MECA HS PTA General Meeting January 17, 2024

Virtual meeting (zoom)

Attendees: Josh Ehrlich (PTA President), Monica Soto (PTA Secretary), Kristin Negele (Teacher), Ciara Diaz (Staff), Kim Uggerholt (Teacher), Sarah Kaplan (Principal), Vivian Cruz (School Parent coordinator), Julia Tseng (parent 1), Carlean Ingram (Teacher), Maria Cordoso (parent), Yesenia, Alex Hitch (Guest), Alyssa Stglean (parent), John Toribio Perez (Staff).

Meeting Started 7:04pm without Quorum of members.

PTA President Josh Ehrlich chairing the meeting. Monica Soto PTA secretary scribing the meeting notes.

1.      Approval of October and November minutes: With quorum of members, both meetings minutes were approved without objection. Minutes are posted in the mecahspta.org site.

2.      President’s report

Josh provided the following updates:

·         PTA will try to fundraise for the next months. There has been no fundraising so far this school year.

·         PTA is still trying to hold a parent meet up. We might try to wait for warmer weather.

·         Any questions or comments, please email the PTA at ptainfo@mechahspta.org .

3.      Treasurer’s Report: no report.

4.      Principal’s Report: Ms. Kaplan just mentioned the following updates:

·         The temperatures on the building have been an issue when an entire wing of the building has been without heat since Tuesday. The HVAC construction affected the heat issues. Ms. Kaplan and staff have worked to report the issues to superintendent offices and any connections they thought to ask for help. It seems calling 311 appeared to work and bring results. Temporary fix with portable electric system until the end of week.

·         Ms. Kaplan reminded next week will be Regents week and that the last day of the semester is 1/22. Spring semester starts 1/20.

5.      Feature Agenda

Topic 1: Introduction of New Directors of College Initiative

Ms Ciara Diaz and Mr John Toribio Perez were introduced by Ms. Kaplan. They are the new Directors of CBI. Mr Alex Hitch is the CBI Director and will be supporting them both in the program. They will still be using Ms. Laurent’s email address at llaurent@meca-nyc.org. They can be reached by calls or texts at (347) 565- 5241.

Topic 2: School Grading Policy Information and Tips from Core Teachers

Ms. Uggerholt, Ms. Negele, Ms. Ingram and Ms. Kaplan provided the following information and answer parent’s questions.

·         Humanities (Social Studies and ELA): Ms. Uggerholt provided an overview about the teachers under these subjects. Usually, late work from current last unit is acceptable. Major assessments can still be made up even if outside the current unit. However, the student will not get full grade.

·         Math: Ms. Negele informed that the math teachers use weekly quizzes but they cannot be retaken at a later time. It will not be practical. That will mean that the student will be in constant preparation for a weekly quiz.

·         Extra credit: By consensus, are not encouraged at MECA because grades should reflect what the students understood.

·         College classes grading are reported outside of Jupiter Ed and generally will appear on the semester transcript.

Tips:

·         Review in Jupiter Ed and note the percentage of grade weight to different aspects of grading.

·         Focus on the area showing the highest weight percentage. In general, at least 65% depends on Major Assessments.

·         Non-weighted assignments are use for students to practice and to prepare student for major assessments. These are where teachers does not want to penalize students.

6.      Old business:

No new items.

7.      New Business:

No new business

The meeting adjourned without any more questions.

Please reach out via email to ptainfo@mecahspta.org