Minutes for Site Council/Team Representatives Meeting

Fairhaven Middle School

October 25, 2007

 

Members Present:

Michael Schackel – Parent

Anne Seeger – Parent

Amy Kraham – Parent

Karl Ritter – Representing Counselors and Grizzly Team

Leslie McInnis – Cabinet Yaak

Susan Chase – Central Rockies and North Cascades

Michelle Abernathy – Salmon Selway

Steve Rogers

Deirdre O’Neill

 

 

3:30 – Welcome and Introductions.

 

Calendar introduced and discussed.

Site Council Ground Rules introduced and discussed. 

“Presume positive intentions”was suggested by Michelle as an addition to the ground rules.

Michelle volunteered to facilitate the meeting

Steve is the note taker

 

3:50 – Review of Open House

 

Mike asked about the number of open houses that we have each year. 

Susan explained the format that we used, splitting the 6th and 7th/8th.

Susan also gave information about our early releases for student led conferencing. 

Mike told about districts he had been in, where they had Spring Open Houses consisting of concerts, dinners, etc. 

 

Anne felt things here were great.  She likes the format, but would like to see the electives get a little more time.  Interest in children showing their work at conferences was also mentioned, along with a discussion of music concerts throughout the year.  Overall perception was positive. 

 

It was suggested that there may be a need for more information during the “Introduction” that starts the evening.  Those individuals who are being introduced should be in the room when introduced. 

 

Some other suggestions were:

There should possibly be a message from the Principal, VP, Counselors, etc. about their philosophy, expectations, etc. 

Have a collage of students playing on the screen in the background as the speakers make short presentations.  A folder will be placed on the T-drive for teachers to dump pictures into.

 

 

 

 

4:16 – Communications

 

Elementary schools are very accessible.

            Parents are there daily.

The middle school has very few parents in the building and doesn’t feel welcoming.

            Amy felt disconnected the first few weeks.

            There could be a more welcoming general atmosphere for parents. 

            Transition was difficult.

            Testing for math curriculum was unclear.  It needs to be more transparent. 

            Mike mentioned that the phone system did not allow callers to connect directly

                         to a person.

            Personal teacher websites were discussed.

            Zangle (parent and student connect) and the ability to check assignments and

Students’ progress, etc. were discussed.

            Moodle was suggested as a possibility for creating web pages by Mike.  He would

                        get us more information.

            Maybe we need more specific personal requests for parent help.  Open house

                        would be an excellent time to do this.

            Get a list of email addresses from parents, during teacher presentations, to build a

                        volunteer database. 

                       

4:50 – Generating Ideas for Future Discussion

           

Math testing for advanced placement

Communication Issues – each meeting

Budget to buy technology

Excess funds process – PTSA

Support for Fairhaven traditions by parents

Cubs with Parents in two separate locations

Special Education Concerns

Daily Schedules

Emergency Procedures for Parents

Student access to extracurricular activities

 

Next Meeting:  December 4th, 3:15-5:15

Agenda Items:              Communications

                                    Parent Support for Traditions

                                    How to get volunteers for teacher events

                                    Emergency Response

                                    Special Education

 

November 15th meeting cancelled

 

Leslie will be facilitating

Susan will take minutes