GALILEO ACADEMY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Leadership Team/Department Heads Meeting
5/23/13
Marcus called the meeting to order at 10:15am.
I. School Calendar
–Lisa distributed the latest version of the 2013/2014 school calendar. She explained the color-coding. She asked every one to scan through the calendar to see if there are items missing.
–Leah said the Marriage Booth is GSA, not Wellness.
–Stan asked about the mandatory Wellness Assembly.
–Make-up’s should be Make-ups.
–Lisa asked everyone to email her corrections.
–Lisa mentioned the group wanted to rethink some of the school events like assemblies.
–Michelle mentioned that the Move-Up/Awards Assembly is sort of inclusive of a certain group. Marcus suggested that a committee be formed to address this issue.
–Marcus suggested having a meeting ahead of time to plan this assembly.
–Stan brought up the history of this assembly, including movement of all classes around the auditorium to show the advancement of each class.
–Mat said Teacher Appreciation is misspelled. Graduation is also misspelled.
–Marcus asked about a Multi-Cultural Assembly—some said this gave way to the Talent Show.
–Joseph said there have been invitational assemblies—Latino, etc.
–Marcus said what he doesn’t like about the invitational assemblies is, that if a teacher does not want to go to the assembly, the students could react and this could be a cultural reaction.
–Discussion followed as to the differences in the Talent Show and the Multicultural Assembly.
–Leah mentioned how hard the leaders of these assemblies work.
–Leah asked for ways we could promote diversity in the activities. We have minority groups that are under represented.
–Suggestion was made to have Talent Show in the evening.
–Ray suggested combining the Talent Show and the Multicultural Assembly.
–Marcus said we did not have a Chinese New Year celebration or a Black History Celebration this year.
Stan suggested putting a theme on G-House TV for Chinese New Year, Black History Month, etc.
–Kathleen felt that we need to find a way to make our student government more diverse.
–David said that we would also need to find support for these students.
–Lisa suggested tabling this item until a future meeting. The calendar will be revised.
II. Traffic on Bay Street
–Mat wanted to thank Kathleen for bringing up the issue and to Mr. Papa and Mr. Brooks for having the students write letters to the city officials.
–Marcus told of a letter he received from the city and the police saying they would put up the speed unit to control traffic.
III. Inclusion/Co-Teaching
–Mat asked if the SDC teachers are being prepared for the mainstream.
–Ray said his teachers are being prepared, but their biggest sell is to the parents.
–Mat gave an example of a student not wanting to remove a head covering. Ray mentioned the issue of “is this disrupting class?” Ray mentioned addressing issues like this in the IEP. Marcus said this has to be brought to the attention of the student’s case manager.
–Mat asked if the students in the co-teaching classes are being prepared. Ray said they were.
–Ray discussed the challenges some of the students have with the English classes and the English language and the motor skills of writing. Ray said that reading and comprehension are the keys to learning.
–Michelle mentioned that much reading goes on in the classroom in 9th and 10th grades, while most reading is done at home in the 11th and 12th grades, with writing going on in class. Ray suggested books on tape to start. Michelle said that would not help prepare students for all of the testing. Ray suggested again referring to the IEP.
–David mentioned the importance of creating relationships with students. Leah said this can take a long time and cultural differences can come into play.
–Stan said this discussion she be put before the teachers, as they look at the rules in the handbook. Joseph said that the students need to be made aware of the rules.
–Michelle suggested they work with the Deans so they are aware of how teachers are trying to work with special situations.
–Discussion followed on the rules, exceptions to the rule, etc. Stan felt that we need to be consistent throughout the school.
–Ray felt we should separate what is allowed in the classroom and what is allowed outside the classroom.
–Marcus suggested each member talk to their department about this issue.
IV. PD/CPT Calendar
–Lisa showed everyone the list compiled from the last meeting. She asked the group to take a few minutes to look at it and then make notes on what should be whole school activities, what can be done in a faculty meeting—and it is whole school participation or department centered.
–Dean’s/Counseling—whole school
Wellness—Whole School
Special Ed—Inclusive Practices—whole school; Tier 1 Interventions—departments; IEPs—Departments
Co-Teaching-both whole school and departments.
English Language Learners—whole school
QTEL/SDAIE—discussion followed on this. Some felt departments, some said to get rid of the names, to eliminate the negative associations. Kathleen suggested calling this Engagement Strategies—department for this one.
Administration–
Emergency, Testing, School Loop, –Whole School. WASC revisit—whole school and departments; Language Objectives—whole school and departments; Culturally/Linguistically/Relevant Pedagogy—Department; BSC/Data Review/Reflection–whole school and other interested activities; Lau Plan Review—whole school and Departments (?); DF/CLA Analysis—Departments.
–Lisa mentioned we should consider what time of the year each item should be discussed, how long it will take and then looking at the blank times in the schedule to fit all this in.
–Michelle mentioned that some of these items will take just a short amount of time. She mentioned the activities of the first days the teachers return.
–Stan indicated items he felt should be discussed in the first days back. Discussion followed.
CELTD, Lau Plan, Language Objectives suggested for September faculty meeting. Marcus would like to talk about Language Objectives for August meetings.
–Ray said we will have 50-60 new Special Ed students next year.
–Michelle asked how the 3 days in August prior to school opening will be structured. Lisa mentioned several ways to structure these days. Most favored whole faculty gatherings in the mornings and then departments in the afternoon.
–Michelle felt that everything deemed for whole faculty should be in the morning sessions.
–Lisa mentioned the transgender youth training and Marcus said it would be a short meeting from an outside organization.
–David mentioned the New Counseling Load should be discussed.
–Lisa asked everyone to incorporate the department issues from today’s discussion into the calendar.
–Stan said he would like to hear from Kathleen and Ray about how they plan to do the trainings with departments. Kathleen indicated how she has marked the calendar.
–Stan asked Kathleen and Ray if they wanted to do all the trainings on the same day.
–Ray said he has 14 members to do the training so it could be done all in one day.
–Kathleen would like to spread her trainings out.
–Marcus suggested looking at what can be done on one day for everyone. David suggested a deadline for each item, rather than all on one day. Michelle like the idea of the deadlines.
–Marcus would like the CFAs and the CLAs to be done at the same time. Deadline would be in mid-October.
–Discussion followed as to what topics should follow.
–Lisa asked for additional topics. She will resend information to everyone. Let her know if there are mistakes.
–Please give Lisa and Marcus a rough draft for next year before summer break.
–Michelle asked for the guidelines for CPT. Marcus said it will be part of his expectations that everyone will attend all CPT times.
–Lisa will ask for agendas and a sign-on for each of these meetings.
–Michelle said there is some confusion with part time teachers and those who are coaching or working with sports.
–Mat asked several questions about dates and topics.
–Leah asked for the days after summer school when they would be here. It will be Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 6/4-6. The calendar will be finalized then.
–Marcus suggested combining departments for some of the discussions.
Meeting adjourned at 11:45am