April 16, 2024
PTSA General Meeting
PTSA Board Attendees
Ramata Diop, President
Emily Pickren, Correspondence and Communications Secretary
Emily Modde, Treasurer
Staff Attendees
Principal Erin Martin
Upcoming events:
8th Grade Dance: June 8, 7-9pm – need chaperones and volunteers
8th Grade Promotion Day: June 11 at Blair. Need 7th grade parents to help with promotion set-up
Ms. Martin asks attendees to reach out to 5 different families and ask them to attend May’s PTSA meeting.
Meeting Overview:
- Wax Museum presentation in honor of Women’s History Month – students represented Sally Ride, Jane Goodall, and Cleopatra.
- Clare, PTSA Board member at Blair and former TPMS PTSA president, talked to the group about the Blair PTSA and encouraged incoming 9th grade parents to join their Listserv: www.blairptsa.org
o May 4 was Blair Fair – door prizes, opportunity to tour the school.
- Kaysi-Ann Webley from the City of Takoma Park discussed Safe Routes to School and presented $1k check to TPMS – revenue from previous 5K races – this was seed money for the five area schools participating in the Safe Routes to Schools program. Ms. Webley also shared:
- May is Bike Month in TKPK– will have free bike repair pop-ups at Farmers’ markets.
- Bike to School Day is May 8 – encouraged all kids to ride to school. There are also Adult Learn to Ride classes, there is currently a wait list for them. Bike to Work Day is May 17.
- Participate in Safe Route to School 5-minute survey.
Teacher Appreciation Week was May 6-10 – parent Alisa O’Brien was the lead coordinator. There was a sign-up genius for parents/caregivers to donate food for teachers, for students to write cards for their teachers.
Treasurer’s Report: Emily Modde presented. PTSA has $22K in the bank but has a lot of big-ticket items coming up such as the 8th grade dance and promotion. The PTSA also helped to sponsor We Shine Night. We Shine is a venue where students can shine, make connections to what they are learning and create a project. It is expanding every year and students are planning for it for next year.
Ms. Martin reported that TPMS is continuing to roll out STRIVE, which focuses on kindness toward others and recognizes student’s achievements in and out of school. Always in Principal’s newsletter.