- PTO Chair David Harrison brought RIT's Chief Diversity Officer, Kevin McDonald, through the school for a tour and a discussion with Principal Piper about ways CSR can collaborate with RIT. There may be an opportunity to partner on a research on diversity grant. Stay tuned!
- PTO Treasurer Betsy Frarey discussed this year's budget and the need to fund-raising. We are at our lowest level of finances in some years, and really need to find people who will help us to raise money so we can help our teachers and fund events. Consequently, we will not be hiring entertainment for the upcoming International Dinner, and we have not committed to the end-of-the-year picnic due to lack of funds.
- David will head up a CSR Cook Book to be sold as a fund raiser.
- The International Dinner will be Oct. 29th at Monroe High School cafeteria. We need people to help with set-up, teardown, and clean up. We need help to provide the kids with some activities. Does anyone want to do face painting? Emcee a talent show or karaoke?
- We would like to form a committee to work on the food service issue. Anyone interested?
- We need people to help the PTO raise funds. Anyone want to volunteer?
- We need parents for CSR workgroups. This is a great way to really get involved in the school. Please let anyone on the PTO Board or Principal Piper know of your interest.
- There was a mailing from central office to parents about the PTO's Bylaws. We've gotten about a dozen responses, all in favor. This was in response to a concern raised by a parent about how the PTO conducts itself.
- There was some discussion of perhaps having PTO meetings in other locations in order to help attendance. Perhaps we'll have a meeting in the 19th Ward, or some other area of the city where there is a concentration of parents. We could meet at a library, community center, or even a coffee shop. Do you think that's a good idea?
Friday, October 1, 2010
PTO Fall Meeting Summary
We had a good meeting last night. Thanks to everyone who attended. For those who didn't here's a quick summary:
CSR 20th Anniversary: September 25, 2010
What an amazing day! It really made you proud to be part of this school.
Monday, August 2, 2010
CSR Tours Food Service Facility
We had a great meeting today with Food Service Executive Director Leslie Fowler, who gave us a tour of the District's Food Service facilities. She showed us some of the improvements and changes that they are preparing for the upcoming school year, and shared some potential menu changes. One equipment upgrade will allow the district to prepare pasta and rice. Another involves changing the type of plastic packaging so that the pizza won't be so soggy and the buns for hot sandwiches won't be so hard. They are also going to be trying to provide cut fruit like melons as well as grapes.
We then adjoined to a conference room to preview some menu changes and discuss results of our food service surveys. Ms. Fowler would like to have us back to follow up on today's meeting and to get our feedback on the new initiatives that we'll see in the fall.
Anyone can add their comments to this posting, so if you want to chime in with your thoughts about the meeting or provide some feedback/suggestions, please do so!
Here are some more detailed notes, courtesy of Betsy F.:
Notes from CSR meeting with Leslie Fowler, Food Service Director for RCSD with Aramark
Food suppliers are Sysco and USDA (US dept of agriculture), dairy from Upstate Farms
They serve 36,000 meals a day in the RCSD.
We viewed store room, refrigerated room and freezer room (USDA chicken patties, nuggets, burgers, etc.)
The prep room told a lot of the story of their inability to provide fresh foods: there are no sinks, no temperature control in the room, no refrigerators or ovens. They can’t wash whole fruit since they don’t have the facility, so you only get whole fruit like oranges or bananas where you don’t eat the skin or that has been prewashed (apples). They do prep (cut) celery sticks that must be prewashed.
School 33 has wash sinks, but the Health Dept hasn’t given them permission to use them.
Packaging/assembly line: They have improved the process by having employees fill the trays at tables and then put them on assembly line for overwrap covering. They can “produce” more items and more complex items, such as meatball sub: meatball, sauce, cheese, and bread. The meatballs are premade and precooked when they arrive at food service frozen. They are assembled and they get to the school thawed and then are reheated at the schools.
