Attendees:

COMMITTEE BOARD MEMBERS

President, Project Leader of the Annual Giving Campaign  – Shanon Trygstad
Co-Vice Presidents – Jane Asher and Leanne Victorine
Secretary  – Inese Svikkalne
Treasurer – Calvin Sevan Mazlumyan

Board Members: Candace Nycz, Danielle Schenker, Edan Goldenberg, Nicole Steuch, Dan Kolodziej, Jeff Werner, Isack Fadlon, Brianna Hill, Stephanie Richards, Shula Van Buren, Bea Wood, Victoria Yoon, Jane Asher, Jessica Mockler, Wioletta Saleba, Kineret Spector, Soni Chawla, Leanne Victorine and Alisa Wiegers, Nicole Lapidus, Kat Kirkwood, Christen Cavaletti, Lora Robbins, Emerald Listermann, Susan Williams and Sreerag.

Budget – Calvin

So far, we have collected $312,792 from our parents. There are fewer declined credit cards than last year. Expenses: the field trip busses cost more now and we need to plan for that for the next year.

The yearbook and 5th grade culmination – Calvin, Shanon and Mrs. Parker

Mrs. Parker advised that all pictures for the yearbook need to be submitted through Ms. Glass. No pictures can come from parent volunteers without teacher approval. Calvin raised a question regarding hosting the graduation party on a weekend at the Park La Brea. Mrs. Parker noted that since it is not a school sponsored event and is coordinated between parents only, she has no objections to an off-campus party.

Update on the Town and Country development – Shanon

There is a small working group with councilman Ryu’s office – evaluation process has started to determine what needs to be included in the EIR. During the fact finding process it was discovered that Park LaBrea doesn’t have an exclusive right to the parking spaces in front of the Park LaBrea property on Colgate street and therefore they will be opened up to the public. This could help parents with parking during drop off and pick up. Regency has expressed that they prefer smaller groups of parents to participate in discussions in town hall meetings. The concessions the builder has made so far are: reflective glass will no longer be used for the outer walls; the height has been reduced down to 8 stories from the previous 20. The developer currently has promised a 10 foot wall during construction, but we would like a much taller, sound-proof barrier. We are proposing that the developer moves the bungalows to create distance from the apartment building.

Beautification, native garden and the farm – Jeff

Jeff provided a detailed description of work completed on 01/26/19. Parent volunteers painted 35 benches, cleaned up garbage and planted about 40 plants. We have received a $1700 donation from Regency, which was used to purchase the following: 14 very large ceramic pots (most of which are colored and glazed and can replace some of the existing plastic pots); 14 very large plants, all LAUSD compliant and low water, to go in the pots; rosemary and geranium plants (about 30 plants total) to put in the wood container boxes around the small cafeteria, all LAUSD compliant; organic soil to fill all the pots; two new 100 foot heavy duty hoses with nozzles (to replace old ones); and shovels for potting plants. It would be helpful to have one more beautification day before the school year ends. Another project that could be undertaken is installation of pink/beige granite that looks like dirt and can be used to keep the water from evaporating around the plants. Four inches of dirt needs to be dug out before we can lay down granite, so this is a time consuming and labor-intensive project. Another project on the agenda is painting the teachers’ lounge. Jeff also proposed painting the classroom doors.

Walk-a-thon – Leanne

In order to simplify the process and reduce the workload for Leanne, Calvin proposed that the bookkeeper take over the task of preparing the list of donations over $100. Every child will get a small prize for participation. We will sell Yougurtland during pick up (from about 2:30 – 3:00). In order to speed up the selling of yogurt it was decided that only three flavors and no toppings will be offered. Since only a few people had used the online donation form, the decision was made to extend the donation window until the end of the walk-a-thon week. We have received $2600 in sponsor donations. Room parents will need to send an email to remind parents to give kids $3.00 cash for yogurt. Total walk-a-thon proceeds for K are $4,496 and $4,429 for 1st grade. Our grand total for the entire school stands at $22,826.80.

Upcoming family dinner night – Jane

The date for the family dinner night was changed to February 13th.

Donor appreciation party in the spring – Inese

The donor appreciation event is designed to honor our top parent contributors in terms of financial and also volunteer work contributions to HPE. Last year’s donor appreciation party was held in our Board member’s Jane Asher’s garden and was a great success. Jane has kindly agreed to host the party again and Inese will compile the list of invitees, send out the invitations and help with all other organizational aspects.

Mrs. Parker requested funds for a wheelbarrow, 8 tables and several pop-up tents. Everyone voted “yes”.

The meeting convened at 7:00pm

President, Project Leader of the Annual Giving Campaign  – Shanon Trygstad
Co-Vice Presidents – Jane Asher and Leanne Victorine
Secretary  – Inese Svikkalne
Treasurer – Calvin Sevan Mazlumyan.

