Parent Support Committee Monthly Meeting Minutes

Parent Support Committee Meeting Minutes

August 16, 2024

Mission Statement:  We are parents, grandparents, and community members dedicated to supporting staff, scholars, and programs at ASK. We accomplish this through fundraising, volunteer efforts, donations, and community events.

Administrative Updates/Introductions:

Introduction of new HS Principal Mr. Barrett who lived in Littleton, CO for 6 years and 20 years in New York prior to that. He has been a teacher, dean of students, coach and has much experience in STEM programs. He has a Master’s degree in counseling and special education. Contact email is [email protected] 

Introduction of Cheryl Grandia, new administrative support specialist. 

Scholar Government Report: Cybil Hott-Clark & Aaron Lopez

Introductions to the Scholar Government President-Cybil Hott-Clark, Vice President Aaron Lopez.

No official events have been decided upon yet. Brainstorming is ongoing for some event ideas such as: Karaoke (teachers vs students) or a Jeopardy/Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader event.

National Honor Society Report: Cybil Hott-Clark & Angel Gajurel

Introduction of The National Honor Society President Cybil Hott-Clark and Angel Gajurel, Vice President.

The NHS will be fundraising for Ruidoso on Thursdays during lunch the entire month of September. They will be at the dessert table selling a variety of treats.

The NHS will be hosting a HS Hygiene drive; however, no date has been determined yet. Please be on the lookout for announcements about this event. 

They are working on how to collaborate more with the middle school NHS. 

ASK Scholar Support Team: Ms. Jocelyn Benavides, Ms. Gabriella Cuaderes, Ms. Roberta Brown, Ms. Jamie Banks

The ASK Academy Scholar Support Team was introduced as:

Roberta Brown, MS, is the Middle School/High School counselor. She provides support with MS academics and HS social-emotional. Her contact information is [email protected] 

Jocelyn Benavides, MSW, provides IEP support to scholars.

Jamie Banks, MSW, will be providing support to Ms. Benavides.

Gabriella Cuaderes, MSW, social-emotional counselor for middle school. They presented on programs that are being offered and those they would like to begin offering at the school on various topics both to scholars and parents. 

Already happening: They are already engaging with the students in their classrooms teaching lessons to each grade once a month on the topics of emotions, communication, getting along with peers/friends, etc. There are also 2 Dialectical Behavioral Therapy groups currently going for MS and HS. 

Parent workshops: They are considering possibly starting parent workshops to share tips on socio-emotional topics, how to provide scholars with skills and support. Other topics such as sleep hygiene and test anxiety were brought up.

Ms. Brown wants to do a social media awareness campaign to present information on social media trends. Topics such as: the effects of social media, how the negativity of social media affects kids and how it impacts their perceptions.

Ms. Cuaderes will be hosting parent support groups. Possibly 4-5 parents in each group. If interested, she requests to be emailed at [email protected] 

In the email, please include: 

• Your name & your scholar’s name

• Scholar’s grade

• Your availability & scholar’s availability

In soliciting parent feedback the following were topics that were brought up as points of interest for the workshops:

• Information on parenting/caregiving for neurodivergent kids (from Tasha). She volunteered to reach out to the KIND campaign to have them possibly come present. https://www.kindcampaign.com/ 

• Emotional regulation for highly sensitive persons.

• Teach self advocate and conflict resolution skills with peers and with authority.

• How to support neurodivergent kids’ social needs.

Biomedical Pathway Advisory Team: Ms. Nuanez, Project Manager, HS Science

Ms. Nuanez was introduced as the lead for the Biomedical Pathway at ASK. She wants to get ASK parents more integrated into the program. The program is currently early college academy recognized. 

They need to put together a biomedical pathway advisory board and all parents are welcome from MS and HS. The board will help in coming up with new ideas for the program and networking in the community. They would like diverse perspectives on the topics to present at competitions. 

Volunteers needed for the board: This board will be comprised of scholars (2 spots), ASK Biomed pathway parents (2 spots), representative for higher education (current UNM/CNM employee preferred - 1 spot), industry/community representative (1-2 spots), representative of local/regional tribes and indigenous people (1 spot), representative for special populations (SPED, minority, underserved populations - 1 spot) the biomedical pathway lead/vice lead (Ms. Nuanez and/or Ms. Griffin), executive counsel members (2 spots) and ASK administration.