Rice and pasta cooking kettles are 40 years old and don’t work/don’t regulate. They will be updated so they are temperature controlled/all electronic. There will also be cook chillers to cool foods down to the appropriate temperature for safety. Now they will be able to boil chicken and use seasoning bags to provide different flavorings. They will have an executive chef working with them while they are getting the updated equipment online. The upgrade should be done by Aug 16, then they will train their staff and be ready to use on Sept 2. They will also be training the staff at schools so that they don’t recook the food, only reheat it. They will also have a heat seal machine which allows them to cover only the top and they can have different compartments. Leslie wants us to revisit when the equipment is up. It will allow them to have fresh fruit like cantaloupe and honeydew, grapes, and mixed fruit in a heat sealed container. It comes to them already cut. They will also be able to do things like pepper rings and zucchini/squash sticks.
Pack out room: Food is packed on one day, delivered the next day and served the following day or next. Monday’s food is packed on Friday. So food they serve has to be able to hold. Part of this is due to number of trucks they have.
We asked about lowering sugar content of breakfast items. She said the sugar content is looked at over a week’s worth of meals—that they are not providing food with too much sugar. Also said if they cut the sugar content, they wouldn’t meet the calorie count they need (you heard it here). Can’t switch from Sysco supplied Trix yogurt from something less sugary made by Upstate, for example, because Upstate doesn’t make the quantity or size/packaging they require.
We need to find out where CSR is on the list of schools that will eventually get school kitchens.
Parents please contact Leslie with feedback. The website (there’s a link from the District website) is interactive. If children don’t like food, what do they want instead—she wants input. We reviewed sample menus and made suggestions. Telesta asked not to have all sandwich items on one day so those who don’t eat bread would have some option.
Need parent involvement on an “operations specialty team” focused on the food service in the district. They would like a parent from each school on the team.
They are willing to come out to schools and do education and taste testing. We need to invite them. We could do with student council group or in Health and Wellness classes. They had a educational character last year ACE that was underutilized.
USDA doesn’t recognize vegetarianism as healthful diet, don’t recognize tofu as an alternative. Food service will add legumes and try to produce themselves instead of always having canned beans: red beans, black beans, hummus. There is always a vegetarian option, but the school cashier needs to order it. May do cheese quesadilla on alternating Fridays with pizza.
New wrap has micro-perforations to let steam out so pizza won’t be as mushy, but chicken patty will still be moist. Can’t find non-pork pepperoni for pizza.
Maybe we can get an exemption so that they can make more rice for our school. USDA does only brown rice. Only noodles available are spaghetti and rotini. Can not do oatmeal because it will reheat to a cement like texture and lunch rooms don’t have microwaves to do instant kind. They will be testing macaroni and cheese with whole wheat rotini.
Schools can have gardens, but can’t bring that food into the cafeteria.
Leslie recommends joining in on Mrs. Obama’s health initiatives and writing to legislators.
Applications for free/reduced school meals need to be in by Sept 30 or student families will be billed for meals!
We then adjoined to a conference room to preview some menu changes and discuss results of our food service surveys. Ms. Fowler would like to have us back to follow up on today's meeting and to get our feedback on the new initiatives that we'll see in the fall.
Anyone can add their comments to this posting, so if you want to chime in with your thoughts about the meeting or provide some feedback/suggestions, please do so!
Here are some more detailed notes, courtesy of Betsy F.:
Notes from CSR meeting with Leslie Fowler, Food Service Director for RCSD with Aramark
Food suppliers are Sysco and USDA (US dept of agriculture), dairy from Upstate Farms
They serve 36,000 meals a day in the RCSD.
We viewed store room, refrigerated room and freezer room (USDA chicken patties, nuggets, burgers, etc.)
The prep room told a lot of the story of their inability to provide fresh foods: there are no sinks, no temperature control in the room, no refrigerators or ovens. They can’t wash whole fruit since they don’t have the facility, so you only get whole fruit like oranges or bananas where you don’t eat the skin or that has been prewashed (apples). They do prep (cut) celery sticks that must be prewashed.
School 33 has wash sinks, but the Health Dept hasn’t given them permission to use them.
