May 21, 2012

SIT Meeting: Monday 

• SIT members for next year?
• Whose rotation is ending?
• Worrell, Hoag, Elkins
• Brendan willing to stay-on
• Turner:  Should available positions be "advertised" ?  Conversation with constituents to decide if it’s okay if current SIT members who would be rotating off continue to stay.
• 8^th grade rep:  Laura Horn; Elkins to Horn--He is willing to "chair" if that helps her decision of whether or not to stay-on.
• Lakey represents EC and parent and is also willing to stay
• We can still clean up the representatives at the start of next year.
• There will definitely be an encore position
• Guidance rep (process of hiring for next year), and Guidance will determine in-house who their rep will be
• Amend the by-laws so people will serve for two years?
• A two year term would give some continuity
• Turner: bylaws can be amended  by full faculty vote and PTSA Board Vote
• (We can take care of both teacher and PTSA votes on June 4^th)
• A maximum of two terms (no more than four consecutive years)

•  Horn send out an email asking for suggestions for next year.  The following were some items sent back: 

• Procedures for walking through the halls
• Dress code (enforced) and emphasized at the start of the year.
• Someone said:  "behavior among grade levels varies because of differences among teachers and admin inconsistencies"
• Gentry: "CHAMPS" training might need to be re-enforced since so many new staff members
• We can build the training in at the start of the year to create some consistency
• Having consistent looking common expectations posted in hallways, cafeteria, multi-purpose room, and other common areas might also help
• We can do "CHAMPS" without feeling like an extra expectation
• Needs to be Simple, basic set of guidelines
• Hallway behavior always comes up, and Gentry has some ideas for next year
• 8^th grade movement is a known issue:  may have to tap into using teachers during their planning times especially if tutoring goes away
• Has to happen starting day one
• Could possibly solve the 8^th grade change problem.
• It will be a logistical deal for administration to plan, but should be well worth it
• Turner: If consequences for hall misbehavior would be enforced consistently, that would help. (for example, sending students to the back of the line)

• Duty would be broken down period by period
• There was a positive response on this idea among SIT members, and folks said it would be best if coverage happened throughout the day not just for 8th grade
• Will we have tutoring next year?  Possibly not?  It is being discussed at leadership

• Dress code: Thorne said that several people have expressed concerns about students being sent for dress code violations and then told they were "okay"
• Staff has to take ownership in the dress code issue:  We need some simple codes in place to measure violations
• Admins ARE making the decisions NOT office staff
• We need to simplify the process as much as possible
• Home base needs to be the first level of checking.
• It is difficult if everyone is not on the same page
• Lakey:  we can build it in the morning routine, maybe at the “Pledge”?
• Need to decide on what are the specific expectations of the teachers
• We do not want to go to a "standard mode of dress".
• Lakey:  There are three main issues:  "two short, too tight, and too revealing".
• Enforcement needs to minimize disruption and minimize lost class time.
• It become a discipline issue if it recurs
• "The bigger deal we make it,  the bigger deal it becomes".
• Dress code violations is a level 1 offense, it's when recurs that it becomes a higher level
• Clear expectations at the start and consistency is the key
• Maxcy:  Teachers have to step up and be clear to start out the year, a call to parents is sometimes the best defense.
• Teachers contact logs are supposed to be kept.
• Should we schedule a time during morning routine?  Gentry is willing to do that.

Tech summer spending update:

• Our matching funds grant application was approved by the school board.  
• Funds have to be used toward completion of "classroom solutions"
• We have essentially two new core classrooms that we have to outfit in the POD--rooms 311, 313, and we will use the ~ $4000 in matching funds to outfit those rooms. 
• We are still working toward a DELL mini cart, 7 dell mini's have been purchased, and we will look at purchasing more along with an actual cart.  But matching funds can NOT be used for laptops :(

February 27, 2012

Attendees
Cliff Prince (who needs to bring a tarp for his car on overcast days)
Dedria Davis-King
John Downs
Brendan Elkins
Stephanie Gentry
Brian Graham
Portia Lakey
Tonia Maxcy
Kristin Thorne
Lisa Turner
Sherri Worrell
did I miss someone?

