OVHSA Meeting Minutes - February 7th, 2024

Date: Wednesday, February 7th, 2024   

 Time: 7pm      

 Location: Oak View School Library 

• President (Joelle Bernhard)
• The January Meeting Minutes were voted in.  
• Board of Ed Rep (Kasey Dudley)
• District News 
• 2/1/24 kicks off our District Wide celebration of Black History Month. 
• Please check school websites and social media accounts for districtwide activities.
• ECC Registration 
• Early Childhood Center Applications for the 2024-2025 school year will be open soon. Be on the lookout... 
• On January 23, 2024, the Bloomfield Board of Education recognized the Bloomfield Educational Foundation (BEF) for their tireless work and contributions to the Bloomfield education community. This group raises funds to support large and small grants that benefit students. The BEF was honored this evening for their donations to the BHS Esports arena, VEST program uniforms, and BMS Bengalthon. The community is grateful for your support! 
• The 35th Annual Ted Jasieniecki Alumni Basketball Game was held on Friday, January 12, 2024 at 7:00PM at Bloomfield High School. Thank you to the alumni who came out to play and the 6th grade teams who participated in the pregame activities. 
• High School News 
• Congratulations to all winter sports for their successful seasons to date. 
• The 2024 BHS Thespian Society’s winter musical production of “Mean Girls” will be held 2/29-3/2 @BHS. For more information contact the BHS main # (973)680-8600. 
• BHS held the Winter Arts Exhibition at BHS on January 25th. Congrats to all the artists who were on display. 
• BHS conducted a successful elective fair to encourage more students to participate in different offerings throughout the school year. 
• There have been new offerings for February Bengal Talks where notable BHS alumni come back to share their respective stories with current students. 
• The 2023-2024 Bloomfield Reindeer Games Track & Field Invitational was a huge success with North Arlington, Nutley, and Verona participating in 11 events. Thank you to the student-athletes, coaches, and schools who joined us in this great tradition. 
• The Grand Opening of the BHS BEF ESports Arena is on February 7 @ 2pm. We are very excited to provide our students with this cutting edge opportunity. 
• Elementary News 
• Congratulations to Berkeley School for hosting a very successful summer camp fair. It was very well attended and our students have many options for summertime activities. 
• Bloomfield Civil Rights Commission Essay Contest winners. 
• 1 st place-Sophia Price; Essay Title: "See My Hands, Feel My Words"; Carteret School 
• 2 nd place-Victoria Febus; Essay Title: Each Day Means More Discrimination; Berkeley School 
• 3 rd place-Kaylee Toribio; Essay Title: For Our Community To Change; Berkeley School 
• Honorable Mentions: 
• Mathyo Abdalla; Essay Title: "Change"; Carteret School 
• Ismael Lopez; Essay Title: Understanding Bullying; Berkeley School 
• Robyn Patterson; Essay Title: "My Dream for Change"; Carteret School  
• Important Dates 
• Please check the website link for all the upcoming events across the district 
• 2/6/24 BOE Meeting 
• 2/19/24 Schools Closed Presidents Day 
• 2/20/24 BOE Meeting
• Discussion of BMS proposed schedule changes. 
• Principal (Linda Lo)
• Thank you for your continued support and collaboration. 
• Highlights of Principal Lo’s day:  
• Daily Morning Announcements:For Black History Month, students are actively participating in highlighting the remarkable achievements of African Americans who have shaped our history. Today's announcement was led by Phoenix, a 2nd grader, who eloquently read her essay on Rosa Parks. 
• Teaching and Learning: Students remain engaged in rigorous learning environments. Black History Month is being celebrated across various lessons and units of study, including read-aloud sessions, an African American research Quilt project, a "Cereal Box" Biography project, 28 days of Moments in Black History that Changed the World, Motown Music Unit, Hidden Figures research project, and exploration of Black/African American musicians influential in different musical genres. 
• Classroom Visits: These visits provide an exciting and engaging glimpse into learning through the eyes of our students. During this week's visit, I witnessed rigorous and engaging activities. 
• Weekly Safety Team Meetings: Supporting our community's safety and well-being.
• Monthly Cafecito Chats with Families: These coffee-fueled conversations are a great way to connect. Last month's virtual meeting was an excellent opportunity to communicate with families.   
• Student Leadership: The Student Council, Safety Patrol, K-Kids, and the Sustainability Team continue to foster leadership skills among our students.
• Student Council selling Friendgrams at lunch time, bracelets for $.50/each.
• Upcoming Events at Oak View & in District:
• 2/1 - Read-A-Thon launch
• 2/9 - Lunar New Year Assembly
• 2/14 - Valentine’s Day/100th day of school
• 2/19 - President’s Day/No School
• 2/13,  2/27 (virtual) - Cafecito Chats with Principal Lo in the Library Media Center, 
• 2/20 - One Book initiative launch
• Week of 2/26 - Read Across America/Scholastic Book Fair
• Teacher Representative (Laurie Ritacco) 
• Valentine's Day and 100th Day of school same day - 100th Day will be celebrated in the morning and Valentine's Day in the afternoon
• Reminder for parents: Teachers celebrate HOW holidays are celebrated in the classroom, not WHY. 
• Vice President (Emily Hallenbeck)
• Chairpersons, please send equipment requests to Emily IN ADDITION to filling out the Custodial Request Form in the office for whatever you need for your event.   
• Treasurers (Jennifer Obiedzinski & Mona Kaur) 
• Reports and records are always available upon request
• Recording Secretary (Lauren Benech)
• Meeting is being recorded.
• Our next meeting will be on Wednesday March 6th.
• Please sign-in!
• Please head to the website for calendar and Meeting Minutes. 
• Our June Meeting will need to be rescheduled due to 6th grade graduation party.  
• Corresponding Secretary (Krystal Yip)
• Valentines Day parties are on Wednesday 2/14.  Class parents, please sign in at office at 2pm.  Snack list is same as last time from Mrs. LoMonte.  
• Committee Updates: 
• FUNRaising 
•   Pick up your cupcakes on the blacktop after school (2/8). 
• Basketball
• Clinics are ending at the end of February.
• Family Basketball night will be Friday, March 22nd. 
• Discussion of entry/exit, spectators are walking on court during play.    
• Playground
• Waiting for installation in warmer weather months.  
• Enrichment   
• Hip Hop assembly was a big hit
• Lunar New Year assembly will be 2/9
• Spirit Wear  
•  Spirit Wear store is still open. 20% of sales will go back to the HSA.  Everyone seems pleased with the new vendor.
• Winter Social
• Thank you all who joined and to all who volunteered! 
  
