2025.11.11 – PTSA General Meeting Outline
In person at TPMS.
Attendance: The full PTSA board, Ms. Martin, Mr. Loznak, and 19 members of the community, including students. At the peak of the meeting, there were 30 people present.
PTSA Meeting slides: November 11, 2025 PTSA Slides
Mr. Loznak Meeting Slides: November 11, 2025 Mr. Loznak Slides
Meeting minutes from last General Membership Meeting: 2025.10.14 – PTSA General Meeting Minutes
Meeting Minutes
Welcome
At 7:03 Emily, PTSA President, opened the meeting and welcomed families, community members, TPMS Administration, students and the PTSA Board. She told participants that Ramata would be translating in Spanish today, if needed (translation services were not needed during this meeting).
Upcoming Events
Emily shared key upcoming events including:
November 17: SpED Workshop on Special Education Transition Services
Focused on 8th grade families who will be transitioning their Special Education Needs to a new school. Note all are welcome.
November 21: Student Government Association Dance
The PTSA provides snacks for this event. We also need volunteer chaperones.
November 24: Parent Teacher Conferences
If you are new to Middle School, this is a different format than you are probably used to. Conferences are run “arena style” where teachers are all located in the cafeteria. A caregiver mom asked about how you navigate the arena style parent teacher conferences with multiple students. Emily said that you can prioritize where you students need the most help. Mr. Loznak suggested caregivers focus on teachers that you don’t have as much contact with.
The PTSA provides dinner for teachers, the administration, and staff. After a successful event last year, we will again provide soup and pie. Please sign up to make (or buy) soup and pie.
Please see the slides for QR codes to register for these events. Emily highlighted the school calendar that shows what is going on at our school. It’s a great resource to learn details of events, get zoom links, and stay connected: TPMS Calendar
Regional Analysis Update
Liz Ryan, MCPSPTA Representative, and Jamie Koppel, Blair’s PTSA representative, gave an update to the MCPS boundary study. At the last PTSA Meeting, we had a detailed discussion of the proposals and discussions. One main area of concern is that the MCPS BoE can’t articulate how they will make sure the new proposal is equitable to all students. The County Council PTA passed a proposal that formally asked the MCPS BoE to slow down the process so families, caregivers, teachers, and others can really grasp what is going on. There are many unanswered questions, especially around impacts to autism programs, bussing, and resource management. The Teachers Union also voted, and passed, a resolution formally asking for the process to slow down.
It was noted that at the MCPS BoE meeting hosted last night at Blair High School, the BoE refused to take notes of the input and questions that were offered.
Jamie said that there are still lots of opportunities to offer feedback on this ongoing process. The TPMS PTSA has a regional WhatsApp group (please join us and ask questions or give input!). In addition, the MCCPTA (who represents all 211 MCPS PTSA) is encouraging people to testify at the next BoE meeting, which will be November 29, 2025. Starting Thursday, November 20, 2025 people can sign up to testify.
In addition, Ramata said that before the public meeting there was a 2 hour meeting with selected members of the Community. MCPS BoE expressed that they were very concerned about a significant decline in enrolment at MCPS schools and they expect this decline to continue. They are also concerned over the status of school buildings, and the impact of these changes on our students, staff, and community. Ramata said that the group stressed that MCPS needs to listen to us and the consensus from those who were in the smaller group meeting is that not a lot of information is being shared. The few people in the small group meeting asked questions and they didn’t feel that MCPS answered questions that were asked.
Emily asked those in the room to raise their hands if they knew about the proposed boundary study. About half of the participants raised their hands. One caregiver said that there was so much information, it was hard to know what to read and what to follow. She suggested that more concise information be made available.
TPMS PTSA Budget Update
Mic Murphy, PTSA Treasurer, presented an overview of the PTSA Budget. To date, we have spent about 11 percent of our budget, around $3,000. The PTSA has been able to raise over $15,000 in donations. We currently have enough funds to pay for our 2025-2026 budget and provide next year’s PTSA with money to spare. Ramata, a PTSA Board Member, proposed that we passed the monthly budget. Kristen, a caregiver, seconded the motion. Everyone in the room agreed to the monthly budget via raised hands. The motion passed.
