The FRHS PTO Meeting was held on Wednesday, Nov 12th and here is a brief synopsis of what was discussed at the meeting… and a huge thank you to Dawn Sheehy, the PTO Secretary for taking the notes.. Just to let you know, we only have about 15 parents showing up at these PTO meetings and I hope you can see that the discussions are very important and relevant to your children. The PTO meetings are held in the High School Theatre and the Principals and Teachers come prepared to discuss very important issues that go beyond basic activities as you will see below. We hope you will mark your calendar to come to the next PTO meeting: Wed, Jan 28 @ 9am
Minutes FRHS PTO Meeting – November 12, 2008
Tina Burns, Principal:
Tina talked about the need to have a Parental Absence Excuse Form. This form will make sure things are uniform – it is classified as Absence, Tardy and Early Dismissal. Parents can receive these forms on line through E-news and also teachers will be handing them out.
The Homecoming Dance was good for the most part students behaved. There were 800 tickets sold for the dance. The problem with the dance was the dancing itself. Many of the students were “freak” or “grinding” dancing. This type of dancing is very inappropriate. Penny Holden (PTO President) suggested having discussions in Health class about this type of inappropriate behavior. Though most of the students do not think it is a big deal. Mrs. Burns is very concerned about the liability and the extreme sexual behavior of the dancing. There were only 12 chaperones at the dance and she states it is very disturbing to watch a majority of these students perform this type of dancing. She is concerned enough to raise this as an issue to begin to have discussions to address this for future dances. The discussion centered around the type of music played, the lighting, the way the dance floor is configured and what possibly can be done in the future to control this on the school property. There was consensus that more needs to be done on this subject. She provided handouts about this type of dancing and they are included here as a .pdf file.
Mrs. Burns also discussed High School Reform – getting students to do well. We are not where we should be with schools in foreign countries. Part of the HS Reform would be pertaining to 12th graders – not knowing what they want to do with their lives. HSR is looking into a transition program to help kids choose career paths – example: part of a school day kids could go to Pitt or PSU and take a few classes.
Mr. Duffy, Principal
Part of the High School Reform is the 9th Grade Academy – this is a program to build on the students successful performance in 8th grade. When these kids enter 9th grade teachers see a decline in grades. In 8th grade there is a 90% proficiency in math, writing and reading. In 9th grade math has slipped, a 1/3 of the scores are below proficiency. These problems need to be addressed in the 9th grade. The HSR is looking into what’s happening in 8th grade that is not in 9th. In 8th grade teachers are working together, spending more time with the students, they talk about student needs, emotional needs along with academics. FR wants the students to take a study skills class – study efficiently. There will be no study halls assigned in 9th grade. The High School is hoping to have this in place for the upcoming 9th graders – their schedule would have 4 core classes, 2 ½ electives, gym, skills class and a 9th grade only lunch.
Becky Magnuss/Samantha Pursglove
Holiday Telethon December 19th 9:00am – 1:00pm Charities raising money for : Westmoreland County Food Bank and Westmoreland County Childrens Bureau(money to go to buying coats & gloves for the kids). Thinking about renting a bus and filling it full of food. The food will need to be collected before the 19th. Several clubs will be donating food. Kids Helping Kids will hold a Chinese Auction – Items will be displayed at the Band and Chorus concerts along w/ a Basketball game. This event alone brings in thousands of dollars. PTO support will be needed the week of the Telethon. For the Telethon to be a success they need the community’s support.
Rob McClure
Majority of the colleges are accepting both SAT and ACT. The main difference between the two is that the ACT’s has science and the writing portion is optional. Scoring is a little different if you guess at an answer and you are wrong on the SAT a ¼ point is taken off. ACT – you can send in your best score, in February of 2009 SAT’s will do the same.
Treasury Report: Directories are printed should be going out next week. The cost was $1,400.
Funding Requests: Pam Poholsky (gym instructor) requested $250 to bring in Luann O’Brien to teach Ballroom Dancing for 2 days. Request was denied needed more information.
Rube Machine Competition – Richard Sunny to cover costs and material – Approved for $200
Let Freedom Sing Reception – Approved for $250
Fund-a-Meal: Lunch money for meals funded by the district. People who don’t qualify for the free lunches would be eligible. They need or are looking for $15,000. They cannot direct funds to the high school only. This request was denied. PTO approved $250 to go towards lunches that the kids need at the high school.
Senior BBQ – successful
Breakfast of Champions – needs volunteers, changing start time to 6:30 am instead of 6:45am.
Election Day Activities – successful
Superintendent’s Meeting – reported by Gwyn Trojan
- 9th Grade Academy – district wants to launch for next year.
- School District getting money from trust funds – going towards the art departments
- Anti Bullying Program – Start in kindergarten and going through the high school
- District recommends 1 nurse for 1,500 students – FR has 7 nurses in the district
Meeting Adjourned
We hope you will mark your calendar to come to the next PTO meeting: Wed, Jan 28 @ 9am at the high school in the theatre.
The FRHS E-News is an electronic newsletter distributed independently by the members of your PTO as a volunteer service to the community to keep you up-to-date and informed about what is happening at the senior high level. Occasionally, there are mistakes, but we make every attempt to verify and publish accurate information on a timely basis. If you have news you would like to have published, please send your information to me at FRHSnews@comcast.net. Please remember, it would be helpful to have a minimum of a week lead time to publish the information. To subscribe/unsubscribe to the newsletter, please send email to the same address.
Thank you, Darlene H. Skupien, FRHS E-News Editor
Great Contact Information…
High school main phone number: 724-327-5456
Front Office secretaries:
Ms. Valerie Susa (x 5004)
Ms Marcia Ochs (x 5005)
Ms. Donna Baker (x5003)
www.franklinregional.k12.pa.us/highschool (main site for the high school)
www.franklinregional.k12.pa.us/highschool/highschoolnewsletter.asp (school newsletter)
www.franklinregional.k12.pa.us/highschool/frhsbellschedule.asp (schedule grid at a glance)
www.franklinregional.k12.pa.us/highschool/ptolink.asp -- this is the PTO web page up and running. If you want to know who your PTO is, and what the PTO is planning, click on this link for the latest information!
The Sr. High Morning News Show can be viewed each evening at 5 p.m. on Channel 19 or at the following website: http://www.franklinregional.k12.pa.us/highschool/hsmorningannouncements.asp
The FRHS E-News is archived courtesy of Murrysville Online. Please take a minute to tour the website even if you don’t need to view any of the back issues of the E-News. The site is full of great information:
http://www.murrysvilleonline.com/FRHS-Enews-2008-2009/enews.htm
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