Site Council January 13, 2009

Welcome

Attendees: Michael Milliken, Leslie Goldman, Vito LaSala, Terry Noeth, Sarah Zabel Keith Rocha, Olivia P, Claire L, Callie W, Heather S, Marti Jacobs, Madeleine Smeets, Susan Bailey, Monica Malamud, Diana Walsh, Susan Walsh

Minutes for November were approved.

Student Council Report

• Ecumenical Hunger Project was a HUGE success. Approx 50 boxes were donated

• United Nations World Hunger will be next project - funds will be collected through Advisory

• Currently revising the Student Council constitution

• Second Semester Club Signups

Plan for Site Council activities over the next 6 sessions

Michael Milliken:

The Site Council is charged with overseeing and implementing the School Improvement Plan. It is important to monitor and hold ourselves accountable. We need to have a feel for the organizational context as part of a unified school district and we need to understand the context of how we work with the district and with their strategic plan for the middle schools. Some of the areas for improvement will be handed to us by the district and we need to look comprehensively at them. And we need to ask ourselves where we want to go as a group and what are possible areas for improvement or focus. Michael felt that we have gotten off to a slow start this year and so we need to get the school plan and agenda setting right this time around.

Susan Bailey:

Remaining of the Year - Calendar for Site Council

January–review district strategic plan

February-identify and narrow down school priorities

March-draft a summary of top school priorities

April-approve priorities and review draft by-laws

May-review draft of SPSA(strategic plan for student achievement)

June-approve SPSA

Review of PAUSD Strategic Plan, Adopted May 27, 2008

Susan Bailey:

•Susan summarized the themes, goals and strategic initiatives of PAUSD and how our plan dovetails, relates, or compares with the district plan

•The district strategic plan is not the only menu of our priorities, nor our only areas of focus. We need to fit into the context of the district but we can pick our own priorities keeping the district in mind.

•What part of the plan do we want to include as a priority at Jordan?

•The format of the district plan has no implication for our planning.

•Review of "Measurable Achievement Goals for Elementary and Middle Schools"

Susan's information was gleaned from 4 school board packets and Bill Garrison

PTA Report

Susan Paul shared a list of items that the PTA will be spending their extra money on. The PTA has reserved $25,000 for next year, which is double the amount they would normally have.

Principal's Report

•Administrators and counselors are visiting elementary schools

•Semester ends on January 16

•Have received results from the Social Norms survey. The new name is "Reality Check." We have a healthy population with regards to substance abuse.

•February 17 staff development day, morning on differentiation, afternoon on interdisciplinary teams.

•Re-implementation of a Spanish Immersion program

Open Forum

Parent, Jennifer Landesmann requests improvements to the Jordan World Language Program. She suggested four goals:

1. Starting the world language program in 6^th grade
2. Adding differentiated learning opportunities in language courses, respecting students' aptitudes as they evolve over time, and prior proficiency
3. Change current focus from "what credit do I get?" to a proficiency driven focus
4. Adding Mandarin to current language offerings

Jennifer also mentioned that we have less than 15% at the middle school who study language prior to high school. The most transformative ingredients to learning a language are that students begin to learn language earlier and that there is a frequency of study during the school day. She quoted scientific studies.

Adjourned at 5:01