Christmas Concert Planning Meeting

Dear PFA Members and Stakeholders:

The Academy has found a venue for the Christmas concert; therefore we now know that the date for the concert will be Tuesday, December 15, at the College of Idaho’s Jewett auditorium. In order to accommodate all our audience, I am currently considering doing the concert in two sections. The first section will probably start around 6:00 PM, and the second around 7:30. Many families will want to be present for both parts of the concert, but many other families will only need to attend one half or the other. Planning meetings for the concert are scheduled for Wednesday and Friday at 6:00 in Mr. Marvosh’s room. Those who are willing and able to help with this program are invited to attend.


Thanks,

Michael Marvosh
Director of Music
Nampa Classical Academy

T-Shirts/Sweatshirts Orders

Attention NCA:
Just a reminder this is the last chance to order T-shirts/Sweatshirts for 2009. Orders are due by Wednesday, December 2,2009. The next order will not be until March 2010. I know some are ordering these as Christmas gifts. If you'd like yours to be a Christmas gift you can write Christmas gift on the top of your order form and I will contact you when your order is ready.

You can print off an order form from our website and google groups page.



Any question feel free to email me: meche1005@live.com

Thanks,
Mercedes

Stakeholder Q and A Session With NCA Board

The Stakeholder Q and A session with the NCA Board will take place Wednesday December 2nd, 2009 at 7:00PM at the NAMPA CIVIC CENTER.

Stakeholder Q and A Session With NCA Board

Letter From the Board

November 24, 2009
Dear Stakeholders and Friends of Nampa Classical Academy,
As many of you know, we were issued two Notices of Defect yesterday morning. These two Notices were based upon, one, our intent to use religious documents in the classroom, and two, our decision (based on advice from our legal counsel) to withhold from the Commission all curricular materials relating to our pending litigation against the State. On Tuesday evening, November 17th, Chairman Goesling sent a letter to NCA demanding every single lesson plan, handout, text, and worksheet to be used in any and every lesson between now and the end of this school year in a variety of different subjects, and requiring that all such materials be delivered to the Commission by Monday, November 23rd at 8:00am.
In regards to our “intent” to use religious texts in the classroom, we sought the advice of our legal counsel and decided, as a Board, that it is time to move forward with our predetermined curriculum in accordance with our approved Charter. Up to this point in the school year, we have delayed the use of religious texts in the classroom, but cannot continue to do so without directly compromising one of the foundational tenets of the Classical Education Model, and thus compromise our responsibilities to our students and our stakeholders. This morning, the Commission directly asked us if we are using the Bible or copies of the Bible in the classroom. We truthfully answered that to date, we have not used any documents in that form. However, in the interests of transparency and full disclosure, we are indeed intending to use source documents of a religious nature in the near future as the curriculum of our offered courses of History and Literature dictates. As stated above, to do otherwise would directly compromise our curriculum and the Classical Education Model. We have delayed the introduction of such religious texts as long as we can without violating our Charter.
Lastly, we all are aware that information has been flowing fast and furious through the media, admittedly faster than we have been able to keep up with. However, the Board is consciously committed to keeping all of you informed as expediently as possible. During our Board Meeting tonight, we discussed this at length, and readily acknowledged the need for more consistent and timely communication with all of you. We are of a unified mind in this, and are working to ensure that these lines of communication with you remain open, and the flow of information continuous. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Erik Makrush, the NCA Board Public Relations Committee Chair. Mr. Makrush can be reached at 949-6772.
Sincerely,
The Nampa Classical Academy Board of Directors,
Michael Moffett, Acting Chair
Irene Gans, Secretary
Terry LaMaster, Treasurer
James Lorenzen
Erik Makrush

Areas You Can Help

(Sorry to those getting this a second time I forgot to post this to the Blog:)

Dear PFA Members and NCA Staff,

I know we are all busy with the up coming Holidays. However, I wanted
to let everyone know of some areas the PFA needs your help. We have
both the PFA Representative and the Vice President positions that are
needing to be filled. At our PFA meeting Thursday we nominated Erin
Taylor for our Parent Rep. We will be voting for these positions on
Thursday, Dec. 3rd. If you are interested in either position you can
send us an e-mail at ncapfa@gmail.com.

