Verified EESAC Meeting Minutes

Recording Secretary: Sarah Russell

Location of meeting: Dorothy M. Wallace COPE Center, Room 39

Was a quorum established? Yes

Was the meeting advertised? Yes, 11/26/2014

Attendance

Topics Covered

The meeting was called to order at 8:00 a.m. by Mrs. Alfreida Joseph-Goins in the Media Center of Dorothy M. Wallace COPE Center.

In Attendance: Alfreida Joseph-Goins (Chair), Annette Burks-Grice, Joey McCall, Karen Webb, Sonya Harrington, Karla Revere, Tarika Quinn, Dr. Angela Gayden, Avis Esters-Bennett, Constance Gilbert, Kimberly Wilson, Daisy Butcher, Sarah Russell, Deja Morrison, Kristen Breske, Janie Centeno, and Marilyn Morning

Welcome was extended to our guest, current members and our community partners: Ms. Sonya Harrington, Mrs. Karen Webb, and Mr. Joey McCall. Student Government Association Vice President Deja Morrison was introduced.

Changes to the Council were announced: Mrs. Kristen Breske was elected the new UTD Steward replacing Dr. Sandra Billingslea; Ms. Janie Centeno has been elected as the UTD Alternate Steward, replacing Ms. Constance Gilbert.

Minutes of the May 6, 2014 meeting were reviewed. No corrections were made and a motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes as is.

Minutes of the October 7, 2014 meeting were reviewed. Corrections were made. It was motioned and seconded that the minutes be accepted as corrected.

COPE’s School Improvement Plan (SIP) was distributed to our community partners. The goals and progression outlined in the SIP were reviewed and discussed by department chairpersons.

Avis Bennett - Language Arts Department Chair - shared the department is making gains. The average performance for grades 9 and 10 was 55%. While the students are not at the proficiency percentage of 70%, the department will continue to monitor students’ progression through assessments, focusing on vocabulary and continuing to encourage independent reading.

Dr. Angela Gayden - Math & Science Department Chair - shared students are not yet proficient in the Algebra 1/Geometry/Algebra 2 courses, but the goal for math is to increase in student achievement. Math Teachers will incorporate technology to increase student engagement.

Science: No exam data was available for 8th grade students and no data has been received for the Fall Interim assessments.

Physical Science – 0% proficient students; Biology – Students made gains of 3 percentage points overall from the 2013-14 school year; 4 students were proficient in Biology and 2 students demonstrated limited proficiency in Biology; Chemistry – 0% proficient students. The Science Department is using the Claims, Evidence, Reasoning (CER) model to increase students’ comprehension of science concepts. When looking at the District average proficiency, COPE was at or above the District means mark in science.

Mrs. Karla Revere - Career and Technical Department Chair - discussed the CTE Department is preparing approximately 5 to 6 students for industry Certification. Students are participating in STEM activities through an Hour of Code where students will learn how to create simple computer programming codes to create small designs.

Mrs. Tarika Quinn - Student Services Department Chair - shared there are still too many students truant and home visits are still in progress. There are also several students who have aged out of the Foster Care system and will now transition into Adult Education.

To encourage positive attendance, Dr. Billingslea has begun incorporating incentives:
-- Attendance monitoring.
-- Weekly bonding for weekly perfect attendance.

Mrs. Goins gave a recap of the School Improvement Plan goals. The overall SIP goals are to increase student achievement in core content areas, reduce truancy and increase attendance and enrollment, and create a way to encourage parental involvement.

Mr. McCall inquired about the students’ personal involvement in their data. It was discussed that students are having data conversations with all of their teachers and counselors have academic advisement meetings with them to help them develop ownership over their success.

Mrs. Burks-Grice, Principal, provided an overview of the budget. Money obtained for Dorothy M. Wallace COPE Center through FTE week is based on student enrollment. Out of that, $174 is allocated for instruction; the rest can be used for achievement and incentives. We need to develop a plan to spend EESAC funds for student incentives. All EESAC funds must be spent by the end of the school year.

EESAC Chair, Mrs. Goins, briefly discussed the State 5-Star Recognition criteria. She also stated that in order to qualify for the 5-Star Recognition Program, the school had to receive a grade of “C” or better. Currently, Dorothy M. Wallace COPE Center is not a graded school.

The next scheduled meeting is February 10, 2015. The meeting was adjourned at 9:02 a.m.