{"id":424,"date":"2011-05-08T09:55:46","date_gmt":"2011-05-08T14:55:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/allenbyparents.com\/blog2\/?p=424"},"modified":"2011-05-08T09:55:46","modified_gmt":"2011-05-08T14:55:46","slug":"message-from-your-apa-chairs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.allenbyparents.com\/blog2\/message-from-your-apa-chairs\/","title":{"rendered":"Message from Your APA Chairs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Despite  all of the rain, the flowers are beginning to bloom and spring is in  the air&#8230; life is busy and it is no exception at Allenby or the APA.  Just last week we had an APA meeting one night, a community meeting with  Karen Stintz around parking and traffic safety and then topped the week  off with our first ever Family Kindergarten Night. Close to 120  families, eating pizza, socializing and watching the magic of &#8220;Tricky  Ricky.&#8221; A fantastic night and something we might want to think about  doing in the future for each grade level to get to know each other  better.<\/p>\n<p>Our APA meeting on Tuesday night was very well attended  but worth giving a few highlights to those who were not able to attend  and to keep everyone informed. (Complete minutes are available <a href=\"http:\/\/r20.rs6.net\/tn.jsp?llr=q5echrcab&amp;et=1105413490786&amp;s=600&amp;e=0019yeHEF7ifgPZS18PY7F-T5d_9ookgJ-Kh7igJ9mqB_CYlXe_AfWbqJKxlNo0Nx-cqsiYW2-tN-QZq41NxjmuW6UcLcJovbC2lLbSqh8ZgHVt_2H0UMRX4buimCm74sjB_9rlJyeR6Ed70Sa594jZyCfAqJ18ZWjZeUywHp9LNvkyTbniPgiv6i4aOZAJcnKL\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Grade 6 Graduation Funds<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">The  money requested by the 6th Grade Graduation Committee was reinstated in  the budget. It had been voted down in the September meeting due to a  lack of understanding of how much money was needed for the graduation  festivities and because other cuts were being made in the overall  budget. This meeting was a great opportunity to explain the budgeting  process and how it is done annually. We were thrilled to see so many  people present at the meeting. Many of these parents had been involved  with previous graduation ceremonies and were able to give the attendees a  better understanding of the events around graduation and the  corresponding costs as opposed to just line items in the budget.\u00a0 It is  with this understanding that we will be able to create more description  in the budget going forward.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">An  excellent presentation was made on potential technology options for  Allenby. Last year the APA &#8220;earmarked&#8221; money to spend on technology. The  discussion was on the value of continuing to add Smart Boards to more  classrooms as well, why it might be important to branch out and invest  in some other forms of technology. Research was done on what other  schools in our Ward are doing as well as an extensive cost analysis. For  a full report please see the minutes from last month when they are  distributed. This discussion will continue at the May APA meeting.  Several motions were put forth in the April meeting and will therefore  be voted on in the May meeting. Please join us at the May meeting, be a  part of the discussion and vote. We need to hear from you.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><br \/>\nFun Fair\/Charity Update<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">The  Fun Fair is absolutely an Allenby Signature Event. Not only do Allenby  families enjoy the food, games and rides but the entire community have  come to enjoy it too. However the funds go to benefit Allenby. Products  are donated, volunteers give their time, and families spend their money  with that intent. As a result, and after much debate, we have had to  come up with a protocol for those wanting to use the Fun Fair to  showcase other charities and causes.\u00a0 Every cause is a terrific one and  has a special meaning to everyone involved. The APA has taken the  position that other charities cannot use our directory, newsletter, etc.  to advertise or collect fund. Having said that, we have made an  exception this year for student driven charities. This year a group of  students approached Jennie Ucar and asked to set up a table at the Fun  Fair. They came to her with a business plan and were given an  opportunity to present at the March council meeting. The parents that  were present at March agreed to the program. This has led to other  groups wanting the same opportunity. So, after much debate at the  meeting we decided on the following:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">If  students create a plan and have it approved by Jennie Ucar, they could  set up at the fair in a &#8220;Charity Nook&#8221;\u00a0 at the Fun Fair. They will be  allowed to distribute information and have a small donation box. It will  be the responsibility of each group to set up and tear down their area  and the group must be supervised by a parent. Please note that this was  not an easy decision but the parents at the meeting worked hard to come  up with a protocol that would take all positions into account.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><br \/>\nParking<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">On  Wednesday Karen Stintz hosted a community meeting to attempt to resolve  some of the parking issues around the school. The purpose was to come  to some resolution around the congestion, allow legal parking for  parents and provide an environment that is safe for both residents and  pedestrians. Many residents attended and were very vocal about the  parking issues around Allenby at pick up and drop off. We established  that the community supports our changes to the Kiss &#8216;N Ride program and  Karen Stintz will proceed to take our request for signage change to  council in June. In addition, a working group consisting of parents and  residents was formed to continue to work resolving the issues around  permit parking. This group consists of a community member from each  section of the streets around the school, APA representative and Karen  Stintz&#8217;s office. They will need time to make the changes, so in the mean  time we plead for your patience. Please keep the kindergarten area  clear, stay out of tow away zones and keep residents&#8217; driveways clear.<\/p>\n<p>Lastly,  our reason for the summary in addition to just posting the regular  minutes, is to let everyone know that because Allenby is a large  community it is sometimes challenging to find balance amongst all  opinions, positions and history. However, please know that every member  of your Exec Board tries their very best to do so in the most equitable  manner possible and in the spirit of representing all parents. We  continue to encourage everyone to come to the APA meetings where your  experiences, enthusiasm and knowledge can be heard.<\/p>\n<p>We hope to see you at the May APA meeting and of course at the fabulous Fun Fair on June 4th!<\/p>\n<p>Lori and Heather<br \/>\nCo-Chairs, Allenby Parents Association<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite all of the rain, the flowers are beginning to bloom and spring is in the air&#8230; life is busy and it is no exception at Allenby or the APA. Just last week we had an APA meeting one night, a community meeting with Karen Stintz around parking and traffic safety and then topped the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-apa-meetings"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allenbyparents.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allenbyparents.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allenbyparents.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allenbyparents.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allenbyparents.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/www.allenbyparents.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":430,"href":"http:\/\/www.allenbyparents.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424\/revisions\/430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allenbyparents.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allenbyparents.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allenbyparents.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}