We also are in need of some people to lead the following committees:

* PFA Newsletter
* Grant Collection
* Legislative Representative
* Social Event
* Fundraising
* Student Event

We have opportunities for you to contribute as much as you can. We
know many of you have tight schedules but be reassured that there is a
place for everyone, no matter the amount of time you are able to
contribute. Shoot us an e-mail with what you think might best fit you
and your family and we will plug you right in.

We also want to let all NCA staff/teachers know that the PFA is
incomplete without you. We want and need you to be a part of the
planning stages of our events and programs. We have a few teachers
who have been contributing their time to the PFA, but we would always
love to have more.

For a complete list of job descriptions of each position and
committees see our website at www.ncapfa.org. We look forward to
working with everyone and are excited about the support you are able
to contribute at this time.


Thank You,

--
Christine Plummer
PFA President
plum83607@gmail.com

T-Shirts/Sweatshirts Orders

ATTENTION All NCA Parents:

Just a reminder that a order for T-Shirts or Sweatshirts is now being compiled. Tuesday, December 1st. is last day to order. Our next order will not be until March. You can find a copy of the order form on our website at www.ncapfa.org.

If you have any questions feel free to email Mercedes at meche1005@live.com.

By-Laws, Standing Rules, and Budget

Dear members,

The By-laws, Standing Rules, and Budget files have all been posted in the Google group under files. http://groups.google.com/group/friendsofnca/files

Please review these prior to the November 19th meeting. We are trying to cut down on our expenditures, so we will have limited number of copies at the meeting. If you would like to have your own copy, please print and bring them with you to the meeting. The highlighted areas in the By-laws and Standing Rules are areas that have been changed. We will be voting on these items to accept them the way they are. You must be a current member to vote on these items.

We appreciate all the input we have had in advising these. We look forward to see you on Thursday, November 19th.

Sincerely,

NCA Parent Faculty Association Presidency

November Meeting Agenda

NCA Parent Faculty Association
Meeting Agenda
November 19th, 2009 7 p.m.

Location: United Methodist Church 5420 Southside Blvd. Nampa, ID
(Directions: From 12th Ave heading toward Melba turn left on Greenhurst Rd then turn right on Southside Blvd the church will be on the left side of the street.)

* Please note daycare will be available and donations will be accepted. We want to provide this service at all PFA meetings and if we offer an incentive (money) to students, they will continue to provide this service.

Welcome & Thank You’s-Christine Plummer

Presidency Reports:

President-Christine Plummer

Treasurer-Julie Gilster

Secretary- JoLynn Morriss

PFA Council Reports:

Introduce Council Members in Attendance-Christine Plummer

Fundraising- Christine Plummer

Social Committee-Winter Traditions and Holidays Around the World-Cherri Healea

Teacher Appreciation- December gifts-Pam Kruck

Kaleidoscope Art Program- Erin Taylor

Old Business:

*By-laws- vote-Christine Plummer

*Standing Rules- vote-Christine Plummer

* Budget- vote-Julie Gilster
(Please view and print the By-laws and Standing Rules that are posted on the PFA website www.ncapfa.org)

New Business:

Open Presidency Position Nominations- Christine Plummer

Introduction of New Board Members- Mike Moffett

Commission Meeting Update- Erik Makrush
* Items requiring votes, in order to vote on items one must be a member of the PFA.

Open PFA Presidency Positions

Dear PFA,

We would like to extend a big THANK YOU to Amber Gunnell for all her hard work in getting our organization up and running. She has worked countless hours on the PFA and has given all of us a strong base to continue on with this great work. We hope the best for her in all that she does. Thank You Amber for serving the PFA, you'll be missed.

Our efforts are going to focus on the new tasks at hand. We now have two positions to fill. We have both the Vice President and PFA Rep positions open for nominations at this time.

Our Bylaws give us an explanation as to how the office of President should be filled at this time.

Article 7 Section 7 States, Vacancies shall be filled as follows: In case of a vacancy in the office of president, the vice president shall become president and shall hold office for the balance of the term. In filling the vacancy, the vice president shall be entitled to continue in the presidency for the following term providing not more than one-half(1/2) of a full term as president has been served. The vacancy in the office of vice president shall be filled at the next PFA meeting by the voting body with a nomination and majority vote.In the interim, duties of the vice president shall be delegated by the president.


