Sehome Site Council

11 October 2005

Minutes

 

 

Present:      Phyllis Textor, Jane Wynn, Bobbie Jaffe Nash, Polly Favinger, Laura Derose, Kathleen Nolan, Michelle Nilsen, Tim Petryni, Craig Ferguson, and Nancy Barga

 

Absent:      Maggie Peach, Shawn Doan

 

1.   Minutes from the September 13, 2005 meeting were approved as written

2.   The following Recording Schedule below was acceptable by all present:

Date

Recorder

9-13

Bobbie

10-11

Kathleen

11-8

Craig

12-13

Jane

1-10

Michelle

2-14

Phyllis

3-14

Laura

4-4

Maggie

5-9

Shawn

6-6

Laura

3.      Principal’s Report, by Phyllis Textor:

a.      Nancy Barga is seeking input from parents, students and staff to assist in revamping the dress code. The focus is on awareness and enforcement. The district currently has no policy. A flyer that BHS uses serves as one option that will be looked at. Nancy is coordinating a 10-member committee and would like referrals of people who would be interested in serving on such a committee, especially students, to be forwarded to her.

  1. Enrollment is up by 20 head count, 15 FTE! Sehome has a high running start participation. We brainstormed some options to understand why they are choosing running start over continuing here at Sehome. Would a survey be helpful? What is keeping students here? What should 11th and 12th grade years look like to entice them back? Parents and students need to be educated about the risks and benefits of running start.
  2. The first Parent Principal Advisory Council was launched on Wednesday, the 12th from 6:30 to 8:00 pm in room 101 and would continue each month on the second Wednesday of the month. Nine people attended and participated in a lively discussion.
  3. Culminating Project – ten teachers attended an off-site planning day and came up with the following:

§         Presentations will be held January 11th and 12th and May 22nd and 23rd

§         Call for Scholarly Papers by October 31st

§         The Scholarly Papers will be assessed by a group of English teachers or an outside group

§         Revisions will be requested

§         By December 31st students with approved Scholarly Papers will be asked to sign up for January’s presentation. We hope for about 110 students participating.

§         Portfolios will be checked in December

§         The group prescribed how the panels would be filled by volunteers

  1. Parent Communication: Phyllis brought a sample Parent Resource Guide from an out of state district and suggested it might be appropriate for Sehome. Among other things it outlines clear actions a parent can take when hosting a party for high school students:

§         The Parent Network at FMS and Squalicum was discussed. *Action Item: Laura DeRose will contact M. Kimberly from Squalicum about the parent network that existed there.

§         The need for parent education was discussed.

§         Student education was discussed. There was agreement that motivational speakers with real life experiences are most effectively with students. *Action Item: Phyllis will follow up on this with Tim Petryni’s help.

§         Action Item: At next Site Council meeting a sub-committee will be formed to explore parent options.

4.   ASB Report – Tim Petryni reported on two big student concerns:

a.      Thefts have skyrocketed this year.

b.      Interest in looking at adopting the schedule at BHS. A survey is needed to poll students and staff. This topic should be added to the Action Plan.

5.      ParentConnect sub committee:

a.      Larua DeRose summarized the teacher surveys from June of 2005.

b.      Kathleen requested that we prioritize teacher requests for enhancements in future Zangle software updates. Most significant would be the ability for TeacherConnect to accept imported files for grading purposes and secondly to accept imported files to populate the “Assignments” section of ParentConnect. *Action Item: Phyllis will contact John Getchel to see what options exist.

c.      Training needs were discussed. According to the surveys, most current teachers were not interested in additional training. Some categories teachers requested training in are: Hands On Set Up (3); Categories and Assignments (3), Alternate Users  - PE, Arts, LAB, etc (1); Other: extra credit, linking to web pages (2). New teachers have some training in the district orientation.

6.   Action Plan Review was postponed and will be the main focus at next month’s meeting.

7.      Counseling Report, by Michelle Nilsen

a.      Counselors are working with 9th grade in their Technology Connections and World Geography classes this month to plan for the future and develop their Beyond High School Plans.

b.      Financial Aid Night is Monday, November 14th in the library at 7:00 to provide families with accurate information about free services.

c.      Counselors are working with juniors in December on their postsecondary planning and registration for the 2006/2007 academic year.

d.      “Getting to Graduation”: How did it go?

The event was well attended and had great feedback. The unique format of rotating small groups of parents (15 at a time) to tables where different topics were being discussed with appropriate staff members. The event was sponsored by OSPI and the Bellingham School District, though having at Sehome was an advantage for our school.

8.   PTSA report, by Bobbie Jaffe Nash

a.      Parents have been experiencing problems at the intersection of Bill MacDonald Parkway and Ferry Ave. The addition of WWU traffic and the new pedestrian walkway has forced long lines of frustrated drivers who are making risky choices to get through the intersection. *Action Item: Michelle will seek advice from a relative who has past business experience in this area.

b.      Umbrella Fest – Saturday, October 22nd from 3 to 8 pm.

c.      Tonight’s general meeting has the new director of Food Services attending.

9.   Strategic plan process was postponed due to lack of time.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Kathleen Nolan