Miami Beach Senior High PTSA E-Newsletter
March 20, 2017 - Issue # 19
Approaching the Last Quarter
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Calendar
- March 21, Miami Beach Youth Commission meeting.
- March 22, Town Hall Meeting/Education Chat, 6:30 pm, David Lawrence Jr. K-8 Center. See article below.
- March 23, Last day of the Third Marking Period.
- March 24, No school, Teacher Planning Day.
- March 25, National Debate Qualifier at MBSH hosted by the Hi - Tide Speech and Debate Team.
- March 27, First day of the Fourth Marking Period.
- March 26-28, 2017 Florida PTA Legislative Conference, Tallahassee. Info and registration here.
- March 30, Scholars Ice Cream Social, during both lunches. See flyer below.
- April 1, Second Annual Superintendent's 5k Run/Walk Challenge - Race for Education, Museum Park, 1075 Biscayne Boulevard. See article below.
- April 7, Registration deadline for May 6 SAT & SAT Subject Tests.
- April 8, ACT test. Registered students.
- April 8 - 16, No School, Spring Break.
- April 18, PTSA Board meeting. 7:30 - 9 am, Media Center. Everybody is welcome!
- April 18, Miami Beach Youth Commission meeting.
- April 19, EESAC meeting, Media Center, 2:30pm.
- April 19, Orientation for incoming Scholars families. 6 pm, Auditorium.
- April 21, Grad Bash at Universal Studios.
- April 22, Paint with a Twist, PTSA fundraiser, 4-6 pm. See article below.
- May 5, Registration deadline for June 10 ACT
- May 6, SAT and SAT Subject Tests. Registered students.
- May 9, PTSA Board meeting. 7:30 - 9 am, Media Center. Everybody is welcome!
- May 9, Registration deadline for June 3 SAT & SAT Subject Tests.
- May 17, EESAC meeting, Media Center, 2:30pm.
- May 18, Early Release, 12:20 pm.
- May 18, Teacher Appreciation Luncheon.
- May 20, Prom at the Eden Roc Hotel on Collins Avenue.
- May 25, 2017 Miami-Dade County Council of PTA/PTSA Awards & Recognition Gala, 4:30-9 pm, Jungle Island Treetop Ballroom, 1111 Parrot Jungle Way Miami, FL 33132.
- May 28, IB/Scholars Banquet.
- May 29, No school, Memorial Day.
- June 2, Class of 2017 Graduation, University of Miami Watsco Center, 1245 Dauer Drive, Coral Gables, 9 am. All seniors need to report by 7 am.
- June 3, SAT & SAT Subject Tests. Registered students.
- June 8, Last day of school.
- June 9, No school, Teacher Planning Day.
- June 10, ACT test. Registered students.
Please note: all dates are tentative and may change.
SAT - ACT Calendars
Click on the following links to see the testing dates released by the College Board and ACT for the 2016-2017 PSAT, SAT, and ACT:
Miami Beach Senior High School Code is 101140 for both tests.
A & B Day Calendar
Is tomorrow a 1-3-5-7 period day or a 2-4-6-8?
Notes:
MYA = Mid-Year Assessments
ELL = English Language Learners
FSA ELA = Florida Standards Assessments - English Language Arts
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The Career and Technical Honor Society will meet on Wednesday, March 22, in room 226 at 2:30 pm (right after school). Be a part of a society that recognizes excellence in career and technical education, encourages educational excellence, skill development, and workforce readiness. You must have a 3.0 or higher GPA and be in a CTE class or Academy.
College Club meetings: every Tuesday after school. Meetings start promptly at 2:30 pm in Rm. 240. Please see Ms. Justilien if you have questions.
SHAPE Club is sponsoring a School Supply
Drive. The collected items will be donated to El Paso Real Elementary School in Honduras. Your support i
s much appreciated. Please check our poster for the corresponding community service hours.
Snapchats don't last forever, but yearbooks do. Purchase your yearbook today by going
to
yearbookordercenter.com
and enter code 1985. Don't miss out on the opportunity - there's a limited amount!
Free breakfast for all students is available daily at school. Eating breakfast is linked to improved performance, behavior, attendance and health. Eating breakfast at school ensures that you are in school on time and ready to learn. For 10 weeks from February 13 to April 28, all students who eat school lunch each day of the week will automatically be entered into a random drawing to win a $25 Amazon gift card.