Christine Plummer our PFA Vice President is prepared to fill the position of President for the remainder of the term. According to our Bylaws we will be taking nominations for all positions in February with a vote in March.

Duties of the Vice President are:

a. Serve as a member of the PFA presidency,

b. Serve as Director of the Fundraising Committee,
c. Perform the duties of the office of president in the president’s absence or when the
President is unable to perform these duties, and
d. Perform other duties as assigned by the President or the presidency

Duties of the Parent Representative are listed as:

a. Serve as a member of the PFA presidency,
b. Serve as a member of the executive committee of the NCA Board,
c. Attend meetings of the NCA Board, NCA Executive Committee, PFA Presidency, and PFA
General Membership,
d. Report PFA votes, and represents the PFA membership as a whole in voting in any capacity
needed.

These are listed in our Bylaws at this time however, the role of the Parent Representative needs to be more clearly defined with NCA's Board. With changes that have occurred in resent weeks this position may need to be modified. Our hope is to meet with the NCA Board before the December PFA meeting so that whomever is in that position will know what their title in-tales.

Our hope is to have nominations for both open positions on Thursday, November 19th at our PFA meeting. We will then hold our next PFA meeting early in December to facilitate the PFA vote on these two positions. This will give possible candidates time decide if this is something they are willing to take on. At this point we have one person who has asked to have their name added for nomination for our PFA Rep. position.

If you are interested in either position please email us at ncapfa@gmail.com. We are looking forward to working with all of you to make the remainder of the year a great one. Thank You for your support.

Sincerely,
Christine Plummer PFA Vice President, JoLynn Morriss PFA Secretary, Julie Gilster PFA Treasure

Resignation

To NCA families and faculty,

When I volunteered to start the PFA in January of 2009 I had high hopes and big plans. As this year has passed, so many wonderful things have happened, and already many of those plans have been carried out. Even though spearheading this project has been far more than I anticipated, I don't regret any of it. What a wonderful school we have, and what a wonderful PFA we have. It was all worth it.

But, along with all those wonderful things, I have been going top speed for almost a year and running out of gas. With working full time at the school (adjusting to being a working mom), and all the other million things I have on my plate, my time devoted to PFA has been drastically reduced. As much as I would like to continue juggling it all, I don't want to sacrifice family time anymore, or cheat the families of NCA by not being at my best.

So, regrettably, I must step down as PFA President. I want to thank all of you that have sent along so many wonderful notes of encouragement and kind words. You are a wonderful group of people, and I appreciate all you do to make this school a wonderful environment.

I also assure you, you are in good hands with the ladies in the PFA. Plus, we have so many more coming out of the woodwork to help. The PFA will thrive, especially if we continue to pitch in and support one another.

T-Shirts/Sweatshirts Orders

Hello Everyone,

We are opening up a new order for T-Shirts and are Now Offering Sweatshirts. The sweatshirts are crew-neck pullovers. T-Shirts are approved for students to wear for PE. Both are approved for dress of choice day. You can get a copy of the order form from the PFA website at www.ncapfa.org Due to us getting 100% cotton t-shirts you will see that the price is a little higher than we charged on our first two orders. Please make sure that when ordering you use this new form so as not to cause any confusion with the price change. Our prices are as follows:

T-Shirt Youth XXS - Adult XL = $12.00 T-Shirt Adult XXL - Adult XXXL: = $14.00

(Heather Gray)Sweatshirt Youth XXS - Adult XL = $24.00

(Heather Gray)Sweatshirt Adult XXL - Adult XXXL: = $26.00

Sizes:

YXS 2-4, YS 6-8, YM 10-12, YL 14-16, YXL 18-20, AS, AM, AL, AXL, AXXL, AXXXL

This order is due by November, 23rd. and will take approximately 2 weeks to fill. Our hope is to have them available for pick up at our December 10th PFA meeting. Our next order will be March. All orders received after November 23rd will be saved for the March order date.

Thank You for your support,
Christine Plummer
PFA Vice President
plu83607@gmail.com

Bylaws

The bylaws have been updated according to the voting and discussion by PFA members from our last meeting. Please review them on our website prior to our meeting next week, and be prepared to vote or submit ideas for revisions. www.ncapfa.org

Also, we have our order form for t-shirts and sweatshirts now up (in our forms section). Christine will have more information on sweatshirts coming soon. Website orders are still available as well.

