Nido de Aguilas - International School of Chile

The PTA is an important part of the school and it is composed of volunteers who work to support the entire school community including students, teachers, Nido support staff and parents. The PTA organizes a variety of activities and events throughout the school year, both as fund-raisers and to promote social and recreational opportunities that bring our community together.

The PTA is primarily a social organization. As such, it is not involved in school personnel, policy, student discipline, or curriculum issues. The school has well qualified, experienced leadership, including the Headmaster, principals, curriculum director, teachers and a governing Board of Directors (composed of parents) that address these responsibilities.

The school advocates an “open door” policy and encourages anyone who has a question, concern or recommendation to contact the school directly. The PTA is not a mediator or messenger for concerns that should be communicated directly between parents and the school. When parents have questions about their child's classroom or performance, they should speak directly with the teacher and then, if necessary, to the principal. PTA Executive Board Members are always available to help parents identify the “right place to start”.

The PTA President is the liaison between the PTA and the school administration and is responsible for keeping scheduled events on track. PTA Vice Presidents (VP's) of the High School, Middle School, Elementary and Early Childhood divisions, meet with their principals monthly to communicate and coordinate activities as needed. VP's of Early Childhood and Elementary organize Room Mothers, who help with numerous classroom activities, chaperone field trips, organize holiday parties, and form part of the emergency telephone chain when it is necessary to contact all parents in the class. The PTA Secretary is responsible for maintaining records of general and executive board meetings, while the Treasurer ensures accounting is reconciled with school accounting and tracks expenses and revenues against a yearly prepared budget. The Communication Officer is responsible for PTA communications and must be fluent in both English and Spanish. The Volunteer Coordinator maintains lists of parents who have signed up for various PTA activities sponsored throughout the year. The Hospitality Coordinator provides, through a list of volunteers, refreshment for the general meetings and other events as needed.

Typical yearly PTA activities include: Apple a Day Nutrition Program, Father-Daughter Dinner Dance, Kermess, Bingo Night, Scholastic Book Fair, Field Trip Chaperones, Homeroom Moms, Library Volunteers, Phone Volunteers in school offices, PTA School Calendar, Parents Hosting Visiting Schools for Athletic events, Fashion Show to support School designated community service projects, December Concerts, Music Programs, Drama Productions, Student Counciles, Habitat for Humanity, Pizza Sales, PTA Book Swap, Cooking Classes for Parents, Jazz and Choir Concerts, Career Days, After School Activities, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Newcomers Coffees and Dinners, PTA Student Directory, Nido Trade, Open Our Eyes drug prevention program, etc.

The Executive Board of the Nido PTA, are volunteers dedicated to supporting the school and all of its students. As PTA President, I look forward to working with others and contributing to many successful events, fostering friendship, and promoting fun.

Nido PTA meetings are usually held on the 3rd Wednesday of every month at 12:30 noon.

www.pta.org/aboutpta/index.asp

PTA Officers 2010-2011

Name	PTA Office
Donna O'Shannessy posdos1@hotmail.com	President
Carolina Ibarcena caroi67@yahoo.com	High School Vice-President
Lizzi Balart lizzibalart@hotmail.com	Middle School Vice-President
Viviana Nunez vivinunez@mi.cl	Elem. School Vice-President
Ana Carolina Paula anacarolina.paula@gmail.com	ECC Vice-President
Lynn Oros lynnoros@yahoo.com	Treasurer
Judi Gayfer jteddies@hotmail.com	Secretary
Clara Kaye clara.kaye@yahoo.com	Board Executive Advisor
Jorge Ortúzar Vásquez jov@sofofa.cl	Communications Officer
Vacant	Hospitality Coordinator
Vacant	Volunteer Coordinator
*Support Personnel*
Josee Bornais bornaisjosee@hotmail.com	Spirit Wear Coordinator
Anne Tonkin srbmer@live.com	Pizza Coordinator
Lynnann Lovejoy llovejoy@nido.cl	Web Coordinator
Astrid Bayer astridbayer@yahoo.de	Lila's List