Laura Horn--Topics for today's meeting

• Book Fair
• Suggestions and concerns from faculty about roles/duties of SIT Reps
• Laptops/new technology
• Literacy

Book Fair Schedule:

• Looking for a simpler schedule, smooth process with lots of feedback and input from the staff
• No reason for everyone to go down two and three times
• Starts Friday March 9^th—through the following Thursday
• Ms. Gentry is sending out the staff calendar with the updated schedule
• Book fair preview:  All LA teachers will run through for a 15 minute preview—schedule will be posted
• Should not disrupt 7^th grade field trip nor spring pictures
• After preview period is over, then 2 and  half days will be for purchasing
• Book fair passes will be issued and students will have a ten minute window to shop
• Two students at a time should ensure no more than about twenty students at the Fair at any one time.
• No one should have to change their lesson plan as was the case in the past
• We will advertise book fair family night on  Tuesday the 13^th part of the Arts festival 6:00-8:00
• Other details:
• Would like the book fair to tie into literacy push
• During preview—students can make a quick purchase
• Open days will be advertised very clearly.
• Book fair preview CD will be view-able during home base or certain times during the day
• PTA is limiting some of the "junk purchases"

Expectations for SIT Reps/how to handle complaints and concerns

• After the last meeting there was a lot of feedback provided to SIT reps
• Some people might not understand that SIT meets only once per month
• Laura sent out the by-laws about what those expectations were.
• Dedria King was getting questions from people who wanted answers right away from administration, and that’s not the way SIT handles things
• If it’s an emergency, then those concerns should go to administration
• Part of the misconception is that SIT rep will take care of situation right away
• We need to help constituents understand the process
• Example:  Rep said grade level reported a hot spot in hall after school—that's really not an issue for SIT to solve since we meet only once per month—that should go directly to administration to troubleshoot

• Types of SIT Concerns
• Concerns that are completely valid
• Legitimate issue that is a school issue that can go on agenda for next meeting
• Third situation might be one to monitor, consult with Ms Horn or Ms Gentry
• Then, there are some people who just need to vent at times--SIT rep can be the temperature gauge and assess it based on number of those types of concerns and the source
• Bottom line:  Don’t expect SIT to be a "catch all" for complaints
• We want SIT to be respected and valued to make trusted decisions
• If people don’t like SIT decisions,  they should serve on SIT
• Items for agenda should go to Laura Horn first

Laptops/Downs

• The school has received 75 WFU laptops (was a complete surprise since we thought WFU laptop program was a budget cut
• They are Lenovo T-400 models with built in web cameras and microphones, skype and much faster processor (2.4 Giga Hertz with 1.93 Giga Bytes of Ram) and 150 GB hard drives.
• Much faster and higher quality than last model
• Downs's presentation on his thoughts about how laptops should be distributed

Discussion:

• We still have a need for a working laptop cart (discussion of laptop cart and what happened to it was discussed in great detail at the December Technology Committee meeting)
• School will start pursuing the purchase of another laptop cart
• A lot will depend on PTSA fund raiser and the sorting out of various funds out at the end of the year.
• Maxcy--National Junior Honor Society could donate money
• Gentry--up to 90% of extra money  could go towards technology.
• In past years, PTA gave $7000-$12000  but this year's fund raiser did not go as well
• Question:  If Dell Mini purchase does not work out can we pull WFU laptops back? No
• Maybe buy laptops for a cart in stages
• As liberal as she is, Gentry is very conservative with funds.
• We are all hoping PTSA spring fundraiser goes well
• Group was in consensus that new WFU laptops should go to teachers and be used at their discretion.
• Teachers should consult with Downs for ideas of best use in classroom or for home use too.
• All Laptops should be distributed to full-time certified teachers by March 9th 
• Thorne--we should make clear to constituents that one reason for not using these Lenovo laptops (for student use or for a laptop cart type situation) are durability issues and battery life.
• (The Dells according to Downs are more durable for student use, have long lasting batteries (up to six hours) and have carts with slots for easy charging (no loose cords to deal with) Also Dell carts are much easier to move to places like PODS whereas the Lenovo carts are actually a safety hazard with bad design and poor quality wheels

Literacy: 

