GVES COMMUNITY COUNCIL - January 8, 2014
Introductions: Brian Keisel was introduced to the committee. He is working on his administrative degree and was invited to visit our meeting today
Agenda Items:
GRADING: A concern by a parent was brought to the principal about our school’s lack of giving letter grades to students. After a discussion the committee felt that letter grades put too much pressure on younger students. Members felt it is in the best interest of the students for parents to communicate directly with the teacher if there are concerns with their child’s education.
CHARTER SCHOOL: Mr. Hansen reported that it is very probable that there will be a new Charter school coming to Gunnison for the 2014-15 school year. It will be a K – 8th school and will be recruiting students from our valley. No details are known at this time how it will affect our school or enrollment.
iPad USAGE: We were a little slower at getting the iPads into the hands of students this year than we wanted. The iPads now seem to be a natural flow in all of the classrooms. There were a few questions on new apps. Mr. Hansen and the teachers feel that we are at a good spot now with the apps that we are currently using, but we will continue to research new apps as they are introduced. There was a question about “free time” usage and what the guidelines are for our school. Where there are concerns about this Mr. Hansen would like parents to contact him directly with their concerns.
NEW END OF YEAR TESTING (SAGE): Mr. Hansen discussed SAGE testing with the committee. This is a new test that will be given at the end of the year. It is a bigger and harder test, and is more of a progressive type of test. It will require our students to use more critical thinking skills.
NEW PAYROLL SYSTEM: The new payroll system was explained to the committee. It is for classified employees only. Gunnison school were the test pilot for the program. It will be implemented district wide at the beginning of this new payroll.
SCHOOL PLC (Professional Learning Communities): We will be holding PLC’S as a faculty every Wednesday morning in the library from 7:30 – 8:10. The students will be sent to the gymnasium before school to watch an educational film. The will be supervised by paraeducators until teachers return to their classrooms and school is ready to start at 8:15 a.m.
DISTRICT WELLNESS COMMITTEE: The district is re-evaluating the wellness policy. They are looking for people from each school to help with this evaluation. Mr. Hansen asked that this become an added responsibility of the community council.
LOCK DOWN DRILL: We will be holding a lock down drill in our school sometime this month or early February. These drills are needed to prepare our students in case there is ever an emergency that would require our school to be locked down.
MEMBER ITEMS:
Evacuation plan: The topic was brought up to re-communicate our evacuation plan with parents. It has been a while since parents have been apprised of the plan.
D.A.R.E.: The topic of the D.A.R.E. program was brought up. Officer Wimmer is trained in this program and it might be possible to implement it in the spring.
PLC Conference: A question was asked about the benefit of the teachers attending the PLC conference. The PLC Conference was a big success. A number of things that learned at this training are being implemented in the school. Teachers and administration considered it to be a valuable contribution.
CALENDAR ITEMS: Calendar items were discussed for the upcoming months. Important up coming events are:
January 13 – District Safety Committee Meeting
January 15 – Tabletop Safety Meeting
January 20 – Martin Luther King day – No School
January 28 – GVES Science Fair
February 7 – Parent teacher conference – No school for Students
February 13 – Spring Pictures
February 17 – President’s Day – No School
February 26 – Community Council – 3 p.m.
March 24 – 28 – Spring Break