Weekly Bulletin – May 28 – 31, 2013
May 24, 2013
GALILEO ACADEMY
Weekly Bulletin
MAY 28 – 31, 2013
ZEAL
FACULTY/STAFF
WORD OF THE WEEK: All Teachers please put this word on your blackboard or other prominent place. ZEAL: Eagerness and ardent interest in pursuit of something; fervor.
NEW ITEMS:
STAFF WELLNESS WORDS:
Thank You for continuing to support the health and well-being of our students! Have a fantastic summer.
REFERENCE ITEMS
HELP! The Galileo PTSA is sending out this urgent message to alert our community to the serious state of our fundraising efforts this year. This year to date, we have raised only 43% of our budgeted amount. This means that we may be prevented from financially supporting some of the programs and events we usually support, not to mention the grants we usually give out to teachers and student groups who apply to us for special help with their projects.
To make a donation you can simply send a check FOR ANY AMOUNT made out to ‘Galileo PTSA’ to:
Galileo Academy of Science and Technology
Attention: PTSA
1150 Francisco St.
San Francisco, CA 94109
Or
Donate with your credit card via PayPal on the “Donation”, page of the PTSA section of the Galileo website. Or click on the link below, where you also find alternate ways to raise money for the school.
http://galileoweb.org/ptsa/donate/
Remember no amount is too small or too big. We thank you for your support now and always!
ANNOUNCEMENT FORMS: We are now using Google Forms to collect announcement requests. The form is linked from the Teachers page at galileoweb.org. Check it out.
**BULLETIN NOTICES:**EMAIL ADDRESS FOR BULLETIN NOTICES: Please email bulletin notices to: grinnellb@galileoweb.org. The deadline for submitting items for the bulletin is Friday morning by 8:30am. Mrs. Grinnell
SUBSTITUTE SYSTEM: The Substitute System’s phone number: 345-0064. The old phone number, 241-6641, is no longer operational. The on-line system remains the same. If you have any questions please let me know.
SOCIAL COMMITTEE CONTRIBUTION: Just a reminder–if you haven’t already given your social committee contribution, it’s not too late. See Bettie Grinnell in the Main Office with your $20–checks or cash welcome! Social Committee
PARKING COURTESY: Please do not block other cars in both the Bay Street and the Polk Street parking lots. If you have to block a car, do it only for a few minutes and leave your Galileo Parking Hanger in plain sight in your car. If you do not have a Galileo Parking Hanger, see Bettie Grinnell in the Main Office. Mrs. Grinnell
GALILEO PTSA EDUCATION AND ENRICHMENT GRANT APPLICATIONS: The Galileo PTSA is accepting Grant Applications from teachers and staff in need of funding for projects, equipment and/or suppliewww.galileoweb.org/ptsa. Grant applications may be turned in to the PTSA mailbox in the main office. If you have questions email the Grants’ Chair Claire Siegel at cesiegel@pacbell.net or call her at 415.350.5697.
Leadership Team/Department Heads Meeting Minutes – May 23, 2013
May 23, 2013
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
Leadership Team/Department Heads Meeting Minutes – May 16, 2013
May 17, 2013
GALILEO ACADEMY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Leadership Team/Department Heads Meeting
May 16, 2013
CFAs
- Need to be quantifiable to put into Data Director
- Done – Math, English, Spanish (need rubric), French (need rubric), Health, Social Studies (will get from Lisa)
- Marcus will search emails again for other departments
Department BSC
- Thanks to Special Education, Social Studies, English, World Language, and Science for getting us rough drafts!
- The BSC is a living document
- Send us what you have right now
- We will set up individual meetings next week to review each BSC and work to refine
CPT Calendar
- When do grades get put into Data Director at the end of the school year (especially with our incoming 9th grade class)
- Faculty Meetings, Grading Periods, SchoolLoop CPT Time
- School Events added in…discussion about Winter Assembly, are we going to cancel some assemblies events? desire to re-think some of this
Whole School PD/CPT needs next year:
- Restorative Justice/Practices: what it looks like, definition (could be in a Faculty Meeting)
- Inclusive Practices
- 0.8/ELD working together
- Compensation Time for Back to School Night
- Tier 1 Interventions for students with IEPs (August PD)
- CPS/Mandated Reporter/Crisis
- Emergency Procedures
- New Counseling Loads: define and explain, perhaps use HR more to do counseling needs/issues
- Teacher Appreciation Lunch
- CELDT scores and review/lesson (Bilingual Reclassification)
- IEPs at a glance PD/review within departments
- Transgender Youth Training (Kitchell and Wellness)
- Cultural/Linguistically Relevant Pedagogy
Co-Teachers
- Why are teachers doubling up? Makes more sense and actually creates less work esp for the Special Ed teachers.
