OWNCS2 PTO General Meeting Minutes - September
Date, Time, and Location: Thursday, September 28, 2023 at 6:30PM Via Zoom
Meeting called to order by: President- Kathy Vergara at 6:35PM
Note Taker(s): Secretary- Esther Wallace
Timekeeper: Treasurer- Shaenne Toussaint-Islam
Attendees: President- Kathy Vergara, Vice President- Tanya Johnson, Co-communications
Officers- Clorinda Rivera & Dakina Darrien-Battle, Treasurer- Shaenne Toussaint-Islam,
Secretary- Esther Wallace; Administration: Ms. McAfee, Ms. Wallace, Ms. Valencia, Mr.
McLean. There were 53 attendees; a quorum was reached.
ORDERS OF BUSINESS
I. PTO Events/Updates
a. Introductions
Kathy Vergara- PTO president
Tanya Johnson- Vice President
Shaenne Toussaint-Islam- Treasurer
Esther Wallace- Secretary
Clorinda Rivera- Communications Officer
Dakina Darrien-Battle- Co-communications Officer
b. Carnival Recap
Great feedback from parents and children
Thank you to all parents and staff who volunteered. The carnival would not
have been a success without our volunteers
PTO raised enough money to break even from the carnival expenses
c. Classroom Parents
PTO is looking for 1-2 parents from each class that would be designated as a
‘Class Parent’
Class parents would act as the liaison between their classes and the PTO
Some duties would include communicating to the PTO what your class needs
are, issues the class may be facing and disseminating information to the
parents in that class
Class parents will be able to use Bloomz to post announcements as well as
communicate with other parents
Once all the classroom parents have been established, PTO will set up a
What’s App group chat so that there will be current, up-to-date
communication between the PTO and class parents
As of now, only classes 203, 204, 213 have assigned class parents
If interested in the role of class parent please inform your child’s teacher in
person, via email or Bloomz and the teacher will forward your information to
the PTO as the assigned class parent
d. PTO Goals
Increase parent participation with PTO
Help improve communication between school and parents
Increase in volunteers for PTO and school events
Continue to raise funds that will be used to support our children
e. PTO Website
Please check the PTO website regularly
You will find information regarding the PTO meetings, updates on PTO
events, meeting minutes, PTO and administration contact information and
more
www.own2pto.com
II. School Updates
a. Principal- Ms. McAfee
The new principal at OWN2 is Ms. McAfee
Ms. McAfee can be easily reached via email, Bloomz and cell phone
She is currently working on creating office hours but she welcomes parents
contacting her or approaching her with comments and questions during drop
off and dismissal
All messages sent to Ms. McAfee will be returned within 24 hours
b. Movie Night – 10/25/23
PTO will be assisting Mr. McLean to have a movie night event
The movie night will be held on Wed Oct 25 th from 3:30-5:30pm in the school
multipurpose room
Tickets are $10 per person which will include a movie ticket, snacks and a
drink
Parents do not have to stay for the whole movie but will be required to pick
their child up from afterschool and sign them into the movie night event
All OWN2 children and their relatives are invited to attend. Please go to the
link located on Bloomz to purchase your tickets
c. Dismissal Safety
School administration has been discussing various dismissal procedures to
find the most effective way to safely dismiss the students
The increased volume of students at the school has made changing the
dismissal process challenging. As of now the dismissal procedure remains
the same (Kindergarten and 1 st grade- front door; Grades 2-5 back door)
Parents have made several suggestions on ways to change the dismissal
process, as per Ms. McAfee, all suggestions have been discussed and
considered and some suggestions have already been implemented.
Administration welcomes all suggestions and requests they be sent via email
School staff and school parents will continue to work together to obtain
crossing guards, stop signs, stop lights, etc to ensure save dismissals
School staff are in regular contact with the 106 th precinct to try and get as
much community resources as possible
As per Ms. Wallace, last year the school was informed that there will be a
stop light and crosswalk installed at the Conduit. This is expected sometime
in 2024
d. Birthday Celebrations
OWN2 will allow classroom birthday parties only on Fridays between 2-3pm
Parents will need to speak with their class teacher to inform them of their
plans
It is prefer for parents to have all items for the party delivered in the morning
to ensure that staff is available to collect the items and deliver it to the
classrooms
If bringing baked goods please be mindful to check with the teacher for
student allergies and be mindful that this is a nut-free school
III. Reminders
a. Traffic and Congestion – Please remember to be courteous when picking up and
dropping off your child. Do not double and triple park in front of the school building as
this creates an unsafe environment for our students and families
b. School Calendar – Remember to continue checking the school website regularly for
any changes to the school calendar related to Half Days or Holidays
c. Important Dates in October:
October 9 th – school is closed
October 11 th - K-2 nd grade Picture Day
October 12 th – 3 rd -5 th grade Picture Day
October 18 th - Half Day; Noon dismissal
CLOSING
Next meeting is Thursday, October 26th at 6:30PM
Meeting adjourned at 7:40PM
Minutes approved by President, Kathy Vergara
PTO Email: pto_own2@owncs.org
Comments