SCHOOL ADVISORY COUNCIL
November 9, 2006
Minutes
from Meeting
Meeting
called to order at 7:30 a.m.
In
attendance were Michelle Henderson (principal), Keith Thompson (chair and
teacher representative), Britt Galipault (secretary and parent representative),
Julie Lopez (parent representative), Harriet Cowan (teacher representative),
and Brooke Blackwell, Nathaniel Galipault and Rita Lopez (student
representatives).
Agenda:
1. Approval of Minutes
The
minutes from the previous meeting were read aloud and approved by those
present.
2. Computer Literacy Update
As
discussed in our previous meeting, we would like to conduct four computer
classes on campus during evening hours:
a basic computer literacy night for English- and Spanish-speaking parents;
an FCAT Explorer night; and an Internet safety course. The basic computer literacy class can be set
up for either January 10 or 17. We would
like to open up both labs on the same night, one to accommodate
English-speaking parents and another for Spanish-speaking parents. One of our business partners, Geek Squad, can
bring in instructors for both classes.
Staci Blackwell will follow up with them to make sure these dates are
available. A second class demonstrating
the use of the FCAT Explorer program for parents of third, fourth, and fifth
grade students was scheduled for November 30, but this conflicts with our next
Skate Night. Matt Avery has agreed that
we can move the FCAT Explorer demonstration to November 28. Michelle Henderson has found an instructor
for the proposed Internet safety class, which will be targeted especially
toward parents of fourth and fifth grade students. We are looking for a date in the spring to
hold this class. The school will not
charge for any of these classes. Title I
provides funds that can only be spent on parent involvement. We can use these funds to pay Matt Avery for
his time and provide food for people attending.
Free babysitting, probably with popcorn and a movie, will be provided
during these events.
3. Title I requirements
Title
I imposes new administrative requirements on our school, including the
development of a parent/family involvement plan. The administration believes that we are aware
of all the requirements and are already in a good position to comply. We must demonstrate that we have activities
in place to meet the requirements for Title I schools to get families involved
with their children’s education. SAC
discussed a draft of the parent/family involvement plan. Most of the requirements are met by things we
are doing already. We will be required
to develop a “compact”, which is an agreement between the staff and parent
representatives on how the school will impact student achievement. Also as part of our parent/family involvement
plan, the school will implement Quarter 3 parent conferences for all students,
at about the time that third quarter report cards come out. Michelle Henderson will find out if she can
get money, from Title I funds or elsewhere, to pay for substitute teachers to
help out so that teachers can hold conferences during school time. Finally, we now have access to a new program
called Teleparent that will make prerecorded phone calls to parents in 72
different languages to keep those parents up-to-date on their children’s
progress at school. This program was
developed by the
4. 90-minute reading block:
There
is still some confusion among parents about what goes on during the 90-minute
reading block. A flyer will be going
home to all students which will explain what we do with the 90-minute reading
block and re-emphasizing that this time must be uninterrupted. We need to follow this up with a
communication reminding parents about when their child’s reading block takes
place and to specifically remind parents that children may not be checked out
of school during the reading block. It
was suggested that we use quotes from students to help demonstrate to families
that this is an important part of the school day that children benefit from and
enjoy.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 a.m.