- What about GenEd teachers missing Department time? Can be combined, depends on the needs…
- Are SpEd teachers in multiple departments? No, as much as possible.
- GenEd teachers might need to think a bit in advance
Leadership Team/Department Heads Meeting Minutes – April 24, 2013
April 25, 2013
GALILEO ACADEMY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Leadership Team/Department Heads Meeting
4/25/13
Marcus called the meeting to order at 12:55pm.
Leadership Team Agenda
I. Open House Feedback
–Nancy said about 100 people attended this event. David asked what activities the parents found useful.
–Michelle said she felt the parents wanted a mini lecture. Michelle said it does not make any sense for parents to go room to room to get this information. It could be done in the auditorium.
–Michelle said not all student tour groups got to the English Department. Some groups got delayed.
–Nancy said she wanted to include everyone in the tours. She said only half of her student volunteers showed up.
–David suggested a meeting place at the end of the event where students could talk to the teachers. David said students he spoke with wanted to talk to the teachers.
–Joseph said he liked the idea of having the department heads talk in the auditorium and then the parents and students can pick which departments they want to visit.
–Mr. Machtay suggested the tour groups be arranged based on home language.
–David suggested contact information on the sheets given to parents so they could call or email for more information.
–Doug said he did not have many folks asking questions.
–Ethan said he had lots of questions concerning athletics.
II. Master Schedule Update
–Nancy said they continue to work on the master schedule. It will be finished by June 14th.
Department Heads Agenda
I. CFA’s
–Marcus said he only has CFA’s from Social Studies, ELD and World Languages.
–David said Marcus should send out a reminder to the departments.
–Marcus would like to move all assessments into Data Director over the summer.
II. CCSS Share Out
–Lisa asked everyone to talk about what they discussed for the 2 sessions.
–David said Science focused the whole time on language objectives. He talked about how they proceeded. He said they are not finished.
–Michelle said English began by working on a 2 week 9th Grade Curriculum around language. They will continue working on this to complete the 2-week curriculum. Her department is large and there are many voices.
–Kathleen said ELL read the common core for each level. The looked at the language strand where different pieces of work are compared. She looked at the new terms –,Emerging, Expanding and Bridging are new terms for the language abilities.
–Mat said they used a mathematical formula from Bissa and they used the state standards and wrote objectives, in Modern World, and US History classes. Language objective and scaffold were the most difficult areas. Content standard focus was the easiest to accomplish.
–Ray discussed the language of math in addition to the math concepts.
–Ethan said PE looked at language objectives, using activities. They still want to do SSR and have students give short presentations to use the language.
–Joseph said they talked about what they are doing now and what they could do differently. He mentioned they do not do much writing, except writing music. He would like them to do self-reflections about their activities in music to use the language of the arts. They have a general VPA vocabulary list—domain specific lists—art, music, photography, etc. He mentioned math as part of the VPA process—counting the length of notes, etc. The arts support the common core in many indirect ways.
–Doug said the Math department looked at resources on sfusd and r&d development group for lessons more along the common core. They looked at programs that address the math standards.
III. CPT
–Lisa said planning for next year is in the works. She said ideas from the group will help drive the CPT calendar before it is submitted to the UBC. Marcus said the calendar should be set by this group. He would like the group to meet every Thursday until this is all settled.
–Ray said there needs to be more department time.
Marcus said they would list all topics we need to address and then form the structure.
–Kathleen agreed with Ray. She said there is no one size fits all.
–Doug said when everyone is separated out into big groups, it does not become effective. He also mentioned trust—let them know the goals and let them drive this in their departments. The large group activities burn time and frustrate teachers.
–Ray discussed Special Ed. and the activities there. He preferred the 2-hour period once a week.
–Marcus said all of the district priorities are in areas where we need to improve.