Board Members: Candace Nycz, Danielle Schenker, Edan Goldenberg, Nicole Steuch, Dan Kolodziej, Jeff Werner, Isack Fadlon, Brianna Hill, Stephanie Richards, Shula Van Buren, Bea Wood, Victoria Yoon, Jane Asher, Jessica Mockler, Wioletta Saleba, Kineret Spector, Soni Chawla, Leanne Victorine and Alisa Wiegers, Nicole Lapidus, Kat Kirkwood, Christen Cavaletti, Lora Robbins, Emerald Listermann, Susan Williams and Sreerag.

AGC, Grants, and Banner sales – Shanon and Calvin

This has been our best year for parent contributions. Park La Brea parent contribution is at 141,065, which is 30K more than last year and will be matched by Park La Brea with further 100K totaling 241,066. Total current proceeds from fundraising are a little over 400K. We believe that the increased participation is due to efforts of RPs and Board Members who have been following up by sending letters and emails to families. Proceeds from the carnival amount to 23K, which is about 3-4K more than last year. All in all we have collected about 80K more than last year. Four classrooms have 100% participation and will receive a pizza party. They will be held on Thursday and Friday, November 15th and November 16th.

Isack is part of a small group of parents that has created a logo with the official school mascot Jaguar. It will be used on various types of merchandise and sales will benefit the school.

HPE Website – Shanon

Emerald will build a separate website for FoHPS. Mrs. Parker is in favor of keeping the official school website separate. The FoHPS website will be fixed by a professional vendor to eliminate the donation link glitches that occurred during the fundraising campaign in the fall.  Kat Kirkwood has offered to help Kineret with posting to HPE social media pages and our school website.

The Art Patio and other Potential Projects – Shanon and Calvin

Shanon and Calvin met with LAUSD reps regarding putting up a 25 foot retractable umbrella in the art patio area. The hurdle is making this space ADA approved. We made around 10K deposit with the district. It is earmarked for the art patio project, but could be used to shade other areas around the campus. Gilmore grant might be another option for extra funds for shading projects.

Family Dinner Night– Jane

The Farmers Market dinner night was fun. Jane will report on the final figures when they become available. We might not have raised as much money as with Andre’s, but it was a welcome change from our typical line-up of dining/shopping options.

School Safety – Jane, Isack and Shanon

Mrs. Parker was present and open to answer any questions on safety. These questions can also be addressed at the School Site Council meeting and all are welcome to attend. We are waiting to hear back on an estimate to put in a security camera. Other inexpensive and easy to implement safety ideas such as door stoppers were discussed. It was determined that the classroom doors currently lock automatically and door stoppers are not necessary.

Update on the Kmart construction- Town and Country Development – Shanon and Jessica

We discussed the creation of a sub-committee to respond to the proposed plans and what other actions we can take to respond to the Town and Country development. Jessica reported that the size of the development is reduced in terms of height, but not in terms of the number of units, which currently stands at 350. There is some conversation about setting the development further back towards the 3rd street, putting a pool bordering the school, and moving the teacher parking lot to where now the basketball courts are. There have been no concrete promises from the builder. There is a meeting scheduled on Monday after the Thanksgiving break. Parents need to write letters and get signatures in the neighborhood and take on more of a leadership role. Sreerag offered to make a detailed drawing that can serve as a visual aid and could be helpful to the parents in understanding the scope and magnitude of the proposed development.

Jessica Mockler, Sreerag and Lora Robbins want to be a part of the action group with development related matters. Second group had been formed previously to meet with the public relations representatives of the builder. Mrs. Hollis was part of this group and following her departure from HPE we need more parents to join this group and attend meetings.

The School Gardens – Jeff and Brianna

Jan 26th is approved as a mid-year clean up and painting day. We need more volunteers for this. Issues regarding lost and found were presented. It is emptied once a month and, because the clothes are often laying on the ground for long periods of time, they are dirty and wet and not suitable for donation unless laundered. Ideas were presented to find a service that can do this for free. Paying someone to launder the clothes before donating them is against the statutes of FoHPS. Another idea was to create a clothing tag with HPE jaguar mascot with a place for student’s name and room number. This would help to identify where the lost clothes need to be returned.

Teachers’ Appreciation Breakfast – Shanon

Shula, who is leading this event, was not present at the meeting. It is scheduled for Friday, December 7th and is looked forward to and cherished by our teachers. All 80 teachers and staff are invited. We will be giving out Chick-Fil-A gift cards to our staff. Brianna offered to take care of coffee. After the Thanksgiving break, Shula will send out an email asking parent volunteers to help with set up, serving, food donations and other tasks.

Walk-a-thon – Leanne

Mrs. Parker approved the save the date flyer; it will go out before the winter break. All voted in favor of supplying the teachers and staff with free T-shirts. An idea was presented to create a link to a special walk-a-thon donation portal that can be accessed through our school website. The proceeds from the walk-a thon will go towards a shade structure. Jane asked the board members to discuss other alternatives to our popsicle parties that are typically awarded to the classroom with most donations. She reasoned that we should discourage using food as reward and keep foods that are high in sugar and artificial food coloring from the classrooms. Board members discussed other alternatives such as frozen banana pops and left it open for further consideration.