Packaging/assembly line: They have improved the process by having employees fill the trays at tables and then put them on assembly line for overwrap covering. They can “produce” more items and more complex items, such as meatball sub: meatball, sauce, cheese, and bread. The meatballs are premade and precooked when they arrive at food service frozen. They are assembled and they get to the school thawed and then are reheated at the schools.
Rice and pasta cooking kettles are 40 years old and don’t work/don’t regulate. They will be updated so they are temperature controlled/all electronic. There will also be cook chillers to cool foods down to the appropriate temperature for safety. Now they will be able to boil chicken and use seasoning bags to provide different flavorings. They will have an executive chef working with them while they are getting the updated equipment online. The upgrade should be done by Aug 16, then they will train their staff and be ready to use on Sept 2. They will also be training the staff at schools so that they don’t recook the food, only reheat it. They will also have a heat seal machine which allows them to cover only the top and they can have different compartments. Leslie wants us to revisit when the equipment is up. It will allow them to have fresh fruit like cantaloupe and honeydew, grapes, and mixed fruit in a heat sealed container. It comes to them already cut. They will also be able to do things like pepper rings and zucchini/squash sticks.
Pack out room: Food is packed on one day, delivered the next day and served the following day or next. Monday’s food is packed on Friday. So food they serve has to be able to hold. Part of this is due to number of trucks they have.
We asked about lowering sugar content of breakfast items. She said the sugar content is looked at over a week’s worth of meals—that they are not providing food with too much sugar. Also said if they cut the sugar content, they wouldn’t meet the calorie count they need (you heard it here). Can’t switch from Sysco supplied Trix yogurt from something less sugary made by Upstate, for example, because Upstate doesn’t make the quantity or size/packaging they require.
We need to find out where CSR is on the list of schools that will eventually get school kitchens.
Parents please contact Leslie with feedback. The website (there’s a link from the District website) is interactive. If children don’t like food, what do they want instead—she wants input. We reviewed sample menus and made suggestions. Telesta asked not to have all sandwich items on one day so those who don’t eat bread would have some option.
Need parent involvement on an “operations specialty team” focused on the food service in the district. They would like a parent from each school on the team.
They are willing to come out to schools and do education and taste testing. We need to invite them. We could do with student council group or in Health and Wellness classes. They had a educational character last year ACE that was underutilized.
USDA doesn’t recognize vegetarianism as healthful diet, don’t recognize tofu as an alternative. Food service will add legumes and try to produce themselves instead of always having canned beans: red beans, black beans, hummus. There is always a vegetarian option, but the school cashier needs to order it. May do cheese quesadilla on alternating Fridays with pizza.
New wrap has micro-perforations to let steam out so pizza won’t be as mushy, but chicken patty will still be moist. Can’t find non-pork pepperoni for pizza.
Maybe we can get an exemption so that they can make more rice for our school. USDA does only brown rice. Only noodles available are spaghetti and rotini. Can not do oatmeal because it will reheat to a cement like texture and lunch rooms don’t have microwaves to do instant kind. They will be testing macaroni and cheese with whole wheat rotini.
Schools can have gardens, but can’t bring that food into the cafeteria.
Leslie recommends joining in on Mrs. Obama’s health initiatives and writing to legislators.
Applications for free/reduced school meals need to be in by Sept 30 or student families will be billed for meals!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Spring 2010 PTO Meeting
We had a fantastic meeting Tuesday night -- thank you to everyone who attended!
Here's a recap:
Autonomous schools: CSR has been accepted by the District to be one of 4 pilot autonomous schools. Jay Piper told us he is working to get some direction from downtown as to what that really means. There are four basic areas in which autonomous schools are supposed to have more flexibility: curriculum, scheduling, budgeting, and staffing. Several parents had ideas about programs and directions for CSR, and Jay took it all down for consideration.
Food service: We would like to schedule a meeting to follow-up our Fall PTO meeting with Food Service Director Leslie Fowler. We need input from parents. What do you think of your child's school meals? The issue of offering rice at CSR is still outstanding, although Felix Jacobs said that the necessary equipment has been purchased and needs to be installed over the summer. Question for parents: would you prefer to meet with Ms. Fowler at her office during business hours (preferably at the end of the day) or at CSR for an evening meeting in late May or early June? One advantage of meeting her at her office is that there may be an opportunity to taste test some of the foods our kids are offered.