–Marcus would like to have a process. We will meet every Thursday to work on this.
IV. WASC
–Lisa distributed information from WASC review in 2011. She mentioned the content areas of this information. She explained the information.
–Marcus would like to review this information as a team to see where we are and what we are doing.
V. Space Allocation
–David distributed an information sheet with talking points.
–He discussed the first point—what happens to a classroom if the position is consolidated.
–Ray said if all department needs are on the table, then it should be easy to allocate the room.
–David said we might need to identify the needs of every department each Spring.
–A combination of fairness and need.
–Marcus asked for the number of teachers who travel in each department. Science (3), English ( 2 share a room), 1 travels. ELL (0). SS (0) Sped Ed (2) PE (0) Math (3),,VPA (0).
–Nancy asked if teachers who has been traveling the longest, should that teacher get the room?
–David said it is disruptive for a teacher to not have their room during their prep period. This makes it difficult to set up and breakdown labs and impacts student learning.
–Michelle said the two in her department who share a room, if they had to travel, then they may not want to stay part time.
–David wants a policy in place for the future. Discussion followed.
–Michelle asked for the definition of part time. Members shared their opinions.
–Ray mentioned how challenging it is for Special Ed. teachers to have other teachers in their classrooms during prep periods.
–Michelle stuck up for using one of her rooms for 2 part time teachers. She feels they should not have to travel.
–Joseph said that it is not right to have those who have been at Galileo for a long time and are part time have to travel. This might be OK for new teachers coming in, but seniority should take precedence.
–David felt we should advocate for the new teachers who have to travel and then end up leaving Galileo and the district.
–Joseph said he traveled when he was a new teacher and that is the way it was.
–David said there is no process now. Many felt there are too many variables to have a process.
–Ray said this is a challenge as our situations change every year.
–Doug suggested looking at the utilization in every department to see if there could be a process.
–Michelle said there are more courses in Science and Math than are required for graduation.
–Marcus said we lowered class sizes in 9th and 10th grade English to keep teachers.
–Ray said they will need a new Special Day Class next year.
The graduation class this year is between 560 and 580 students. The class started as freshmen as 620 students.
Meeting adjourned at 2:15pm.
Leadership Team/Department Head Meeting Minutes – 4/11/13
April 11, 2013
GALILEO ACADEMY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Leadership Team/Department Heads Meeting
4/11/13
Nancy called the meeting to order at 10:15am. Nancy told why Marcus has been away. He will be back on Monday.
Leadership Team
I. Open House – Wednesday, April 18th.
–Nancy and the Counseling Office are in charge of the Open House. This will be for incoming 9th graders only. Department Heads and those in charge of academies and pathways are to be present. Nancy passed out a proposed agenda. Those who attend the Open House will not have to attend cluster meetings on Thursday, April 18th.
–Joseph brought up the fact that STAR testing sign up is April 18th. We will go with the 25th of April.
–Michelle asked why it was coming out of department times instead of school wide time. Decision made to take the time on April 24th.
–Joseph asked that we plan for this time in the fall with the CPT calendar so we get time off after an evening event. We need more lead time for some scheduling.
–David would like to debrief after the Open House and make plans for next year on who should attend.
–Doug asked what the department heads role is during the Open House. Nancy said that they need to be in the classrooms at 6:30pm as the tours take place.
–Michelle said her department will have 4 teachers there and they will rotate over the next few years.
–Lauren said it would be good to give the incoming students ideas of what to prepare for entering high school.
–Doug mentioned that with people coming and going in the classrooms it does not feel organized.
–Nancy mentioned that we will not know until tomorrow how many new students we will have.
–Doug suggested the students all be in one place for the presentation by the department heads and then give them a tour of the school.
–Leah suggested the cafeteria. Nancy said she was going to use the cafeteria for clubs and sports teams.
Lauren suggested the department presentations be done in the auditorium. Joseph said it would be good to have a shared power point for this presentation.
–Ray mentioned the challenges of Special Ed at this event.
–Kathleen said presentations for her parents would have to be in several different languages.
–Ray asked if the Open House is district mandated. Nancy said it was not mandated but preferred.
–Nancy said the agenda would include the department information after the performance of the band and orchestra. The tours could include the academies and pathways.
