Meeting Notes

April 7 Padres PTO Monthly Meeting

Online participants: 25

Notable attendees: Dean Kata (lower academy); Natalie Ejechi (upper academy); Gloria Quirarte (director of extended programs); Shalini Shybut, executive director

Key links:

Meeting Slides

Padres 2026-27 Board Nomination Form (by May 4)

Sign up to volunteer for Earth Day stations

The next meeting is May 4 at 4:30 PM (hybrid in-person & virtual). 

PTO Updates

Elections are open until Monday, May 4 for the following roles: President, Secretary, and Community Lead. Nominations are open in April, elections will take place in May, and new board members will begin in June.

Events & Fundraising:
Families are encouraged to nominate themselves or others. Current board members are available to answer questions and support transitions.

Fundraising Goal: $165,000 across three funds:
- $30,000 Expeditions Fund (supporting 5th grade Puerto Rico capstone, with long-term goal to expand)
- $60,000 Show the Love Fund
- $75,000 Cross-Campus Staff Appreciation Fund

Upcoming events include:

-April 21: Virtual Town Hall (led by Executive Director Shalini Shybut) to learn more about the school’s strategic plan (6 PM). Register here.
- April 21: Chipotle Fundraiser (25% of proceeds go to Padres expedition fund)
- April 26: Mundo Miles Fun Run (ends at Right Proper with additional fundraising)
- May 2: Fiesta – major community-building and fundraising event (adults only)
- May 21: Grand Cata fundraiser (4–8 PM)
- June 17: Final Viva Viernes (end-of-year celebration)

New Family Engagement:
- New Family Playdate: April 19 at LeDroit Playground 10:30-12:30
- Welcome Guide and WhatsApp groups available to support onboarding

Principal & School Updates

Lower Academy (PK–2):
- Ongoing expedition-based learning with classroom experts and fieldwork
- PK: Focus on buildings and community workers; monument field trips planned
- Kindergarten: Food and agriculture studies with guest speakers and cooking activities
- 1st Grade: Recycling, sustainability, and environmental learning; upcoming recycling center visit
- 2nd Grade: Rocks, geology, and natural disasters; fieldwork includes Natural History Museum and Luray Caverns

Upper Academy:
- DC CAPE testing is underway; students must arrive on time (testing begins promptly at 9 AM)
- Makeup testing can disrupt instructional time
- Upcoming activities include NatureBridge, capstone projects, and field trips

Reminder: Healthy food policy remains in place. Families are encouraged to avoid sending sweets and instead provide healthy snack options.

Earth Day (April 22)

Families are invited to volunteer to lead or support Earth Day learning stations. Sign up here.

Donations Needed:
- Clean plastic bottles (with caps preferred) – approx. 150
- Cardboard and cardboard boxes

Healthy snack contributions requested:
- Fruit
- Pretzels
- Whole grain cereal bars
- Low-fat or air-popped popcorn (no butter)
- Baked whole grain tortilla chips with salsa

Deadline: Materials and snacks should be sent by April 20–21
If sending with students, please leave items at the front desk.

Questions can be directed to Monica Arias,, Director of Teaching and Learning.

Extended Day Program

The Extended Day Program serves approximately 675 students across both campuses; 35% are on hardship support

Highlights:
- Structured program running from morning care from 7:30 AM through 6 PM
- Focus on whole-child development (academic, enrichment, social-emotional learning)
- Offerings include homework support, robotics (Brooklyn Foundry partnership), chess, dance, cheer club, and Girls on the Run
- Approximately 60 staff members, with many new hires this year. A goal of Shalini’s is to overhaul the staffing to be less reliant on hourly staff which can be inconsistent; conversation with union are in progress now
- Shalini has worked to up professional development for immediate impact and, in collab with Gloria & Katie, engaging in observations to help reflect daytime learning into the extended day program

Parent Questions & Feedback

Aftercare concerns raised by families include:
- Reports that students experience strict discipline and limited ability to talk or move freely
- Concerns about inconsistent or insufficient outdoor time
- Questions about policies requiring students to leave the playground shortly after dismissal

Additional parent comments emphasized that outdoor play is a core expectation of aftercare and should be consistent.

Comments from school leadership emphasized that:
- Coaching for extended day staff is being prioritized (regular training 10:30-12 on Wednesdays) and that discipline like writing names on the board will be reported to HR.
- Lower academy kids have outdoor time 5x week and upper academy kids have outdoor time 3x week. Space is limited especially because upper and lower grades are best kept separate for safety
- Outdoor space after dismissal and during aftercare/extended day hours is challenged due to both supervised and unsupervised kids playing for unlimited time and because there are only two staff members per classroom. There was discussion of students who are dismissed at 3:30 clearing the playground by 3:50; posting signage to limit neighborhood use of the outdoor space and disallowing dogs during Aftercare/Extended Day also discussed

March 3 Padres PTO Monthly Meeting

Online participants: 25 

In-person participants: 5

Notable Attendees: Dean Kata and Natalie Ejechi

Key Links:

• Meeting Slides

• Sign up to volunteer for Safety Drop off week (March 16-20)

• Sign up to volunteer/donate for Fiesta (May 3)

The next meeting is Tuesday, April 7 at 9 am (virtual)

Meeting Summary:

The Padres all-hands meeting covered several key updates and events. The next coffee event is on March 6, followed by a drop-off Safety Week. Padres elections will be held next month, with positions for president, secretary, and community lead. The Mundo Mile Fun Run is scheduled for April 21, and the Fiesta fundraiser is on May 2, aiming to raise $15,000-$20,000. The principals discussed Black History Month, literacy week, and safety awareness week. They also highlighted the new curriculum and phonics strategies being implemented, and encouraged parent involvement in expos and other school activities.