The meeting convened at 7:00pm

Attendees:

COMMITTEE BOARD MEMBERS

President, Project Leader of the Annual Giving Campaign  – Shanon Trygstad
Co-Vice Presidents – Jane Asher and Leanne Victorine
Secretary  – Inese Svikkalne
Treasurer – Calvin Sevan Mazlumyan.

Board Members: Candace Nycz, Danielle Schenker, Edan Goldenberg, Nicole Steuch, Dan Kolodziej, Jeff Werner, Isack Fadlon, Brianna Hill, Stephanie Richards, Shula Van Buren, Bea Wood, Victoria Yoon, Jane Asher, Christine Chipres, Jessica Mockler, Wioletta Saleba, Kineret Spector, Soni Chawla, Leanne Victorine and Alisa Wiegers, Nicole Lapidus, Kat Kirkwood, Christen Cavaletti, Lora Robbins, Emerald Listermann, Susan Williams and Sreerag.

AGC, Grants, and Banner sales – Shanon, Calvin and Isack

RPs and Board Member have been following up by sending letters and emails to families. Our
current participation:

• Kinder – 2nd has 74%
• 3rd has 55%
• 4th and 5th has 46%

Ideas to increase participation were discussed.  Families who have not historically donated before have donated this year.  This means our message is positive, inclusive and working.  Overall, approximately 2/3 of the school has donated.  We also have 4 Jaguar ($5000) level donors.

The Carnival – Shanon, Victoria

During the Fall Carnival we were able to raise a net of $10,745 (after all expenses were deducted).  This amount is $1,263 more than last year.

HPE Website – Shanon and Calvin

The website will be fixed by a professional vendor.  Kat Kirkwood has offered to help Kineret with posting to HPE Social Media pages and our school website.

The Art Patio and other Potential Projects – Shanon and Calvin

Family Dinner Night– Jane

Shanon discussed an option of hosting our family dinner nights at the Farmer’s Market.

School Safety – Jane, Isack and Shanon

Update on the Kmart construction- Town and Country Development – Shanon and Jessica

The School Gardens

The two Board Members Jeff and Briana, who are responsible for the beautification, native garden and the farm, were not present; Jeff’s email was read for an update.

Teachers’ Appreciation Breakfast – Shula

Walk-a-thon – Leanne

Leanne is looking for help with the Walk-a-thon since she hasn’t run the event before. Soni and Shula agreed to help. Leanne will reach out to Norma who ran it for several years, but has left the school now, to learn the process and timeline.

Incoming Board Members – Shanon

Potential New Board Members: Kat Kirkwood, Christen Cavaletti and Sreerag were approved and have joined the Board.

The meeting convened at 7:15pm

Attendees:

COMMITTEE BOARD MEMBERS

ShanonTrygstad– President, Project Leader of the Annual Giving Campaign

Inese Svikkalne – Secretary, Project Leader AGC Donation Tree & Donor Parties 

Lora Altounian- Treasurer

Brian Altounian

Bea Wood–Room Parent Coordinator

Stephanie Richards – Project Leader Teacher Appreciation Week

Victoria Yoon – Project Leader Carnival

Norma Luna – Project Leader Walkathon

Jenna Denning – Project Leader Family Dinner Nights

New Board Members: Jane Asher, Leena Bhakri, Sara Diaz, Jessica Mockler, Wioletta Saleba, Kineret Spector, and Leanne Victorine

Non-Board Member attendees: Ismail Turk, Sanj Hagan, Priya Mirpuri, Felicia Fadlon, Candace Nylz, and Jennifer Hsu.

Principal Ashlee Parker made a brief appearance to thank the board members for all their contributions to making Hancock Park an amazing school and for their efforts in raising money to elevate our students’ learning experience.

1. Introduction of the Board members and their programs – Shanon.

Shanon welcomed the new Board Members and introduced the existing Board members and the programs that they are in charge of. Then she gave a brief background on the Annual Giving Campaign (AGC) and turned over to the Treasurer for an update on the current numbers. Lora Altounian reported that we have raised 240K so far, but we need 75K more; less than 45% of families have donated. Programs will have to be cut, if we don’t reach our target amount. Members proposed various ideas of what we can do to continue a positive a campaign and raise our participation percentages. Some ideas were repeating the last year’s morning meet and greet at the front gate with coffee and donation forms handy, however, Mrs. Parker indicated she would prefer volunteers to not approach parents directly to solicit donations.

Decision was made to do the final push on September 18^th with coffee and pastries and displays of banners reflecting current participation by grade level. Parent volunteers will be available to answer questions regarding AGC. Lora also indicated that she would like to find 3-4 parents to shadow her since she will be leaving the school next year and we will need someone to take over the Treasurer role. The person should have accounting or Quick Books experience.

