Once again, the MSSM Parents Association is pleased to present this status report to the MSSM Board of Trustees. Despite the endless snow in March, the MSSM Parents Association spring meeting was held on March 14 during Parents Weekend. Elections were held for the MSSMPA Officers (aka Executive Committee) and the results were as follows:
| Steven Symonds (President) | Theresa Torrent-Ellis (Vice President) |
| Dale Gordon (Past President) | Laurie Cornwall (Secretary) |
| Stacy Benjamin (Treasurer) | Kathleen Carter (Communications/Publicity Chair) |
We wish to acknowledge tremendous effort and time that Rebecca Holcombe has put into both the Vice President's position last year and all of the events that she has coordinated and successfully pulled off. Mama Holcombe is the best!
The MSSMPA also had great pleasure in meeting and providing information for the New Parent's Weekend in April as well as a fund raiser organized by Kathleen Carter in support of the Almost Canada Theater, the Hall of Flags Event, and the Math Team at States. What an amazing year these young people have had! The Prom was held on May 3rd and was a smashing success, thanks to the Prom Committee's hard work and all of the parents and staff that supported them. Directly following the Prom, the MSSMPA put on a three day Staff Appreciation event to thank them for all of their hard work this year. The MSSMPA can not offer enough thanks for the tremendous effort being put forth by the staff in support of our kids. No wonder the school is so highly rated in the nation.
Work has begun planning the MSSMPA's activities for the 2008-2009 school years. The MSSM Voice website is starting to be updated on a regular basis and the Executive Committee has been meeting on a more regular basis now that many of the events are past. One of the goals is to have an up-to-date contact list to distribute at Move-In, both for new and returning parents.
Communication was an area of concern to the parents and the MSSMPA. There has been improvement in the timeliness and quality of the information being sent via daily announcements. The bus schedules for extended weekends are now being distributed in a timely manner. The new look for the MSSM web site has also improve the ease at which parents can get school specific information. In addition, the MSSMPA has worked to improve communications. With Walt Warner's approval, the MSSMPA is now supplying update information to the parents via daily announcements. To keep the amount of information contained in the daily announcement at a minimum, only summary information for the parents will be posted in daily announcements. The full text of the communication will be posted to the MSSMPA web site (mssmvoice.org), and a link provided in the daily announcement summary.
The PA would like to improve communication even further. The MSSMPA would like to establish a series of static email addresses within the mssm.org domain that would be pointed to the MSSMPA officers true email addresses. This will give the MSSMPA the ability to supply documentation to parents that will not need to be redone each year for changes in officers and positions. It will supply a simple and easy conduit for parents to contact association leaders.
The position of hub parent has suffered greatly this year. The MSSMPA Executive Committee (EC) is in the process of revising the roles and responsibilities of the hub parent position. The Executive committee will be actively recruiting returning parents to fill the role of hub parent. The EC feels that this role is too overwhelming for new parents. To help us in achieving our goals to reinvigorate the hub parent network, the EC will be asking the assistance of the MSSM administration in providing the most up to date information regarding hubs and contact information. It is the goal of the EC to have this information available to all parents, new and returning, on their respective move-in day. The EC also looks forward to working with the administration and admissions office in supplying information and guidance to new parents on the new student move-in day in August.
The Executive Committee and the parent community as a whole would like to restate its commitment to assisting the administration, faculty and staff in continuing to make MSSM a truly special and wonderful educational opportunity for our kids.
Respectfully submitted,
Steve Symonds
President, MSSM Parents Association