PA Meeting on April 7 -- Hands-On Computer Night

Have you ever used the MCSM Parents’ Information Center blog, or taken advantage of the many links it provides to other education-related sites?

Have you ever used the new MCSM.net site or taken advantage of its many useful links?

Would you like to know more about how to make effective use of the Internet to assist with your child’s education? (For example, have you ever heard of the Jefferson Map Project?)

Do you know anything about your child’s use of the Internet, such as MySpace or Facebook?

Do you have other questions about the Internet: how to use it, how to search (there are better ways than Google!!!), how to control it and protect yourself from problems?

Then come to our PA meeting on Tuesday, April 7 at 6:00 PM. We’ll have a full set of Internet-connected laptops available. We’ll put every person in attendance on their own computer and show you how to make better use of the Internet!

Call for Nominations

Nominations are now open and sought for all officer positions in the MCSM Parents’ Association for the 2009/2010 school year (July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010). Open positions are PA President, Co-Vice President (2), Secretary, and Treasurer.

Nominations are also being sought for all Parent Representative positions on the MCSM School Leadership Team (SLT) for the 2009/2010 school year (July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010).

All current members of the MCSM Parents’ Association who will be continuing as members during 2009/2010 are eligible for any PA officer or SLT position.

PA officers are responsible for guiding and administering the Parents’ Association’s activities and finances. They are expected to attend regular monthly PA meetings plus one PA Executive Board (planning) meeting each month.

Parent Representatives to the SLT meet once each month with the Principal and teacher, staff, and student representatives to discuss school policy and direction and to help formulate the school’s annual Comprehensive Education Plan (CEP).

PARENTS!!! AN ACTIVE AND INVOLVED PARENTS' ASSOCIATION AND PARENT INVOLVEMENT ON THE SLT ARE CRITICALLY IMPORTANT TO THE SUCCESS OF YOUR CHILDREN'S SCHOOL!!!

WE NEED MORE PARENTS TO GET INVOLVED!!

COMMIT YOURSELF TO YOUR CHILDREN'S SCHOOL, REPRESENT ALL MCSM PARENTS, AND MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!!

IT'S TIME TO STEP UP!!!!

GREAT JOB OPPORTUNITIES!!

Wanted: Parent Leaders.

Positions: Parents’ Association Officer (President, Co-Vice President, Secretary, or Treasurer) and/or Parent Representative on the School Leadership Team (SLT)

Qualifications: Must be a parent or guardian of an MCSM student.

Position Requirements: Desire to help with the education of your child and all his or her classmates at MCSM. Willingness to give a small portion of your time (one or two early evening meetings per month) to make MCSM a shining educational star among New York City’s high schools.

Compensation: The personal satisfaction that comes from being an active and involved parent in your child’s school and education – priceless.

How to Apply: Come to the regular Parents’ Association meeting at 6:00 PM on Tuesday, April 7 or Tuesday, May 12. You can nominate yourself or another MCSM parent/guardian for any position, or you can ask another MCSM parent to nominate you.

Selection: Elections for PA Officer positions and four of the six SLT parent representative positions will take place at the PA meeting at 6:00 PM on Tuesday, June 9.

Tried MCSM.net Yet???

MCSM has begun implementation of a full-fledged school website: www.mcsm.net. Over time, it is hoped that this site will help improve communication with parents about school programs and events. As more teachers come onto the system, you will also be able to monitor your child’s homework and project assignments and communicate more actively with your child’s teachers.

If you haven’t visited MCSM.net yet, please do so (just click on this: MCSM.net). Try it out! Click on the different links, see what’s there, and then let Principal Jimenez know what you think and what you’d like to see!

Parent Commission Report on School governance and Mayoral Control

As you may know, the law that created the current version of mayoral control over the NYC public schools is scheduled to “sunset” in June 2009. Soon, the State Legislature will be considering legislation to extend, modify, or end the Mayor’s control of our schools.

Many aspects of the current mayoral control arrangement have unsatisfactory to large numbers of parents and numerous public officials, including Borough Presidents, the NYC Public Advocate, and members of the New York City Council. A group of VERY dedicated parents have been working for months to solicit a wide range of parent input and develop recommendations for changes and improvements in the current system of school control.

If you have children in the NYC public school system at ANY level from Kindergarten to the end of high school, these matters have a direct impact on your family and your community. You have a responsibility as a parent to know what’s going on, and you have the right to be involved and have your voice heard.

If you’d like to know more about the Parent Commission’s or read of copy of their final report, go to www.parentcommission.org or click on this link: Parent Commision on School Governance and Mayoral Control.

DOE Parent Survey

PARENTS!!!

Exercise your voice!
Help your school!
Have a chance to win a laptop computer or other prizes!!

All you have to do is complete and mail the DOE’s Learning Environment Survey, then fill out the tear-off raffle eligibility form you received in a separate mailing from MCSM. Your survey response provides the DOE and your child’s school with valuable input about how you believe the school is performing on your child’s behalf. In addition, these survey responses make up a part of the “report card” the DOE issues for our school every year.

If you have not yet received your Learning Environment Survey in the mail (it should have come in a bright green envelope), please call the DOE at 1-800-690-8603. They will ask you a few simple questions to verify your identity as an MCSM parent, then give you an eight-digit Reference Number. You can then go online at www.nyc.gov/schools/surveys, choose the language you want, and complete the survey. You will need the Reference Number you received on the phone in order to submit your finished survey.

You can also access this site by going to www.mcsm.net and clicking on the Parent Survey link. When your finished, go to www.mcsm.net and click on the link for “Parent Environmental Survey Raffle” to enter your name, your child’s name, and your Reference Number in order to be eligible for a raffle prize.

Con Edison Update (March 2009)

Con Edison, the New York State Departments of Environmental Conservation, and the New York State Department of Health are still working to complete their Analysis of Alternatives Report (AAR) for the next phase in the toxic contaminants clean-up process at MCSM. We anticipate that the AAR will be formally released sometime in April, with the public comments meeting likely to take place at our regularly scheduled PA meeting on May 12.

When the AAR is publicly available, it will be posted in full at the Con Edison website www.coned.com/publicissues/manufactured_gas_plants.asp. Efforts will be made to publicize the report’s availability to parents and distribute a summary version by mail.

Links to the AAR on Con Edison’s website will also be provided on a future posting at this site.