There is an online app closes Sept 1. Here’s the link for the form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdVjObx-gf3Fi7ZhvA_ctWapGkfUJJISnSnmlIYRhqIUAe6fw/viewform

It’s also available on the PSC and ASK Academy FB pages.

They are considering hosting a basic life support class for parents.

ASK Academy Alumni Association: Cheryl Kemnitz

Mrs. Cheryl Kemnitz completed her introduction and transition from the PSC Coordinator to the ASK Academy Alumni Association Coordinator. Please consider using alumni association as a resource to help with things for ASK and possible recruiting for future positions. If interested in joining the alumni association, please reach out to [email protected] 

Drop Off/Pick Up Procedures: Mr. Ed Garcia

Mr. Garcia reviewed issues related drop off/pick up procedures. His pointers and concerns were:

Drop off starts at 7:30 am. He believes it is going faster right now because the 6th graders are waiting at the side of the main building until construction is completed vs using the crosswalk to access the 6th grade building.

Pick up will go smoother if parents stagger their pick up. So, instead of arriving at exactly 4 pm, you can come around 4:10 pm-4:12 pm and usually drive right up to pick up your scholar. Please pick up scholars by no later than 4:30 pm, unless they are in a sponsored club/activity that has a different pick up time.

• Do not use the shoulder on the street drop off or pick up scholars. It is against city ordinance and it’s highly dangerous. There is a staff member helping scholars cross the street at the exit gate but their vision gets impaired if parents are parked on the side of the street. 

• It is inconvenient to the neighbors of the school that parents park and pick up scholars on their street. The city laws are different there because there are no shoulders or sidewalks.

• Do not use Ink Theory’s parking lot. We do not have permission to use it and they have 90 employees and you can get stuck in there. 

• The school prefers that we do not pick up scholars at O'Reilly's.

• There has been outreach to the RRPD and there was a Police Aid last Thursday. We will continue to reach out to them.

• Complicated issues to understand about RR. We can’t get a crosswalk because there is no sidewalk, we can’t do a sidewalk because the street isn’t wide enough, we can’t get a light because there is no crosswalk. 

• Parent feedback/ideas presented were:

• Use of parents to help; however, parent volunteers can be a liability issue. 

• Maybe getting security guard out there a bit earlier was proposed.

• Bussing was also proposed. It has been considered, but there isn’t a boundary for ASK students making bus stops difficult to identify and Mr. Garcia voiced concerns about finding the buses and hiring bus drivers. He shared challenges that RRPS is having with this and how they have to stagger their pick ups as a result.

• Sending out a more detailed drop off/pick up description in the CEO newsletter, like the one that was presented at this meeting.  

• Mr. Garcia invites comments/concerns to be emailed to him. His email address is [email protected] 

PSC Committees for 2024/25 School Year: Giselle Bango and Mary Harper will be co-leads for the PSC.

The PSC is looking for volunteers and we need a secretary to take notes during the PSC monthly Friday meetings. If you can volunteer for this position, please email us at [email protected] 

Discussed the benefits of engaging with students and staff at school events. Pizza doesn’t have to be a weekly commitment. Whether you can volunteer a bit or alot, please don’t hesitate to join us. 

There is a mandated state process to get approved as a volunteer or to be a chaperone for any school sponsored events. Please click on the hyperlink https://www.theaskacademy.org/apps/form/form.THEAA.tV2YoSm.yw_ 

Once you click on the link, you will be emailed the steps on what to do once you complete the interest form. Stephanie Munoz is the point of contact for this process and her email is [email protected]. You will also receive information on the computer based courses and how/where to get fingerprints completed. 

The PSC is comprised of committees with co-chairs to support each other at school events and roles. Any questions for the PSC please email us at [email protected] 

There are monthly governing council meetings held every 3rd Thursday of the month. The dates are posted in the ASK events calendar https://www.theaskacademy.org/apps/events/?id=0. Bring larger struggles and positive comments to the governing board meetings. Remember to also send positive feedback/comments and things that work for you to the administration. 

If you want to give public comments at the governing board meetings, you need to email them to Patrick Kelly at [email protected]. You will have 3 minutes to speak for public comment, and they have to be submitted to him by Monday 5 pm the week of the meeting. The next meeting will be held on Thursday, 9/19 at 6:30 pm-8 pm. To get on the agenda, send your request to Patrick Kelly.