PTA President, Donna O'Shannessy posdos1@hotmail.com	I was born in New Zealand & became an Australian citizen in 1996. (However no team comes before the mighty All BLACKS! – no matter how often they loose). My husband Paul is a Mechanical Engineer in the mining industry & we are here on an indefinite assignment with Bechtel Engineering. Prior to arriving in Chile in Oct 2008 we were in Brasil for 2 years. We have 3 daughters at Nido; Kate grade 8, Sophie grade 5 & Natalie grade 3. Professionally I am a triple certificate registered nurse with a BSc & Post Grad Dip in Health Admin. In 2005 I completed a paramedic qualification. My work experience has ranged from managing a private nursing agency in London to establishing the State Heart-Lung Transplant Unit in Western Australia. My experience with school PTAs and Boards has been extensive. I love being involved with my children’s education and have the greatest respect for the teaching profession and the importance of their role in society. Successful schools have strong school communities and PTAs play an integral role in fostering the same. If elected I look forward to working on Nido’s PTA team for just such a purpose.
	PTA High School VP, Carolina Ibarcena caroi67@yahoo.com
PTA Middle School VP, Lizzi Balart lizzibalart@hotmail.com	College Nurse, married to Fernando Balart. I have 3 children. María Constanza 26, Fernando Andrés 24 and Juan Francisco 11,who is currently in Middle School in 6B. Both my older children graduated from Nido de Aguilas. I have been Middle School VP for close to a year now, participating in various activities in Middle School and throughout the whole Nido community, fully enjoying my experience. I've been a Room Mother for 6 years in a row here in Nido and 5 years back when we lived in Colombia and Argentina, I was a Room Mother to both my children's classes at the same time. Even though I haven't been a member of the PTA Board, I organized the Belly Dance classes for two years for the moms of the school in our previous PTA Board. I'm currently involved in certain social activities such as: Director of "Fundación de Hipoterapia". An institution dedicated to rehabilitate neurologically challenged children through horses as a therapeutic vehicle. Founder of C.A.P.A. (Corporación de Ayuda a Perros Abandonados), which is an organization that takes care of abandoned dogs, an activity that fulfills me deeply. Together with my family, we support the Escuela de Valdivia de Paine by providing them with school supplies. I practice dressage regulary, which is a horseback riding discipline. It's been my favorite sport for many years. I also enjoy practicing belly dance. During the last year, I joined SALMA (Save the Stray Dogs organization) as a volunteer, working in the adoption and sterilization area. My strengths: Leadership, teamwork and a capability to establish interpersonal relationships.
	PTA Elementary VP, Viviana Nunez vivinunez@mi.cl
PTA ECC VP, Ana Carolina Paula anacarolina.paula@gmail.com
	PTA Treasurer, Lynn Oros lynnoros@yahoo.com
PTA Secretary, Judi Gayfer jteddies@hotmail.com	I arrived in Santiago in March 2009 on a two-year assignment from Melbourne, Australia with my husband and two children. Emily is in 10th Grade and Tim is in 6th Grade. We have previously lived in Canada and Germany. My background is in Administration/Teachers Aide in various office and educational settings. I have also been involved in both my children’s kindergarten and school in a voluntary capacity on the Parent Teacher Association and School Board levels. I enjoy being involved and building a strong sense of community within my children’s schools as well as encouraging the whole school community to enjoy and participate in the life of the school and their children.
My family and I moved to Chile six years ago. I have three children at Nido: a daughter who graduates in June 2009, a daughter, a rising senior and a son in K-1. I have now had children at each of the divisions at Nido, and understand very well the culture of the school. I have been involved in PTA at Nido for the last six years, as past PTA President 2004-2005) and Chair of the Newcomers Committee (2006-2008), and I currently am a room mother in the Nido ECC. I was a PTA Vice President for my daughters’ elementary school in the U.S. I am involved in a number of other organizations in Chile, including the Canadian Association, Habitat for Humanity, and volunteer work at Hogar de Niñas La Granja (a girls orphanage). I have both U.S. and Panamanian citizenship. I am bilingual and have lived and traveled in a number of other countries.	PTA Board Executive Advisor, Clara Kaye clara.kaye@yahoo.com
	PTA Communications Officer, Jorge Ortúzar Vásquez jov@sofofa.cl
	PTA Hospitality Coordinator, vacant
PTA Volunteer Coordinator, vacant
	Spirit WearCoordinator, Josee Bornais bornaisjosee.hotmail.com
Pizza Coordinator, Anne Tonkin anne@tonkins.id.au

