The first meeting of the SSRS Parents' Committee was held on Sunday, October 17, 2010 at BSKI. There were about 20 parents in attendance.

Overall, the parents are very pleased with how the school year has started. Enrollment is up from last year.  Anita, Rabbis Miller and Fasman all were present at the meeting.

The Calendar

Everyone agreed that it is key that the school calendar be made readily available to the parents and that it be accurate. This has been done. There was also discussion about school closing for the High Holidays, Chanukah, and Pesach.  School shuts down at these important times of the year because many of the staff members leave St. Louis at these times. It was also noted that this school year started later than in the past so that there was not a session between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Closings for inclement weather will be announced on the website and on KSDK. The decision to close classes will be made by7:00am on Sundays and 2:00pm for Mondays and Wednesdays.

Classroom Issues

Concern was expressed about the departure of the teacher from 5^th grade.

The teacher left to take another position. This is the first week with the replacement teacher. It was agreed to see how the new teacher works out.

The 3^rd/4th grade class is a combined class with 16 students. There are two teacher aids in addition to the teacher in the classroom. Anita explained that if the combined enrollment reaches 18, the class would be split into two. Unfortunately, the combined class has only about four forth graders. If the class were to be split, it would be split based on demonstrated skill rather than age. If the 3^rd/4th grade stays below 18 students, it would stay a combined class.

There was overwhelming approval of the daily contact sheets.

Web Page/Facebook

Those that had seen the web page, liked it. The parents would like the Facebook site updated on a more regular interval.

The parents would like contact information for the staff online.

From the Board

Ruth highlighted the minutes of the last board meeting.

Moving Forward

By consensus, it was decided that the Patents Committee would meet on the first Sunday of each month. The next meeting will be Sunday, November 14 at 10:15 to 11:00 am. The first Sunday in November is the CJE Educators’ workshop and class is not in session.

The idea of having parent led activities on the Sundays school is not in session was brought up. Rabbi Miller also suggested periodic adult classes on Sundays, noting that he, Rabbi Fasman and Chazan Dulkin rotate through a teaching schedule and would be available for an adult education class.