• Laura Horn,  Lisa Turner and MS. Gentry—would like to push some ideas about reading in March
• Ms. Horn talked about teachers making a Sign, or a flyer with their favorite author and posting in classrooms
• She has made something really simple—Laura has a form already made up that she will share
• Students could also do them and hang them up
• Possibly hang them on the door?—only 30% of door may be covered( Ms. Gentry will be sharing at faculty meeting the results of the fire Marshall walk through)
• Other ideas:  
• People can add comments to the bottom of the SIT blog
• Target literacy for Science and Social studies
• What kind of reading strategies?  
• Fold-ables, titles, bold face words, paraphrasing, others?
• In LA workshops they discussed codes next to words, send to print shop, what can we do for people with text books? 
• Kendra sticky note idea with literature circles, and use that as a jumping off point for group discussions—could easily be transferred to science and other subjects
• Discussion Circles (Lisa) translation from literature circles to discussion circles
• found a bunch of articles last week on NCWISE Owl, Brittany Branch and turning it into a a science Friday reading project where kids work in groups and have "jobs" such as:  Word wizard, discussion leader, etc.
• The more we can talk about literacy strategies, the more we see in common across the school
• Maxcy:  found that people are doing more in their classroom then they realize, maybe just need to share more?
• At Monday’s staff meeting?  
• Couple of people could share best practices to incorporate literacy.
• Another idea: at next vertical planning meeting in March—good sharing time 
• For example, Black History Month:  Promoting diversity through literacy more of a cultural spin
• Maybe something like the book club and sharing of book covers.
• If you have additional ideas, share with Laura Horn
• Scroll different questions from novels, and enter into a drawing.
• Drop everything and read moment—read aloud to students 
• Junior honors society—Dr. Seuss day and kids read to kids
• Things like Student Council going down to Caleb’s Creek and reading to kids

SIT Meeting January 17, 2012

In attendance:
Davis-King
Downs
Gentry
Graham
Hedgecock
Horn
Lakey
Maxcy
Neal
Prince
Thorne
Turner
Worrell

Reduction in Paper Progress Reports: 

• We have definitely publicized it:
• Every team mailing, alert now phone and email, School newsletters, etc.,
• will continue to remind parents
• Right now, Admins are working on expectation for teachers
• The fine details are:
• Do teachers still have to contact parents when students fall to a D or an F?
• What is the time frame? 
• Suggested:  Parents should be notified between midterm progress report and the end of the quarter if a student falls to a D or an F
• We are not trying to add more to teachers’ plates, but we do need to remind folks that they are the ones who put out the grades, and we need to continue to communicate with students about grades
• What about printing a missing task list for students?  
• Can admins print these reports from NCWISE? Do they have rights to do that? 
• Do we need to show teachers how they can print missing task list at a staff meeting? (in main "reports" screen in NCWISE) 
• Maxcy:  a change in conversation needs to take place to direct parents to parent assist in general.
• Cindy Wilkes:  has had an extreme influx of parents to sign up for parent assist
• Admins are as a general rule first asking parents: “Have you talked to the teacher, and next have you looked on parent assist?”
• It was suggested that perhaps a list of reminders might be provided for teachers:
• For example, it was suggested that teachers should have major projects due well before end of quarter, and wherever possible grade large projects that span over a long period in “chunks/stages” so that students/parents have an idea of how they are doing along the way
• Incidentally, the overall vote by teachers in favor of going to the new paper progress report schedule was 41-3

PROCESS FOR THE BOOK FAIR:

• Twice a year…is this efficient?
• Can be a positive thing for the school and PTSA
• Kids seem to enjoy it
• Promotes literacy
• Wish we could not push all the “toys”
• The Book Fair has not been scheduled yet, until we get fund raising dates confirmed, but the Fair will be in the spring sometime, and we want to limit instructional time lost
• It is a waste to have every single child come down twice during one week--eats up entire period of class time

Proposal:

• Let kids come down for a preview, then the second time students come down with book fair passes and money to buy something
• Funnel through one or two subject areas in the school.

Other Comments:

• Overall the fair is run efficiently—we don’t have students down in the Media center goofing around—the people running it are firm about that
• We should keep a “literacy focus”
• 2^nd time should be designed for only people with money.
• Input?  Will this work?  What subject area to run it through? Social Studies? Language Arts?
• Perhaps LA teachers because they are the ones teaching reading/books?
• Put a number of the toys away?
• Show the Video that promotes the book fair—it is ~20 minutes
• Thorne:  Is there a flyer that goes home too?
• Let’s plan on starting the promotional video at 7:05 two consecutive days before the book fair
• Lakey:  She favors the LA teachers taking them
• 1^st preview day done through Language Arts?

