10/12/20 PTA Minutes

/in /by

The meeting was called to order by Janet Giron, President, at 7:04 pm on Monday, October 12, 2020.
The minutes from the September 28, 2020 General PTA meeting were read and approved as corrected.
Attendance:
Bianca Belmonte-Sapien, Janet Giron, Angela Lerner, Mikel Wagner, Alfreda Begay, Amanda Jones, Catherine Jones, Adam Jones, Anne Massi, Brie Logan, Dorene DiNaro, Lani McCarson, Fatima Ceballos, Marisela, Medrano


Principal’s Report by Ms. Belmonte-Sapien:
 Thank you to parents and the 7 th grade team for attending the meeting.
 The school has started a student recruitment drive ahead of the 40 day count. We are also recruiting students in 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd grades for next year.
 This year we have to have our own Title I program since we are no longer part of APS. It will be AFIT (Assistance to Families in Transition) lead by Ms. McGrane. The school will work in conjuction with Roadrunner Food Bank to be a possible food pick up point during covid.
 The MAPS testing data is in. Students were 57% proficient in Science, 51% proficient in Language, 44% proficient in Math, and 53% proficient in Reading. We look to double
expected growth per NWEA by the end of the year. President’s Report by Janet Giron:
 The school’s Governance Council meeting will be at 5:30 on Thursday, October 15 th via Zoom. Reopening plans for the rest of the year will be discussed.
 Yearboks are on sale. You can message Janet Giron via Facebook if you need more information. If ordered now, there is a 5% discount.

Treasurer’s Report by Angela Lerner:
 The bank balance is $11,914.63.
 We received $96 from United Way.
 The check for $2,300 from the music GoFundMe has been received and will be deposited tomorrow.
 There is one outstanding check for $1,000 to Volcano Vista Booster Club.

Fundraising:
 We have received the postage paid bags from GotSneakers.com and can begin collecting sneakers. We will put a box in the school lobby for donations, and also ask for people to drop off sneakers during the Trunk-or-Treat.
 Janet Giron asked Alfreda Begay to contact Chick-Fil-A about a restaurant night fundraiser. Other possibilities are Papa John’s, Whataburger, and Domino’s
 The Trunk-or-Treat will be on Saturday the 24 th of October (contingent any new restrictions that the Governor might announce on Thursday). There is a farm in Edgewood that will sell us pumpkins for $1 each. The pumpkins will be handed out to students to be decorated. The students can submit photos of their decorated pumpkins for prizes in different categories. Prize categories might be best painted, best carved, scariest, most creative, best character, etc. We will use Flipgrid for the contest. Janet Giron asked Fatima Ceballos to contact McCall’s Pumpkin Patch when she metioned the possibility that they might give us a better deal on pumpkins. Parents with trucks will be needed to help gather the pumpkins. The Student Council would like to have a booth during the Trunk-or-Treat.

New Business:
 Ms. Logan will is asking the PTA to fund the prizes for Science Bowl again this year. The competition will be on January 13 th . It will be a virtual competition. There will also be a virtual regional competition. Ms. Logan will email information to Janet Giron so that we can put it on the agenda and vote on it during the next meeting.


The next PTA General Meeting is set for Monday, November 9th at 7:00 pm via Zoom.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:38 pm.

21stCPA Drive Thru Fall Festival

/in /by

Happy Fall Dragon Families!

The PTA has been planning a little something for Fall and festivities are a go. We will be handing out pumpkins and candy in Drive-Thru fashion on Saturday, October 24 from 6:30-7:15pm. We will be having a pumpkin decorating contest throughout the week and prizes will be awarded. Please let the PTA know if you are able to help.

-Pick up pumpkins from the farm (either on the 17th or 24). This will be a fun family activity.

  • make candy bags
  • hand out pumpkins and candy in the Drive Thru during the evening of the 24th.

If you are able to help please contact The PTA at pta@21stcenturypa.com. We are excited to do something fun for the kids and hope you can make it!

21st Century PTA

Remote Learning Update

/in /by

Good Morning Dragon Families!  We hope you are safe and healthy!
The Governance Council voted to extend the remote learning through December except for the small groups in a 1:5 teacher/student ratio that require extra support.
Their decision was based on the following:

  1. Rising COVID Cases.
  2. PED has not allowed middle schools or high schools to enter the hybrid model yet.
  3. The guidance from PED has not been given to middle and high schools for reentry yet.
  4. Bernalillo County moved from a “green” county to an “orange” county and we can not consider reentry until “green”.

We understand the hardship this continues to create for our families but at this point we wanted to give parents time to plan through the end of the school year.  
If the 4 items above are addressed the Governance Council will reconvene and consider bringing students back.
Please be safe and continue to follow guidance to get past COVID.

New Pandemic-EBT (P-EBT) Hotline for Parents

/in /by

SANTA FE – A new P-EBT hotline has been established for parents who have questions about eligibility or would like additional information about P-EBT benefits, the New Mexico Human Services Department announced Thursday. The new 1-833-415-0569 P-EBT hotline will be manned from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday to assist families who have flooded current phone lines with questions about P-EBT.

The P-EBT program provides nutrition assistance to New Mexico families to offset meals missed because schools were in a remote learning mode in August and September. New Mexico households with children who receive free or reduced-price meals will receive benefits of $5.86 per child per day for the dates their individual school was 100 percent virtual up until the day their school instituted a hybrid model or Sept. 30; whichever was earlier.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture allocated more than $45 million in additional SNAP benefits for our state – enough to feed more than 243,000 vulnerable children in New Mexico. This follows federal approval of the state’s amended P-EBT program for the months of August and September.

Eligibility for the P-EBT benefit is determined by the New Mexico Public Education Department, which shares student information with the Human Services Department to distribute the P-EBT cards and issue benefits. A total of 72,659 P-EBT cards have been issued and were mailed out this week for families to access the fall benefit amount. Only one card will be issued in the eldest child’s name per household — if there are multiple children in the same household, all the benefits will be issued on the same card.

The Human Services Department and Public Education Department apologizes for the confusion and the delays customers have experienced in obtaining the cards and information regarding the P-EBT program. The new P-EBT hotline will help improve communications for customers.

  • If you have never received SNAP and received the summer P-EBT benefit, the fall benefit will be issued onto the same card.
  • If you have never received SNAP and did not receive the summer P-EBT benefit, you will receive a P-EBT card before the end of October.
  • If you are an existing SNAP customer and received the summer P-EBT benefit on your SNAP EBT card, you will receive a separate P-EBT card for the fall benefit before the end of October.
  • For additional information or eligibility questions please call the NEW P-EBT hotline at 1-833-415-0569. 
  • For assistance in activating or replacing an EBT card please contact the card vendor, FIS Global, at 1-800-843-8303.
  • For frequently asked questions and to view the amount of benefits issued based on each school schedule, please visit: https://www.hsd.state.nm.us/LookingForAssistance/p-ebt.aspx.

The Human Services Department provides services and benefits to more than 1 million New Mexicans through several programs including: the Medicaid Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Child Support Program, and several Behavioral Health Services.