Nido PTA meetings are usually held on the 3rd Wednesday of every month at 12:30 noon.

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Dinnerware Rental available at 100 pesos a piece; 500 for tablecloths.

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1. Encourage your child to report bullying incidents to you.

- Validate your child’s feelings by letting him/her know that it is normal to feel hurt, sad, scared,     angry, etc.
- Let your child know that s/he has made the right choice by reporting the incident(s) to you and     assure your child that s/he is not to blame.
- Help your child be specific in describing bullying incidents: who, what, where, when. (Look for     patterns or evidence of repeated bullying behaviors that are unfair and one-sided.)

2. Ask your child how s/he has tried to stop the bullying.

3. Coach your child in possible alternatives:

- Avoidance is often the best strategy.
- Play in a different place.
- Play a different game.
- Stay near a supervising adult when bullying is likely to occur.
- Look for ways to find new friends:
- Support your child by encouraging him/her to extend invitations for friends to play at your home or     to attend activities.
- Involve your child in social activities outside of school.

4. Treat the school as your ally.

- Share your child's concerns and specific information around bullying incidents with appropriate     school personnel.
- Work with school staff to protect your child from possible retaliation.
- Establish a plan with the school and your child for dealing with future bullying incidents.

5. Encourage your child to seek help and to report bullying incidents to someone s/he feels     safe with at the school:

- Adult in charge of a specific activity or area (e.g., playground, lunchroom, field trips, bus lines, gym, classroom)
- Teacher
- Counselor
- Principal

6. Use school personnel and other parents as resources in finding positive ways to     encourage respectful behaviors at school.

- Volunteer time to help supervise on field trips, on the playground, or in the lunchroom.
- Become an advocate for schoolwide bullying prevention programs and policies.

7. Encourage your child to continue to talk with you about all bullying incidents.

- Do not ignore your child’s report.
- Do not advise your child to physically fight back. (Bullying lasts longer and becomes more severe     when children fight back. Physical injuries often result.)
- Do not confront the child who bullies.
- Do not confront the family of the child who bullies.

Bullying/Harassment

Bullying is anti-social behavior defined as offensive, abusive, intimidating, malicious or insulting conduct that undermines others’ self-confidence, isolates or excludes others from typical school and social interaction, or causes others to suffer distress and a sense of injustice. Bullying comes in many forms including:
Physical: Pushing, kicking, hitting, including threats to harm another, and taking or damaging others’ property

Verbal: Name-calling, sarcasm, gossiping, spreading rumors and persistent teasing

Emotional: Tormenting, humiliating, ridiculing, ignoring or excluding

Sexual: Unwanted physical contact, comments of an unwelcome sexual nature

Racist: Gestures, taunts, graffiti, physical violence or mocking

Cyber: Harassment, alarm, distress, or humiliation that uses internet related and/or telephone technology. Cyber bullying is especially insidious and cowardly as the bully often remains anonymous and hides his or her identity from those being bullied. Cyber bullying may occur via personal web site, blogs, e-mail, discussion groups, message boards, chat, voice, text or image cell phones.