End of the year Family Picnic: This is scheduled for June 11th. We need volunteers for set-up and clean-up duties. Please let me or Betsy know if you can help. This year we are considering asking for people to return a form indicating whether or not they are planning on attending, since last year we had so much extra food. Planning for this event is difficult, and having more people involved would really help.
Staff Appreciation Day: We need volunteers to help set up, either at the end of the day on Thursday May 27 or first thing in the morning on Friday May 28. This is a lunch that we provide to the staff as a gesture of appreciation for all that they do for our children all year long. Please bring in a dish or other food item that we can offer our awesome CSR staff. More details will be forthcoming soon.
Bus Driver Appreciation: We are thinking about perhaps an end-of-the-day ceremony, but Jay will solicit some feedback from staff, since dismissal time is sometimes hectic. Do you have any ideas about how we can show our appreciation to our bus drivers? Please let us know.
Next Year's PTO: Jay is thinking of ways to involve more ESL parents, and I would love to have a bilingual parent as chair or co-chair next year. Fund-raising is a problem, and at the rate that things are going, the PTO will not be able to provide additional funds to classrooms and specials the way we have in the past. If you have ideas about how to raise funds from parents in these challenging economic times, please let us know!
Thanks again to everyone who attended. Your support means the world to us!
Here's a recap:
Autonomous schools: CSR has been accepted by the District to be one of 4 pilot autonomous schools. Jay Piper told us he is working to get some direction from downtown as to what that really means. There are four basic areas in which autonomous schools are supposed to have more flexibility: curriculum, scheduling, budgeting, and staffing. Several parents had ideas about programs and directions for CSR, and Jay took it all down for consideration.
Food service: We would like to schedule a meeting to follow-up our Fall PTO meeting with Food Service Director Leslie Fowler. We need input from parents. What do you think of your child's school meals? The issue of offering rice at CSR is still outstanding, although Felix Jacobs said that the necessary equipment has been purchased and needs to be installed over the summer. Question for parents: would you prefer to meet with Ms. Fowler at her office during business hours (preferably at the end of the day) or at CSR for an evening meeting in late May or early June? One advantage of meeting her at her office is that there may be an opportunity to taste test some of the foods our kids are offered.
End of the year Family Picnic: This is scheduled for June 11th. We need volunteers for set-up and clean-up duties. Please let me or Betsy know if you can help. This year we are considering asking for people to return a form indicating whether or not they are planning on attending, since last year we had so much extra food. Planning for this event is difficult, and having more people involved would really help.
Staff Appreciation Day: We need volunteers to help set up, either at the end of the day on Thursday May 27 or first thing in the morning on Friday May 28. This is a lunch that we provide to the staff as a gesture of appreciation for all that they do for our children all year long. Please bring in a dish or other food item that we can offer our awesome CSR staff. More details will be forthcoming soon.
Bus Driver Appreciation: We are thinking about perhaps an end-of-the-day ceremony, but Jay will solicit some feedback from staff, since dismissal time is sometimes hectic. Do you have any ideas about how we can show our appreciation to our bus drivers? Please let us know.
Next Year's PTO: Jay is thinking of ways to involve more ESL parents, and I would love to have a bilingual parent as chair or co-chair next year. Fund-raising is a problem, and at the rate that things are going, the PTO will not be able to provide additional funds to classrooms and specials the way we have in the past. If you have ideas about how to raise funds from parents in these challenging economic times, please let us know!
Thanks again to everyone who attended. Your support means the world to us!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Book Fair at CSR Open House
School Librarian is running a Book Fair all next week, including at CSR Open House (March 26). Proceeds will benefit the school library and the PTO.
Check out this link for more information.
Check out this link for more information.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Peace Concert on TV
From School Librarian Melissa Frost:
Part of the peace concert will be on Students First tomorrow at 10. I will see about making an announcement to the kids.
I believe it is City 12
Cable 18 if you live outside the city limits.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
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