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Posted in Meeting Minutes.

Community Council Minutes January 2016

Bates Community Council Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, January 6, 2016


In attendance: Shelly Harris, Kitty Barney, Krislyn Wallace, Amber Booth, Marjean Swanson, Naomi Trammell, Emily Tree, Alicia Blackard, Keri Fidler, Jinny Marker, and Jamie Marsh.


  •      *Meeting conducted by Naomi Trammell. Welcome & Call to Order -Naomi

     *Approval of minutes from November 4, 2015. Krislyn motioned to approve and Naomi seconded the motion.

 

     *Identifying Greatest Needs - Naomi presented data from Gateway. She compared other schools in our local region and also schools with similar demographics, including charter schools. Concerns that Bates is still low in science and language arts, and the trend is that scores are dropping in higher grades. Bates improved in reading in lower grades. Naomi then called several of the schools that showed growth in language arts and science to learn what is working and how they achieved such growth. The schools had some common ground:

         **Buy-in from teachers

         **Some form of arts program

         **Parental Involvement and volunteer program

         **Teacher training and professional development

 

     *Council discussed the benefits of STAR Tutors and parent volunteers at Bates. It would be great to have more volunteers, but many more parents are working now and there are not as many available. Also need to consider where do we want the parent volunteer time spent?  As we look at the needs of the school (students, teachers, admin, parents) what purchases/expenses would be the most beneficial for all?  Council identified the following items as the best way to improve student learning:

    

         **Install access points in 1st grade and kindergarten. This will likely cost$10,000-$12,000. This will allow greater reach for the online technology.

              **Purchase a new set of Chromebooks. For a set of 35 books, the cart, and headphones the cost will likely be $12,000. These computers are primarily used for writing, research, and Imagine Learning.

              **Keyboarding teacher. This will improve writing skills, as the students will be more likely to write longer and more detailed work if their typing skills are upgraded.

              **Reading and push-ins. This program has already shown proven successatour school and all agree this program should be continued.

              **Professional Development. This will be achieved through enhancing teacher training and implementing a structured master schedule and allowing for consistent periods of uninterrupted learning.

 

       *Discussion of Ideas to meet goals/implementation:  Proposed and discussed implementing a master schedule. Each class would have two hours each day that would be protected time and could not be interrupted by assemblies or other non-essential events. Once a week this protected time would incorporate a rotation that would include PE, library, keyboarding/computer, and FAME. The teachers would utilize this time to participate in PLCs, effectively work with classroom volunteers, and engage in teacher training and other professional development opportunities.

 

     *Chromebooks will be used according to a schedule to increase student-learning time. Fifth and Sixth grades have a great schedule rotating the Chromebooks and the computer lab. Council should look at purchasing a new set each year until each grade has a set, then new purchases would replace outdated machines.

 

     *Discussed volunteer improvement. Teachers may get more parent involvement if the master schedule allows for consistent help. Teachers can work to better utilize parent help when it is there.

 

     *Teacher training is very effective especially when teachers can watch and learn from other teachers. Teachers are already working with others at Bates and other schools to learn best practices.

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Assignments:

**Mrs. Barney – Prepare master schedule. Determine cost amounts for access points, Chromebooks, keyboarding teacher, reading/push-ins, and professional development

**Council–Attend UASCC training onThursday, January14 @ Lehi High School.

**Review data as necessary at https://datagateway.schools.utah.gov/

 

**Next Meeting: February 17, 2016 @ 3:00 in the library. Come prepared to discuss master schedule and budgets for plann edexpenditures.  No other items to discuss.  Naomi moved to adjourn the meeting. Keri seconded thatmotion.