The School Improvement Plan, Mr. Loznak
Mr. Loznak asked those in attendance to think about 6 areas of focus for a school, and which one area would be the most important area. The areas were: safety, math, english, special education, emergent multilingual learners, and positive climate. He encouraged the group to discuss with those around them the most important issue to them. One caregiver said that positive climate was most important because it impacted all the other areas. A student said safety was the most important issue because of the boys bathrooms. Another caregiver said that a positive climate was important because it impacted overall learning.
Mr. Loznak explained that the Maryland Report Card is an accountability system that measures relevant, actionable aspects of school performance. It has been used since 2018 for all Maryland schools. The administration is focusing on this now because there is a shift in MCPS to use this report as our measure of success at all MCPS schools, including TMPS. There is an increased focus to dig into the report and really look at where we are as a school, and where we can do better. The superintendent is also focusing on this report, which will help the school system and schools be on the same page. Mr. Loznak said that they are often asked what they do over the summer. Reviewing this report and planning how to take action; who is having success at TPMS, and who needs more support. This is what they are doing over summer break.
There are 4 components of the report:
| Indicator | Weight | Description |
| Academic Achievement | 20% | Student performance on MCAP state assessments in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics: percent proficient or higher + average performance level. These are the English and Math tests the students take in April/May of each school year. |
| Academic Progress | 35% | Growth of students on state assessments (ELA, math) compared to peers with similar prior performance; and for middle schools, includes 8th-grade science/social studies state assessment performance and credit-earning in core coursework. This area measures growth and takes into consideration where students are and if they are making progress. Information is broken down within groups of students and by demographics. It also includes the 8th grade science and social studies state assessments. |
| Progress in Achieving English Language Proficiency | 10% | For students who are English learners: the percentage on track toward English language proficiency. This measures the progress of English learning for students. |
| School Quality & Student Success | 35% | Measures include: percent of students not chronically absent (15 possible points), results of student/educator surveys (10 points), access to a well-rounded education curriculum (10 points) in middle/elementary level. This area focuses on school quality – what do students and teachers say about the school. Portions of this area were the focus of the rest of the meeting. |
| Total | 100% | — |
*Italicized information is context from the PTSA meeting.
Mr. Loznak continued and shared that TPMS is a 4-star school this year. A few years ago, we were a 3-star school, so progress has been made. There are currently no 5-star middle schools in MCPS, which means our 4-star rating is a good one. The goal of the administration is to get a 5-star rating next year. Some areas of focus will be: increased strategies for reading comprehension; a focus on what students will need later in life; and working together to solve math problems, think about math in different ways, like you would in the real world. In addition, increased support for English learners and Special Education students.
Mr. Loznak said that there are three key areas where TPMS scored low, and we want to discuss them tonight. The administration wants to know what is working well, and where they can make improvements. All the areas listed above have the potential for progress at TPMS. During the meeting, we focused on three areas: peer to peer interactions (how students relate to each other); bullying; and physical environment (the physical spaces in the school – classrooms, hallways, cafeteria, outdoor area, etc).
Those in attendance were divided into breakout groups. Notes were taken and shared with the administration (we will focus on responses at a later PTSA meeting). There were 3 caregiver groups, and 1 student group. Mr. Loznak said that the school is focusing on these areas because they received the lowest scores on our report card. The school is currently highlighting teachers and students who show STRIVE values, highlighting the good behavior that they want modeled. They are also focusing on having students embrace each other and their differences, working on how they work through conflict, and trying to reduce bullying and peer to peer conflict.
Mr. Loznak said the feedback received during the meeting will help the school reach the goal of becoming a 5-star school.
Action Item: please take the MCPS survey sent out to all caregivers on October 29, 2025 (the link will be shared again in the newsletter). This is a change from past years when feedback was asked for at the end of the year, and action could only be taken the following year. This year MCPS is asking for feedback on the school now, so the administration can make changes this year. There will be another survey in the spring. The feedback goes to TPMS, so please take that into consideration.
A community member asked a specific question about skipping lessons if their student already knew the content. Mr. Loznak said to reach out personally and they could discuss.
Interim Principal Update
Starting in December 1, Mr. Loznak will be the Principal at TPMS. Dr. Gadsden, current Principal at Takoma Park Elementary School (TPES), will join Mr. Loznak at TPMS. Ms. Martin will be principal at TPES. These changes will go until January 31, 2026.
Adjourn the Meeting
Emily thanked everyone for coming to meet in person. Our next PTSA meeting will be in January via Zoom. At 8:21 Emily closed the meeting.