Thursday 22nd April
Minutes

1. DAIS Triathlon & Presidential Fitness

Parents at the meeting confirmed that they believe the Triathlon is an important sporting event on the school calendar and are happy to see it continue in its current format. (See later note about the introduction of a Sports Day in the next school year).
Volunteer Monitors
As in previous years Charles asked for parent volunteers to monitor the roads when the children begin their Triathlon training. This is to keep the children safe from traffic as they ride and run on the Village roads. Any Village adult who wishes to ride or run with the children is very welcome to do so.

It would be helpful to have a parent from the Grade 1-2 class and the Grade 3-4 class to coordinate parent volunteers for these classes. Please inform Charles if you could coordinate parent volunteers for either of these classes.

Mrs. Ruffcorn will coordinate for the Middle School. Children in PreK-Kg will practice for their activities during their PE lessons.

On the day of the Triathlon itself school will try and find members of the community who do not have children at the school to help teachers monitor the children. If you know of anyone who would be willing to help please let Charles know.

Presidential Fitness
Parents with children in the Middle School asked if it might be possible to delay the date of the Middle School Presidential Fitness test. Middle school students have been out of school quite a few weeks due to the Spring Break and the study trip. Following the next Middle School Presidential Fitness training session Mr. Gregory to talk with Mr. Vicente to discuss if this will be necessary.

The following volunteers will help monitor the Presidential Fitness test on Monday May 3rd.
Grades 1-2: Amy Luke and Lisa Craig
Grades 3-4: Mr. Vicente and Mr. Vitaly
Grades 5-6: Risa Deitner and Lori Ruffcorn
Grades 7-8: Patty Tankersley and Laura Godard.

2. School Leavers Binder

Mrs. Godard, who has recently been responsible for coordinating the collection of pages from school families for the “school leaver” binders, noted that with the increased number of children leaving this year families were finding it more difficult to make the pages. It was agreed that in order to help ensure all leavers received a binder this year parents would be asked to send in to school the appropriate items for their family page for ten binders. All the children in school would then be given the opportunity to work on their family pages and they will be supervised by adult volunteers. Parents are most welcome to come and help their child(ren).

 The making of the family pages to take place at 3:15pm on Wednesday 28th April in the school lobby.  Charles to send out a letter to inform all parents.

Next year it was agreed that school leavers would be given a T-shirt featuring a school picture and all their school friends would be given the opportunity to autograph the T-shirt.

3. Parent Appreciation Activity

Charles reconfirmed that the Parent Appreciation activity was re-scheduled to Thursday 29th April at 11:30am. This re-scheduling had been caused by the initial uncertainty surrounding the return dates of the Middle School families from China due to the disruption to flights.

4. End of Year Ceremony: Saturday 29th May

The End of Year ceremony will acknowledge Matt Tankersley as the only 8th grader this year and he will make the traditional 8th grade leaving speech. Other children who are leaving will also receive their leaving certificates. Mr. & Mrs. Person and Mr. & Mrs. Phelps who leave this year will be recognized for their service to the school. Presidential Fitness Awards will be presented and at the end of the ceremony there will be refreshments in the Social Club. The ceremony will begin at 11:00am.

5. DAIS Activities for 2010-11

Charles spoke about the introduction of two new events to DAIS in 2010-2011. Firstly he mentioned a Sports Day and gave a general outline of the type of events and activities that could take place. Charles also noted that next year the school would present a Science Fair. The meeting then reviewed some of the existing school activities and discussed how they could be organized in the next school year.

• Fall Festival: It was agreed that the Social Club would be used again as this made it a compact event and reduced organizational complexities. It was also agreed that the Middle School would have a coordinator(s) to develop events and activities suited to this age range and that the Elementary school would also have a coordinator(s) to develop activities appropriate for that age range.
• Santa & Carol Singing: It was agreed that the same format as last year would be followed. After carol singing around Dostyk Village the Middle School would hold their event in school while the elementary students would have their activity in the social club with Santa being part of that event. A middle school parent(s) would organize the middle school event and a parent(s) with children in the elementary part of the school (PreK-Grade 4) would make the arrangements for that age range.

It was agreed that at the next PSG meeting in May the meeting would try and identify all the specific items that may have to be brought back  in the summer to make these events work well. It was also hoped that parent volunteers would step forward to coordinate the Fall Festival and the Christmas events.

6. Poem in Your Pocket Day: 29th April

Charles explained that Thursday April 29th is 'Poem in your Pocket' day. During next week classes in the library will be listening to and reading poetry. On Thursday morning poems will be distributed to students for them to keep in their pockets, and they are invited to share these with others during the day. At various times during the day students will also have brief impromptu poetry readings. If parents have poems they would like their children to share with others they are invited to send them to school with their child.

7. AOB

• Middle School Study Trips

Charles mentioned that he will be discussing with existing and incoming Middle School staff the nature of future Middle School Study trips. While everyone agrees there are many benefits to be gained from these study trips it is always good to review periodically these types of activities. In this way we can ensure that study trips remain appropriate and meet all the key criteria for having them. Charles will also discuss this topic with Middle School parents to gain their perspective as well.

• Pumpkin Patch

Mrs. Deitner raised the topic of developing a pumpkin patch on the Village that could be tended by children who are here for the summer period. This idea to be explored some more with parents.

• Block Party for Teachers who are Leaving DAIS

Mrs. Tinsley outlined the plans for the Block Party to be held on May 8th starting at 5:30pm in the Village. The block party is for Mr.& Mrs. Person and Mr. & Mrs. Phelps who are leaving the school in June.

1. Mrs. Deitner, Mrs. Laidlaw & Mrs. Tankersley will be collecting money for gifts.
2. Food is being organized by Mrs. Godard & Mrs. Luke – the theme is Mexican
3. Drinks, no one has been identified for this at the moment but people can bring their own.
4. Paper products to be sourced by Mrs. Sizer and Mrs. Martin: If you have anything to donate please contact Mrs. Sizer.
5. “Set-Up” being organized by Mrs. Foltz & Mrs. Choy Kam Fong

Please contact Mrs. Tinsley if you have any questions or are able to help in some way.

• Brown Bag Parent Supervision

Please let Charles know if you can supervise on any of the dates below.