PAC Meeting Minutes – November 19, 2019

• If anybody is interested – there is a group of parents who are gathering information about options schools. If you are interested in being a part of a coalition focused on this.
• Jennifer wants to put together a group of students who want to read and discuss books with racially sensitive content. Geared mainly toward high schoolers.  Students who are interested should see Jennifer.

Casey’s report

• Construction is ongoing, but we are making some progress. The general contractor is eager to be done, hopefully by January 1st.  Still struggling with the auditorium and getting it finished.  Biggest issue with it is the smoke evacuation plan. We have a lot on our fine arts calendar coming up and we don’t want to push those things.  We should know in the next couple of weeks about our winter concerts and the location of those. The black box didn’t have any electricity, but that is happening now and should be done by Thanksgiving.
• Crosswalk at Pierce is beginning to be safer. Signs were put in over the weekend.
• Just ordered a bunch of outdoor furniture for the terraces.
• Two projects to carpet the big stairs and the front stairs. This will help with the sound absorption and make the spaces more appealing to sit in.
• It is starting to feel like a regular school year with less of a focus needed to be on construction by admin.
• End of quarter procedures discussed at the recent staff meeting.
• We have had a couple of good black box shows recently.
• HIVE has been very active.
• Next Tuesday, we are going to have the first “not necessarily” annual parade. Fire truck will lead each grade down Wilson (will be closed for a short period of time), right turn on Quinn, right turn on 18th, etc.  Each grade is putting together a float of some sort, and then there will be a “red zone” football game, which will work on the front yard of the school.  The offices at 1600 will be the judges for the parade.
• APS has not committed to some of the construction issues such as fixing the floors.
• There is ongoing education in terms of teaching the students how to go in or out the other doors besides the front door.
• 7-Eleven has moved the wine from the front of the store to the back of the store. They have been receptive to requests from HB and want to work with us.
• The off-campus radius is almost smaller than it was at the former HB site and you don’t have students driving to go to places at lunch.
• Outside the gym are signs showing what clubs are available and where/when they meet.

Rosslyn Partnerships

• BID is very interested in partnering with HB. They have asked businesses if they are interested and many have tentatively said yes.
• Potentially long term – students could do a couple of hours in the morning, could potentially get class credit for an internship. During the senior experience is another possibility.  Summer internships are possible.
• Some of the condominiums have been in touch with HB wanting to build a relationship with us. They are interested in being invited/involved in programs and shows.  Many of the residents are older than 60 or younger than 30.  One thing they are interested in is tech support.  They are wondering if HB could set up a time after school to have students who are able to help with tech issues and the condo residents can come to get help.  Casey is going to attend a civic association meeting at one of the nearby condos.  Churches have offered to do coat drives for students at HB if needed.  There are a lot of possibilities – need to sift through them and figure out what might work.
• An HB food drive is also happening next week.
• Might be helpful if the HB staff puts together a list of ideas of what students can do in the various businesses and offices in Rosslyn.
• Possibly use the senior experience as an experiment to explore internships in Rosslyn.
• 7th and 8th graders successfully took the metro and from the production of Newsies at Arena Stage today. Good test run.

Sources of Strength – a pilot suicide prevention program in APS

• 35 students at HB were trained in an all-day session – student driven focus to help build connections amongst students – adults have been trained to receive information