–Jessica suggested the clubs and sports be set up in the main hallway so that parents and students could look at these exhibits when they enter the building.
–Nancy suggested 2 minutes for each department presentation.
–Jessica suggested movement from the auditorium after the music performances. Nancy suggested the gym. Lisa suggested having the tours stop at the tables in the gym.
–Ethan suggested the gym for clubs and sports and needs to make sure there is no sports activity going on at the same time.
–Kathleen suggested having teachers in a room with their subject and have the tour go to these rooms.
–David suggested a hand out to give to the parents on what to expect, rather than have everyone be present.
–Nancy felt it is important for the parents to meet the teachers and feel comfortable about their choice of Galileo.
–Michelle suggested having students do the speaking about each department. Lisa suggested using current freshmen.
–Nancy said we would go to the original agenda with guided tours to each department classroom.
–ASB has 30 students to lead the tours.
–Joseph said it is important for the orchestra and band members to have a good size audience.
–David said that that we need to identify what we really want to do and take out all the “fluff.” He suggested feedback from the parents about what they found helpful.
–Jessica encouraged everyone to distribute the Wellness Survey to their department members and return them to Bettie in the Main Office by the end of April.
Department Head Agenda
I. Master Schedule
–537 9th graders assigned to Galileo. 508 as of today have said “yes.” There are still the second and third rounds. If some of these students go to other schools, we will get more. This can affect the budget.
–All librarians for the schools are now funded by Prop H.
–Joseph said Prop H is funding 1.4FTE for his department. There will be 2 sections of dance and Mr. Novota will be full time.
–Nancy has to keep working on changes and the Master Schedule is due by June 14th. She thanks everyone for their cooperation.
–Joseph felt that co-teachers should have the same prep periods. Nancy said she is trying to do that as much as possible.
–Michelle said she hoped the Leadership Team and Department Heads, along with the SSC would have input into what we restore when we get more money.
–Stan said Prop H also funds PE and he wanted to know if we got the PE teacher back.
–Joseph talked about the history of which period orchestra and band are and now he would like to move them to third. Kathleen said the ELD support classes are 3rd period, but these students are not in these music classes.
II. Student Teachers
–Lisa said SF State needs to know how many student teachers we will use next year and how many for each subject.
–Joseph asked if SF State keeps the data from previous years. Lisa has the data.
–Give Lisa the info by April 22nd.
III. Department Head Positions 2013/2014
–Marcus approved everyone for one more year.
–Leah will be going to Spain next year and Alicia Sheppeck will be the new World Languages Department Chair.
IV. Common Formative Assessments
–ELD and Social Studies have turned them in. Marcus would like the rest of them next week.
V. Summer PD Opportunities
–Lisa distributed information on the PD programs.
–National Board Opportunities is also posted in the Main Office.
–USC School of Cinematic Arts is at Galileo the first week of summer.
–Google Summit includes paid scholarships.
–Connect U is technology and there are scholarships.
–Co-teaching PD workshop is also available. Saturday, April 27th. School will pay.
VI. STAR Testing
–This is the next to last year for the STAR test. There will be something to replace this test. Next year will be somewhat abbreviated.
–The testing will be Tuesday through Friday. Katie will send out the schedules and where everyone will be. She will attend each department meeting to go over the plans. She will also visit the New Teacher meeting as well. This is a mandatory meeting for all teachers.
–Please remind the students of the importance of these tests.
–Glossaries can be used by ELL students who already use them in their classes. The ELL students must bring their own glossaries.
–Leah asked if they have glossaries in all languages. Kathleen said most are available.
–If you give the glossaries to the students, do it prior to the test week.
–Ray asked about calculators for the Special Ed students in the regular ed classrooms.
–Kathleen asked about those teachers who have round tables. Do we have dividers Different versions of the test help in this situation.
VII Miscellaneous
–Kathleen talked about tutoring forms for the students.
Meeting adjourned at 11:15am.
Leadership Team/Department Heads Meeting Minutes – March 14, 2013
March 14, 2013
GALILEO ACADEMY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Leadership Team/Department Heads Meeting
3/14/13
Marcus called the meeting to order at 10:20am.
Leadership Team Agenda
I. Budget
–Marcus distributed information about next year’s budget. This was presented to the SSC last night. Discussion on the changes took place but no decisions were made.