There were several questions about issues with aftercare discipline policies.  Ms. Kata agrees that writing children’s names on the board does not align with Mundo Verde’s values and considers it concerning. She took notes and committed to escalating the issue and bringing it urgently to Ms. Gloria, who oversees the afterschool program, as we all know. She also asked that families who have observations or concerns email her directly, as she is compiling information to better address the situation: kbeltran@mundoverdepcs.org

There were also questions about screen time. 

Lower Academy: They only watch educational content that is no longer than 3 min during celebrations for example most recent being black history month so they were shown educational content about it. 

Upper Academy:

1. No more than 40% of school week is screen time (sitting in front of a device). Average is 10-40% per week. It is closer to 40% when there are assessments. Upper grades have all assessments online. 

2. Devices are used for Practice of research and typing skills. It helps transition to middle school where they are expected to be comfortable with independent work time on devices. 

3. Kids at mundo do not have 1:1 devices for students to take home in any grade. Tasks assigned on devices are able to be completed during the school day. 

4. No screen time is allowed during lunch time and if your child is telling you this please email the principal with your grade information and they will follow up with the teacher. 

Feb 3 Padres PTO Monthly Meeting

Online participants: 20 | In-person participants: N/A

Notable attendees: Johanna Mamiam (lower academy principal), Natalie Ejechi (upper academy principal), 

Key Links:

• Meeting Presentation

• Questions for Cook Campus principals/administration? Submit them here.

The next meeting is March 3 from 4:30-5:30 PM (join virtually or join us in the Zocalo)  

Meeting Summary

The meeting covered several key topics including updates on fundraising efforts, planning for the Black History Month event, preparation for the spelling bee, organization of the upcoming book fair, and details regarding the second grade expo and swap market. Action items were assigned, including outreach for auction items, volunteer coordination for events, and staffing for the book fair, ensuring clear next steps for participants.

Topics & Highlights

1. Fundraising Updates

   • Treasurer Megan Remo gave an overview of the fundraising efforts to date, sharing that the Cross-Campus Teacher & Staff fund raised over $37K that we split amongst all the teachers and staff ($125 gift card for all)

   • We’re 3 months in to the Show the Love fund, which is a Cook-community-specific fund that we want to focus on

   • In our fall campaign, we raised a little over $8,000 in one time donations and about $1,200 with monthly recurring donations. This fund is always open, so please donate!

   • On the Expeditions fund front, save the date for April 21 for a Mundo Night Out at Chipotle to raise money for the 5th grade capstone trip to Puerto Rico

   • Big focus for February is the end-of-the-year Fiesta, a critical fundraising event for Cook. Megan to reach out to the caregiver community for auction items

     1. Ideas: personal training, hairstyling (a top item last year), season tickets, a stay at your Airbnb, gift cards laying around the house, if you frequent a business and you know that it is a slam dunk if you're going to ask for a gift card…please do!

2. Black History Month Event

   • Community Lead Mary Awosika is coordinating volunteers for the Black History Month culminating event February 27, which will include a potluck-style buffet.

   • Volunteers needed: contribute dishes; help with setup and breakdown

   • The culminating event will be comparable to the Carnival event–lots of colorful energy and fun–so we look forward to everyone’s participation and attendance! Unlike Carnival, since this happens in February this one will be inside ( : 

   • The first part of the culminating event will be programming, with various activations in the classrooms for children and their caregivers to visit; potential activities include book author readings and dance performances.

   • Spirit week the last week in February (23-27); look in the Sunday Family Bulletin email for more

   • Committee volunteer Mary Awosika will provide more details & a SignUp Genius for volunteer slots.

3. Spelling Bee Preparation

   • Second week of March; grades 3-5

   • first week of March, they'll have a regional competition Mundo Verde.

   • And then the winners will then go to DC bilingual for the second regional qualifiers, where they will be able to compete against students from the other bilingual schools in the area.

   • Volunteer, or use the list on the left with the QR code to prepare your students at home!

   • will host an English spelling bee at the school in March as well (Cook campus only; not a qualifying competition)

4. Book Fair Planning

   • Next steps | Bianca to seek volunteers for staffing the book fair from March 3rd to 5th.

   • Want every kid to receive a book

   • Call for donations of gently used books in Spanish; drop your books at the donation boxes in the Casa or the Casita.

5. Second Grade Expo and Swap Market

   • Next steps | Dean Kata and 2nd grade families to coordinate the swap market (open first to second grade families) on February 25th

   • Donate clothes from baby on up to adults

6. Viva Viernes

   • March 27 at the Game On Bar and Arcade on U Street–a new partner to us–a locally-owned bar and arcade

   • No February VV so we can all focus on planning–and attending!--the Black History Month culminating event

7. MAP Testing

   • Starts next week

   • Look out for more in the Sunday Family Bulletin, including makeup days

   • Katalina Beltran emphasized that the school is working to prioritize Spanish-speaking and ELL students who need extra support

8. Bullying and Cell Phone Policy

   • A caregiver asked about a bullying incident that occurred and if there was any cell phone policy at MV.

   • Prin. Ejechi said this is an ongoing topic she would like to discuss further with caregivers, but that generally students are not allowed to bring cellphones, tablets, or laptops–but that activity performed on these devices can trickle into the school day 

   • There is a form to report bullying and reported incidents are reviewed within 24 hours

9. Self-Release Policy

   • A caregiver asked about students being allowed to walk home from school

   • Prin. Ejechi said this is coming soon and will be sent soon to Upper Academy caregivers