we got t-shirts for each child.
We will be accepting nominations for a new co-convener now
and elect in May.
ML talked about needing a person to take over the events
(and event coordinator). Buddy bench was
mentioned. ML talked about working on
buddy benches, one for each playground.
Rhonda talked about Read-A-Thon
Christine talked about Track Town Pizza is Monday
night. Flyer is needed.
RCO at ridgeline (dot) org for questions.
Last Minute Thoughts or Questions
Q. Is it okay to have events where alcohol is served?
A. Yes, by BOD approval.