2. Project Leader Harvest Carnival– Victoria Yoon

Carnival is scheduled for October 7^th. Victoria still has to order the food, booths will need to be set up for the games etc. and we need parent volunteers for the set up the day before and for help with various activities and food stations during the carnival. Ralphs will donate $20; Victoria is waiting to see, if we can get free corn from Trader Joe’s. For the first time, the carnival will be open to public and we need to advertise at local schools and in nearby neighborhoods. We are building a haunted hallway, that Mrs. Cabeen is in charge of. Victoria proposed using decorations that we can sell at the end of the event; she has already purchased fidget spinners for prizes.

3. Project Leader E-blasts– Kineret Spector.

E-blasts go out to over a 1000 emails. Anybody who has an important message for the school community can contact Kineret. All emails, however, have to be run by Mrs. Parker. Kineret needs at least a one-day notice before she can send out an E-blast. She also puts the message on Facebook. Her goal is to coordinate so that every message gets out automatically on all social media outlets. Twitter would be good for last minute updates; Kineret asked that we consider openinga Twitter account.

4. Room Parent Coordinator – Bea Wood

Bea let us know that we are still missing RPs for 4 classrooms. She has not heard back from 13 RPs who had committed to taking on this role. She will follow up to make sure that they are still on board, otherwise we will need to seek new RPs.

5. Project Leader Family Dinners– Jenna Denning

Jenna presented future plans for family dinner nights and provided background on the relationship with Andre’s and its’ long standing support for our school. Andre’s gives us between 20-30% of sales on their dinner nights. Jenna welcomed parent suggestions on what other restaurants we would like to participate, because Andre’s would like us to have less reliance on them. Chipotle was one suggestion. Jenna will shadow Jenna Denning to learn about back to school nights this year. It was suggested that we could do more than one restaurant in the Grove/Farmer’s Market on one night, since it is hard to find a place large enough to accommodate our community. Family friendly and walkable are the criteria we need to meet. The food trucks will no longer be allowed on campus, because they turn parent attention away from the main targeted activities like the Back to School night etc. Attendees shared other money raising ideas such as a movie night and yard sale.

6. Project Leader School Beautification – Samantha Olsson Shear

In Samantha’s absence, Stephanie presented the native garden and campus greening issues. She provided ideas for clean-up of the perimeter of the school. The farm (the boxes and the fenced-in area for growing vegetables) was incorporated into the curriculum by many teachers, but we need to have a dedicated person to take it under their wing.

7. Ogden Street Gate

Ideas were presented on what to do to re-open the Ogden St. gate. It was closed due to safety concerns that were discussed during the Back to School night. The main gate is too narrow to accommodate the newly increased traffic and is causing congestion and parent complaints. Shanon will follow up with Mrs. Parker to see if there are any new developments.

The meeting convened at approximately 7:30 p.m

Attendees:

Angela Ridgeon – President

Shanon Trygstad – Secretary

Lora Altounian – Treasurer

Stephanie Richards – Project Leader Teacher Appreciation Week

Shula Van Buren – Project Leader Teacher & Staff Holiday Breakfast

Victoria Yoon – Project Leader Carnival

Norma Luna – Project Leader Walkathon

Jenna Denning – Project Leader Family Dinner Nights

Samantha Olsson Shear – Project Leader Beautification

Inese Svikkalne – Project Leader AGC Donation Tree & Donor Parties 

Ms. Hollis – Assistant Principal

Welcome:

Angela Ridgeon, President, welcomed everyone to the meeting.  Principal Parker and Assistant Principal Hollis attended the entirety of the meeting, along with all Board members.

Room Parent Grade Representatives:

For the next school year 2017-18 the FoHPS has recruited Room Parent Grade Representatives to attend the 4 x annual meetings, and to serve as a liaison between the Board and Room Parents. Kinder: Soni Chawla, 1^st Grade: Bea Wood, 2^nd Grade: Sanj Hagan, 3^rd Grade: Oksana Kirsanova, 4^th Grade: Calvin Sevan and 5^th Grade: TBA. Still more volunteers are needed for the board.

2017/2018 Budget:

Lora Altounian, Treasurer, presented the budget for review and approval.   It was unanimously approved.

Updated Bylaws:

Shanon Trygstad, Secretary, presented the new bylaws for review and approval. The bylaws were unanimously approved.

Elections:

Officer elections were held for the 2017/2018 FoHPS Board.  Shanon Trygstad was voted in as President, Lora Altounian was voted in as Treasurer, Inese Svikkalne as Secretary and Brian Altounian as a new board member.

Shade Structure:

Angela provided an update on the shade structure for the Art Patio.  The shade will cost $21,820. and the ‘soft costs’ were reduced from $12,097. to $9,050. The hope is that it will be in place for the 2017/2018 school year. Mrs. Parker has to investigate one of the clauses, which incorporates a disability ramp into the project costs, before the go ahead can be given.

Outside theatrical/lecture space:

The area is complete and it will be officially opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Carnival on May 6, 2017.  The Board members are impressed with Mark Harelik’s work on the structure.

