Members Present:  Michelle Coburn, Jackie Ebert, Ellyn Erickson, Betty Ensley, Dick Vollmer, Diane Leigh, and Libby Westdal,

 

Members Absent:

 

New Issues:

 

1. Issue Concern Forms

 

Hot Water in Girls’ Restroom – We had a question about the lack of hot water in the girls’ hand washing sink.  The concern was the reduced effectiveness of hand washing with cold water.  We determined that he best place to solve this problem was with Lorali Gray and Karen Harkness.  We would ask Lorali if the use of soap with cold water would be sufficient to effectively wash hands.  We would ask Karen to determine why there is no warm water in that sink.

 

Electronic Devices on the Buses – We discussed the idea of allowing students to use electronic devices (walkman, radios, CD players, Game Boys) on the Acme buses.  They are permitted in the secondary bus routes and the drivers have found them to be very helpful on the long routes to keep students occupied and quiet.  We discussed the liability of adults taking possession of these devices and determined that if they are placed in backpacks before exiting the bus and are not used at school, we could try allowing them.  The ASC directed Ellyn to discuss this with Tim Yeomans who is working with the transportation folks on this topic.  If we decide to follow this new practice, we will place the information in the Monday notes for at least 4 weeks.  Students will still have the devices confiscated and placed in the Office “June Box”, if the devices are out of the backpacks during the school day.   Items in the “June Box” may be retrieved by parents during the school year, or students on the last day of school.

2. Assessment Data

We looked at the data currently available on the OSPI Website along with the Just For Kids Web Site.  It was very interesting to look at the scores over time for a single cohort of students.  We could see the pattern of reading and math scores from 3^rd to 4^th grade.   We discussed the importance of emphasizing the learning that needs to be aligned and monitored every year rather then the WASL being the goal.  We want all children to succeed, but they do not all have the same skills to begin their school careers.  We have learned to celebrate individual success and use the data to help us dig deeper to find out the specific strands and content areas that we need to bolster for our students.

 

3. Review Discipline /Honor Plan

We discussed the End of the Month Assemblies and Activities and how students earn the right to attend.  The Beginning of the Trimester Celebrations are for all students and help us build school sprit and community.  The behavior slips and harassment slips are used in the 3 – 6 grades.  The younger students are not developmentally able to comprehend an intervention that is not directly connected to their behavior.  The “Take a Break”  system helps them monitor their own behavior and learn to play and work with others.  Our students have many learning opportunities to acquire the social skills necessary to  work with each other. 

4.  Curriculum Night/BBQ Review

The data on parent/family attendance at the BBQ and the separate Curriculum night has prompted us to request a combination of those events for next year.  Have the event on a Thursday night, serve food, promote the various community activites with our stations in the gym and schedule the classroom presentations for all grades.  We are suggesting a Thursday night either the first or second week of school.

 

In Process:

1. Elementary Report Card Project –

Jackie did a review of the work that has been done to create a new elementary report card.   The idea of a standards based reporting system is very new to us here in the Mt. Baker School district. We have a number of teachers who are already to report standards and others who have not worked in that way with the student achievement process.  This will be a pilot year for teachers to voluntarily try the new format.  After they provide further feedback and experiences with parents the committee will rework the format for implementation in the 2005-2006 school year for all teachers.  We need to increase our knowledge and use of classroom based standards assessments to help fit the reporting system being suggested.

Next Meeting:    

                             Review Conference Data

                              2003-2004 School Performance Report