–We need look at everything, pare down to a bare minimum and then list priorities to add items back in. The SSC will work on this is the next several weeks. One item to be included would be lower class sizes for the 9th grade.
–Send the SSC and/or the administration an email if you have ideas or concerns.
–Joseph asked about the .6PE position and the .2VPA position. He also asked about some areas where there were increases, like AoHT up .2 percent.
–We went up 2.2FTEs. Most schools stayed the same and some went down.
–Michelle asked about the .2 Coordinator. Lisa said it is on the wish list.
II. STAR Testing 4/22-26/13
–Katie will have the schedule finalized next week and distributed. The schedule should be the same as last year.
III. Staff Survey – Part of BSC
–Marcus distributed the surveys for each department for the members to fill out and return to Katie.
–Stan mentioned the Internet troubles and the fact that teachers may not be able to post their 3-week grades.
–Nancy mentioned the Singleton/Doubleton meeting will be 4th period tomorrow in Room 450. The group will also meet there during 4th period on Monday.
–Marcus asked that the .8 classes not be all compacted at the end of the day. She asked that the classes be spread out over all periods if possible.
–Joseph said one of his department members said that many of the Special Ed department teachers have 6th period prep. Ray said that was not true.
–Nancy shared a google doc with everyone for the singleton/doubletons. Put those classes in that have to be a certain period even if they are not a singleton.
–Department Head period will be 4th period next year and we will meet 4th period every Tuesday.
–Doug mentioned that his department has about 100 students who are misplaced at this time.
–Revisions are due to Nancy by the end of the school day on 3/19.
Department Heads Agenda
I. BSC
–Marcus passed out the new BSC template. This one is longer than the old one, but there is less room for narratives. District goals are included, with a baseline and goals for the next 4 years. There are targets for Galileo for each year for the next 4 years. Look this over.
II. Common Core Literacy Standards
–Lisa referred everyone to page 12, Goal 2: Student Achievement. She planned an activity for the group.
–Lisa asked for feedback before April 10th and 17th. She wants the group’s feedback on where we are with these standards and where we want to go with them. She then distributed 2 sets of standards—one for writing and one for reading.
–The group split in 2 groups—one to look at writing and one to look at reading. She asked everyone to look at items she has listed. Look at what we are doing now. There will be some individual think time included.
–The rest of the meeting was discussion on the material.
Meeting adjourned at 11:45am.
Leadership Team/Department Head Meeting Minutes – February 28, 2013
February 28, 2013
GALILEO ACADEMY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Leadership Team/Department Heads Meeting
2/28/13
Leadership Team Agenda
Marcus called the meeting to order at 10:40am.
I. Master Schedule Update
–Nancy reminded everyone that course placements are due to her by the end of the school day tomorrow.
–The Counseling Office will be closed every day next week during periods 3 and 4 so the counselors can work on student schedules. Teachers should not be coming to the Counseling Office during those periods.
–Nancy asked for comments and questions.
–David is having some difficulty finishing this project as Ms. Gamm is out this week. Nancy said she would visit her classes.
–Joseph asked if she is looking for class placements or class offerings. She needs both.
–Joseph asked what would happen if there were not enough students to fill up photography. Nancy said the 9th graders have not signed up yet.
II. Early Warning Indicators
–Nancy distributed information from the 10th graders and the 9th graders in this category. She discussed the numbers. She discussed attendance, credits and GPA.
–This is according to the SFUSD, not UC A-G.
–Nancy said there are some students who have no data.
–Donald Harper is working with these students.
–Stan asked if we were going to do more hall sweeps. Marcus said we would try to increase the ones we do. Attendance with these students is an issue.
–The district sends out the truancy letters every 2 weeks. Doug asked if there was action beyond the letters.
–Lauren said the students who want to stay at Galileo improve their attendance.
–Nancy said they have been denying truant students the privilege of getting their driver’s license. They also do assign community service to some.
Katie said 1 in 4 SARBs are helpful.
–Stan says we need to address school climate to get these students back to school. He mentioned how often he hears “bitch,” and the “f-word” constantly in the halls.
–Doug asked if school climate is addressed on the student surveys.
–David said often this language involves terms of endearment.
–Doug said that this is common in all high schools.
–Marcus said he would like to hear from the students. He wants to talk to the students who are not showing up.