Last Family Dinner Night:

Jenna Denning shared that it will be held at Andre’s on May 24, 2017.  We talked about maybe considering Chipotle at the Grove next year.

Teacher Appreciation Week:

Stephanie Richards shared that it will take place during the week of May 1^st – 5th, 2017.  Each grade will be assigned a day to bring food and 4^th & 5th will share the last day.   Volunteers are needed and Stephanie asked that room parents to remind their families to contribute. E-blasts will be sent, together with email reminders to Room Parents, for distribution to parents.

Carnival:

Victoria Yoon provided an update regarding the planning of the Carnival.   Parent volunteers are needed to help set up/break down the booths, clean up and run the booths.  The Dunk Tank is not coming this year, due to Health & Safety restrictions. However, as ARC are not in attendance we have to pay for the climbing wall ($600.), but we will have the Euro Jump. We came up with the idea of putting flyers in the backpacks to say we needed volunteers (maybe the first 20 people get a free wristband?)

Open House:

It is scheduled for May 9, 2017.  Angela is arranging for food trucks to attend the event.

Book Fair:

It will be held May 8-12, 20-17 in Room 32.  Mrs. Parker requested that parents volunteer to assist with the Book Fair which will be in room 32, and run from May 8^th-11^th.   The times are 9:00-1:30pm Monday and Tuesday and 9:00-3:00pm on Wednesday & Thursday.

New Families Meet and Greet:

Date TBD (maybe Saturday 12^th August from 11:00-12:00pm.  It is requested that the FoHPS Board members and other volunteers attend to help welcome new families.

First Day of School:

Bea Wood (room parent for Ms Assael) volunteered to be the new lead for the ‘first day of school’. She will liaise with Jenna and Stephanie.

Board Photo:

A picture was taken in the library of all the board members. This will be put in the year book and displayed on the board in the hall.

Buses for Field trips:

Teachers need to book these well in advance (early in the school year), otherwise they are nearly double the price if left until the last minute.

Scholar Share:

Jenna is handling this for next year, which means HPS may qualify for a donation.

Rewards programs: Ralph’s, Amazon & Amazon Smile:

Samantha agreed to take responsibility for this project next year. We need to get flyers in the Welcome Packs for these programs.

Park La Brea:

Angela & Shula took lunch for staff at PLB and sent them an invoice for $100,000, together with the proof of residency report from the Annual Giving Campaign. Angela is asking Ms. Cabeen’s class to make a thank you card.

Science Enrichment:

Next year Ms D Glass will be providing some extra Science classes to the school curriculum, for the GATE program. The board members and Mrs. Parker will discuss, to see if the FoHPS has room in the budget to fund these.

Sandbox in the Kindergarten yard:

This structure was built, but proved unsuitable for the kinder yard. We would like to repurpose the sand, so it was suggested that we ask Park La Brea if they would like to add it to the volleyball pitch. They must come and collect.

Morning Drop Off:

Ms Hollis confirmed that this scheme is running well, thanks to the help of the room parents.

HPS Parent Center:

Ms Hollis and Mrs Parker confirmed that this will be going ahead, and we will be seeking donations of furniture etc. It will be in room 32.

Plans for next year:

Remove the baseball backstops and widen the concrete path that leads to the playground from the back gate. Mark to put up two donated sails near the bungalow classrooms.
The meeting convened at 7:30 p.m.

2017 – 2018 – The first FoHPS meeting will be held on Thursday September 7th, 2017 at 6:00pm.:

Attendees:

Board members (10)

Angela Ridgeon – President

Shanon Trygstad – Secretary

Lora Altounian – Treasurer

Stephanie Richards – Project Leader Teacher Appreciation Week

Victoria Yoon – Project Leader Carnival

Norma Luna – Project Leader Walkathon

Jenna Denning – Project Leader Family Dinner Nights

Samantha Olsson Shear – Project Leader Beautification

Inese Svikkalne – Project Leader AGC Donation Tree & Donor Parties – Apologies

Shula Van Buren – Project Leader Teacher & Staff Holiday Breakfast – Apologies

Ms. Hollis – Assistant Principal

Welcome:

Angela Ridgeon, President, welcomed everyone to the meeting.  Assistant Principal Ms. Hollis was present for the entirety of the meeting, along with all Board members except Shula Van Buren and Inese Svikkalne who could not attend. No other HPS parents attended this meeting.

Walk-a-thon:

Norma and Angela provided the Board with an update on the status of the 7th Annual Walk-a-thon.   Angela has approached approximately ten potential community partners about sponsoring the event, in exchange for having their logo on the back of the t-shirt.  Only four: Andres, El Coyote, Got Game and Rosalie the Realtor, agreed to a donation for the Walk-a-thon. We will also include the logos from Whole Foods (donating fruit), Yogurtland (donating frozen yogurt) and the LADWP (donating water).  Ms. Hollis notified the Board that the HPS teachers felt uncomfortable receiving a free Walkathon t-shirt, whereas the instructional aides and support staff are required to purchase them for $10.00.   It was proposed and agreed that since the cost to provide the t-shirts was less than $200.00, and we raised additional money through the sponsorships from our community partners, that the Board show support and respect for these members, and purchase everyone a Walk-a-thon t-shirt. 

