Crescent Valley Parent Organization Meeting

and Parent Coffee

September 11, 2008

CVPO Business

Minutes: The minutes of the 5/08/08 meeting were approved.

Correspondence: Cards were received from student members of the National Honor Society thanking the CVPO for providing refreshments for the spring initiation ceremony and from teachers who attended the staff appreciation lunch last May.

Treasurer’s Report: Available funds of $1,311.49 were reported, which reflects income of $340.86 from E-Scrip and a $20 donation and disbursements of $171.85 for the staff appreciation lunch and $24.78 for the spring conference dinner.

Budget: Treasurer Susie Zaremba presented a 2008-2009 budget proposal which was reviewed and approved. Currently, 226 members have paid dues of $3,390 and given $775 in donations. $3,000 in teacher grants for the year was proposed with additional monies expected from the Excellence Campaign.

Teacher Grants: The review committee was organized and consists of Nanette Armstrong, Susie Zaremba, Toni Doolen, Deb Killeen, Cheslah Barkdoll-Pebley, Patrice Thomas, and Cherie Stroud. Cherie will solicit grant requests from the teachers and the committee will meet to review them before the next CVPO meeting, where a proposal will be presented for approval.

Officers and Chairpersons: The CVPO is in need of an assistant to the Volunteer Coordinator, someone who would attend CVPO meetings and communicate with Amy Adamski to identify and fill volunteer needs.

The Corresponding Secretary position is also open. This person does not need to attend meetings and would write notes on behalf of the CVPO to those in the CVHS experiencing a life changing event.

Coordinators for the following three spring events are also needed: staff appreciation lunch, spring conference dinner, and National Honor Society initiation.

Open House: Will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 24 starting at 7 PM, right after the back-to-school barbeque. Julie Gardner will coordinate the CVPO table where forms and information will be available. If you can help during an off-block session, email Julie at gardnerfarm1@hotmail.com.

Evening Meetings: By email, four parents have already expressed interest in attending CVPO meetings if they were held in the evenings. Cherie Stroud wants to hold an evening parent presentation soon on child abuse as part of a district-wide focus on that issue. The possibility of combining that with a CVPO meeting was discussed, as was having other evening meetings throughout the year. In an effort to determine the level of interest in evening CVPO meetings, please reply to this email if you would like to attend one or more.
 
Excellence Campaign: This fundraising drive conceived last spring by Katherine Cleland will kick-off formally next month but is already raising funds. The campaign has been presented to alumni groups that held reunions over the summer. Donated monies can be designated to specific groups, departments, etc. and are disbursed through the Corvallis Public Schools Foundation and therefore tax deductible. Much more information, including how to donate or volunteer, is available on the campaign’s web site http://cvexcellence.org/Index.html 
 

Parent Coffee Topics

Assistant Principal: Principal Cherie Stroud introduced Julie Linhares, new Assistant Principal. Julie lived in Corvallis as an OSU student and has been a Forest Grove resident for the last three years and in Florence prior to that. She has a background in language arts and adult education. She’s happy to be at CV.

Scheduling Program:  The new course scheduling program did not perform as expected and there have been many problems. Cherie outlined the history behind the change to a new system and the choice of this software. Cherie expressed a strong desire to work through the problems and hopes that the advantages of the new program will be realized. She asked parents what problems their students had encountered with scheduling. 
 
The Pinnacle Internet grade and attendance website, which allows monitoring of students’ grade and attendance, is not yet up and running. Cherie will notify parents when it is and new parents will be mailed a letter with instructions.
 
School Speed Zone: A recent traffic study showed that the speed zone on Highland Dr. wasn’t warranted and when the road was resurfaced in the summer, the legends were not repainted. Cherie disagrees with this decision and met with the interested parties to request that the zone be reinstated along with installation of speed bumps on the access road in front of the school. The district has offered to pay any associated costs. The issue is currently being reevaluated.
 
Track Resurfacing: Has been done and the lines will be repainted.
 
Security Cameras: Have been installed throughout the campus, as they are in all other Corvallis middle and high schools. The staff needs more training on monitoring them, however. 
 
Bell System: Because of problems with student tardiness and non-synchronization of campus clocks, the staff decided last spring to use chime tones to alert students just before class begins and at the start of class. 500 students petitioned against the bell system, however, so Cherie has formed a student committee to re-evaluate the issue.
 
Adequate Yearly Progress: The school was initially given a poor evaluation that was appealed by Superintendent Dawn Tarzian and won. Cherie lamented that fact that the initial poor rating was based on data from one student in one sub-group and that much staff time and energy has gone into AYP accounting and the appeal.
 
Grandstands: An evaluation has detected structural problems with the football field bleachers. The press box has been closed and some other changes have been made. Alternate game locations are being considered. The School Board is reviewing options for repair and replacement.
 

Upcoming Events:

Back-to-School Barbeque: Wednesday, Sept. 24, 5:30-6:30 PM, CV Quad

Open House: Wednesday, Sept. 24, 7 PM

CVPO mtg. /Parent Coffee: Thursday, Oct. 9, 11 AM

No School: Friday, Oct. 10

CVHS Website: http://www.csd509j.net/cvhs/

Current Raider News: http://www.csd509j.net/cvhs/raidernews/Raider%20News%20September%202008%20PDF.pdf

Respectfully submitted,

Alex Vincent

September 12, 2008