Davis Senior High School Site Council Minutes

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Present: Mike Cawley, Christina Bernadac, Jason Bundy, Robin Cole, Sarah O’Keefe, Linda Preciado, Vick Rich, Clarissa Ton-Nu, Jasmine Segall, Jeffrey Carter,

Nicolette Gmoser-Daskalakis, Gail Cooluris, Susan Hulsizer, Marlene Sisemore Sheila Smith, Ramon Cusi

Absent: Helen Spangler

1) Additional Agenda items:

2) Approval of Minutes from 9/27

- one addition to Officer Elections - Jason Bundy – Recorder

(All approved)

3) Calendar of Future Meetings

(Comparison of tan sheet = Sept. draft & green sheet = Oct update)

-December meeting will be on the 13th

-Next meeting on Thurs, Nov 29

- discuss at later time: idea of cancelling Mar. 19 Mtg.; however, 3 meetings may be needed for grants. Another possibility to move to earlier application date ie Feb.

4) New Parent/Community Member Vacancy

- Community member resignation: Marty Morse informed Tom McHale of change in his status and needing to step down; word is being put forth for the open position. Site council is looking for parity, per bylaws, to balance voting numbers between staff, students, and community members.

5) Study Groups: Sheila Smith

- Faculty and Staff have been meeting over the course of 2 years, mostly in examination of the achievement gap during Wed. a.m. meetings. Sheila Smith shared highlights, commented on positive outcomes of the meetings, ie: English Learner focus group / failure-not-an option group / at-risk or students not in a career or academic path / career tech group / survival techniques for athletes / 504 plan, or borderline students. Groups generate ideas on an ongoing basis for particular groups of students, as well as school-wide necessities. This is the 3^rd year and there is a goal to bring different group plans forth to share for the public; this is also a WASC review year.

6) Pathways Program: Mike Cawley and Sheila Smith

- Opportunities for school-business partnerships, for students to experience life beyond school is a focus for DHS students (handout “DJUSD Pathway Program, 2007-08). Commitments from local businesses and the Davis Chamber of Commerce is helping to fund the Pathways Program and bring it back-to-life. “Pathway Day” is a possible day (2 or 3 days) to allow students to connect with people in the actual business world (ie. job shadowing with a lawyer, seeing if you want to be in dentistry, automotive, biotech, field trips, etc.) There is a meeting at Lunch Mon 10/29 to for those who have already expressed interest in getting the program running. There is a concern that the funding for the Pathways Program is not onging.

7) EL – English Learner Data: Mike Cawley

- Continuing from last month’s focus on AYP / API, Mike Cawley presented a packet / presentation of extended sub-test results, scores, and indicators for DHS EL students (anonymous / names withheld)

8) EL Center Update: Ramon Cusi

- Ramon Cusi, coming to DHS this year, is coordinating the upstart of a new English Learner / Support Center. The main goal is addressing the achievement gap for students. He presented a packet (Sept. 14, 2007, “ELL Committee”), with a compilation of committee minutes from full-day, and shorter meetings on this topic. There was also a visit to a local area high school that has set up their student support center. Concepts to put into place would be 1-to1 peer tutors, technology for language learning ie Rosetta Stone, a coordinating certificated teacher, and so on. There have been 3 meetings, and several focus-group meetings, and there are approx. 130-140 students who could be served, and about 90-100 with language barriers. The compilation of ideas for creating this support program has also grown to include support beyond EL learners, so the naming may likely change.

The EL Center is located in M-1 and there is concern regarding the status of the building in future facilities plans.

9) Site Plan Timeline: Tom McHale

- Dec 13 = goal for draft date

- Jan 10 = present to Board of Education

10) Establishing Goals for Site Plan

- p. 23 (binder) has last year’s goals: Geometry, ELA, Connectedness to School Community

- Sample goals (whiteboard):

ie “Improve Academic Achievement” (mid-level learners) . . .

“ Improve Student Attendance” (truancy and tardies) . . .

“Improve Lang. Acquisition of EL Students” . . .

“Improve performance of Students At-Risk of not graduating” . . .

“ Improve Students Performance in Algebra 1 & Geometry” . . .

Site Council drafted / created this list for 2007-08:

1. 1^st Goal: Improve student performance in Algebra 1 / Geometry

2. 2^nd Goal: – Improve student performance of EL students

3. 3^rd Goal – Increase student connectedness to school and community (Pathways program)

4. 4^th Goal: – Promote success for at-risk students (promote success for students at risk in various areas ie grades, credits for graduation, test scores, esteem issues, truancy/attendance)

11) Public Comment

Respectfully submitted,

Jason Bundy & Tom McHale