Be in the know…

Middle school has newsletters for each grade. They are monthly newsletters and are released on the day of the month that corresponds to the grade levels. For example, 6th grade newsletters come on out on the 6th, 7th-the 7th grade, 8th-the 8th grade. Below are their respective websites:

6th grade: https://www.theaskacademy.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=1565991&type=d&pREC_ID=2245986

7th grade: https://www.theaskacademy.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=1565991&type=d&pREC_ID=2348126

8th grade: 

https://www.theaskacademy.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=1565991&type=d&pREC_ID=2342996 

Mr. Keelin’s page called Keelin’s Corner:

https://www.theaskacademy.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=1993955&type=u&pREC_ID=2359034 

Driver’s Education, 9/3/24: Jenkins Driver’s Ed

Jenkins Driver’s Ed is offering classes at the ASK Academy this semester beginning Sep 3, 2024 on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school. Scholars can earn .5 credit for the class. Please see the attached flyer for details. 

Picture Day, 9/9/24: MJ Thomas

School Pictures (for yearbook, school ids and to order) for grades 6-12 will be on Monday, September 9th. School uniforms are to be worn for school pictures for all grade levels. If absent this day there will be a make-up day.Please see the attached flyers for orders or go online to https://www.mjthomasphoto.com/order-here-3/ The order code for ASK Academy is NM217.

Senior photos (for yearbook and to order): Senior pictures for the yearbook will be taken on the school picture make-up day, which will be announced soon. Their photo will be taken in a graduation gown and cord, which will be provided by the school for photo purposes. School uniforms do not need to be worn for these pictures. 

Volunteers are needed for Picture Day from 7:30 am-11:30 am. Please email the PSC at [email protected]  if you have any availability and have completed the volunteer background process. 

Pizza Thursdays:

Thursdays at ASK involve the selling of Dion’s pizza, drinks and desserts. Volunteers are needed every week to serve the scholars and keep this ongoing fundraiser a success. Please contact Kristina Calder at [email protected] if you can help. Even helping 1 Thursday a month is a great help.

Yearbook

Order your 2023-24 Yearbook now by setting up an account with Treering. Go to treering.com or use the following link:  https://www.treering.com/purchase?PassCode=1013307102983350 

Celebrations!

Gently used ASK Academy uniform shirts and pants were given to families at the New Scholar Orientations last month. If your scholar has outgrown their uniform clothes, please trade them in or consider donating them. Contact us at [email protected]. 

The PSC Dessert Table gave all scholars a free Otter Pop on the first Pizza Thursday of the year. 

Updates & Reminders

• NHS Ruidoso fundraiser, Thursdays in September, during lunch.

• Driver’s ED is starting September 3, 2024 and will run through 11/19/24. Call 505-400-8469 and see the attached flyer for more information.

• Picture Day is 9/9/24. Senior pictures will occur on a separate day; however, they will need to have their pictures taken on 9/9 for their IDs.

• September 4th and 5th will be on a 2 hr delay for highschoolers due to middle school testing. Gates open at 9:45 am for HS drop off. This also shifts their lunch schedules and Pizza Thursday. You can find the academic calendar on the ASK website at https://4.files.edl.io/cdff/05/31/24/173429-ff1db911-82bf-4124-945b-1d36e33768f5.pdf 

• There is Friday school on September 6, 2024 with a regular bell schedule.

• Balloons Aloft will be held 10/2. More information will be sent out.

• The basketball fence is scheduled to go up on 10/9/24. 

Parent Questions/Comments/Concerns:

Inquiry was made on the front gate being left open. Admin reports that this is due to an issue with the gate timer that is being fixed. 

Concern was brought up about the office door being closed. Mr. Keelin informed that they are doing it during lunch hours to keep the scholars out of the office and so they are encouraged to use the window. He reports this policy has been in place for 3 years.

Parent comments: 

ASK would have more appeal if they had an afterschool program.

Elementary expansion would also be appealing. 

Can PSC notes go on the ASK website? This will be requested from Ms. Vazquez.

Can the Academic Calendar be converted to import into Google Calendar vs only a PDF. 

Next PSC Meeting: September 13, 2024