Questions regarding student clubs or activities? Email our Student Government at [email protected]
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Register Today! Painting with a Twist Is back!
Our Annual Spring Painting with a Twist
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undraiser is almost here. Last year we were sold out and we would love you to join us this year.
You can participate by painting, on Saturday, April 22, 4-6pm. Please register for the PTSA MBSH fundraiser Painting with a Twist on April 22, 4 - 6 pm on 71st, Miami Beach.
Everybody is welcome!
You can also participate by donating a Silent Auction item. Please email Corey Narson at [email protected] to arrange pick up or to send a certificate for service.
Lastly, you can sponsor a teacher to attend as a way of saying Thank You: tickets are $45.
Link to register:
A Very Successful PTSA General Meeting
Last Thursday the PTSA held its General Meeting titled "It's never Ok", a speaker panel on the realities of teen dating violence. Panelists included Miami-Dade Assistant State Attorney Christina DiRaimondo, Local Psychologist Dr. Ronda Fuchs, and Miami Beach Police Detective Bert Gutierrez. Over 300 parents and students attended the meeting. Thanks to PTSA Programming Chair Barbara Gelber and to everyone that organized, participated, and attended this important event.
 
Attention Present and Future Beach High Parents:
PTSA 2017-2018 Election of Officers Is Coming Soon
Parents - we need your involvement to make a difference!
It is a gratifying experience to serve the school community. Please consider to get involved and contribute to our mission of making MBSH the best possible school for our children. There are also roles that have a minimal time commitment.
The PTSA Nomination Form is coming soon. Stay tuned!
Next PTSA Board Meeting:
Tuesday, April 18, 7:30 - 9 am
in the Media Center.
Everybody is welcome!
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SCHOOL NEWS/LIFE ON CAMPUS
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Community Outreach with South Beach Boxing
On Saturday several Beach High students experience boxing for the first time. South Beach Boxing owner Jolie Glassman is sponsoring 25 Beach students, using the athletic platform to build a growth mindset for success.
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ADVOCACY 1 - TAKE ACTION NOW!
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Call to Action! Please Read & Act Now
Once again, Florida school districts are attempting to get legislation passed so they can continue to use a school-wide average for purposes of calculating class-size violations without having to deal with the attenuating problems that come with calling all of their schools "schools of choice" as they have wrongly been doing for the past few years.
As part of this bill, they are also attempting to eliminate the reporting requirements to the FLDOE that show class size violations on a classroom by classroom basis. The bill completely eliminates transparency and accountability for the school districts.
Also, what are they trying to hide - that they are making no attempt whatsoever to meet class size as constitutionally mandated?
The bill (HB 591/SB 808) is going to both a House and Senate committee. It has already passed one of three House committees.
We need your help! Please cut and paste the body of the attached document and send it to the email addresses included.
Let's get this bill amended!
Thanks!
Your Advocacy Team
Why the Secrecy Provision in HB 591/SB 808 (Maximum Class Size)?
What Are the School Districts Trying to Hide?
Proposed bill HB 591/SB 808, Maximum Class Size, not surprisingly, codifies the current practice of all school districts in the state to utilize a school-wide average for purposes of calculating violations of the constitutional class size amendment, by deeming their schools to be "schools of choice" to take advantage of the school-wide average formula previously afforded only to charter schools.
This bill conveniently alleviates the need for districts to put labels on schools to manipulate the system for purposes of the class size amendment, which causes them to actually treat their schools as schools of choice with all the attenuating circumstances.
This bill allows all schools, choice or not, to utilize a school-wide average for purposes of calculating penalties for violations of the class size amendment - the theory being that there is no penalty provision built into the class size amendment so the legislature is supposedly free to make penalties for violations of the amendment based on whatever formula it deems appropriate.
But what the legislature is not free to do is to set up a system where the public, and the legislature, does not know if the districts are actually out of compliance with the class size amendment, and by how much. This information should be compiled on a classroom by classroom basis, not on a school-wide average or any other basis, for all schools, choice or not.
HB 591/SB 808 removes the reporting provision in the class size statute (1003.03) requiring that the Department of Education "identify, for each grade group, the number of classes in which the number of students exceeds the maximum and the total number of students which exceeds the maximum for all classes."
We have been in the dark, and will continue to be in the dark, if this bill passes without section 1003.03 (4)(a)(1) being reinstated. There is no reason for this reporting requirement to be removed unless the school districts have something to hide.
