Dear TAG Families, 

The PTA Executive Board and School Leadership Team elections will be held at the PTA meeting on June 18, 2024 at 6pm. Voting will occur over Zoom. Please check your Jupiter mail for a message from Ms. B with registration details.

Families play a vital role in our school community and we urge you to attend and vote!

The nominees as of June 4 are listed below. Additional nominees may be made from the floor on the night of the election.

PTA Executive Board

President

• Liz Butler. Liz Butler is the mother of K and 6th grade students and has served on the PTA in multiple roles. Outside of school, Liz is a government regulatory attorney in the financial services sector. She is running for President of the PTA.

Secretary

• Annie Burns & Clare Newman. 
  Annie Burns is the mom of Hartman (rising 5th grade) and has been Co-VP of Family Engagement for the last two years. She previously served on the Community Education Council for District 4 and as a class parent. Annie is a product development lawyer at JPMorgan.
  Clare Newman is the mom of Peter (rising 5th grader) and has served on both the fundraising and nominating committee at her son's previous school. She is a lifelong New Yorker and currently works as the President of the Trust for Governors Island.
  As Co-Secretaries, Annie and Clare are excited to work together to support this extraordinary school community and help advance initiatives that strengthen students' academic and social/emotional experiences at TAG. 

Treasurer

• Tony Muñoz. Father of a current 3rd grader. Born and raised in the Bronx. Graduated from Columbia University and have spent 25 years in finance. Currently CoHead of the Healthcare Finance group at Cantor Fitzgerald. Previous Treasurer of his condo building.

VP at Large 

• Ella Tay & Ali Gelles. Ella and Ali are running for Co-VPs at Large.
  Ella Tay is a mother to Esme (3rd grade) and Ezra (rising K). Born in Taiwan, Ella grew up in Texas and came to NYC for college. She's worked in brand strategy, marketing, and partnerships for the past 20 years. She enjoys a cup of Darjeeling Earl Grey tea, a well curated bouquet of flowers, and has never met a Scorpio she didn't like!
  Ali Gelles is a mother to Franny (4th grade) and Clark (3rd grade). She has served as a TAG class parent for the past 5 years and is looking forward to making the leap to a role on the eboard. She is the Executive Director of Renaissance Weekend, an organization that brings people from diverse fields and backgrounds together. As Co-VPs, Ella and Ali want to find ways to engage more families to become involved with TAG and help support committees & initiatives in need. 

VP of Family Engagement

• Chia-Ling Hsu, Ivonne Nunez Carren, and Mark Momplaisir.   Chia-Ling, Ivonne, and Mark are running for Co-VPs of Family Engagement. They plan to work with TAG families to create an equitable partnership among educators and families to promote our children’s social, emotional and academic development. 
• Chia-Ling is the mother of a rising 3rd grader and a rising kindergartener. Professionally, she is a quantitative analyst. She currently serves in this role on the PTA. 
  Ivonne has been a part of the TAG community since 2018. She has a rising 7th grader and a rising 6th grader. Professionally, she is a mental health counselor. 
  Mark Momplaisir. Meet Mark Momplaisir, a seasoned self-help author, Organizational Psychologist, L&D Specialist, and Wellness Coach. Mark is a Training and Development Lead at New York City Health and Hospitals. 

VP of Budget 

• Abhishek Ghose. Abhishek is running for VP of Budget. 
  Abhishek works in financial services as a quantitative researcher. He would like to devote some time and energy to help the TAG PTA conduct its numerous responsibilities and help enrich the student community's overall experience. 

VP of Fundraising 

• Preeti Bingham & Jean Weng. Preeti & Jean are running for Co-VP’s of Fundraising.
  Preeti Bingham is the mother of a rising 2nd grader and incoming kindergartener. She served as TAG's VP of Fundraising during the 2023-2024 year.
  Jean Weng is the mom of Alex Park (3rd) and Eric Park (K). She was one of the class parents for the K classes this year. At Alex's prior school, she was the PTA secretary for a couple of years.

