School Advisory Council
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School Advisory Council
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8131 Dorothy M. Wallace Educational Center

Verified EESAC Meeting Minutes

01/11/2006    04:10PM

Recording Secretary: Sarah Russell

Location of meeting: Dorothy M. Wallace COPE Center Media Center

Was a quorum established? Yes

Was the meeting advertised? Yes, 01/05/2006

Attendance

Members Present:
King, Edwina (Principal)
Billingslea, Dr. Sandra (Union Steward)
Ames, Sandra (Teacher)
Bradman, Naima (Teacher)
Clarington, Lavonda (Teacher)
Gilbert, Constance (Teacher)
McKay, Gwendolyn (Teacher)
Allen, Andi (Alternate Teacher/Paraprofessional)
Johnson, Regina (Educational Support Employee)
Russell, Sarah (Alternate Educational Support)


Members Absent (Excused):
Castilla, Diana (Parent)
Hansley, Sandra (Parent)
Nickles, Sandra (Parent)
Riley, Barbara (Parent)
Matthews, Julie (Alternate Parent)
Otero, Heymi (Student)
Jones, Unique (Alternate Student)
Barrett, Wilbur (Business/Community Representative)
Blair Pottinger, Sharon (Business/Community Representative)
Fair, Chester (Business/Community Representative)
Zimbler, Barry (Business/Community Representative)

Members Absent (Unexcused):

Others Present:
Loring, Andrea (Assistant Principal)
Edouard, Tammy (Teacher)

Topics Covered

Sandra Ames called the meeting to order at 4:10 p.m.

The minutes from November 9, 2005 were read and approved with amendments.

OLD BUSINESS:

School Uniform Update – Ms. Clarington told us Carlos (the representative from All Uniform Wear) said that if a student has a shirt without a logo they will put the logo on the shirt for $5.00. He also has toddler size shirts. There is an All Uniform Wear store located in Southland Mall.

January 30, 2006 is the mandatory date to begin the uniform compliance.

NEW BUSINESS:

Mentoring Program – Mrs. King received feedback from the site visitation. Dr. Gallon suggested we set up a mentoring program for students who will count toward our school grade. We will monitor their academics and attendance.

Dr. Gallon recommends staff select students to mentor with whom they have a rapport. Mrs. King posed the question should mentoring be open to all staff members or only to the teachers.

Ms. Loring checked the accountability group and the percentage has now changed. At least 12 students have withdrawn.

There will be a SIP presentation on January 12, 2006 at Robert Morgan Educational Center.

Secondary School Reform – Ms. Clarington said that by January 23, 2006 we must submit to the district our road map on how we will implement our school reform and the date when we will begin implementation of our academies.

Ms. Ames said the Childcare Program is set up for four years. After the student goes to Miami-Dade College, takes a class and passes with a grade of “C” or higher they will get nine college credits.

Ms. Clarington suggested to Mrs. King that we do block scheduling next year. The counselors and Ms. Whitehead were at the school reform meeting with Ms. Clarington. Ms. Clarington said she is against the 30-minute lunch. School reform is here and the union is backing it.
Ms. Clarington also said we are on target with the things we need to get done for school reform. Ten to 12 schools are currently ready to begin school reform next year (2006-2007).

Academies are career tracks. Ms. Allen suggested a Life Skills Academy as one new academy.

Mrs. King said she will continue school reform talks at the next Leadership Team meeting.

Ms. Clarington informed us that the Math and Science Division has now split into two separate entities.

Data Analysis – Ms. Clarington explained her handouts of the statistics she has compiled and explained what they meant.

On January 12, 2006 during PLC teachers will complete a survey on how often they use technology in their classroom instruction.

Return on Investment (ROI) – Ms. Clarington will report on the percent of students who have made learning gains.

There are currently 102 students in the Nursery. The peak enrollment was 154 in the first nine weeks and 161 in the second nine weeks.

Back to the mentoring program – it was decided to pair instructional and non-instructional staff with students since some students had built up a rapport with the caregivers. Mentoring should be opened up to everyone – including the office staff.

It was suggested that some of the following be included in the mentoring program:

1. Check attendance daily – call if student not at school
2. Include reminder of note student must bring in if absent
3. Discuss classroom performance with student
4. If student has significant issues, refer them to the appropriate
sources - social worker, counselor, or nursery
5. Do home visits if necessary
6. Plan small informal meetings with teacher, mentor, and student
7. Call the day before to say we expect to see you tomorrow
8. Give warm fuzzies (notes) regarding attendance, class work, and
attitude.

Mrs. King said next Wednesday (January 18, 2006) at the general staff meeting she will talk about school reforms.

The next meeting will be held February 8, 2006 at 4:00 p.m.

The meeting was adjourned at 6:23 p.m.