Minutes 04-12-2010

Monday, April 12, 2010
7-8 pm in the Smith School Library

Attendees: Co-President Diana Hammer, Co-President Marika Adamek, Secretary Liz Stine, Treasurer Roger Hoogerheide, Tacey Sartorius, Smith Teacher Shannon Matthies, Joanna Thamke, Susan Anderson, Jennifer Scheinz, Perri May, Smith Principal Pam Wright, and Sarah Lawlor.

Co-President, Diana Hammer, began the meeting at 7:10 pm.

Smith School Hire

  • Principal Pam Wright reported that Joslyn Carney was hired to replace Mrs. Dagenais when she retires from Smith school. Mrs. Carney had been a long term substitute for Mrs. Johnstone and is currently teaching a combined 4-5 grade classroom at Four Georgians School. She will begin her Montessori training this summer.

Welcome/Introductions

  • Diana opened the meeting with introduction of the HPMP Officers and meeting participants. Secretary Liz Stine circulated the sign-in sheet.

Approval of minutes

  • Diana asked for corrections/additions for the minutes from 3/1/10. There were none. The minutes were approved.

Treasurer Report

  • Treasurer Roger Hoogerheide gave the treasurer’s report. The current HPMP balance is $23,309.05. Roger received a check from Holter Museum for HPMPs staffing of the Kids Works Art Day.

Secretary Report

  • Secretary Liz Stine reported that thank you notes had been sent to individuals who contributed to the State Employees Combined Campaign. In preparation for today’s meeting, all Montessori parents were notified of today’s vote on the by-laws and received a copy of the by-laws with the proposed amendments prior to Spring Break.

Teacher Training Policy & Dr. Messinger

  • Diana reported she and Marika met with Dr. Messinger last month to discuss the Montessori teacher training policy. The school district is considering offering teachers a no-interest loan to pay for their Montessori certification. The loan would come out of their stipend and could be paid back to the school district. Dr. Messinger said the school district is just beginning to investigate this option and doesn’t know when it will be implemented. HPMP will proceed with our teacher training policy and will modify it as needed once the school district loans are available to teachers. The HPMP training policy will be presented at the next meeting.

First Grade Orientation and Lottery

  • The Montessori orientation meeting for current kindergarten families is April 15 at the Smith School library. Diana Hammer will attend, share information about HPMP, and distribute the new HPMP brochure. Thank you to Tracie Kenyon for printing the new brochures. The Montessori lottery drawing is April 28 at 4 pm at the May Butler Center.

Spring Newsletter

  • Diana passed out the draft newsletter. Copies will be distributed to all current Montessori students plus the Kindergarten classes at Smith, Central and Broadwater.

HPMP Web Site

  • HPMP is still seeking someone to manage the web site. Marika has the codes to access the HPMP web site and make updates. Sarah Lawlor offered to assist Marika until an official web master has been identified. One option is to pay a local web designer $2,000 to maintain the site for as long as HPMP exists. Jennifer Scheinz offered to contact another possible no-cost or low cost web designer. If any parents know of someone who can do this job, please contact the HPMP board.

Spokane Visit

  • Marika reported that she, Diana, Merry Farhman, and Pam Wright will travel on May 10-11 to visit the staff of Jefferson School in Spokane, Washington. Jefferson School has public Montessori classrooms. They will preview the school and plan for the Helena Montessori teachers to travel there next October for observation and sharing with the Jefferson Montessori school staff.

Smith Retirement

  • Mrs. Carol Ann Dagenais, Smith School’s lower elementary (grades1-3) teacher, will retire at the end of the school year. Susan Anderson and the Smith Montessori parents are planning a celebration in her honor at the Fairgrounds in May. All Montessori families, her colleagues, and her current and former students are invited to attend. Date to be announced.

HPMP By-Laws

  • The proposed by-law changes were reviewed by the group. The changes include:
  • Changing the name in the by-laws from Helena Advocates for Montessori Education (HAME) to Helena Public Montessori Parents (HPMP)
  • Removing standing committees that have not been used
  • Adding the HPMP web site as means for notify our members
  • Clarifying the transition meeting between the out-going officers and the in-coming officers

Susan Anderson moved to approve all the changes and was seconded by Sarah Lawlor. The motion passed.

Helena School District 10-11 Calendar

Marika has provided Merry Fahrman will HPMP dates for next year’s school calendar. Of note are the following dates:

  • September 7 – first HPMP meeting at Broadwater school
  • October 25 – to replace the November meeting
  • November 6 – Lobster Fest

2010 -2011 HPMP Officers

  • New officers will be elected at the May meeting. At this time, three parents from Central and Broadwater Schools have offered to run for office. The remaining office needs to be filled by a Smith parent. Any Smith parent who is interested in either the Secretary or Treasurer’s positions should contact Liz Stine or Roger Hoogerheide for more information.

Everyone was thanked for attending and the meeting adjourned at 8:10 pm.

The next meeting will be Monday, May 3, 2010 at in the Smith School library.