Let Ms. Gentry know of any input you get over the next couple of weeks

Wiki: for Single School Culture Meetings/John Downs

• 6th grade Math asked Mr. Downs to come out to their single school culture meeting to discuss some ways to integrate technology into Math.
• Downs spoke to them about some ideas, and afterwards I spoke with The Single School Culture Coach (Ms. Beam) 
• Ms Beam was talking about how Kimmel Farm Elem (Sam Walker),  keeps a Wiki of all their single school culture meetings.  
• The Wiki is collaborative in that any teacher can go on there, and add content (such as files, pictures, text, etc.) Downs is suggesting it might be a good idea to do something like that here at SE.

Downs created this Wiki:

 https://semsssc.wikispaces.com

 
So, why would a wiki be better than say keeping notes in a word document and saving on the staff shared drive?
 
1)  Anyone from the meetings could add content to the wiki from any computer with internet access (so you don't have to be at school to edit the notes that maybe are currently saved on a staff share drive, etc)
2)  Wikis have the ability to link to websites, add files, pictures, and even audio and video, so it's a repository for saving stuff as well.
3)  If all the different groups wrote up their notes in this one place, then everyone could see each other's discussions and perhaps read and learn from each other.
4)  Since the Wiki is meant to be collaborative, those editing could pose questions, (let's say it was a technology question)  Downs could come behind and add the response right there on the wiki
5) The wiki would provide a history for documentation purposes, and reference for folks who recalled something said at a meeting (perhaps a resource)

This is not something we "have to do"...but can offer it to anyone who would like to try it even just as a place to save meeting notes—no user name and pw is required to edit the Wiki during this time of experimentation/

Maxcy—teachers would probably need some training on the Wiki

Hedgecock:  used a Wiki in a class and it was very easy to use and efficient

Laura Horn:  Asked for staff input/issues to be brought to SIT and the following are some of the emails she received today:

From an Encore teacher: 

• Need for a review of hallway procedures
• Please ask core teachers to communicate with encore before randomly telling students information about what to bring to encore classes (there was some confusion about this the day of “Worth the Wait” --When in doubt core should call the encore teacher. 

Other Grumblings... 

7^th Grade: 

• General feeling that some teachers are “slacking off” on duties/dress code
• Has the rule changed on jeans only on Fridays?
• Lack of communication issues
• Do we need to review hallway procedures during a staff meeting?
• PM dismissal seems to be a particular issue

Encore/other grade levels has been discussing this too:

• As SIT rep Dedria King has been working with encore teachers and discussing duty issues
• We might need to review/reinforce what rules are to be followed before and after school
• Morale issues? 

Gentry: There are some commonalities here

• Duty assignments and Hallway Procedures
• Some covered in Principal's blog—jeans stuff for example
• Admins might need more specifics to address the specific concerns
• Hallway Procedure—seems to be mostly PM concerns
• Admins may need to go back and look at it 
• Who’s going out front and who is going out to buses?

Other comments:

• Some People maybe unaware of their duties
• Hedgeock—we might need one more person on duty in 600 hall
• Issue:  What if nothing happens when a teacher reprimands a child in the hall?
• There are students ignoring teachers…
• Lakey:  two girls on 8^th grade hall inappropriately dressed—was not not dealt with when girls were sent to the office—We need to all back each other up!
• Bottles coming out of cafeteria:
• Beverage bottles around could lead to issues with alcohol?
  

How do we regroup?

• Perhaps we should have a 3^rd quarter/2^nd semester expectations refocus:
• “Single School cultures it”:  Go back to the rules and what are the consequences going to be.
• A letter to the Parents:  Reminding them to revisit the student handbook.
• Where are the gaps?
• Issues with adults in building can be as challenging as students
• We also don’t want to make the issues bigger than they really are
• We are all professionals and we need to do what we are supposed to do.  

Suggestions:

• At Single School Culture Meetings discuss these issues and come up with a “check list of buckle down/reminders about hall way procedures/teacher duties/professionalism and food and drink in classroom
• Teachers will then have something concrete to go back with students and discuss
• Also, from these suggestions made by the Single School Culture Groups, Gentry can make a  script to say to students, and follow up with a letter to families
• This will take some stepping up by everyone!