III. Budget 2013/2014
–Katie distributed information and said we are looking at a $400,000 loss for next year. We will lose $300,000 out of WSF and $100,000 out of categorical.
–We are losing students. Katie will work with Myong on the categorical funding.
–We are on par with most of the west side schools as far as funding.
–Katie explained the formulas for the categorical funding.
–We are budgeted at 1992 students. In the past we have been budgeted for more students than we have. We will have 132 fewer students next year.
–Michelle asked what the next steps are. The information Katie passed out will go to the SSC as to what we have now.
–Katie said we have not spent anything on tech this year and we will need to do some over all maintenance as well as new equipment.
–Kathleen asked if anyone wanted equipment that goes along with the white boards.
–Katie said that the sequestration will hit school districts in June. This will cut federal funds, including Special Ed. Those services are mandated, so the district will have to take funds from regular ed to cover this.
–Michelle said the school board voted for layoff notices. The budget is due the first week in April.
–Katie has not looked tat AP funding, but Jonathan is working on that.
IV. Traffic Signs on Bay Street
–Katie forwarded an email to everyone concerning this.
–Ray said the speed limit should be posted as 15mph during school hours.
–Doug will do a speed study with his students on Bay Street.
Department Head Agenda
I. English Language Learners
–Marcus wants to look at what will help our ELL students.
–David feels there is little support to do these things properly. The district is asking for lots of things.
–Marcus felt we should choose specifics from the district guidelines.
II. Balanced Store Card
–Marcus distributed this to the group. He also distributed the IOC feedback from last year.
–Marcus went through each item on the BCC. David felt that we need more support in creating content specific language objectives. This should be done at the department level.
–Language objectives are what we need to work on.
–We are not doing GLOS—replaced by Language Objectives. Marcus said we are doing pretty well with 1st and 2nd year teachers with the language objectives.
–Kathleen suggested Department and Cluster CPT for Language Objectives and Brick and Mortar words.
–Cornell Notes are used by many teachers. Kathleen suggested consistency across classes.
Many use templates for the Cornell notes. Marcus asked those with templates to bring them to the next meeting. We will discuss them and put them on a faculty meeting agenda soon.
–David said there are many structures in Cornell notes.
–Marcus said it is important when we decide on school wide activities everyone should follow the plan.
–Sentence Frame—discussion on who uses them. We want to continue working on these.
–Structured Language Practice—Marcus said this was one of the most criticized areas. David said that we are working on it.
–Marcus suggested time next year for individual departments to work on this throughout the year.
Discussion followed concerning department meeting times and cluster meeting times.
–Lisa asked how we can merge the department/cluster times and other topics for the good of the school.
–David mentioned the benefits of having both Wednesdays and Thursdays for certain tasks.
III. Lau Plan
–The Lau Plan is basically a check-off list. He distributed the Lau Plan from last year.
Meeting adjourned at 11:45am.
Leadership Team/Department Heads Meeting Minutes – February 21, 2013
February 21, 2013
GALILEO ACADEMY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Leadership Team/Department Heads Meeting
2/21/13
Marcus called the meeting to order at 10:40am.
Marcus gave the group some feedback from this morning’s Principal’s Meeting held at Galileo. This is an inquiry meeting. What can I do as the instructional leader to get teacher buy-in to the vision for the school is what Marcus was asking the assembled group of principals today. He also included groups at Galileo in this question. The principals felt that our department heads are doing a great job. This was just after a brief walk through. The second group was first and second year teachers and they also got a good rating. The BBC was in that group and it was needed there. The third group was a hodge podge. The principals liked the co-teaching in 350 and 414. Marcus thanked everyone in the room and said he learned a lot during their visit today.
Leadership Team
I. Superintendent’s State of the District Address
–Lisa talked about this meeting. It is all district administrators meeting. It occurs several times in the year. Nancy said there were 400 administrators present. Lisa said the weighted student formula would remain the same as last year.
–Doug said the governor said it would go up $300 per student. That would be $200-300 per student.
–Nancy said the administrators mumbled we would get more money. She also said we would get the arts and PE monies restored as well as library funds. Joseph said the Prop H was cut by 25%, but it would now be restored. That would mean $25,000 for VPA.