If you support transparency and accountability in government, HB 591/SB 808 must be amended to reinstate the reporting provisions on a classroom basis.
Please open the attachment for a sample letter and for the email addresses of the committees.
Send it today!
Letter and email addresses
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ADVOCACY 2 - LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
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Legislative Update from Miami-Dade County PTA
1) The US Senate, following the lead of the House of Representatives, stripped away all the just-negotiated regulations surrounding the most important piece of bipartisan education legislation passed during the Obama administration (the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015). Any replacement regulations will be hammered out under the new Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos.
2) The 2017 Florida Legislative Session opened with quite a flurry of activity. The Florida House passed legislation urging Congress to turn federal funding for education, Medicaid, and child welfare into block grants to individual states. If Congress follows suit, it could be up to the Florida Legislature and Department of Education to determine how to distribute Title I or IDEA funding, for example. Meanwhile, the Florida Senate is close to passing an expansion of "Stand Your Ground" statutes that would force prosecutors to refute "beyond a reasonable doubt" a murder defendant's claim of self-defense. Currently, the burden of proof is on the defendant. On the other hand, thanks to a stance by Senator Anitere Flores (representing parts of South Dade) against "guns in schools" and "campus carry," these legislative proposals may be dead for the 2017 Session.
3) The Miami-Dade County School Board published the agenda
for its March 15 meeting. Items include the creation of student trauma support mechanisms for students who have experienced or witnessed violence (A2), reaffirmation of the District's commitment to recruit and retain qualified teachers (H3), and the protection of immigrant students' rights (H7, H10).
4) National PTA reaffirmed its opposition to "any private school choice system - tax credits, vouchers, or deductions - that would drain public school resources." National PTA likewise expressed its concern that President Trump's proposal to cut $54 billion from domestic spending would severely impact funding for education.
5) Florida PTA voiced its opposition to SB 376, which would force school districts to share local capital outlay tax revenues with charter schools without any guarantee that assets purchased with these tax dollars (school buildings, school renovations, computer systems, etc.) would revert to the public in the case of school closure. The loss to Miami-Dade County Public Schools, should this bill be implemented as currently written, has been estimated at $83 million for next year alone. Florida PTA supports charter schools, and believes that the Florida Legislature should fund their capital needs in a way that does not adversely impact traditional public schools.
Nancy Lawther
VP of Advocacy and Legislation
MDCC PTA/PTSA
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Congrats to Ms. Richardson and Mr. Spiegelman and their 2nd period students on 100% attendance on March 15. Welcome to this exclusive club! Raffle of 5 cell phone chargers took place in each class. See the classes in the photos below.
Congratulations to the following FCCLA members for outstanding results at the State competitions two weeks ago! They were invited to compete at the National level in Nashville this summer.
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Student Name
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Event
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Medal
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Adriana Recinos
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Hospitality & Tourism
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Silver
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David Garcia
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Hospitality & Tourism
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Silver
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Amy Lopez
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Illustrated Talk
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Gold
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Tiffany Lora
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Illustrated Talk
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Gold
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Cassandra Rodriguez
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Environmental Ambassador
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Gold
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Chavelis Prieto
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Chapter in Action Scrapbook (State only event)
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Silver
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Ashnelys Ortiz
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Chapter in Action Scrapbook (State only event)
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Silver
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Congratulations to our artists whose artworks were displayed at the Coconut Grove Women's Club, Young Artists Gallery:
Gabriella Blazzio, 10th grade
Francesca Tobar, 11th grade
Balthazar Cordova, 11th grade
Gabi (featured below) is a Merit Award winner. The artwork's title is "Hands".
Congratulations to FCCLA for winning the Collins Park Neighborhood Association contest. Congratulations Tiffany Lora, Adriana Recinos, David Garcia, and Ms. Ruiz.
Congratulations to Mr. Fiori on the birth of his baby girl Ayah Joanna.
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Attend the Town Hall Meeting
There will be a
District 3
Town Hall Meeting/Education Chat on Wednesday, March 22, at 6:30 pm at David Lawrence Jr. K-8 Center. The following topic points will be addressed:
- Academic Innovations and Choice
- The General Obligation Bond and School Construction
- Security
- Update on Testing
- Tallahassee and the Legislative Session
- Open Discussion.
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