Norma is still seeking volunteers for the Walk-a-thon.  Angela Ridgeon and Lora Altounian (Treasurer) and other Board Members are going to assist; however additional help is needed to distribute gifts and t-shirts to classrooms.  Angela is going to contact the LADWP for a donation of purified water and the students will be urged to bring their own water bottles.  We would then ask students to bring their own bottle to the ‘water truck’ (or be provided with a recycled, disposable cup).   It was agreed that we would ask Whole Foods to donate oranges or cuties to the Walk-a-thon.  The Board discussed options of what would be a suitable prize as a ‘give-away’ for the students who raise $1 or more.  It was decided that the students would be given a mustache, which they have enjoyed in the past. 

HPS Parent Center:

Ms. Hollis notified the Board of the FoHPS that Mrs. Parker would like to open a Parent Center at HPS.  At present, there a few options for the Center, including bungalow 32 or 33, but the exact location will be determined after it is decided whether the transitional kindergarten class will be returned to HPS for the 2017/2018 school year.  Décor and furniture will be needed for the room, and donations will be requested via e-blasts and room parent connections.  It will be a designated space for all parents to use whilst on campus, as well as somewhere for SSC and ELAC meetings.  It will have a soft area with sofas and a rug, together with a meeting table with chairs and maybe a computer and a fridge.  Currently Got Game are using these rooms, so we need to make sure someone can manage the area. The Board members expressed their support for the development of a Parent Center.

School Improvements: 

Angela provided an update on her inquiries about improving the grass field.  She proposed adding an Astroturf track around the perimeter of the field, as it is the most used area (Walk-a-thon, Got Game etc.).  She is in the processing of determining whether LAUSD will allow this update to be made, and the cost.  The Board is in favor of the concept.  Angela also confirmed that a parent donated 2 x large, shading sails, which could be installed to provide additional shading for the students between the bungalows.  Lastly, the Board agreed that we would like to purchase a permanent shading structure for the Art Patio, similar to the shading structure used on the Kinder Yard (provided by Shade Structures, an LAUSD provider).  Angela is looking into the cost to see if we have sufficient funds for the purchase.  A meeting with one of LAUSD’s Complex Plant Managers is scheduled to discuss the installation of the Astroturf, the shading sails and shading for the Art Patio.  We also talked about developing the ‘forest’ area near the basketball courts.

Board Members photograph:

We are still looking for a suitable date that is mutually convenient for Dan and the FoHPS board members.

Outside theatrical/lecture type space:

Stephanie proposed setting up the space where the greenhouse used to be – next to the restrooms, near the play structure.  Maybe a raised platform or mini amphitheater?  The estimated cost to make this update is less than $1,000. The Board supported the idea.  Angela will contact Mark Harelik to discuss costs and design for this area (and also the ‘forest’), which could also be used for school ceremonies.

Improvements to the grass field and fences/barrier:

Foot traffic damages the grass field.  The Board discussed various options, including having Shula ask Park La Brea to reseed the grass more often, and putting up removable barriers.

The Board delayed the go ahead on this, until a decision is made regarding the installation of the Astroturf (following a meeting with the CPM) – maybe a circular, four lane running track.  There was also a discussion about removing the baseball backstops and developing the ‘forest’ near the baseball courts.  Angela to contact the turf company – DURATURF.

Family Dinners: 

Currently HPS has five of these per year, and Jenna shared that there are only two more dinners before June 9th. The next one is to be at Andres on Wednesday January 25th, when a very generous 25% of all the proceeds will be donated to the FoHPS – the highest amount offered by any other restaurant.  Andres also currently donates a percentage of all bottle sales throughout the year. Everyone agreed that Andres was a favorite among the HPS families, and that maybe the last dinner, March 16th, should be there as well.   Many graduated families would like to be invited the Family Dinner Nights, and Angela agree to see if we can provide a way for them to sign up for the email blasts – maybe with an alumni page on our website.

Jenna to contact Aron at Andres to ask if he would like to host all five of the Family Dinner Nights for the next school year 2017-18.

Extra Coding Classes:   

A parent has inquired whether the FoHPS can fund Mr. Paul teaching extra coding classes.  However, Mr. Paul is already providing some after school coding enrichment classes for Got Game.  It was agreed that this issue should be forwarded to Mrs. Parker and Ms. Hollis. 

Carnival (May 6th): 

Victoria needs help, especially with the various barbecues.  Last year it was difficult to get student volunteers as most of them have already completed their required donor time for graduation.  We are completely out of raffle prizes, so this year we will start from scratch. The Board discussed asking some alumni students if they would like to participate.

Open House:

This is scheduled for May 9, 2017 – no further details yet.

Book Fair:

This event is presently scheduled for May 15, 2017, but will probably change.  Mrs. Parker to confirm new date.