Ms Gentry added this after talking with several SIT members after the meeting:

"I will forward the learning team facilitators a checklist of reminders for the second semester, including things like reviewing some specific rules with students, being on supervision duty spots, etc.  Then I will go ahead and work on a summary sheet for teachers to review with students next week as well as a parent letter for Wednesday folders." Ms. Gentry

Final Discussion Point:

• Career center trip:  needs some coordinating—two options: 
• Send four teachers at a time, and (We said no to this) it ends up wasting too much  instructional time.
• Alternative, teachers stay and let other adults go. A schedule should be determined by the end of this week

SIT meeting Monday November 28, 2011

SIT meeting--Monday, November 28, 2011

Discussion items from the last SIT meeting--Paper verses non paper progress reports

Feedback from the different grade-levels:

• 6^th grade only had one person that wanted paper, they felt like ESL students still  need a hard copy.
• 7^th grade—consensus was to go paper-less. But, people wanted something in written form from administration showing support if we do go paperless.
• 8^th grade expressed concern mainly about a  parent who might comes back at week 7 or 8 of the quarter and say they had no idea of their student’s grade.  It comes down to student and parent responsibility.

What are the possibilities for paperless progress reports?

• Perhaps just one time per quarter? continue to send paper copies—when encore sends home their copies?
• Deb Neal: Was not here at the last meeting, but what about a letter to parents to opt out on this plan? (To still receive paper copies?) Issue with that-- 4 or 5 opt outs for each class—takes almost as much time as printing the entire class L
• Maxcy:  This is a sign of the times…going paperless.  Teachers have had to do it with pay stubs, banks are doing it with statements, etc.  Also, this is not the first year of school for middle school students, so they should be able to adapt. 
• What about a computer station in the office that is available to allow parents who don’t have computer access? 
• Susie has a station in her office they might be able to use.
• Lisa Turner said there is a place in the Media Center as well
• We could have even have some kind of sign in sheet next to computer to fill out to request a conference.
• Gentry:  This needs to be voted on by the staff.  Encore had a little bit of a different take on it, and we need their feedback too.

Concerns: 

• How to phase out paper copies ?
• How to publicize?
• alert nows (phone and email) , Wednesdays folders, Team newsletters, etc.

What choices do we give staff for the phase in process?

• Should we phase in so that core issues a progress report one time per quarter  like encore does now? 
• Do we eliminate paper progress reports completely?
• Discussions will need to continue to take place when students are failing.
• Elkins:  We discussed the idea of mini conference with students who have D’s and F’s at your computer showing students missing tasks, perhaps at the start of class on designated days?
• It was suggested that perhaps students could  sign off on a computer conference check sheet –something to the effect:  “I am aware that I have a D or an F”.
• What about starting this second semester? End of January?
• Consensus was for Core and Encore to go down to one paper copy on the same date
• We will need to get Cindy Wilkes on “alert” that parents maybe deluging her with requests for parent assist information
• We will publicize the computer station, for parents without any access to computers
• We can re-evaluate after going down to one progress report per quarter

Another issue raised:  Up until now, progress report time was the “ultimatum” for teachers to get grades entered—what will “push that now?”

• For one, there is already is board policy on teachers entering grades in a timely manner:
• AR 5124 Grade Reporting Regulations:  “teachers shall have one (1) week to assess and post student grades, unless otherwise communicated to parents.”
• We will also discuss specific issues/strategies at a future staff meeting

Concern: 
We do need to be gentle with the approach of this transition to the staff, We are trying to lighten the load not add more to teachers' plates. 
We do need to make the point that teachers discussing grades with students and parents still need to continue including making students aware of missing tasks.

This whole transition could be a very positive change in how we communicate between students/teachers/parents

Horn: to summarize:

• Starting in the 3^rd quarter, core teachers will issue only one paper copy of student progress reports.
• Right before Christmas, we can start the publicizing
• Take home packet for second semester is not printed yet so we will change the dates and possibly even have a reminder notification.

Update on Instant Recess:

• We have had some glitches with the structure and we are still working through it. 

Feedback on how tutoring is going:

• Overall it has been very positive.
• 8^th grade Feedback--Maxcy: Reading people are very happy, it’s not an extra prep, the lessons provided have been very good
• Math still waiting on that on-line program:  So there are some issues with who is creating and what exactly is the curriculum
• 7^th grade feedback-- Elkins:  Math folks are not sure what they are supposed to do, and they see that reading has been provided for, so there is a bit of a discrepancy there.
• The license for the math program is tied to the computer, and you can rotate computers and generate lessons for now…Deb Neal will be checking with Susie on license issue
• Encore Feedback In terms of encore and students missing classes, How’s it going?
• Some students they are only seeing once per week, and that makes it difficult.
• It is a lot  to keep in mind when planning--not to cover new concepts on Wednesday and Thursdays for example.
• We do have to keep in mind the overall goal which is literacy.
• Some parents have taken the “opt out" option (students taken out of tutoring) 
• 6^th grade feedback:  It worked well, smaller groups are helping and truly getting to know students needs in these small groups
• Student response?  So far seems pretty good too
• Anything to tell Math People?:  waiting on approval from budget from downtown,  Stephanie will check into that license issue and talk to Susie.

