•  SDMC Meeting Notes

    February 19, 2013

    Minutes taken by Kathleen Garson

     

    Present:

    Bill Buck- Principal

    Sandra Adair- Teacher Specialist

    Sherry Walker- School Nurse

    Elizabeth Portillo- Parents

    Bob Chenoweth- Mission Houston

    Ruben Gomez- Classroom Teacher

    Eric Whitten- Classroom Teacher

    Edgar Jimenez- Classroom Teacher

    Kathleen Garson- Classroom Teacher

     

    Absent:

    Rachel Spring-Support Personnel

     

    Safety

    Ms. Walker addressed the new dismissal systems with the committee. She stressed the importance of all of the students being silent in the hallway. Safety patrol needs to get food once off duty and make sure that they are escorted by an adult. Ms. Walker reminded everyone that students need to be careful at recess. If it is sprinkling or raining at all, teachers cannot bring the students outside. There have been parent complaints about teachers bringing students outside when it is raining.

     

    Dismissal

    Ms. Walker said that car riders will be dismissed from the cafeteria tomorrow, Wednesday, February 20th for early dismissal.
     
    She asked if we could always have dismissal for car riders from the cafeteria because it is much faster. Ms. Walker brought up that some of the after school students could be in the science room while dismissal is going on. Mr. Buck said that that would be too many kids in one place at the same time. He addressed that we tried that years ago and the students tore up the classes. Mr. Jimenez said that there are a lot of kids in 4th grade that are transitioning to the cafeteria for no reason

    because they are staying after school. Mr. Buck said that we can try, but he is still concerned that it is going to be too many kids in the cafeteria. Ms. Walker suggested having the car riders sit at the front and the after school students sit at the back of the cafeteria. Mr. Buck agreed that we can try it Thursday, February 21 and see how it goes.

     

    Construction

    Mr. Buck and Mr. Gomez will be attending the construction meeting for the school on Thursday, February 21.

    .

    Budget

    Mr. Buck addressed the grade level funds that have been distributed and should be spent.

     

    Attendance

    Mr. Buck addressed attendance and how we can work together to get the students to school. Mr. Buck said that attendance looks good for now as it is at 98%. If students are not coming in Pre-K and K students will be withdrawn.

     

    Grants

    Mr. Buck discussed the First Books Grant that Ms. Spring wrote for Shearn. It looks like we will be getting the grant. It will allow all students in K-5 to receive 5 books.

     

     

    Staffing

    Mr. Buck made a recommendation for a TA to be hired last Thursday. He will be interviewing and looking to hire 2 bilingual teachers and 1 regular teacher for the 2013-2014 school year. He will be looking at skill level and experience and possibly TFA.

     

    Academics

    Mr. Buck said that it is important that teachers are focused on objectives. After having the Lead4Ward training teachers should be clear on student expectations. Mr. Buck said that Test Bank is a good resource and he has been hearing good feedback. However, it is not research-based. He believes in Lead4Ward because it is most aligned and has research in it.

     

    Math

    Mr. Jimenez thanked everyone for participating in the 100th Day of School. He saw lots of work posted in the hallways and it

    was very encouraging and a great celebration.

     

    Reading/Writing/ESL

    Mrs. Adair announced that the TELPAS window opened on Monday, February 18. The online course for new teachers and teachers who have changed grade levels is open. Teachers need to complete the course and print the course certificate and put it in Mrs. Adair’s box. Calibration window is now open for all teachers for TELPAS. Mrs. Adair also announced that the 4th grade students will take the NNAP on March 6th. The library will be closed and Mrs. Adair has asked Mrs. Robinson to open

     

    the library on Thursday to make up the lost time.

