Garden Elementary School Advisory Council Minutes

April 18, 2006

 

Present – Emile Quinn, Principal

Teachers – Bruce Anderson, Anne Feely, Rachel Hallman, Gabrielle O’Berry

Classified – Karen Blackburn

Community – Dot Moore, Terri Ramey, Jack Shultz

Parents – Gary Gray, Mollee McFarlane, Sandra Ryan, Shannon Via

 

 

1) Welcome – Gabrielle O’Berry welcomed SAC members and started the meeting at 3:01 PM.

 

2) Budget – The budget was presented. There were some new budget items, which Mrs. O’Berry went over. The sign language interpreter’s services at the “One Community, One Book” event was $124. Flo Neu requested $695 out of the budgeted $1,000 for the Renaissance program. A total of $729.13 has currently been paid out for the chairperson’s supplement. The SAC balance is now $4,300.18.

 

3) YMCA Remedial Reading Partnership Update – Gabrielle O’Berry introduced Madeleine Hennings to SAC members. Ms. Hennings gave an overview of the program and its successes. The partnership is an after-school literacy/mentoring initiative, which targets first and second graders. It is sponsored by the Florida State Alliance of YMCA’s. The primary focus is on improving students’ reading skills, while helping them develop relationship building skills and greater self-esteem. Ms. Hennings went on to explain that the program is a pilot program in its first year. Ms. Hennings is hoping that the grant will be renewed. There are currently 37 Garden children enrolled. Each child gets 50 minutes to one hour of tutoring per session. There are 38 tutors, 28 of whom are currently active. Most tutors are retirees and high school students. The READS curriculum used is based on best practices of research-based tutoring programs. The KidzLit (literature that highlights “life lessons” like sharing, friendship, and honesty) and SIPPS (Systematic Instruction in Phoneme Awareness, Phonics and Sight Words) are the main curriculum components. A state representative who monitors the schools who have received this grant conducted an evaluation in February. The review was very positive. “The program at Garden Elementary is flourishing.” “The YMCA coordinator and school liaison are both enthusiastic and experienced in early age reading programs.” “The second graders are showing significant gains.” “Likewise, first graders also made major gains.” “Finally the school does not employ DIBELS, but has a more sophisticated program with four components (SRI, Comprehension, Timing, and SME Lab) that I found impressive.” “The tutors used the SIPPS material expertly at both 2:1 and 1:1 tables.” SAC wishes to sincerely thank Ms. Hennings, Ms. Feely, and the volunteer tutors for creating a wonderful learning experience for children in need.

 

4) Five Star School Report – Karen Blackburn reported on the status of Garden’s Five Star School Portfolio, which is due next week. They have been working very hard at collecting all the necessary data and documentation for the portfolio. Mr. Quinn and Garden’s staff want to recognize their dedication to this project and say thank you for their efforts.

 

5) PLC/Collaborative Methods for Professional Development Update (SIP) –

Gabrielle O’Berry updated SAC members concerning Garden Elementary School’s mission to close the achievement gap by providing workshops and training to staff, parents, and SAC members. Some of the most successful activities included working in Professional Learning Communities within our school community, identifying reading/math strategies to implement to address academic deficiencies, attending math, reading, science, and technology workshops, as well as offering parents workshops which dealt with how to help a child do better academically, on tests, understanding a child’s learning style, internet safety, and summer time activities. SAC members were thanked for partnering with staff to help create an atmosphere of collaboration and cooperation by participating in the writing of the SIP, “One Community, One Book” evenings, Dr. Norris’ regional discussion group, creating and approving school budgets, and by attending PALS training. SAC members made a suggestion to have more parent workshops and include more guidance related issues (teaching parents how to teach their children to be safe, making and keeping friends, understanding my child’s disability, being a single parent, etc.). Other suggestions to help Garden remain a school committed to offering learning opportunities to all its stakeholders are always appreciated.

 

6) Climate Survey Results – Mr. Quinn stated that we are awaiting the results at this time. He mentioned that instructional staff completed their surveys online.

 

7) Marie Carbo Workshop – The 22nd National Reading Styles Conference with Marie Carbo will be held in Orlando, FL at the Hilton in the Walt Disney World Resort from July 14 – 17. The Conference Mission is “to achieve the highest levels of literacy and self-fulfillment for educators and their students through the Reading Styles Program, which celebrates and respects diversity and individual styles.” Mr. Quinn will be bringing more Carbo-trained personnel to Garden. He would also like to send four more staff members to the conference. SAC members committed to use budget funds to send two of the four staff members at a cost of $900 - $1200 per person.

 

8) “Welcome New Families!” Report – Mrs. O’Berry reported that this event was well received and would be continued for the 2006/7 school year.

Mr. Quinn will schedule this event during the week of school when instructional staff returns. New families with children entering grades 1 – 5 will receive a letter announcing this event. A suggestion from the SAC was to have student tour guides. Any other ideas can be forwarded to Mr. Quinn.

 

9) Stipend Position Performance Requirements Discussion – Garden’s SAC would like to recommend the following:

•Revamp the look of the Stipend Positions descriptions.

•Update the information to make it current and relevant for each position.

•Rewrite the job descriptions so it includes a brief overview of what is expected.

•Build in accountability (i.e. progress report) for each position by writing an objective and yearly goals that pertain specifically to each position. This could be in checklist format and should be reviewed in January and May.

Gabrielle O’Berry discussed these issues with Eve Bendix, FLC chairperson. Mrs. Bendix will present the suggestions from SAC to FLC on April 25.

 

10) Other –

•Mr. Quinn said he recently talked to Mr. Zoretich concerning the hiring committee for Garden’s next principal. Mr. Zoretich hopes to have the new administrator start by June 1. The following staff members will help conduct interviews at the Landings on May 11: SAC Chairperson - Gabrielle O’Berry, SCTA Senior Building Representative – Carol Tausan, and PTO President – Tammi Stephens.

•A suggestion was made to have the school web site updated more frequently.

•Mrs. Via commented that she liked the look and simplicity of the former teacher web sites. SAC previously paid for these at a cost of $25 per teacher. She liked using the “TeacherWeb” site as a parent and thinks we should continue to pay for these sites. The county sites, although free for teachers, are too time-consuming and problematic.

•Mr. Quinn thanked SAC for approving funds for incentives for the Math Facts contests. After making each SAC member give an answer to a math facts problem, they were rewarded with a “Garden Elementary Light Pen!”

 

The meeting adjourned at 4:13 PM.

 

Next Meeting:

Tuesday, May 16, 2006 @ 3:00 PM

Front Conference Room