Review of School Improvement Plan

• 76% reading proficiency
• Goal is to get up to 83%
• this goal is lofty but attainable?
• Quarter test scores are in:
• Math:   
• All grade levels are above county average, we are about 4th or 5th in the system
• Reading:  
• Two grade levels above county average,  one grade level is at the county average.  Stephanie wants to talk to other schools for additional suggestions and we need to look and see if tutoring helps?
• Quarter tests are only one indicator of progress, but overall, we seem to be doing okay.

Miscellaneous Issues:

Morale concerns from all over…time is a huge factor.  People are tired sooner in the year than in the past it seems.  The office is especially hectic with Chris leaving.  Morale is an issue everywhere. 

What are some things we can do?

Maybe a faculty meeting with nothing on the agenda but positive things and food. (Encore may bring popcorn)

What’s causing the Morale issues?

• ALC: time issues? 
• Tutoring and less time for planning
• Economic issues…more is expected with less (no pay raise in four years)
• Deb—our staff is so conscientious so perhaps some stress is self-imposed.

What can we do to make people feel appreciated since financial is not an option?

• We need to look at what we can do here
• It was suggested that as a staff and administration/office need to be careful of “nit-picky” things—“copy sign" was sighted as one of those “things”
• Consensus was that when there is a problem with staff behavior (not monitoring in halls for example) that admins should speak to the people who are the offenders, not issue blanket statements-- Identify and address the people who are offending not general email to everyone.
• People not on duty is a security issue--negativity can build from these types of situations. 
  

Encore? 

Can another microwave be purchased?  Yes, we are getting a new microwave :)

Breakfast concern? We can not take away breakfast as a punishment for messes that are being left.

Ms. Gentry will consider options for students who do this.

ALC “alternative learning center”:  Issue with students leaving ALC?

• Will talk to Mr. Griffin

Dara Hedgecock:  Field Trip issues with 8^th grade--has this been resolved?

• This is a procedural issues with students no longer on teams.
• Everyone will have to be flexible when a teacher in 8th grade takes a trip.

Lackey:  change of class issues? 

• There have been some problems at class change recently with students being disruptive.  
• Admins have been made more aware of this just recently and will  try and beef up the monitoring.

Availability of office? 

• People calling and not getting an answer--admin availability is stretched to the limit and this is tough one to solve completely. 
• Parent volunteers are hard to get in the front office.
• Stephanie will get a prioritized list of people to call first.

Next scheduled SIT meeting not until February 20^th  -- We will try and meet instead on Tuesday, January 17^th

October 17, 2011

Laura Horn Items for this weeks Agenda--4 things on our list for today

• Updated School Improvement Plan
• Instant Recess
• Final Discussion on Tutoring
• Issue of Printing progress reports vs Parent Assist

School Improvement Plan:

• We need to go back to each section and look at the data, and see if there is anything we need to change
• For example, EOG reading scores--we did not target certain areas, and some other areas that we targeted we might need to tweak a little.  Also, some other subgroups have popped up that may need targeting--Gentry and Neal have been adding data
• New district requirement for a school safety plan--yellow copy of safety plan for the school
• Blue copy is also something new that is required--school wide discipline plan--we are at a bit of an advantage  because we already had some of this in place--was in the staff handbook. We did not have to start from scratch
• We have added  a section on ALC
• Also added a section on bullying and positive intervention (those seem to be working very well)
• ISS attendance has been way down--some suspensions have actually been OSS as opposed to ISS--showing students we are serious about things like bullying
• Maxcy--positive reinforcement--maybe include parent contact log that teachers are doing?
• bully patrol survey is way down, a couple were pranks, only 4/5 that were legit...maybe more willing to come forward with concerns openly now that bullying is so well publicized?
• SIP has to be submitted to downtown soon.
• Look through in the next week, and see if anything needs to be changed or edited and let Gentry know.

Grade level proposals  for "instant recess": Part of the NC Healthy Schools...
The following are the current proposals brought forward from grade level reps--these may still be tweaked.