Thanks everyone!

Winter Traditions and Holidays Around the World

The following is the Agenda for tonights meeting:
Winter Traditions and Holidays around the World
Committee Meeting November 10th, 2009 6:30 pm
Location: NCA room 8A
I. Overview of Event
a. December 11th, 2009 5:30pm to 8:00pm
b. Social Committee/Volunteer Committee
c. Fundraising Committee
d. Advertising Committee
II. Social Committee ( SC chair-Cherri Healea/ Volunteer Committee Chair-Lisa Simpson)
a. Ideas
1. Food and/or beverage from Country
2. Decorations- art projects, displays, poster
3. Performances
b. Passports
1. Purpose
2. Passport drawing
3. Create the Passport w/Map on the back
4. Set up system for stamping/punching the country
c. Room Parents 1 per room
1. Work with teacher
2. Work with other parents
3. Do set up and clean up
4. Need 15 people to work Welcome Room, see sign-up sheet
III. Fundraising Committee
a. Raffle: Raffle tickets $1 ea. Or 6 for $5- Point person Addy Cagle
1. Raffle of business donations/certificates and themed baskets
2. Basket Themes: Let’s have a Party, Eat to Your Hearts Content, and Movie time
3. 50/50 raffle
4. 7:30pm drawing, to be announced over academy intercom, winners have 10 minutes to claim prize
5. Need 18 people to sell tickets, see sign-up sheet
IV. Advertising Committee-Need 1 Point Person
a. Signs
1. Advertising Business (work with Addy Cagle)
2. Raffle Rules
3. Start Here
4. Ticket Prices
5. 50/50 Rules

K-6 Country/Holiday 7-9 New Years
Grade K USA Rome- Harvey
Grade 1- Mexico Africa- Tillotson
Grade 2 Africa/African American Chinese- Reid
Grade 3-Netherlands Egyptian-Schneiderman
Grade 4-France Islamic-Forrest
Grade 5-Spain USSR-Marvosh
Grace 6-Isreal
(We encourage teachers without a Homeroom, to work with another teacher)

Show Support

Since our job as a PFA is to support our Academy, that includes our board. We encourage everyone to do what they can to support board in their work in our behalf, our teachers & support staff, and our administration.

Lots of ideas have been shared on the google group on how to be supportive. You can also find more information in the blog.

We also appreciate everyone's words of support on the google group.

Logo

We are in search of someone who might be able to help create a PFA logo. Anyone with graphic arts experience? Something simple is all we need, but we would like to have a logo.

Thanks everyone~

Parent (PFA) Rep Position Open

Holle McRae has stepped down from this position, so it is now time to open up the nominations.

We have one nomination so far, but would like to open it up to anyone interested. We will announce this person and others at our November 19th meeting.

This position is also in the process of being "defined" as we work with the board. We would like the PFA members to give input on this position. This position is the PFA's direct link to the board and affords our organization more input how we'd like the board to serve the stakeholders.

Please email your ideas and input for this important position to ncapfa@gmail.com.

Google Group Change

We as a PFA presidency have made some mistakes. Part of those mistakes includes not having a firm position on how to handle the Google group. When I originally set it up, I had high hopes for it. I saw it as a great opportunity to network with other NCA parents. It has done that, but without firm “ground rules” regarding it, things have been a bit rocky at times.

I put the poll out to see what people were thinking in regards to moderation. Out of the almost 100 votes, 60% want moderation. Although, that creates some headaches for us in the presidency, we feel that in order to be associated with the Google group as a PFA, we need to take that active role. If we don’t, we need to completely disassociate our organization from it. That poll is the message we needed to step in as a PFA Presidency and be the moderators of the group.

In moderating the group, we are faced with a good number of people not liking what we may moderate. Since more people are in favor of moderation we feel it is in the best interest of the group to take this chance. In doing so, some may leave the group. If this does happen we hope everyone realizes that taking this role is something we do not take lightly. We will do our best to be fair, and we ask that everyone also pulls together with us with a spirit of togetherness in the best interest of our academy.

At this time, the PFA Presidency has decided to set up some firm ground rules for posting to the Google group.

