The Notebook

Upcoming events

Tue. May 1. School Reform Commission Budget Hearing. 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. School District of Philadelphia Education Center, 440 N. Broad St. In an effort to gather community input on draft budgets and plans before they are finalized, the School District of Philadelphia will be hosting a number of community meetings in May. For more information, call 215-400-4000.

Wed. May 2. Community Budget Session. 6 to 8 p.m. Kensington CAPA High School, 1901 N. Front St. In an effort to gather community input on draft budgets and plans before they are finalized, the School District of Philadelphia will be hosting a number of community meetings in May. For more information, call 215-400-4000.

Wed. May. 2. PCCY Reaching Up Reaching Out 2012 Super Party. 5:30 to 8:30 pm. The Crystal Tea Room, The Wanamaker Building, 100 Penn Square East 7^th Floor. Join Public Citizens for Children and Youth for their annual Super Party. Featuring performances from the Musicopia Ensemble, PHILADANCO D/3 Youth Ensemble, Nebinger Elementary School Girls Chorus Ensemble, High School for the Creative and Performing Arts Ensemble, and a poetry performance by The Philly Youth Poetry Movement. Governor Ed Rendell is the Honorary Chair for the event. Cocktails and Silent Auction at 5:30 pm. Dinner and Performances at 6:30. Tickets begin at $125. For more information, call 215-563-5848.

Mon. May 7. Day of Action with JUNTOS in Harrisburg. 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. JUNTOS, 2029 S. 8^th St. (8^th and Snyder). JUNTOS is hosting a Day of Action at the Pennsylvania State Capital in Harrisburg, in opposition to Arizona-style immigration legislation. Buses will depart form the JUNTOS offices at 8^th and Snyder. For more information, visit www.vamosjuntos.org.

Thu. May 10. Community Budget Session. 6 to 8 p.m. West Philadelphia High School, 4901 Chestnut St. In an effort to gather community input on draft budgets and plans before they are finalized, the School District of Philadelphia will be hosting a number of community meetings in May. For more information, call 215-400-4000.

Sat. May 12. Community Budget Session. 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. South Philadelphia High School, 2101 S. Broad St. In an effort to gather community input on draft budgets and plans before they are finalized, the School District of Philadelphia will be hosting a number of community meetings in May. For more information, call 215-400-4000.

Sat. May 12. Graduation Coach Resource Fair & Networking Event. 12 to 4 p.m. John B. Stetson Elementary School, 3200 B St. The Graduation Coach Campaign, an initiative of the Mayor’s Office of Education, is happy to announce “Mentoring Week” May 7th - May 12th. During this week, free workshops will be offered for all adults working with young people to help ensure their mentees graduate high school, enroll in college, and succeed in careers. The 90-minute workshops will include key conversations for adults to use when engaging a young person and information and resources to help students achieve their educational goals. The week will culminate in a Summer Resources Fair & Networking Event for both adults and children on Saturday, May 12^th. For more information, or to register please visit http://gradcoachweek2012.eventbrite.com.

Mon. May 14. City Wide Youth Poetry Slam. 7 to 9 p.m. Moonstone Arts Center, 110-A S. 13^th St. National Black Arts Spoken Word Tour presents the City Wide Youth Slam. Contestants from School and Youth Groups compete in the categories of Poetry, Spoken Word, and Positive Hip Hop. Admission is $5. For more information, contact Maurice Henderson at 215-987-7918 or mauricebrianhenderson@yahoo.com.

Mon. May 14. School Reform Commission Strategy, Policy and Priorities Meeting. 6 p.m. School District of Philadelphia Education Center, 440 N. Broad St. Topic to be determined. No pre-registration necessary to speak during strategy meetings. For more information, call 215-400-4180.

Tue. May 15. Community Budget Session. 6 to 8 p.m. Northeast High School, 1601 Cottman Ave. In an effort to gather community input on draft budgets and plans before they are finalized, the School District of Philadelphia will be hosting a number of community meetings in May. For more information, call 215-400-4000.

Wed. May 16. School Reform Commission Action Meeting. 5:30 p.m. School District Education Center, 440 N. Broad St. To register to speak, call 215-440-4180 by 4:30 the day before the meeting.