–Lisa said there were discussions on how the district could help support priorities. They talked about coaching, and professional development. Nancy said they sounded like they would like to strengthen the Curriculum & Instruction Office as well as the LEAD office.
–Michelle asked if there was mention of evaluating teachers in part by test scores. The answer was no.
–Katie said we would be allocated fewer students next year and this will result in less funding.
II. Master Schedule Update
–Nancy asked if the google docs she sent everyone were working. Doug said he took the math portion out and put it on his own sheet. He felt this was safer. David made sure everyone in his department had their own. They will re-share the document when they are done.
–Doug said some of his students were not listed. Nancy asked that absent students be added to the bottom of the list.
–Mat asked if someone would review the work at the end. He felt there might be some errors. Lauren said they should catch these types of errors.
–Nancy said the academy/pathway numbers look pretty good. She asked for the information back March 1st.
III. Space Allocation
–David wanted to create a process for room assignments when rooms open up. What is the process? Nancy has done this in the past.
–Stan felt the UBC should be involved. Marcus felt the Leadership Team should have a stronger voice, as there are more representatives in this group.
–When a teacher retires, the room stays with the department. Is it the most senior teacher who gets the room, or the new teacher? David wants to know if it is done by departments and do the departments own the room? Is it a school resource or a department resource?
–Doug felt that putting rooms into a general pool would not be fair. He felt the department rooms should be close to each other.
–Michelle felt we should identify the educational priorities before assigning rooms.
–Doug said that their full time rooms need to stay their full time rooms.
–David said drastic changes do not happen over night. He thought it is worth looking at room allocation to see where the process is now. Doug said this should be students to room capacity ratio. David mentioned safety and working conditions for students and teachers.
–Doug said in his department there are some teachers who are not full time and do not have their own rooms.
–Marcus suggested several people come up with some proposals.
–David said there were rooms that became available over the summer and there was no protocol for new assignments. There are usually only 1 or 2 a year at most.
–Michelle talked about English being the only course students take all 4 years. She mentioned programs that are growing with more sections being added.
–Marcus has a plan to get the school to 2000 enrollment. Cutting students can result in cutting teachers.
–Kathleen asked if the Leadership Team could discuss room assignment if a room becomes available.
–David also said we should minimize the number of traveling teachers.
–Marcus said it would be great if several members could come up with several proposals.
–Michelle mentioned curricular needs as being important in room assignments.
–David will write a proposal and administrative team will do so as well.
IV. Graduation
–Graduation is Wednesday, May 29th at 1:00pm. We will work out coverage.
V. Eighth Grade Open House
–Marcus said we need to come up with a date and we need to review last year’s structure. Michelle remembers that it was mostly student run last year. Karin Lau put it together last year.
–Joseph said the Orchestra and Band Performance was a part of the program last year.
–This event gives students and parents a look at the school. David said the date was April 25th last year.
–Marcus said right now it is scheduled for after May 8th. May 1st is another date that is suggested.
–Marcus felt there should be representation from each department as well as the academies and pathways.
–Lauren feels that this open house is valuable for the parents to see where their students are going to school. 8th graders will get their assignment letters on March 15th.
–All schools do this.
–Nancy suggested April 17th. Joseph prefers April 24th. April 17th is the preferred date. We will do the concert that night as well.
VI. Traffic Sign for Bay Street
–Katie said Kelli is reaching out for someone to come from the city and survey our area –Michelle mentioned how many drop offs occur on Bay Street.
–Doug mentioned the great speed of the traffic. Doug mentioned Page Street and Urban School. Parents paid for the signs there and the traffic slows.
–Marcus suggested a social studies class take this on.
Meeting adjourned at 11:30am.
Leadership Team/Department Heads Meeting Minutes – January 24, 2013
January 24, 2013
GALILEO ACADEMY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Leadership Team/Department Heads Meeting
1/24/13
Marcus called the meeting to order at 10:10am. Marcus distributed various documents.
Leadership Team
I. Special Ed Inclusive Alignment
–Ray went to the Special Ed. district wide department head meeting yesterday. He mentioned that Special Ed teachers must be assigned to classrooms. He also said that Special Ed teachers cannot teach content if they do not have the subject credential. All Special Ed students must be taught by single subject credentialed teachers.
–John O’Connell, Burton and Aptos have already done this. Mission and Presidio are also close to Full Inclusion.
