11/2/09 Leadership Team Meeting Minutes
Posted: November 4, 2009
Galileo Academy of Science & Technology
LEADERSHIP TEAM MEETING
Thursday, November 2, 2009
Vicki called the meeting to order at 11:20am.
I. Principal’s Remarks
–Vicki mentioned we are trying bigger rooms for our meetings.
–Vicki introduced Angela Faherty who is visiting us today and tomorrow as a consultant for ICLE. She will facilitate the training tomorrow at the faculty meeting. She is here to learn what our needs are and how she can help us. She is from Maine and is the Deputy Commissioner for Education from the state of Maine. She is appointed by the governor.
–Her background is educator/developer. She has lived in several other states. Her background has to do with AP placements. She mentioned the success story of Galileo. She was a classroom teacher in inner city schools in New York City. She is also involved in the student laptop program. The students take them home to help with parent training as they re-enter the new job market.
–Vicki welcomed back Jessica Colvin. Today is her first day back at school. Vicki mentioned the great job Dana did while Jessica was out.
–Vicki talked about the High School Fair and asked anyone who wanted to come to do so. She said the students will be taking the SAT’s. Many of the former parents who used to come will not be there as their kids have graduated. She mentioned that Eugene Wing brings dim sum. Katie Pringle will help Vicki. Time is 9:00am-2: 30pm. Vicki mentioned all the displays we will have.
–Katie emailed everyone about the stabbing on Friday during the Halloween Costume Parade. One of our students brought the outsider who did the stabbing. That student will be transferred. It was not a Galileo student who did the stabbing.
–Vicki said EPC was sending us some Hispanic students who identify with red and we are predominately blue. This is a challenge.
–Denise mentioned one of her students who is in a gang and they now wear the black and white.
–The victim is back in school today–Andrew Barrantes. We have not had any incidents like this in a long time.
–David asked if the student was targeted. Ethan said the student was playing both sides of the fence in the gang affiliation.
–Denise asked if the incident was considered on campus as it was on the sidewalk. Vicki said, “Yes.”
–Vicki mentioned the Emergency Lesson Plans. She asked if we want them, should Zoe keep them, should the Department Heads keep them?
–Zoe said the ones she had were very out of date.
–Ethan asked if this could be done during department meetings.
–Denise said they are time sensitive and they should be curriculum related. Block Days are a problem. What about videos?
–Zoe said she could put together a brief about what an Emergency Lesson plan should be.
–David said a video would be fine as long as there is an activity to work with it.
–Joseph said all teachers should have 5 days of emergency plans. His may not be directly related to the curriculum and not time sensitive.
II. ELD Picnic
–Vicki thanked Kathleen for all her hard work on the picnic. The kids had a fantastic time. All the kids took notes–Cornell notes–on the presenters. The picnic followed the presentations.
–Vicki said Karin worked hard with her Stop Sign,
–David said the kids may need help with the Cornell notes and certain subject areas.
–Vicki said that activity really united the ELD teachers.
III. ELD Compliance
–Vicki mentioned the report she now has. Anyone who is ELD must have a .6 designation, so many classes will be double sinned. This is a problem with School Loop but there is a way to work this out. Ben has a way to put them together with the regular class sin #.
–Ben then explained the process.
–Kathleen asked if we could avoid this in the future and we will take care of this by starting early with the process.
–Music, French, PE will not be affected. Many teachers now have 2 class rosters and 2 attendance strips.
–We need to comply with the state attendance requirements.
IV. ICLE Presentation
–At the faculty meeting tomorrow the topic will be to look at students and use Angela’s expertise. There will be new tables of students to talk about. You will also be able to see where the students are now from the last session.
V. 8th Grade Open House
–November 16th from 6-8pm. Zoe has been working on targeted outreach on middle schools on south and east sides of the city.
–The evening will start in the auditorium and then flow into the gym where there will be department and special programs tables, etc. This will resemble a high school fair.
–Ideally the department chairs and another teacher from each department will be present. Teacher are invited and not required.
–Ben asked if there is a way to show students and parents the cool part of our building. He hoped for a guided tour.
–Zoe said we often have to have translation and said that we do have weekly tours.
–She also said maybe we could have an hour in the gym and then have some half hour tours.
–Patrick also mentioned the Library is a selling point as well and he also mentioned David Barrios’ classroom.
–Karin said many who come for the school tours ask if those topics will also be at the Open House.
–Zoe hears that there is a call for both gym time and tours.
–Send further comments to Zoe and she will send a draft schedule to be set in stone by the end of the week.
VI. High School Fair
–All teachers are invited to join on Saturday at the Concourse (8th / Brannan) from 9:00am – 2:30pm.
VII. Student Culture
–Zoe said it feels like a shaky week and invites everyone to say what they are seeing in terms of student behaviors.
–Patrick has lots of kids coming up to him in the halls to talk about books and reading, not just the “good” kids. Seeing the same kids in the hallway day after day. Wishes there was something to help kids deal with substance abuse issues.
–Marti reports that greatschools.net feedback has indicated a lot of the positives, and notes that we’re far ahead of where we were 5 years ago. In her intervention classes, there are 5-6 boys who are tagging on the whiteboard.
–Lauren is seeing a lot of kids whose parents have totally lost control over them. The counselors are also seeing a lot of parents coming in to talk about their kids.
–George says his two classes are the best he’s ever had in his life. One negative is that there are teachers who send students to the computer lab without a note (supposedly, according to the student) and the students sit quietly and appear to work but are actually destroying property by ripping a keyboard apart or cutting wires.
–Karin notices while taking parents around on school tours that students are on task and focused and that the school is quiet. She’s also afraid of running across the occasional group of hall walkers.
–Michael sees a problem with the stress levels among honors students around college applications. He’s also seeing fewer late students.
–Joseph notices a lot of different students involved in a lot of activities. Many students are using School Loop to check their grades. Also seeing “springtime behavior” from some students, a loss of focus.
–Kathleen says students seem happier, but also agrees with Joseph that there’s a wider range of students, from extremely motivated to extremely apathetic.
–Vicki noted that at the Chinatown community meeting there were parents who expressed the concern that there are so many student activities and clubs that it could impact academic achievement.
–Ethan sees more diversity on the athletic teams and a lot of cross-cultural participation. On the other hand, there’s not much diversity in the ASB.
–David finds his students have a greater ability to communicate and are being more proactive contacting him. On the negative side, students are walking around with cell phones popped open and music playing.
Meeting adjourned at 12:20pm.
