Site Council

January 8, 2008 MINUTES

Attendees

Suzanne Doran, Terry Noeth, Madeleine Smeets, Cindy Phillips, Linda Frommer, Amanda Ballard, Susan Scheel, Sandra Pearson, Vito La Sala, Juliana Moraes-Liu, Jared Filseth, Salma Kandil

Welcome, Agenda, Minutes

Agenda approved

Minutes approved

No correspondence

Open Forum

Noel Berghout asked Site Council to fund "student of the month" which is currently funded by student Council. They pay for awards, printer, ink, and time. Site council needs clarification on background of request and a proposal to consider. Suzanne Doran will ask Noel for needed information.

Presentation/Discussion of VTP, TASC, & Homework Center Activities/Goals (Joleen Roach)

VTP

• Culture Club started 7 years ago and it runs on Wednesdays
• Its goal is to support students of color and their families, ensure they understand the "hidden rules" of school, and aid families in navigating their way through Jordan and PAUSD
• Culture Club brings speakers, hosts Thanksgiving feast, provide information nights in the Fall, offers students Movie and dinner nights, and celebrate the end of the year with a BBQ
• Joleen supports students in seeking help and problem solving
• The Culture Club gives students a safe place on campus to call home to develop trust and is known in VTP community
• It acknowledge the group as a known entity at Jordan
• Teachers refer students to Joleen if there are any concerns
• Joleen's background in special ed and study skills crosses over to support VTP students and help them achieve

Q: Are students assigned a host family when they start VTP in KG?

No, but it has been discussed earlier

Q: What is the number of students in club? VTP population? How are they invited?

40 students mostly girls/ population is about 53/ students can drop in anytime during the year

Q: Does the club need any support?

Manpower, more hours, ideas on how to get parents to Jordan on a monthly basis, how to help students earning 2.0 GPA or below to do better

Q: Are there any challenges to bring parents on campus?

Maybe meet them first in EPA and then invite them over Jordan, Call them twice before an event

TASC (Teachers Assist Students and Care)

• It is a mentoring program that connects staff and students for academic or social support
• Any willing staff member can mentor
• Staff chooses a past or a current student
• Counselors and administrators refer students
• There are 16 mentors this year, some has two students

Activities

• Goal setting during regular one on one meetings with mentors
• Support meetings for mentors during lunch
• End of year evening celebration

Working Groups Discussion and Action Plans (Linda Frommer)

Social Emotional Programming Sub Committee Notes

Burning Issue/Question:

How can all of the social-emotional efforts at Jordan be blended and streamlined to have an impact without being overwhelming for advisory teachers?

Initial Steps (on how to go about looking into this issue/question):

Prioritize programs to bring focus

Determine how we assign value to each program

Consider methods for reaching out to and involving all students

Members:

Vito LaSala – Lead member, Salma Kandil, Susan Scheel, Vivian Boudreaux, Walter Barry, Sandra Pearson, Sharon Ofek

Next Meeting Time: TBD

Brainstormed list of activities/programs:

· Social Norms

· Safe & Caring Schools

· Advisory

· Culture Club

· TASC Mentors

· Student of the Month

· End-of-Year Awards

· Intramurals

· Lunch clubs

· Pride assemblies (pride cards)

· VTP events

· Back to school BBQ (& other school-wide events)

· International Festival

· Diversity Panels

· School wide cultural celebrations (Day of the Dead, Harlem Renaissance)

· Performing Arts assemblies (Taiko drummers, dancers, Chinese Lion dancers, etc.)

· Extra-curricular department activities (jazz band/ensemble, Italian street painting, etc.)

· Leadership activities – noontime activities

· Student Council

Study Skills Sub Committee Notes

Members:

Madeleine Smeets, Linda Frommer, Suzanne Doran, Susan Bailey, Terry Noeth, Amanda Ballard, Juliana Moraes-Liu, Jared Filseth

Follow-up Bylaws Discussion (Linda Frommer)

• A discussion took place in regards to having a P.T.A. representative and principal are non-voting members of Site Council.

PTA Report (Susan Scheel)

• Katia Peterson will be presenting to the P.T.A. on Wednesday, Jan. 16^th at 7:00pm about Safe and Caring Schools.

Student Council Report (Amanda Ballard)

• Student Council is working on an upcoming fundraiser called, "One Dollar for Life".
• Students are continuing to move forward and reported success with the Peer Helper program.

Principal’s Report

· Principal selection process was reviewed. A selection committee is being formed consisting of 4-5 teachers, 2 support staff, and 4-5 parents.

· Teachers will select teacher representatives, support staff will select the support staff members and parents will select parent representatives.

· This committee will provide input to the district and the district will then make the final decision.

· The district will also be looking for input from teachers and the community as to the qualities desired of a new principal.

· Committee members should be chosen by Feb. 12, interviews to take place during the week of March 10-14. A hiring date in April is preferred.