Site Council Meeting – November 26, 2007

Jennifer Wilson welcomes the group and introduces new format, sharing the meeting responsibilities of chair, process observer, notetaker, etc.  Carrie will take notes and Shelia will be the process observer.

Jennifer reviews the minutes from the October site meeting, from the notes that were on the website.  Jennifer asks for any feed back.

Athletic Policy:  The athletic policy was approved by the school board in October.  Carrie has received some feedback from parents who have questions regarding the intent behind some of the changes.  Carrie has referred these folks to the Superintendent for clarification of specifics.  She has also asked for clarification from the District as to whether the policy is being enforced in season only, or year round.  Consistent paperwork will be used between the middle and high school for continuity. 

Dance:  Great time at the dance.  Students came alcohol free (no smell in the gym!)  Student attendance was not affected.  Officers stayed until 12:30 a.m. to make sure everyone got off campus safely.  Carrie appreciated the stress free environment, not having to worry about students who might be under the influence.

Assembly: The drug and alcohol assembly went alright, but the students had a difficult time connecting with the presenter.  The presentation was very technical.  9th and 10th graders went back to class and had a discussion about the assembly and other issues relating to drugs and alcohol.  Several students stayed to talk to the presenter after the presentation for 11th and 12th graders and talked about their particular situations and efforts towards recovery.  Good opportunity for those students.

Transitions: Cross over between Blue Heron and PTHS was greatly improved, but what about time to prep them for the change in expectations for homework, honors classes, etc. at the high school.  There was a spring presentation at the Middle School and the Back to School night at the high school in August.  Transitions committee will continue to work on improving areas that were challenging (freshman tours).  Teresa is interested in finding a way to have a ‘family center’ where parents can come and get information on topics of interest to high school parents. A corner of each school library could work.   Navigation 101 is continuing at the high school.  The middle school is struggling getting it off the ground.

Committee Reports:

Forums- Julie presents that she has worked with Jeannie Glaspell and Jennifer Wilson on this.  They have discussed a possibility of having a monthly topic for discussion with students, at home and in the community on selected issues – common book theme, what you need to be successful in life, nutrition and body image, reproductive health, tolerance and diversity, harassment, etc.  Ideas incorporated having a 30 minute presentation to parents, with open discussion and questions following.  Teachers would use a homeroom time to have that same topic discussion with students.  The Healthy Youth Coalition is on board with expanding this into a community topic forum that would be supported through the newspaper.  John suggested that teachers might not be comfortable discussing some topics with their students, so we would look into formal presentations in the auditorium for the student presentation.

Education Foundation- Suzy Carroll reports that the PTEF is off to a great start.  Macadoos did a Thanksgiving fundraiser to get the group started.  They have a board and are working on committees for fundraising, etc.  A meeting with  Steve McIntire has given the group information regarding the financial shortfalls of public education.  Suzy clarified that Save our Sports will not be merging into this foundation – it is academic only.  They will have a grant application process that will allow teachers to apply for money.  Site Council might have a role in helping to determine which applications are approved. 

District Site Council Rep- Suzy Carroll and Teresa Janssen are both the district site council.  It is an opportunity for site councils to work together and share information.  They are looking for a second high school parent to serve, so let Suzy know if you are interested.

Volunteers- Tracy is following the same process as last year.  Teachers have not been contacting Tracy for help, so she is reaching out to coaches, the AD and class advisors to see how she can best help.  Carrie will work with Tracy to have a volunteer form for parents in the next newsletter.  We will also put something on the website for contacting Tracy if they want to help.  Tracy will be working with coaches to try and establish a format for teams getting their homework completed.  A work session before or after practice would be great!

Gina talked about challenges with students being able to manage their time, or don’t seem to have the reading skills to complete some of the literature that is assigned in classes.  Students need to have a sense of language and strong writing skills to be successful in many high school classes.  Shelia suggested that the school could put together a recommended book list for each grade level summer reading that would prepare them for the next grade level of coursework. 

Other Topics for Discussion:

Communication with the website – find ways to remind parents to access the websites for needed information.  The daily bulletin gives a wealth of information to parents. 

Next meeting is Monday, December 17th.  We are also looking at adding a meeting in February.  Check your calendars to see if you are available on Wednesday, Feb. 6 and bring that information to the December meeting.

Yuko will lead the December meeting and Chris will serve as process observer.