VP of Grants

• Kiersten Franz &  Felix L. Garcia del Castillo. Kiersten and Felix are running as co-VPs of Grants; they currently serve in these roles.
  Kiersten Franz was an active, voting shareholder of the residential cooperative corporation in the Central Harlem co-op where she lived for 5 years (2010-2015), during 2 of which she served as treasurer. She is a teacher. As Co-VP of Grants, Kiersten would bring to the table a relevant understanding of the inner workings of administrative decision making within schools and on executive committees.
  Felix has assisted with grant submissions to health sciences agencies; has served as executive committee member of a residential coop, in which role I secured payment plans to settle various debts, legal services to repossess and auction vacant units, and tax abatements for aging residents; and was a faculty advisor to an undergraduate student club, assisting in drafting their club charter and obtaining funding from the office of student activities.

VP of Enrichment

• Hallie Wang & Bonnie Wang. Hallie and Bonnie are running for co-VPs of Enrichment. Bios to follow. 

​School Leadership Team (Two Seats Available)

• Elizabeth Mattiace. Parent of current 8th grader and 4th grader who have been at TAG since K. She has long standing experience with TAG from different grade perspectives. She is Co-Secretary this current school year and now looking to further contribute, also a Class Parent.
• Natalie Tapkin. Natalie is running for SLT. Bio to follow. 

[6/14: removed Denada Ramnishta and John Lee from SLT candidates; combined Family Engagement candidates to a single ticket of C. Hsu, I. Nunez Carren, and M. Momplaisir]
[6/13: added candidates A. Burns + C. Newman for Recording Secretary; added bio for A. Ghose]
[6/12: updated bio of J. Rakos]

​On behalf of our community, the PTA executive board of the Talented and Gifted School for Young Scholars would like to share the following statement regarding the School Diversity Advisory Group’s recommendations to phase out elementary G&T schools.

The Talented and Gifted School (“TAG”) for Young Scholars (M012) is the most diverse of the five citywide Gifted and Talented Schools. TAG Young Scholars is located in the vibrant neighborhood of East Harlem (El Barrio) and serves grades K through 8. TAG Young Scholars has consistently ranked top two in all of New York State. The school, which has long attracted Black and Latinx children, was founded as a specialized program in 1989 and became a citywide Gifted and Talented school in 2005 under the leadership of its current principal Ms. Janette Cesar. TAG Young Scholars is one of the few schools that opted into a pilot initiative to increase diversity within their schools by giving priority, for 40% of its kindergarten seats, to applicants eligible for Free or Reduced Price Lunch (based on family income).

TAG Young Scholars is a wonderful example of what New York City schools are capable of. It should remain intact as a Gifted and Talented program and not be phased out. We welcome Chancellor Carranza and Mayor De Blasio to learn from our successful model, as well as work with us to help maintain our high-achieving and diverse school.

Please be advised that the school phones are not working properly.  They are able to call out, but are not receiving calls in.  They are working to resolve the issue.  Contact the main office via e-mail with any urgent matters:

MR. JOHNSON [email protected]

MS. MARITZA [email protected]

Buy tickets, babysitting, and sponsor a TAG teachers/staff HERE.

The PTA is launching their Holiday Box Top Dress Down initiative! Dress Downs will be on 12/17, 12/18, or 12/19. You can get them two ways:

OPTION 1:
For every 50 Box Tops you submit, you will receive a Dress Down Day.

OPTION 2:
In lieu of Box Tops, you can donate to IPledge to help keep all the programs and services the PTA funds for next year. Donate a minimum of $100 between Wednesday December 5th – Friday December 14th
and as a THANK YOU for donating, we will give you dress down days.

Get more details & make your donation HERE.

The first PTA meeting of the year will be held on Tuesday, Sep. 25th. at 6pm, in the cafeteria. At this meeting we'll be:

• Having an expedited election for the PTA Treasurer
• Reviewing the 2018-19 PTA budget
• And more...

A potluck dinner will be held at 5:45 pm. Childcare will be provided.

Be sure to attend, so your voice can be heard!

* Note: In observance of Yom Kippur, the evening of Tuesday Sept. 18th, this meeting will be moved to the following Tuesday, September 25th.