April 14, 2026 | Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) General Meeting Minutes

 

Meeting slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Z80596B0DziqMGIpXZohlXAHHT1OtnLcbpePPNOR26g/edit?slide=id.p#slide=id.p

30 members of the school community including 7 Board Members and TPMS administration attended the meeting. No students identified themselves during the meeting. 

 

Welcome!

Chris welcomed the PTSA Board, TPMS administrators, and members of the TPMS community to our April meeting. He turned it over to Ramata to offer a Spanish language translation if anyone needed it. No members in attendance indicated a need. 

 

Upcoming Events

• April 15 – Early Release (12:30 pm)
• April 16 – Executive Function Skills Parent Workshop (through MCPS – information was shared in weekly newsletter)
• April 18 – NAACP Youth Summit
• April 22 – Soccer vs Sligo Boys Home / Girls Away (3:30 pm)
• April 24 – Report Card Distribution
• April 24 – SGA Dance (Garden Gala, 6:30 – 8:30 pm – all TPMS students welcome)
• April 25 – Game Changers 
• April 27 – May 1 – TPMS Staff Appreciation Week (see more below)
• April 27 – Pride Summit Field Trip
• April 28 – May 1 – ELA MCAP
• April 29 – Soccer vs Eastern Girls Home / Boys Away (3:30 pm)
• April 30 – We Shine Night (5:30 pm) (see more below)

For more information on these events and more: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/takomaparkms/calendar-index/ 

 

Outdoor Education – 6th Grade

Ms. Soriano has sent out information in multiple ways: there are slides and recordings. At this point, your child should have come home with a packet. Registration forms are due by April 24. Medication forms are due April 17. It’s really important for students to get these forms turned in on time. The cost is $85 – however if there is a financial need, please reach out to Ms. Soriano, your student’s counselor, or Ms. M-C. Cost should not be a barrier for any student to not attend. 

 

We Shine Night

Mr. Einhorn shared information on the WeShine Student Projects. The night is a combination of show and tell and talent show. Some 6th graders will share their Genius Projects, others will share art, poems, and the Drama Club will present some selections from the recent Musical Mean Girls. Mr. Einhorn said it’s a great night and encourages all students and caregivers to attend, even if their student is not sharing. There will be presentations on saving the ocean, importance of bees, multimedia videos, coding, cell analogy, and more! 

 

8th Grade End of Year Activities

8th grade trip to Kings Dominion

Please note that detailed information went out to students and caregivers after this meeting (Note: information went out Tuesday, April 14). Ms. Patterson-Breese gave members of the TPMS community a heads up on information on the trip to Kings Dominion in Doswell, VA. The trip will be Thursday, June 11, 2026. Departure will be 9:00 at TPMS and return at 7:30 PM. She asked that caregivers make sure they have a plan for getting their student home. There will be an upcoming Town Hall with all 8th grade students to set expectations for the rest of the year to display STRIVE values while at school. If financial assistance is needed, please contact Ms. Patterson-Breese. Cost should not be a barrier for any student to not attend.  

8th Grade Promotion – Monday, June 15 @5:30pm at Blair High School

Students should report to Blair at  5:00 p.m. directly from home. Transportation will not be provided from Takoma Park Middle School to Blair High School.  The ceremony will begin promptly at 5:30 pm, and we ask that invited caregivers and guests arrive by 5:00 pm.  

Promoting 8th grade students do not need an entrance ticket to the ceremony, but their invited guests must present tickets at the door in order to gain admittance. Each student will receive up to four Promotion Ceremony tickets for guests. The tickets for guests will be distributed in school to students, closer to the ceremony date. If you need additional tickets, there will be a form where you can request additional tickets – this will be a lottery for the extra tickets. Note: the gym DOES NOT have AC. It will be very warm: dress and plan accordingly. 

 

General TPMS Updates

Mr. Loznak acknowledged the 6th grade incident from last week where a student brought a pellet gun to school. He said that anything brought to school – a BB gun, pellet gun, a plastic gun that looks like a weapon – is taken very seriously. He said that it’s hard to have to write these types of emails to the TPMS community and understands that it’s upsetting for caregivers and students. He said he would discuss next steps when someone makes a threat.  

Tomorrow, during the STRIVE day, there will be a lesson on: if you see/hear something, say something. The school wants to make sure that students know that if they see or hear anything, they should report it to a trusted adult. One way we can all keep our students safe is to make sure they have people in their lives they trust and can talk to. If they have adults they can trust – parent, teacher, counselor – they are more likely to share. We want to make sure that families and caregivers understand how important these relationships are. 