• Read-A-Thon 
• Kicked off on 2/1.  Please send in your folders with reading minutes to be counted. Please keep your calculations up to date.
• Please remember to share your student's pledge page with friends and family-they can donate per minute or flat donations. 
• We will wrap up this fundraiser for Read Across America and top readers will win gift certificates to use at the Book Fair. 
• Library (Book Fair) 
• The Scholastic book Fair is coming!
• Shopping Days are 2/27 and 2/28!  Please look out for promotional information the week before the event.
• We have a full slate of volunteers--thanks in advance!
• The Library Committee were able to help Mrs. D'Avanzo distribute books to each teacher for their classroom libraries.  
• Theme for Spirit Week is TBD. 
• STREAM
•  Science Fair 4/18. 
• Registration will be 2/20 via SignUp Genius, first come first serve. There will be only 30 spots. Group projects are encouraged. 
• Project Sign-Up for only grades 4th-6th grades. 
• Hand-on projects will be available at the fair for younger grades. 
• Talent Show  
• Talent Show will be 4/12.
• Registration is open for individual and groups acts until 2/16.
• Open call for parent volunteers for sound tech.  
• Ticket cost is TBD. 
• Hospitality
• The hospitality committee will be setting up a Super Bowl themed teacher treats this Friday 2/9. 
• 6th Grade  
• Graduation
• Graduation Party is 6/5.
• Car Wash will be in May, date is TBD
• Friday blacktop ice cream  sales will resume in April after Spring Break.   
• Yearbook  
• Photos with Ava this weekend (2/10-2/11).  Everyone is signed up!
• Graduation Dates
  
• 6th Grade: 6/14 (Friday)
  
• KG: 6/18 (Tuesday)
  
• HS: 6/20
• BMS: 6/21
• New Business 
  
• Proposal for After School Explorers (Kim Jaumot, chair)
• 6 weeks of programming, 1 hours per class
• Open call for class volunteers in the parent community (filmmaking, art, chess, dance, etc.) 
• Each class age group determined by volunteer. 
• +/-10 students per class; 1 teacher, 1 parent volunteer. 
• Cost would be per class, whether they need supplies; would likely be different per class. 
• Tentative timing would be mid-April/end of May.  Maybe kick-off after STREAM fair.
• Volunteers would need to stay until all students are picked up. 
• The February meeting was closed.  Thanks to all our volunteers and supporters!  Have a good month, we will see you in March!