Meeting of BISNY Parents Association February 5th 2015
Review of Past Events
Family Movie Night – This was a fabulous night, a huge thanks to Lucinda Longcroft and Cynthia Coulson for all of their hard work in organizing the event and clearing up afterwards. Also thank you to the volunteers as well as Shu Chang and Amira Kerrar for the wonderful food that they provided for the parents. The BISNY staff were as always, extremely helpful and it was great to have the late club extension. Of note:
PA Parents Social Outing
The first outing was planned for Friday 6 February to the Shop Life Tour at the Tenement Museum.
Discussion with Mr Phelps
Mr Phelps outlined the process for deciding about early dismissal or a snow day. There is also an option for a late start but this is difficult in practice. For an early dismissal a decision needs to be made 2 hours in advance of the dismissal ie by 12 noon for a 2pm dismissal. For a snow day the decision would be made during the evening of the previous day or by 5am of the current day. However, Mr Phelps made it clear that parents should still exercise common sense, make personal decisions based on their local weather conditions and not take unnecessary risks, even if the school eventually remains open. It is acceptable to keep children away from school in such circumstances.
A number of staff live off Manhattan but it is generally still feasible to keep the school open without a full complement of staff, albeit with changes to staffing in classes.
The children do not go outside to play if it is too cold or slippery.
The world beyond BISNY
Review of Past Events
Family Movie Night – This was a fabulous night, a huge thanks to Lucinda Longcroft and Cynthia Coulson for all of their hard work in organizing the event and clearing up afterwards. Also thank you to the volunteers as well as Shu Chang and Amira Kerrar for the wonderful food that they provided for the parents. The BISNY staff were as always, extremely helpful and it was great to have the late club extension. Of note:
- Some of the older children were inhaling helium from the balloons. A discussion would be had in PHSE about this.
- A 'runner' system would be helpful for next time, to monitor the children and ensure safety.
- Perhaps alternative rooms for parents could be considered to ensure easier supervision.
Maths/STEM
This would not be a PA event this year. Historically the PA had contributed funds and volunteers but the wider event (STEM as well as maths) has now been incorporated into the school activities by the teachers. MYP children will be presenting their STEM project in the science and art rooms in building 35; there will be maths games for the younger children in the dining room.
Book Week
- There are now sufficient volunteers to run the Sunday Brunch on March 1st and help at the day-time visits to Books of Wonder the following week. The schedule of year visits will be available shortly.
- There will be a character parade on the Friday morning (rather than afternoon) this year
- 'Bake a Book'– there was a suggestion that the children bring in cakes on the Friday that represented a story or character. Action - Mr Phelps to discuss with Mr Bernard and get back to Belinda Cherrington.
- Book Exchange – 'bring a book and take a book'. It was suggested that old but good condition books be brought in and exchanged during book week. Any surplus could be donated to charity. Mr Phelps agreed that a shelf could be used in the lobby area. Terri Zucker has a contact at Henry Street where books could be sent.
Ed Hill – External Events for Outreach
The PA welcomed Ed Hill to the meeting. He outlined a number of events that are being organized either by the school or St George’s Society that would benefit the school and be of interest to parents.
- 19 March – Open House from 9-11am, some parent volunteers would be welcome.
- 26 March – NY Expats spouses from the UN visit to the school. This is a group of mainly UN wives, who are coming to an event in the library in order to find out about the school. The event will be after school, from 6.00-7.30pm. It would be helpful for some existing parents to welcome the visitors and share their experiences of the school.
- Egg Hunt – the date is still to be determined - either 28 March or 11 April. This will be run by St George’s Society and will be free to families from BISNY. The egg hunt will be at 11am at a church garden on E29th and Madison. The Churchill Tavern is offering an Easter buffet lunch that day for $30 per head. There was some discussion about the merits of either date and Ed agreed to discuss this with St George’s then confirm back to the parents.
Quiz Night
Saswati Chakravaty kindly volunteered to chair this popular annual event, attended (hotly competed!) by parents and BISNY staff. As usual, the school organizes and hosts the quiz and the PA organizes the logistics (curry and tickets!). This is a 'bring your own drinks' event for parents. Two dates were suggested in April; Mr Phelps agreed to discuss within BISNY and then confirm the chosen date to the PA.
International Film Festival
Katrina Forde had brought fliers for the festival and gave details of how tickets could be purchased. An email had already been sent to class reps with the information and full details would go in the HM News. It was suggested that classes might like to organize an informal outing. If people were intending to go to a film it was recommended that an email be sent to the PA so that we could link up others who might be thinking about going to the same film.
PA Constitution/By-laws
The PA Board had updated the by-laws and the final version would be on the website shortly, following a consultation with Mr Phelps. Lorna Bradford outlined the changes:
- Clarify that the PA is able to take a public view on matters external to the school.
- Clarify how any voting amongst parent members will work
- Allow the Headmaster the right of veto if PA actions could potentially
impact negatively on the school.
- Ensure that the Headmaster has visibility of any proposed future changes
to the PA constitution and ultimately agrees them before they are incorporated.
Nicholas’s Law
- Clarify that the PA is able to take a public view on matters external to the school.
PA Parents Social Outing
The first outing was planned for Friday 6 February to the Shop Life Tour at the Tenement Museum.
Discussion with Mr Phelps
Mr Phelps outlined the process for deciding about early dismissal or a snow day. There is also an option for a late start but this is difficult in practice. For an early dismissal a decision needs to be made 2 hours in advance of the dismissal ie by 12 noon for a 2pm dismissal. For a snow day the decision would be made during the evening of the previous day or by 5am of the current day. However, Mr Phelps made it clear that parents should still exercise common sense, make personal decisions based on their local weather conditions and not take unnecessary risks, even if the school eventually remains open. It is acceptable to keep children away from school in such circumstances.
A number of staff live off Manhattan but it is generally still feasible to keep the school open without a full complement of staff, albeit with changes to staffing in classes.
The children do not go outside to play if it is too cold or slippery.
The world beyond BISNY
- Beyond the Food Drive Seminar – February 26. If you are interested please contact the PA as guests need to register for this event.
- Edgewater Avalon Fire – this fire in New Jersey displaced many families from their homes. There are families known to BISNY families who are suffering and if you would like to donate via www.gofundme.com/edgewater-fire it would be greatly appreciated.
- Congratulations to Annie Sparrow as Vogue have drawn attention to her work with the polio outbreak in Syria.
- ID Cards – these free IDNYC cards are a great idea and give free entry to museums etc. However, the wait time to obtain one can be lengthy.
Guinea pig
A family is returning to the UK and needs to find a home for Prim the guinea pig.
Next PA meeting has been moved to Monday March 9th so that it doesn't clash with book week. An additional PA meeting has also been arranged for after the Easter break, on Thursday 16 April.