Verified EESAC Meeting Minutes

Approval of Previous Minutes: Libby Gonzalez, principal, called the E.E.S.A.C. meeting to order at 8:15 a.m. Mrs. Gonzalez ran the meeting because Ingrid Robledo, Chairwoman, was absent. The December E.E.S.A.C. minutes were reviewed. No corrections were necessary and the minutes were approved.

Principal’s Message: Mrs. Gonzalez welcomed the E.E.S.A.C. committee back from the holiday and wished everyone a Happy New Year. She reported that the students, parents, and teachers had been very pleased having the midterm exams before the holiday. The two weeks prior to the vacation were focused on midterm reviewing and testing. As a result, everyone was able to truly enjoy a stress free holiday. Students and parents are rested and ready to meet the new year’s challenges. Mrs. Gonzalez announced that the second quarter reading and mathematics district exams ran much smoother than the first quarter exams primarily due to the Edusoft program working much better now. She expressed reservation about the district exam reading and math scores due to the fact that the district exams are testing slightly different skills than the advanced skills taught at Carver. Although the exam’s validity is not totally accurate for Carver’s students, the exam results can still be used by the teachers to evaluate the skills that the students aren’t mastering. The second quarter reading results were 64 % mastery for the 6th grade, 71 % mastery for the 7th grade, and 72 % mastery for the 8th grade. Carver experienced a decrease from the first quarter results. Interestingly, the decrease was a district-wide phenomenon. Mrs. Gonzalez pointed out that the validity was much higher with the in-house designed science and social studies quarterly exams. The Writing exam results from the second quarter exams will be tabulated this week. District Math exams will be administered January 3rd through January 7th. Mrs. Gonzalez said that the curriculum integration is still going strong. The elective classes are completing timed readings in their subject areas. Social studies and science classes are including FCAT-type timed readings and writing assignments into their weekly lessons. In addition, the homeroom reading passport logs are being used each week to track each student’s homeroom reading. The midyear report for Carver’s School Improvement Plan is currently being created. The FCAT Writing exams will be administered on February 8th. The FCAT Reading test will be administered on February 28th. The FCAT Mathematics test will be administered on March 1st. The 8th grade FCAT Science test will be administered on March 7th. The FCAT Reading and Mathematics NRT exam will be administered March 8th.

Open Forum: Mr. Sands announced that the December 17th Kick It Up competition was a success. Mr. Sands will escort three Student Council representatives, Sarah Diamond, Gabriela Ferreira, and Alexa Isusquiza, to the United Way Student Awards Ceremony on January 13th. MDCPS students raised over $710,000 for the United Way campaign. The 7th grade field trip to Fairchild Tropical Gardens will be January 3rd through January 7th. The 8th grade Science Fair is sending 21 student projects and six bridges to the county science competition on January 24th through January 26th. Mrs. Dudouet, Carver’s teacher of the year, will attend the Region Teacher of the Year luncheon on January 14th. Mrs. Gramling announced that 7th grader Chloe Clunis has been invited to participate in the National Youth Storytelling Hall of Fame representing the state of Florida. The event will take place February 3rd through February 5th in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee as part of the Smokey Mountain Storytelling Festival. The twenty showcase finalists will be placed into one of four age categories and will each receive a trophy plus a cash reward of $100. There will be four Torchbeareres selected from each age category, each receiving $300, and one Grand Torchbearer receiving $500. Mrs. Troup announced than she was pregnant. She will finish the 2004 – 2005 school year and not return the following year.

Adjournment: Mrs. Gonzalez adjourned the meeting at 8:45 a.m.