Common forms of cyber bullying:
Flaming - online fights using electronic messages with angry or vulgar language

Harassment - repeatedly sending nasty, mean, and insulting messages

Denigration - “DISSING” someone on-line. Sending or posting gossip or rumors about a person to damage his or her reputation or friendships

Impersonation - pretending to be someone else and sending or posting material to get that person in trouble or to damage that person’s reputation or friendships

Outing - Sharing someone’s secrets or embarrassing information or images on-line

Trickery - tricking someone into revealing secrets or embarrassing information, then sharing it on-line

Exclusion - intentionally and cruelly excluding someone from an on-line group with the intent of being mean and hurting their feelings

Cyberstalking - repeated, intense harassment and denigration that includes threats or creates intimidation and fear.

Bullying in any form is unacceptable and students who engage in any form of bullying behavior will be subject to serious disciplinary consequences, including suspension, withdrawal or formal expulsion from school.

PARENTS: Cyber bullying books available in the Nido de Aguilas Library include: Cyberbulling and Cyberthreats by Nancy Willard
Cyber-Safe Kids, Cyber Savvy Teens by Nancy Willard Both books provide information on how to protect your child from cyberbullying, responsible use of technology, unsafe on-line communities, dangerous on-line groups, unsafe disclosure of personal information, on-line strangers and predators, addictive computer use, social manipulation, and teen on-line risk. Additional information is available on the following web site:

Dr. Nancy Willard, Center for Safe and Responsible Use of the Internet http://csriu.org - http://cyberbully.org

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Below is a list of links to articles, resource guides, and web sites with tips on how families and educators can deal with bullying behaviors and situations.

Bullying at School Information http://www.scre.ac.uk/bully/index.html
Includes tips for families and specific ideas for dealing with bullying at school. A user-friendly site. Site sponsored by the Scottish Council for Research in Education.

Bullying Information for Parents and Teachers http://www.lfcc.on.ca/bully.htm
Excellent resource. Includes causes and consequences of bullying, classroom suggestions, advice for parents, gender differences in bullying, current bullying research, etc. Site material is excerpted from A.S.A.P.: A School-Based Anti-Violence Program. Site sponsored by the London Family Court Clinic in Ontario, Canada.

European Conference on Initiatives to Combat School Bullying http://www.gold.ac.uk/euconf/
Includes detailed summaries of keynote addresses and workshops held at the May 1998 conference sponsored by the European Commission under its Violence in Schools initiative. Offers links to information about anti-bullying initiatives in 13 countries. Site sponsored by Goldsmiths College University of London.

NO BULLY http://www.police.govt.nz/service/yes/nobully/
A colorful site with bullying information aimed both at kids and adults. A fun online game, guidelines for schools, and New Zealand's Stop Bullying campaign are featured.

Bullying.Org - Where You Are Not Alone http://www.bullying.org
Offers stories, drawings, poems, by victims of bullying. Includes media coverage of bullying, educational resources, and related web sites. Project of William Belsey for IEARN-Canada.

Angries Out is an American website to help children and adults learn how to deal with their anger constructively.

http://www.education.unisa.edu.au/bullying/ These pages will inform you of what educationalists and researchers have discovered in the last few years about bullying and harassment and the practical suggestions that are now being made to overcome this age-old and troublesome problem.

Bullying - how to stop it
This focusses on 3 questions: How a parent can prevent one's child from being bullied; how a child may cope with the aggression of others; and how to deal with ones's own child if he or she is a bully.

Brothers, sisters and friends
This is part of a major source of information about bullying prepared for the Scottish Council of Research in Education. This part provides advice on helping a family member who is being bullied.

Don't Suffer in Silence
This is a new and very comprehensive and well developed site in England. It contains information for children and teachers as well as parents.

Strategies for parents http://www.cfchildren.org/resources_parent.shtml
This Canadian site provides useful tips for parents, especially for use if their children are being bullied at school.

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