6th Grade Proposal-

• Propose to go into gym every day 10 minutes before lunch, during encore planning.
• Groups will overlap by about five minutes, and no more than two groups in there at one time. 
• Starts at ~ 11:25, and the  last group goes through ~ 12:00

7th grade Proposal-

• They would like to do it by team...
• Everyone will use the videos that were offered to us--brain busters,  teams will determine which videos and mostly last ten minutes before they go to electives.  Downs expressed a concern about streaming all those videos at the same time, possible to download.  Gentry to send Downs the link

8th grade Proposal:

• Go outside and walk the track 
• Ten minutes built into lunch time
• One teacher doesn't want to do that,  rainy and cold issues?  
• Horn is thinking about bouncing around the idea of the brain buster videos on the web for the bad weather day concerns
• Walking the track should not conflict with 6th grade in the gym since 8th grade would be outside
• Gentry--we can always try and if we run into bottle necks, then we will adjust
• Concern--Hall door locked at end--can we take a look at that?  Gentry will look into options for that
• 8th grade lunch group starts at 10:45, and last group ends ~11:45.

Tutoring during planning periods--final discussion--are we all clear?

• We made some decisions here at the last SIT meeting
• Grade levels sounded a little wishy washy...
• We need to clear up the decisions we made here on SIT--those plans are still in effect
• Deb and Gentry are working on the groups and final details of the plan, groups, schedule, etc.
• Will be organized in a way so that students will not miss the same encore course all the time
• Will be as simple as possible, and will be available on-line
• Days will be Wednesday-Thursday
• Curriculum information (Neal  is sick today)  
• Deb was working on lessons,
• She wants to work with reps around the building to get some consistency with lessons
• Should be able to reuse some of the material since your groups will rotate.
• All information will be in writing.
• We are targeting our non proficient kids so there should also be some consistent goals there.
• Issues?
• Possible conflicts on parent conferences? 
• Can they be focused on Mondays and Fridays?
• Maxcy--could we say as a rule of thumb that they be consistently scheduled from Guidance on those days where ever possible?
• Issues with 504's and IEP's because of the sheer volume of those meetings. 
• Worrell--Can we double up Math and Science, and LA and Social Studies for example?  Problems...some will tag team, one teaches while one goes and makes copies.
• Professionalism issue...need to stick behind the pairings with both teachers being in there teaching. 
• What about Sub days?
• Should subs be doing tutoring sessions as a general rule?
• If a sub is there--go onto encore class?  Or tag team again with the remaining team teacher or other teacher in 8th grade?
• It was agreed that subs should be able to help the other teacher who is paired for tutoring.

Printing of Progress Reports/Downs brought this issue up

• At last Technology meeting there was a long discussion about the printing of progress reports in light of the new printer management program (each print out is costing us almost a penny per page)
• With 1200 students and 70 + teachers printing 100-300 pages each time we are talking hundreds of dollars and also wear and tear on the printers. 
• Betty Weycker's position was that schools should be using Parent Assist and not printing progress reports.

 Concerns:

• With a large free and reduced lunch population--how much Internet access is there?  Maxcy said that Mandy Durrenece said that an extensive survey done at Flat Rock (60% free and reduced) had over 90% with access to Internet
• What about Singling out issue?  handing out paper copies to individuals why do some get paper copies and not others?
• What about parents with language issues who don't understand parent assist?
• Should we wean parents off paper copies (like employees were with e-docs)?
• Should we target the 8th grade? (probably not, probably do all or none)
• Cut paper copies  back to once a quarter?  Again, probably not, probably all electronic or none
• When does the child see it/How does student see his grade?  
• Brendan--teachers could conference individually with students on progress report days --Teacher would still have an obligation to the student--can't just say have your parents look on parent assists
• Mathematically how do the students have a handle on their grade without seeing their progress report
• Lackey--as parent representative--What about a student who sees a blank on a progress report--identifying a mistake?
• Gentry--has No problems rolling it out...there is definitely a need for parent accountability, but teachers still need to have conversations with students. There would be a period of parents having to be added to parent assist and a publicity campaign (Sunday messages, alert now emails, team pack notifications, etc. )
• We need to take a closer look at it--Have discussions with your constituents and bring back report to Monday November 28th meeting:
• If we decide this, Gentry to look at time table--give teachers a menu of what to do...encore and core may have a difference...in numbers
• Downs to talk to other tech facilitators and find out how other schools have rolled this out.
• Either or?--a school decision to move forward or not...conference with kids during tutoring?

