Del Mar Site Council Minutes

 Jan 9, 2012

Attendance: Dr. Vann Gardner, Jeremy Biddle, Zach Barnes, Ruth Ann Spike, Howard Block, Kim Logie, Patricia Lloyd, Kelly Scannell, Emery, Saani

 The meeting was called to order and the minutes from the last meeting were approved. Dr. VG welcomed Howard Block to the meeting as the new liaison for the RUSD Board.

 The first order of business was to discuss the Results of the Survey of the Student Led Conferences. There were 425 families that participated and multiple pages of commentaries from them. Dr VG will be taking the comments and results back to the grade level teams for further discussion. In the meantime, our thoughts on the results were as follows:

  1.    In all 4 questions, there was at least an 85% positive response from parents, when combining the high degree and some degree categories.

 2.    Most felt that it is almost impossible to please everyone and there are not many that were very unhappy with the process.

 3.    It was pointed out that some of the questions may be more difficult to answer for 7th grade parents as those students were not asked to make formal presentations regarding the vision of  a Del Mar graduate.

 4.    It should be noted also that every teacher and child will have a different experience and that can be challenging when comparing the results.  Advisors that do not have the students in an academic situation may have more difficulty answering some of the concerns of parents.

 5.    Each grade level team will continue to focus on how to make the conferences more meaningful for the communicative student. What value added is there for the student who already discusses issues with their parents?

  The second half of the meeting was more interactive. Dr VG explained that a school is somewhat like a house. The foundation is the vision and the learning principles. The house is the teachers, the students, the curriculum, and the allocation of resources to these areas.

 With this in mind, he split us into groups of three to discuss any positive learning experiences that we in our groups may have had at any point in our lifetime. He asked us not to focus on a specific teacher but on a situation where we benefitted form the process.

 Although we were in different groups, many of the results were very similar. Below is a list of words that describe positive learning principles:

 1.    Student led

 2.    Small group

 3.    Interactive

 4.    Relevant- how it impacts your daily life

 5.    Problem based

 6.    Hands on experience

 7.    Clear outcomes

 8.    Choice

 9.    Timing…not just quickly moving on

 10.Cross with different classes to make it more relevant

 11. Fun and creative

Dr VG had done this exercise with the teachers already and he passed out a sheet that summarized their conclusions. We then filled in some of our thoughts into it. He will take this back to the grade level teams to keep working on ways to improve the teaching process.

Jeremy asked that we remember to circle back later in the year to the goals students made during the conferences. Everyone agreed that would be an important step. 

Dr VG thanked out student reps for their hard work. We will have new 7^th grade reps next month. Meeting adjourned. 

Del Mar School

 November 21, 2011

 Attendance: Dr. Vann Gardner, Jeremy Biddle, Ruth Ann Spike, Zac Barnes, KT Butler, Melissa Prentis, Patricia Lloyd, Kim Logie, Katherine Gotz, Michael, Saani, and Emery.

·      The Meeting was called to order and the minutes from October 24 approved.

·      Dr. Gardner presented the School Site Plan.

·      Before the school year starts it would be good for the teachers to meet vertically with Redwood and Bel Aire to understand what is happening at these schools.

·      Wednesday minimum days next year. Will have access to the other schools on this day since we will have common release days..

·      We reviewed the Goal of our vision of the RUSD Student/Graduate, Strategy 1 – Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment, and the 5 Objectives within the School Site Plan.

·      It was noted that all schools within RUSD have the same objectives but the way in which they achieve the objectives are different.

·      Tasks to meet each objective are site specific.

·      Teachers are looking at samples of students’ work.

·      In the future, students will be scoring on a rubric; adults right now are producing the work.

·      We need to make sure that Teachers are implementing the tasks.

·      We want to make sure we don’t use subs too much. Dr. Gardner will manage this efficiently.

Comments regarding Objective 2:

·      Utilizing the Backward Design Model.

·      Differentiation is still a goal but we are stepping back at the higher level: What do we want the curriculum to be.

·      Projects are the application of the knowledge. Need to know the facts first through testing.

·      Teachers like the driving questions.

·      Teachers are working hard to hold themselves accountable to the questions. Very fluid and organic.

·      Student representatives gave examples of the Driving Question(s) from some of their classes.

 Comments regarding Objective 3 and 4:

 ·      English – working on common rubrics, a student handbook comparing writing 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, and working on vertical for improving writing for 7 and 8. (refer to chart for number references)

·      Providing juicy problems twice a year.

·      Conceptual understanding is a big step.

Comments on Objective 5:

 ·      Enrichment, Assemblies

·      Formal – on evaluating a plan.

  The School Site plan was approved. Meeting adjourned.

 The next meeting will be on January 9, 2012 in the DM Library.

Del Mar Middle School SSC Meeting

October 4, 2011

 Attendance: Dr. Vann Gardner, Jeremy Biddle, Ruth Ann Spike, Zac Barnes, Lisa Matthews, KT Butler, Kelly Scannell, Melissa Prentiss, Patricia Lloyd, Kim Logie, and Luca.

 ·      All three schools met together initially to discuss briefly the role of SSC and thank everyone for agreeing to participate.

 Superintendent, Steve Herzog, discussed briefly the Strategic Plan and the Vision of a Reed student. He also discussed how the Star testing will end this year and be replaced in 2014 with a new test that is more process oriented for students. The schools are discussing strategies for this to help teachers prepare students for the new tests.

 ·      In the Del Mar SSC meeting, Dr. VG welcomed everyone and discussed the following:

 1.    The election of officers. KT Butler will be President and Kelly Scannell will be Secretary.

 2.    The calendar for the year.

 3.    The bylaws. He gave out packets that include the bylaws. We discussed expanding the group to include more students. After a discussion, it was agreed to include 3-4 more students from the 7^th-8^th grades to be chosen by the staff with an emphasis on inclusion. The bylaws will need to be amended.

 4.    “Walking Together Map”. DR. VG displayed a map of the vision of a Del Mar student and went over the many steps the school is taking to accomplish this. How does the school help create “motivated learners, creative problem solvers, effective communicators, engaged citizens and balanced individuals?” These are obviously not things tested on Star tests, but are important to the overall student. This will be the focus of the administration with input from SSC for the next year.

 5.    Digital Portfolio. This is not ready to be launched yet but maybe piloted on trial basis throughout the year.

 6.    $10,000 of Foundation Funds. This will be used for both staff development and technology.

 7.    List of Del Mar Programs. Packet was included in the SSC folder that included the rich variety of “enrichment” programs that occur before and after school and lunchtime, all aligned with strategic plan and vision of the RUSD student. These may be topics of discussion for future meetings.

 8.    Parent Survey. On average, less than 40% of the parent population participated. Discussion followed on how to increase parent responses but nothing concrete was determined. There is some concern in looking at the survey, that parents do not feel that the student-led conferences meet their needs. This will need to be discussed at future meetings. Parent conferences will be in November.

 9.    SSC Topics. Dr. VG felt it might be best if we chose one topic each meeting that we could discuss in depth with parents, students, and staff representing respective points of view.

 Next meeting: Monday, October 24 3:15-4:15 pm at Del Mar Cyber Lounge