Thu. May. 17. Next Steps Philadelphia. 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. School District of Philadelphia Education Center, 440 N. Broad St. “Next Steps Philadelphia: bridging the gap between high school and higher learning” is an event that connects high school seniors with peer mentors at Pennsylvania college campuses. The event includes student-led workshops that prepare incoming freshman to successfully transition to college life. High school students will have the opportunity to connect with current college students who are from Philadelphia and represent over a dozen public and private universities. For more information, contact Liz Shriver at 215-573-2379 or eshriver@phennd.org.

Sun. May. 20. PhilaSoup. 6 to 8 p.m. University Barge Club, 7 Boathouse Row. Philasoup is a monthly microgrant dinner meant to bring innovative and dynamic Philadelphia-area educators together, highlight the great work they are doing and fund some terrific projects. The vision for PhilaSoup is to be a monthly microgrant dinner that starts and ends with educators but is an access point to education for the whole city. Participants come together for a simple supper. Everyone brings $5 to put in a basket to become that night’s PhilaSoup microgrant. During dinner educators will present their ideas for projects they would like to fund with the night’s microgrant. Each presenter has 3 minutes to present and then a few minutes to answer questions. At the end of the presentations everyone votes for the project that they would most like to see that night’s microgrant fund go to. Each month there is also the option for funds to roll over for the next month’s presentations. Please RSVP at http://philasoup.com/rsvp-2/. For more information, contact philasoup@gmail.com.

Tue. May 22. Coping With Your Toddler’s Challenging Behaviors. 7 to 8 p.m. MELC Narbeth, 201 Sabine Ave, Narbeth, PA. In this workshop, Gail Roeshman, MELC’s new Behavior Management Specialist, will help you learn to identify behaviors, causes, triggers, and the appropriate means to address your child’s specific behavioral needs. Gail has joined MELC to assist our teachers dealing with behavioral issues and the special needs of children in their classrooms. Prior to her employment with MELC, Gail supported children, teachers and families as a behavior specialist for Elwyn, in particular working with children diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum, ADHD, and with behavioral/emotional challenges. Gail holds Masters degrees in special education and art education, as well as an Inclusion Specialist Certification, and a post graduate Play Therapy Certificate. For more information, contact Traci Connaughton at tconnaughton@melc.org or call 610-617-4550 x 3032 to RSVP.

Thu. May 24. Community Budget Session. 6 to 8 p.m. Girls High School, 1400 W. Olney Ave. In an effort to gather community input on draft budgets and plans before they are finalized, the School District of Philadelphia will be hosting a number of community meetings in May. For more information, call 215-400-4000.

Tue. May 29. School Reform Commission Strategy, Policy and Priorities Meeting. 6 p.m. School District of Philadelphia Education Center, 440 N. Broad St. Topic to be determined. No pre-registration necessary to speak during strategy meetings. For more information, call 215-400-4180.

Thu. May 31. School Reform Commission Action Meeting. 5:30 p.m. School District Education Center, 440 N. Broad St. To register to speak, call 215-440-4180 by 4:30 the day before the meeting.

Ongoing Events

Every Tue. College Countdown Center. 10 a.m.-6:30 p.m. School District Education Center, 440 N. Broad St. The School District’s College Countdown Center is officially open! The center assists with important college-related financial concerns. Assistance with savings program, FAFSA forms, and other services are available. The center is open every Tuesday from 10 a.m.-6:30 p.m. All services are FREE and open to the public (including families, whose children attend charter, private and parochial schools). An appointment is required. Parents and students can request an appointment online at www.philasd.org/ccdc or by calling 215-400-5614 or 215-400-5994.

Every Wed. Occupy 440. 4 p.m. School District of Philadelphia Education Center, 440 N. Broad St. Protesters will meet at the School District to protest the layoff of 47 school nurses as well as the recent layoffs of school secretaries, custodial workers, school operations personnel, bilingual counseling assistants, and more. For more information, email Eileen DiFranco at emdifranco@aol.com or call 267-258-6966.

July 10th to 12th. Beyond Inclusion: Improving Outcomes for Students with Disabilities-Tools and Strategies for Including Diverse Learners. Temple University Student Center South, 1744 N. 13^th St. 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Beyond Inclusion is an annual Summer Institute designed for educators, school administrators, and other professionals to learn and share ideas about making all learning experiences inclusive. Administrators, teachers, community members, and parents of children with disabilities are encouraged to attend. For more information, visit http://disabilities.temple.edu/programs/bi/.