Grace Church School

Parents Association Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

The meeting was called to order at 8:35 a.m.

1.  Announcements

Blanche Johnson thanked the Holiday Shopping team.   She said the teachers were very appreciative.

Blanche said that the used uniform drop off will be on February 15 in room 111; she said the sale will be on February 16.   She said that sign up sheets to help on those days are on the PA bulletin board.   There will also be a small table set up for used winter sports equipment, including things like soccers, skates, skiis, and poles.

Kathy Franklin announced that donations for the auction will be closed on February 16.   She said that Elizabeth Devereaux will be sitting in the front hall every morning to help you with your donations.   Kathy said that they also have sign up sheets for auction jobs on the PA bulletin board.   She said that every Thursday morning they have auction planning meetings in the cafeteria.   She said that this year the theme is Chinatown, and that the logo was designed by Robin Canter.

2.  State of the School

Doug Evans announced that the school is progressing on the space for the new gym.   He went through the history of the search to explain how the board ended up deciding on the current plan.   Doug explained that in 2001 the school engaged an architect conversant with schools to study Grace's space.   The architect identified a new gym as top of the list for Grace's programmatic needs.   The architect mistakenly assumed that the school had to go off campus, so we spent the next three years looking at parcels of property.    In each instance, the main problem was that they were off campus.   In the last two years, the search focused on the parking lot east of our building on 12 th street, and an unused lobby entrance that abuts the post office.   The school talked to them at great length.   Doug said the school was also talking to the post office and contemplating using the church's air rights to put a structure over the post office.   This plan would have meant crossing the street and crossing the loading dock of the post office.   But a developer got in ahead of Grace.   Doug said the developer was going to take down St. Ann's church and put up a twenty story apartment building.     Doug said that for Grace, there were too many economic uncertainties in the construction process of that plan anyway.

Doug said that meanwhile, Tom Bishop looked back at the architect's report, and realized the architect had forgotten we could build ten to twelve feet under the street.   When Tom Bishop added that space, the gym fit.   Doug said that this revised plan was also in the context of the school's conversations with the church about buying the school's building.   Doug noted that in 2001 the school couldn't have gone to the church and asked to dig up Huntington Close.   He said that now the school has a much better relationship with the church, and that the church thinks the gym is a great idea.   Doug said that the school also wanted development rights for the play area, so the school could create a two story building when the school could afford it.   Programatically, Doug noted that it's wonderful for the gym to be on campus.   He said it will be a full size gym.   Doug said that while the gym won't have the natural light of a rooftop gym, he is told it will have plenty of fresh air circulation and the lighting will be fine.   Doug said some people believe it's even an advantage not to have sunshine in your eyes, for instance when doing a lay-up in basketball.

Doug clarified that the new gym will be under Huntington Close and the back of our playyard – he said that the school may dig up some more of the playyard so the footings of the gym will be aligned with the footings of the new building the school may want to put up in the future.   Doug said that the entrance still needs to be designed, but that the idea is to come in through the front entrance of the school and go somehow straight back.   Doug noted that until 1920, there was a bakery that abutted the chantry.   He said that the construction will therefore be going through the remains of the bakery, and instead of ancient burial grounds.   Doug said that one hits bedrock at 30 feet – he said the school may have to go into only a little bit into that.   Doug said there's no water there.   Doug also said that it appears that the trees we'll be taking down only went up when the bakery went down, so they are not ancient trees.

Doug said that the school wanted faculty housing that would permit the school to break even, and that any housing there would be too expensive.  

Doug also talked about the timing.   He said that the hope is that we can break ground this summer, and have the cement blocks down and the concrete poured before the ground freezes.   He said that the work on the entrance way will have to take place in the summer of 2006.   He said the goal is to be ready to play basketball in the school year of 2006-07.   He said it's highly likely we'll have the play yard all summer.  

3.  Diversity Committee

Kim Chaloner, a teacher, said that she and Hilary Mosher are the co-directors of the diversity committee.   Hilary spoke about the evolution of the diversity effort here.    She said that Grace has always prided itself on being diverse.   Hilary said that in the six years she's been working at Grace, there's been a shift in the focus and format of the discussion.   She said that at Grace one wants to focus the discussion on all aspects – parents, faculty and students.   She said that four years ago, there was the diversity committee and the parent/faculty issue group.   She said that they've tried to streamline those two together.   She said that the focus is on helping to enrich the adults in the evenings.   She said that each year they've come up with a theme.   She said that this year they are looking at privilege.   She said they have tried to create a calendar of meetings that talk about different aspects of privilege.   She said their last meeting looked at “white privilege”   - something often considered elusive in our society.    She said that on January 27, they're having a panel discussion looking at religious privilege; there will be members of the Hindu, Sikh, and Muslim communities there to talk about being religious minorities in a predominantly Christian society.   She said that the goal of the diverstiy committee is to raise consciousness and get people to talk.   Hilary said she doesn't pretend to have all the answers, but that she hopes to make everyone feel welcome at the table in order to really contend with issues regarding difference.   She said they try to look at what differentiates us and what we have in common.   She asked regular attendees to invite others.   She said all are welcome.

Kim Chaloner said that in February they'll be watching a film called “People Like Us,” in which people talk about how there's an unspoken rule in the U.S. that people do not discuss class.   She also said that there will be a cultural privilege night, and a discussion on the privileges of health and well-being.   She said that since the faculty's been working with All Kinds of Mind, they'll be talking about learning style differences, also.   Kim said that in addition to creating the evening program for parents, they try to incorporate the issues in the curriculum for the students.   Kim meets with any students who want to talk to her about diversity issues.   She said that when Hilary did the student of color lunches, anywhere from 3 to 15 kids came.   She said Hilary is not doing the lunches this term; they tried to host it as an elective, but that didn't ‘fly.'  

Kim said that she and Hilary went to a diversity conference that was practical, daring and insightful.   The conference speakers included Amy Tan and Martin Luther King's daughter.   She said that the faculty at Grace is required to attend some sort of diversity conference by their fifth year.   Kim said that the topic of ‘white privilege' seems to be the hot topic in New York City, citing a speaker at Calhoun and a photography exhibit as examples.

Kim said that tomorrow at the Martin Luther King assembly, the students will stand up and share their experiences with privilege.  

The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Caroline O'Neill

Co-secretary