     

    PTO

    Ms. Portillo announced that Pre-K and Kindergarten will be having a PTO fundraiser on Friday. Students in Pre-K and Kindergarten will have the opportunity to take pictures with a horse. The trail riders will be coming by the school between 9:00 and 9:30AM on Friday. Ms. Walker announced that the PTO will be starting up the after school food sale again. The students can pre-order their food and pick up and go. Mr. Buck suggested that students get the food right before going to their cars and walk out with their food. Ms. Garson and Mr. Jimenez brought up that the food might be distracting if we have it in the cafeteria and students could miss their numbers being called. Ms. Portillo brought up that parents are still parking in the front and that is what causes traffic. Mr. Buck said that if parents are parking in the front parents should call the police and report them so that officers come out and give tickets. Mr. Buck will make sure to find out if Mr. Jefferson can or cannot direct traffic.

     

    AR Medals and Blue Ribbon

    Mr. Jimenez brought up AR medals and asked if we could handle them in a different way. He said that the last Blue Ribbon Ceremony 4th grade was the only grade to show up. Ms. Walker said it was because 3rd grade was in ancillary and 5th grade

    was in a lesson. Mr. Jimenez said that there were no medals given. He is wondering if we could give out AR Medals during library time. Students could check out books and then Ms. Robinson could hand them out during each class’s library time. Ms. Walker said it is difficult because some kids just make a certain benchmark of 10 points etc. after the list for AR Medals is printed up on Wednesdays when the awards are on Fridays. She is wondering if it would make sense to have 1 Blue Ribbon Ceremony a month. Mr. Buck asked why we have Blue Ribbon and teachers responded so that students who are not on honor roll or have perfect attendance feel recognized. Mr. Gomez said that we could change how we are doing the ceremonies and give them out in front of the class, not other grades. Mr. Jimenez said that the behavior during the last ceremony was terrible as students were running around and jumping and people were laughing at them. Based on the time it is difficult because it is during 3rd grade’s ancillary time. The ancillary teachers are the only teachers are at the ceremony

    Mr. Whitten said that he can start going to the ceremonies to help with the behavior. Mr. Buck said that Blue Ribbon is important because celebrations and rewards are important for kids. Mr. Whitten said that some of the older students do not want to get a Blue Ribbon and they see it as an embarrassing thing to get a ribbon. Mrs. Adair suggested that we also have students who have improved walk in the Walk of Fame and have them walk with their Blue Ribbons. Mr. Whitten suggested that we could post the Blue Ribbons in a display case in the hallway. Ms. Walker said that they did that a few years ago, but it was very hard to keep up with. Mr. Gomez said he thinks it would be more meaningful if they were given in class so that he can talk about why certain students are receiving the blue ribbons. Mr. Buck said that class awards are great and that you can always do that. He asked if having the ceremony at 8:00AM would be better for 3rd,4th,and 5th grades because if classes

    aren’t coming we need to change the time. Mr. Whitten said that it would be cool to have a PowerPoint slideshow with graphics of who won. However, Ms. Walker brought up that it is difficult to do that because some teachers do not fill their ribbons out until the last minute. Mr. Jimenez said that he would prefer the afternoon because it usually takes more like 45 minutes instead of 20 minutes. Mr. Jimenez said that 4th grade would not mind coming during their ancillary time. Mr. Buck said that 3rd grade teachers need to be there, so it will be best to try to have the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade ceremony at 8:00AM.

     

    Early Release

    Ms. Garson brought up early student release and student pick up. She often has parents that are coming to pick students up after 2:30PM and all throughout the afternoon and it is very distracting and disrupts student learning. Mr. Buck said that no parents should be getting passes after 2:30PM. It is a safety issue so they should not be getting passes after that time. Mr. Buck said that if parents come at that time, do not pass out the homework and tell them that they need to come back and get the homework after school.

     

    Fliers

    Ms. Walker and Ms. Portillo asked if we could pass out all fliers and papers on one designated day a week. Mr. Buck said that we could do that, but that it is up to the teachers.

     

    Field Day/Splash Day

    The committee discussed attire for Field Day. Mr. Buck said that students will still need to wear uniforms on Field Day.

     

    Shout Outs

    Mr. Buck announced that there is a board in the teacher’s workroom for teachers to be recognized. Teachers, staff, and administrators can write shout outs to one another. Parents can even shout out to them!