Brooklyn Technical High School

General PTA Meeting

March 4, 2010

Call to order

Enid Febus called the meeting to order at 7:15 PM. The minutes from the January and February meetings were presented and approved. Enid also offered parents student translators who would assist in translating the general meeting discussions for them.

Co-president’s Report

Enid Febus asked for parent volunteers to assist on the nominating committee which will plan for the upcoming June elections. Enid told interested parents to see Stephen Gales who will be the committee chairperson.

 

Enid discussed the success of the Chinese New Year dinner as a community-building event. She informed parents that there were 95 in attendance and the dinner and auction helped to raise about $1100 in profit, which was slightly more than last year’s event when the profit was $900. Enid said she hopes the dinner becomes a yearly event for the Tech community.

Mr. Marc Williams – Assistant Principal of Student and Parent Engagement

Mr. Williams urged parents and students to attend one or both of the meetings regarding Sophomore Major Selection. He also told parents that Parent Teacher Conferences will take place on March 25th in the evening and on March 26th in the afternoon. He told parents that they could access their students’ grades through the Daedalus system or look for the report card to be brought home on March 24th. Mr. Williams informed parents of the new date for career day is now April 10th. It had to be postponed due to the inclement weather in February. He also notified parents that the citywide Respect for All campaign would begin on March 8th. It is a city wide initiative taking place in all New York City schools and encourages all students to be open minded and respectful of each other at school and beyond.

Presentations

 

Mr. Barclay – Assistant Principal – Physics

Mr. Barclay presented an overview of the Physics Department including the initiatives for the 2009-10 school year. These include Moodle for Lab reports, UTexas for Homework assignments, and the periodic assessments by marking period.

 

He spoke about the number of students taking physics each year and the courses they are taking. He discussed the advantages of the new initiatives, which include that labs are never lost or mislaid when using the Moodle system, which insures that students keep track of the state lab requirements. He reviewed the tutoring schedule and locations with parents and urged them to encourage their students to come to tutoring for extra help when they need it. Mr. Barclay concluded by taking questions from the audience. Mr. Williams also answered questions parents had regarding the various types of diplomas offered at Tech and the requirements of each. Both Mr. Williams and Mr. Barclay stressed that parents should use email to contact any faculty member by accessing the Tech website – www.bths.edu .

The meeting adjourned at 8:20 PM.