AOB

Meetings:

It was proposed and agreed that all future FoHPS meetings will commence at 6:00pm, instead of 6:30pm.  It was proposed and agreed that Ms. Hollis should be invited to all future FoHPS meetings.

Culmination (June 9th, 2017):

Shanon confirmed she needs volunteer support for this event.  Angela to contact Maggiano’s to request that they provide food for the 5th Grade Culmination Party (they had offered to donate food for the Walk-a-thon, but the board agreed this was not a suitable event).

Annual Room Parents Meeting:

Angela to arrange a room parents meeting after Spring Break, to gather more volunteers for the Carnival, Culmination and FoHPS board positions for 2017-18 school year.

Next FoHPS Meeting:

The fourth and final FoHPS meeting is scheduled for April 20th, 2017 at 6:00pm in the library. Elections will take place at this meeting.

The meeting convened at approximately 7:30 p.m.

MINUTES
from the 2nd
FRIENDS OF HANCOCK PARK SCHOOL (FoHPS) Meeting
November 1, 2016

Board members (10)

• Angela Ridgeon – President
• Shanon Trygstad – Secretary
• Lora Altounian – Treasurer
• Stephanie Richards – Project Leader Teacher Appreciation Week – Apologies
• Shula Van Buren – Project Leader Teacher & Staff Holiday Breakfast
• Victoria Yoon – Project Leader Carnival – Apologies
• Norma Luna – Project Leader Walkathon – Apologies
• Jenna Denning – Project Leader Family Dinner Nights – Apologies
• Samantha Olsson Shear – Project Leader Beautification
• Inese Svikkalne – Project Leader AGC Donation Tree & Donor Parties

Welcome:

Angela Ridgeon, President, welcomed everyone to the meeting and everyone present introduced themselves. Angela Ridgeon also introduced the two new board members: Inese Svikkalne and Samantha Olsson Shear, total 10 members.

The Annual Giving Campaign 2016/17:

Shanon Trygstad, the project leader of the Annual Giving Campaign (AGC) and Secretary of the Board, shared the good news that the AGC 2016/2017 raised $275,302.00 and that just over 60% of the families participated. This is a 10% increase from last year when the AGC 2015/2016 raised $246,475.80 and approx 50% percent of the families participated. We used a more personal approach this year – not too many blanket emails, no hard push at the gates – instead providing coffee and treats to say ‘thank you’ and direct emails and letters to parents.

We hope to raise approximately $26,000.00 from the 2017 Walkathon and $11,000.00 from the Spring Carnival.

Park La Brea: It was confirmed that their donation of $100,000.00 will be made.

School Improvements: Angela Ridgeon talked about the improvements made to the ‘lost and found’ area and that items that are not collected will be donated to
Alexandria House, which benefits families in need. The lunch pavilion now has planters on each corner, the cafeteria patio is a great new space with wheeled planters, new aluminum planters are in the kinder yard, and the Art Patio has a patio area with succulents. The greenhouse has been repaired and relocated behind the main building.

School Beautification: Samantha Olsson Shear is the new project leader for school beautification, and the Beautification Day was very successful – the campus was tidied up, there was new planting and storage sheds were moved. Samantha has set up a ‘volunteer watering schedule for the garden areas’. Here is the link: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0b45aca72aa46-beautification
It was discussed that maybe Coach K and team could help with the watering over the summer. The best times for watering could be immediately after drop off, or after 3:00pm.

AGC Donation Tree and Donor Parties: Inese Svikkalne reported that we may need to order more leaves for the AGC Donation Tree – she is investigating. Inese shared that approx 50 people (adults and children) are attending the Platinum Donor party (donations of $2,000.+) at Marie Callender’s on Saturday 5th of November. Mrs Parker will be giving a speech and reading a story.

The Gilmore Adobe house (behind Umami Burger at The Grove) could be a potential venue for the Platinum ($2,000.), Gold ($1,500.) and Silver ($1,000.) Donors Party in the Spring.

Teacher/Staff Holiday Breakfast: Shula Van Buren introduced herself and said that the staff at Hancock Park staff really appreciate the breakfast. This year it will be Thursday 8th December and food will provided for around all 109 staff members. Peet’s may donate coffee (Stephanie Richards to check). Shula hopes that families will make dishes to bring. Juices and cereal bars are being donated. The event will occur in the library, which will be decorated. Gift Cards from Whole Foods are given out as gifts. Room parents will be asked to send out an email to the classroom parents asking for volunteers to assist with the breakfast.

Walkathon: Norma Luna was not able to attend. Lora Altounian, Treasurer, is going to assist Norma with the Walkathon. Other help will be requested nearer the time. A note will go home in the backpacks before Winter Break and the
sponsor forms and envelopes will be distributed during the first week of school. A suggestion was made to contact DWP for a donation of purified water. We would then ask students to bring their own bottle to the ‘kiosk’.

