NATCHER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SCHOOL BASED DECISION MAKING COUNCIL September 20, 2010 – 5:30 p.m. Minutes - Approved The William H. Natcher Elementary School Based Decision Making Council met today. Those in attendance were: Neesa Richardson, Ashley Hurt, Emily Cassady, Nicole Guthrie, Diana Adams and Stephanie Martin Guest: Matt Thornhill Principal Stephanie Martin opened the session. 1. Opening Business a. Motion to approve the agenda was made by Mrs. Cassady and Mrs. Guthrie 2nd it. b. Approval of the August minutes was motioned by Mrs. Richardson and Ms. Hurt 2nd it. c. Good News Report: i. Natcher Elementary is blessed to have a great PTO! We appreciate our hard working families who dedicate their time to help our teachers and more importantly, our students. Fall Festival was a great success! ii. Natcher Elementary is blessed to have such a caring faculty and staff. We congratulate the Cassady family on their recent adoption. d. No public comments were made. 2. Reports a. Budget report: Natcher Elementary will continue its effort to spend money wisely. The budget was discussed, going through each category. Highlights include: Money used for PD, ESS, and Math textbooks. b. Positive Instructional Discipline Report: STAT (student teacher assistance team) meets monthly to discuss the needs of the school and teachers. Currently the team is working on looking at check-and-connect data, mentors receiving materials, looking at office referral data, and family nights. c. Response to Intervention: Next quarter we are looking at using the enrichment time (built into the schedule) to extend learning opportunities. We plan to organize interest groups in other subject areas (other than Reading and Math), such as Social Studies and Science. d. Special Populations (GAT, ESL, Title 1): A discussion took place on how each program operates. Specific numbers for each group will be discussed next month. e. Professional Learning Communities: PLC grade level teams meet formally each Thursday. Once a month, we have an assembly program to give our teachers an additional day to work as a team. Teachers work together to discuss student data (formative and summative assessments, CATS, GRADE, and GMADE). f. Professional Development: i. New Content Standards – district plan: On October 22nd the teachers will work through the new content standards (national standards). Each grade level will meet district wide. ½ of the teachers on each grade level will work through the reading standards, while the other ½ work on the math standards. Resource teachers and Related Arts teachers will also meet district wide. The new content standards are more streamlined using a common language. ii. Student Engagement Team: Carry-over funds were used to allow 4 teachers (Rudolph, Christopher, Hendrick, and May) and 1 principal (Martin) to attend 6 trainings through GRREC (Green River Regional Educational Coop). The teachers will then come back and train other teachers. This PD will be embedded throughout the school year. iii. CLIMBS – ESL Team: This is a district initiative. The team will be made up of one ESL teacher (Maxwell), ECC (Binder), and 3 classroom teachers (S. Green, Cassady, and Hurt). This training will be embedded throughout the school year. iv. Math Magic training follow-up: Alice Cantrell will be utilized to work with our classroom teachers. Subs will be used to provide release time. 3. New Business a. ESS plan and ARRA stimulus ESS plan: After Fall Break we plan to use ESS Daytime Waiver funds to pay for a teacher to oversee students in the morning using the math program FASTMATH. These funds will also provide for an additional teacher to be used in the afternoon, along with providing a snack for students. The ARRA stimulus ESS funds will be used to pay faculty and staff members to stay after school to provide additional math instruction and homework help on Mondays through Thursdays. These funds will also provide transportation for students to go home. This service will be provided for a targeted group of students in grades 4-6. b. Fall Parent Teacher Conferences: Teachers will begin conferencing with parents after Fall Break. Teachers will be required to block off 30 minutes for students who are in Tier 3. A principal along with the Title 1 teacher will meet with the classroom teacher and parent. Parents will be encouraged to attend. If they are unable to attend, we will make plans to reschedule. c. Leader in Me Site Visit: A group of teachers from the district (including Mrs. Martin and Mrs. Richardson) went to schools in Alabama who are implementing the strategies presented in the “Leader in Me” book. The visit went well, and the team came back with several ideas for implementation. Natcher Elementary’s 3rd grade team is piloting these strategies and has already found success. 4. Next Meeting Date – October 18th, 5:30 5. Adjournment