1. Our PFA Mission Statement and Vision will be strictly upheld. See here for a description. All messages must comply with our core values in order to be posted. The main focus we will use in allowing posts to go through will be, “do they encourage positive collaboration among parents, faculty, and the NCA board?” and do they adhere to the Greater Things in Life?

2. No negative posts, or posts that take a negative slant, will be allowed.

3. Comments that may stir confusion, heated debate, or spread gossip will not be allowed.

4. Posts naming children, or reference children in a personal way will not be allowed. This is for internet safety. Speaking generally about one’s own child/ren is fine.

5. No rude, obscene, inappropriate, or slanderous comments will be allowed (and subject to removal of the author).

6. Posts that do not meet our criterion will be deleted. No notification will be sent to the author. If your post does not post to the group within 48 hours, you will know it was not allowed. You are free to re-write the post, and resend it. Since all of us in the Presidency work full-time, we do not have time to email every individual who posts with specific changes that need to be made. It is each member of the Google group’s responsibility when using this avenue of communication to comply with the posting rules of the group. Feel free to email us for clarification, or re-write the post after re-reading our PFA mission statement.

7. All 5 presidency members will moderate. If you feel your post was denied unjustly, you may take your concern to the Parent Representative. Please address your concern to ncapfa@gmail.com Attn: Parent Rep. The Parent Rep will work with you to resolve the issue.

The PFA Presidency’s hope for this group is to bring parents, faculty, and the NCA board together.

Remember these two simple rules;

1. The difference between gossip and problem solving is, with problem solving you go to someone who can actually help you solve the problem. Otherwise it’s just gossip. Headmaster Bush has reminded us of this valuable lesson.

2. Don’t come to others with a problem unless you come with a possible solution and a willingness to help solve the problem.

Box Tops are up!

Our Box Top account is set up!!!!!! Headmaster was kind enough to stay late after school and set this up with me. Michelle now has a big job on her hands with collections! Let us know if you are willing to help her.

Please do not hesitate to send Box Top upc codes in! The more the better!

T-shirt Coordinator

We are in need of a t-shirt coordinator. This person would collect order forms, place orders, help with filling orders, work with the PFA Treasurer on monetary collections, etc.

We plan to do t-shirt sales/orders once a trimester. August, November, and March will be the months we fill orders. You can order a t-shirt any time on our website but we will not fill orders until those dates. The t-shirt coordinator would advertise t-shirt sales, take orders, and notify the PFA when orders are ready. T-shirts will be available for pick up at PFA meetings.

Please email ncapfa@gmail.com if you are willing to help in this capacity. Thank you!

WE Need You

Calling all Parents of NCA,

We need you to help in our Fundraiser and Social Committee's!

They will be both be meeting this Tuesday, November 10th at 6:30. We will met in the room 8a. This is for anyone that would like to help with the PFA Sponsored Holiday Traditions Around the World. We need lots of help.

If you are able to attend we need you to bring any resources you may have in regards to: businesses that might be willing to contribute to a raffle, a list of countries that have unique winter time traditions and other ideas

This is open to those who have been a part of our committee's in the past or would just like to help right now. Even if you are only able to contribute a little we still want you to come. The more help we have the easier it is for everyone. We look forward to seeing you all there!

--
Christine Plummer
PFA Vice President
plum83607@gmail.com

Thank You!

Hello NCA Families and Faculty,

I want to start off by giving a big THANK YOU for all of your help with our Boise's Best fundraiser. There are a few that helped make this fundraiser possible and I want to formally thank each of them.

Thank you to the parents who helped at the pizza party Sabrina Orihuela, Pam Kruck, Ann Roe, Paula Hakes and Holle McRae we could not have had 150 plus children fed without you.

Thank you to Head Master Bush for supporting the PFA with the fundraiser and providing the rooms to have the pizza party in. Thank You to those teachers Rainsdon, Handyside, and Tillotson for letting us use your rooms. Also a big Thank You to Martha Castillo for helping us out in the office. Of course Thank You to all the teachers for encouraging their students to participate. It has been wonderful to have such support from everyone.

Lastly....Thank You to the other PFA Presidency Members. You were all a great support in getting this endeavor going.

Thank You

--
Christine Plummer
PFA Vice President
plum83607@gmail.com