SAC Committee Meeting Minutes 11/14/2012

Present: Kay Kamienski, Leslie Axvig, Brandon Auster, Mandy Geddes, Atlanta Waldren, Anne Draper, Aimee Bernard, Max Wachtel, Chuck Raisch, Lisa Easterwood, Kelly Leonard, Sophia Briegleb, Rebecca Berman, Kristy Ballog

Secretary: Max Wachtel

TOPICS OF DISCUSSION:

  1. SAC focus for 2012/2013: Last year, we focused on Safety. New signage and painting has helped with parking and playgrounds. Chuck discussed needing to push to get some new four-way stops and flashing lights to indicate times for school zone speed limits. The school zone speed limit time also needs to extend to cover MIS’ school time.No one has applied for the crossing guard positions yet. Chuck suggested we continue to focus on safety issues, including make sure doors are locked and not propped open. Keys are going to be issued to staff so that doors do not have to be propped anymore. Gate within a gate on Syracuse would cost approximately $500 to build.
  1. Survey Questions: Chuck suggested we ask parents to determine if they liked the entire week of Thanksgiving off by attending school on two days where bus service was not running. Brandon suggested we survey parents (especially new parents) about the culture of SIS and whether they felt welcomed into the school community. This should help track data from last year.
  1. 3A/3B budget impact for next year: You can find good information about these issues at the DPS homepage under “mill levies and bonds.” Right now, there is no money allocated to math interventionists at the present time because they only allocate that money for 4th, 6th, and 8th grades and we don’t have a 4th grade yet. There is also money available for new technology. Chuck does not think the numbers on the DPS website are completely accurate, but he is guessing SIS may end up getting about $40-60K from 3A/3B.
  1. Student Performance Report from the beginning of 2012/2013 year: For math, our numbers for advanced, proficient, and partially proficient were high and fairly close to Polaris. SIS is closely aligned with other Stapleton schools. Interestingly, the math questions were based on the district math program and not Singapore Math. We are going to customize the tests from now on so that they align better with the math learned by our students. For writing, most students fall into the proficient and partially proficient ranges (2nd and 3rd grade only). We are close to the other schools in this area. SIS has the fewest unsatisfactory scores of comparable schools. For reading, 76% of SIS (1st through 3rd only) scored above grade level. 16% were at grade level and 8% were below grade level. Chuck reported most of the kids who are below grade level are actually very close to reading at grade level. Chuck discussed targeted reading interventions that SIS is employing.
  1. Planning for next year: MIS will add a 7th grade for next year and will likely increase to 220-230 students. They will use the 3rd floor and several classrooms on the 2nd floor. SIS will have four K classrooms next year. If any classes need to be added, they will be added to Stapleton 4. SIS will not house the Stapleton 4 seed classrooms. SIS will have two 4th grade classrooms, and will add another 1st grade class. Two 2nd grade classes will be added, and one more 1st grade. Two K classrooms will be cut. GT will use the computer lab and the lab will go mobile. The multipurpose rooms will be used for interventions. All classrooms in the building will be used. A decision needs to be made about ECE 4 offerings. The gym will be split into two gyms all day long. Lunch will be worked out between the elementary and middle schools. Chuck suspects that MIS will move after next year.
  1. Agenda Items for next meeting, January 9, 2013: 1, We need to talk about whether it makes sense to have separate classrooms next year for GT kids in 1st and 2nd grades next year; 2, Address the anti-bullying efforts the SIS staff have implemented.
  1. Kelly suggested there be PTA members who also attend SAC meetings and vice versa. We discussed how this might help with communication.