AOB: Cindy Bitterman, school nurse and her husband, Shem from Mid City West Resident group, presented information about modifying the West 6th Street Safety Plan through a “Road Diet”. They circulated letters that they would need parents to send to City Hall. It was not decided whether this would be supported by the Friends of Hancock Park. Angela will speak to Mrs Parker.

Open Forum: During the open forum ideas were discussed for improvements that should be made on campus. They included: shading for the Art Partio, further shading for the lunch pavilion, shading for the play structure on the main yard, increasing art classes with Ms. Ingrid (maybe a full time position), equipment for the students to use during lunch and recess and a watering system. In addition, the members discussed our goal of funding bus field trips. Shula Van Buren agreed to explore some options for shading and Izzie Pick Ashcroft (new Kinder Mom) said she would be willing to donate her sails.

Banner Sales: Ruben Carreno, Project Leader shared that the banner for Rosalie the Realtor was ready for collection. It was agreed that the banners with the graffiti displayed on the back gate (from the 2015/2016 AGC) should be taken down, and a decision as to whether to get new ones, would be delayed until the end of this school year, or the start of the 2017/2018 school year.

The meeting convened at approximately 7:30 p.m.

Next Meeting will be January 19th 2017.

Welcome:  Angela, President and Room Parent Coordinator welcomed everyone to the meeting and discussed the goals for Friends of Hancock.  She said that she hoped that more parents would get involved.   Angela introduced the Committee Board Members which are:

President, Room Parent Coordinator and PLB Liaison – Angela Ridgeon

Secretary and Project Leaser of the Annual Giving Campaign – Shanon Trygstad

Treasurer – Lora Altounian (who was not present)

Project Leader Family Dinners – Jenna Denning

Project Leader Walkathon – Norma Luna

Project Leader Teacher Appreciation Week, Native Garden and Yearbook – Stephanie Richards

Project Leader Staff Appreciation, Native Garden and PLB Liaison – Shula Van Buren

Project Leader Spring Carnival – Victoria Yoon

Ms. Hollis spoke about school safety, including the importance of the morning drop off.  Each family is asked to donate 1 day for each student attending Hancock Park.  Each class will be assigned roughly a week of drop off.  It is important that there be at least two, and preferably, three people present during drop off.  Parents are asked that if they see that there are not sufficient volunteers at drop off to think about helping out.

Mrs. Parker briefly welcomed the parents and thanked everyone for their support.  She said that the mission of the Friends of Hancock Park is to support the instructional programs and priorities of the school which include: learning, physical education, arts, safety, etc.

Angela said that ideally each class would have two room parents, but that one was ok.  There are only 3 classes that still need room parents. Angela said that she would be emailing the room parents a manual and that it is the room parents’ role to facilitate communication between the parents and the school.  The manual is intended to assist the room parents in explaining the different volunteer programs, including teacher appreciation day and school beautification day.  Angela asked that the room parents present pick up the class roster and update the Google sheet with the parents’ contact information (which should be obtained from the teacher).   The attendees discussed the importance of the room parents acting as a liaison during the Annual Giving Campaign to help increase family participation.

Annual Giving Campaign: Shanon explained that the Annual Giving Campaign is ongoing and will end October 14, 2016.  The goal is for each family to donate $750 per student because that is what is spent on each student.  The parents of Hancock Park Elementary need to raise a minimum of $250,000 to meet our budget needs during the Annual Giving Campaign.  FOHPS anticipates an additional $100,000 from Park La Brea and approximately $50,000 from the Walkathon and Spring Carnival.    The attendees discussed the need to explain to families why it is important to donate.

Teacher/Staff Holiday Breakfast: Shula introduced herself and explained how much the staff at  Hancock Park appreciate the breakfast.  She said that it is our opportunity to thank the teachers and staff.  This is Shula’s second year doing this and she said that she needs volunteers to assist her.  Shula also thanked Park La Brea for its ongoing support and recent beautification of the school.

Beautification: Shula and Stephanie spoke about school beautification which will be held on October 15, 2016.

Family Dinner Nights: Jenna explained that there would be five Family dinner nights. The first will be at Andres (and two others).  She is still exploring ideas for the other two restaurants.

Walk a Thon: Norma briefly spoke about the Walk a Thon which is held on the 100^th day of school.  It is a fund raiser for the kids to raise money for physical education.  Volunteers are needed to help.

Spring Carnival: Victoria introduced herself and explained that this is her second year coordinating the Carnival.  It will be held on May 6, 2017.   She needs a lot of help and intends to call on the people who helped last year.  She is also hoping for new volunteers.  She needs a co-chair and captains. The Carnival is at the end of the school year.

Ralphs/Amazon Rep. – Angela reminded the attendees that Ralphs cards should be registered and that Amazon purchases should be done through the link on the FOHPS webpage.

Yearbook – Stephanie confirmed that she would be in charge of the Yearbook.

Banner Sales – Someone is needed to sell banners.

Korean PTA Chair. – Someone is needed for this position.

Angela reminded the attendees that there were volunteer sign-up sheets and asked that the attendees volunteer.

The meeting ended at approximately 7:45 p.m.