SIT Minutes September 12, 2011

Voting--New Members and chairperson:
New slate: 

• 6th Grade--Kristen Thorne, Brian Graham
• Encore: Dedria Davis-King, Kay Hoag
• 8th Grade:  Tonia Maxcy
• Classified--TBA
• EC/Parent Rep: Portia Lakey

All in favor, none opposed to new representatives.

Election of Chairperson:

• Ms. Gentry explained that she should not be "running the meetings". 
• Chairperson should facilitate meetings similar to single school culture meetings.
• Maxcy nominated Laura Horn
• Neal, second, all were in favor, none were opposed

SIT Meetings:

• Meetings will be approximately every 6 weeks
• Next scheduled meeting will be October 17th
• Meetings can be called in between
• First three meetings on the staff calendar:  Nov 28, Feb 20

SIT Plan:

• We are in a "follow-up" year
• We have to examine the data
• Ms. Gentry will input the data, and get all members a copy
• Members will review and see if there is anything we need to tweak
• Plan is due in the middle of October
• We also have to attach a School wide behavior plan
• We were able to adjust section of the staff handbook adding a section on ALC and hall behavior

Instant Recess:

• NC State Law says that WS/FCS is ~ an hour short in providing students with Physical fitness activity
• Each school must find ~ 10 minutes per day
• We will have to document in some way
• We don't have to do the "instant recess" videos
• Here is a site with on-line physical activity videos/clips that might be used:
• http://www.eatsmartmovemorenc.com/Energizers/Middle.html
• Maxcy--8th grade has discussed walking after lunch around the track (would work since Encore is at lunch during that time)
• 6th and 7th grade can be flexible about when they might do it so as not to interfere with team schedules
• One suggestion was to do it during the morning encore morning break when PE would not be outside (~ 30 minutes from 9:15-9:45)
• Teams would have to stick to their times so as not to overlap and have tons of students outside at once
• Would have to have a "back-up weather plan" on inclement weather days
• Deb Neal threw out the idea of each subject taking a quarter and handling it that way?
• The whole grade level does not have to agree on one plan as long as there is agreement to stagger times outside and not to interfere with PE.
• There was a suggestion that perhaps a team or grade level could do the whole week's worth in one day?
• concerns expressed about a lack of supervision during those times. 
• Don't want it to become recess with students handed a ball to play.
• Must be structured activities
• Outside options are:
• Field to the left
• Track to the right
• Top of the hill too
• SIT members will go back and discuss with their constituents.

Tutoring Plan:

• No certain start date on this, but sooner rather than later.
• There are two decisions to be made
• Days of the week (needs to be two separate days)
• Which groups of students/what type of tutoring
• There also needs to be a clear and simple method of communication (master calendar) so that encore, core and students all know who, when and where students will be.
• Tutoring should not be "make-up work" sessions
• Does not have to be the same group of students both days
• Maxcy said 8th grade teachers didn't like the idea of Mondays--if tutoring is done the way it should be, its something that has to be planned. 
• They suggested Wednesdays & Thursdays and everyone seemed to agree with these two days  with some rotation so that students would not miss the same encore class all the time.
• Duration of tutoring?  Gentry likes the idea of quarter long.
• Question? Offer some flexibility in teachers choosing who would be tutored?
• After school tutoring could target one group (bubble 2's?)
• Day time for low 2's and 1's?
• Suggestion to have the same "lesson" for both days
• Because of 8th grade not having teams, some teachers may have to tutor some students of other teachers--that may also be the case with 6th and 7th grade because of the configuration of students on different teams.
• Most seem to indicate they would rather have students picked for teachers for both days--predetermined by EOG scores
• Encore said students should probably be exempt from encore work when they are at tutoring
• If students are in after-school tutoring (and attending), then they would not have to go to day time tutoring

DEB Neal:  quick review of numbers:

• Reading
• 6th grade, 110 1's and 2's
• 7th grade, 58-1's, 64-2's
• 8th grade, 49-1's, 103-2's
• Math:
• 6th grade, 9-1's, 55-2's
• 7th grade, 13-1's, 82-2's
• 8th grade, 15-1's, 80-2's

• Everything about tutoring plan will be in writing
• Deb Neal to develop specific lessons (she wants input and consistency)
• Letter will go home to parents (some parents may opt out)
• Questions: 
• Can students be added to tutoring?  Probably not after groups are predetermined
• Can students be "exited"?  Could be for discipline issues--tutoring is a privilege and not a punishment