Administration went into every classroom on the student’s schedule and made sure that students knew it was ok to share. The administrators also shared that there are varying ways to share information: they could ask to use the bathroom and find an adult, send an email, try to discreetly tell the teacher, if the situation is safe. One student asked the administration how they were supposed to know if the pellet gun was real. The message is that it doesn’t matter – it’s not the student’s job to find that out. If they suspect anything regarding weapons and or violence, they should report it to an adult. ANY weapon (toy/actual) brought to school has consequences.

 As with any serious incident, a behavior threat assessment is performed. There are different tiers to the assessment per MCPS: Link. 

A safety plan is also conducted with student before they return – how do we keep everyone in the school safe. This could include a plan for victims and or the student who did the action. This could include where they can walk in the hallway, where they are at lunch, and other actions. There could also be times when the student has to check in with a specific adult, including counselor or administrator. The school focuses on mental health as well as physical safety, including asking how the student was feeling last night and or physically checking their backpack and coat. The school also helps those impacted with therapeutic services, food, and other services as needed. In this instance, the school is also in contact with local police as a weapon was involved. Mr. Loznak reminded members in the meeting that each situation is different and the plan in place is always tailored to the students involved. The room was opened for questions. No members of the meeting had any questions. Mr. Loznak reminded families that privacy is important in these situations and if anyone has additional questions or concerns, to reach out to him. 

 

Budget Update

Mic presented a budget update. Books and Basketball brought in a very successful $2780.5. We have raised more than we expected for the year – thank you to everyone who has supported TPMS PTSA! We have spent only 31% of our proposed budget at this point. We have been behind in some MD Department of Assessments and Taxation Annual Report/Personal Property Return for 2023-2026. And behind in filing Articles of Revival. These important PTSA documents were filed. Filing these documents and getting the PTSA back into full MD state compliance was a major goal for this year’s PTSA Board. Filing these documents puts us on that path. 

 

PTSA Board Positions for 2026-2027 School Year

Becca presented some of the many PTSA positions that we need filled for next school year. If you have other ideas for the Board, we are open to other positions. 

 

The roles in BOLD with an * are positions where we need people to fill positions (either the position is currently empty, or a current Board member will not be returning). Please note, you can also run for positions that are not in bold (for example, a current Board member plans to return). For example: Emily, current TPMS Board President, has said in the past that she will run again for next year’s board; and people can feel free to run against her. We really need a community to run the PTSA and have successful transitions from year to year. Next year that could mean someone stepping into the executive Vice President Role who could possibly become the President the next year. Questions? Please contact: president.tpms.pta@gmail.com AND beccaj@gmail.com.

Board Positions 

• President
• Exec VP*
• Treasurer
• Secretary
• Membership
• Communications
• Events
• Fundraising*

Committee & Auxiliary Positions 

• NAACP Rep*
• MCCPTA Rep*
• Special Education*
• Books & Basketball 
• Teacher appreciation
• Multicultural Night
• Safe Routes to School*
• Welcome Picnic*
• Silent Auction
• 8th Grade Dance*
• Advocacy*
• Grant Writer*

 

PTSA Election Nominating Committee

The nominating committee recruits for board and committee positions for the next school year (2026-27). After they have a list of candidates, they present the slate of candidates at the May or June PTSA meeting(s). Time commitment: 5 hours between March – May

Volunteers Needed: 3 (we have two volunteers already and need one more).

If you’re willing to help, please email beccaj@gmail.com 

 

8th Grade Dance

The PTSA is looking for 8th grade caregivers to lead the 8th grade dance this year. This dance is a special event for only 8th grade students to celebrate their promotion to high school. Date TBD in June. Questions? Contact: Ramata Diop mutchad@yahoo.com

 

Teacher Appreciation Week

We are currently looking for lots of help to make Teacher Appreciation Week a huge success. Contact:alisaobrien10@yahoo.com for more information and/or TPMS Teacher Appreciation: TPMS Teacher Appreciation Week 2026 to sign up.

 

Final PTSA Meeting!

Our next (and final!) PTSA meeting will be a virtual meeting on May 12, 7-8:30. We will recap the year and elect the 2026-2027 PTSA Board. Questions? Please reach out to: TPMS.PTA.president@gmail.com 

 

Becca concluded the meeting at 7:47