–The strategic goal is 80% or more with disabilities will spend 80% or more time in regular ed. classes with appropriate support.
–Ray said this will affect the Master Schedule. He mentioned Specialized Instruction.
–The planning to move the students into regular classes is happening now. This is not a class size issue.
–Ray mentioned his credentials and what he can and cannot teach with the new requirements.
–Marcus asked about those students who could not make it in regular classes. Ray said they will be in remedial classes, taught by remedial teachers. These students will not get diplomas.
–Ray mentioned combining his geometry class with Mr. Flisak’s class.
–We have 20 Special Ed students that will not be integrated. We have 160-180 Special Ed students. Ray will give everyone the numbers for next year. Marcus explained how the student allocation will work with Special Ed students in regular classes. We will have fewer General Ed students to make the allocation balance.
There is not a specific time line to have all the requirements implemented. Ray said at any given time, 20% of the SDC students will remain in SDC. Changes will have to be made in elementary school.
–Marcus said this whole issue is about compliance. He gave Ray kudos for having so many Special Ed students in regular classes.
–Ray said those students who were not behaving well are benefiting from being in the Regular Ed classes.
–Ray said we have 11 Special Ed teachers who do not teach the severely impaired.
Ray indicated that this won’t happen by the fall. He did say that all teachers will be team teaching. He also said the current CPT structure will not be helpful for this new planning.
–How will we match up the content teachers and the Special Ed teachers?
–Ray ran through a series of frequently asked questions about this new program.
–The plan is to get all Special Ed teachers (Special Ed specialists) into the classroom full time.
–Leah asked where this system came from and Ray said it is nationwide. He mentioned some states have tiered a diploma system.
–Lauren said this plan changes the way students are counseled. This has been a topic of discussion in the counseling office
II. ASB Proposed Student Activity Dates
–Marcus distributed a document with set dates and some proposed change of dates.
–Graduation has changed to May 30th, but we do not have a rehearsal date.
–Marcus said the district did hear us that it was not fair to hold graduation on May 31st, a furlough date.
–Michelle mentioned that some students have made flight arrangements prior to May 31st. Janet Schulze will write a letter to the airlines. We do not know if the airlines will honor the letter for changes in airline tickets.
–Move-Up Assembly proposed for 5/17—during AP testing. Move-Up Assembly cannot be on that day.
III. Spring 2013 Final Exam Schedule
–We need to plan Senior Finals, Clearance and Regular Finals.
–Marcus proposed exams on Friday, May 24, Tuesday, May 28 and Wednesday, May 29 with make-ups on May 30th.
–Michelle said senior English teachers rely on the block periods for senior finals.
–Marcus suggested senior finals on May 22 and 23. Lauren said that would not be enough time for clearance.
–Nancy checked the AP tests schedule for conflicts with senior finals.
–Discussion followed about attendance for seniors after final exams.
–Suggestion made to put the Aloha Festival on 5/17.
–Suggestion Aloha Festival and Move-up Assembly both on May 3rd.
–Senior Finals will be May 15 and 16.
–Nancy said grades are due by 11:15am on 5/31.
–Discussion followed about students who take make-up exams.
–Proposal made to have a doctor’s note to take a make-up exam.
–Finals will be Friday, May 24th, Tuesday, May 28th and Wednesday, May 29th. This is tentative until we confirm with transportation. Friday periods 1 and 2 exams, Tuesday, periods 4 and 6 exams, and Wednesday periods 3 and 5 exams.
–Michelle suggested changing the date of the Senior Breakfast to 5/23.
IV. Space Allocation
–Marcus suggested we table this until the next meeting.
–Michelle said that we need to have this discussion before we do the Master Schedule.
V. CFAs
–The dates are May 13th and 20th. Marcus will discuss them with everyone after they are completed.
Department Heads Meeting
I. Master Schedule
Dates for Grade: Thursday, 2/28 at 8:00am. Grading period ends on 2/22.
Friday, April 25th at 8:00am. Grading period ends on 4/19.
Friday, May 31st at 11:15am.
NO EXCEPTIONS!
–Nancy said we have our course catalogue on the web site on one page. It will be under the tab “Counseling Office.” Most courses have descriptions.
–Registration will begin next Monday for 10th – 12th graders. Counselors will use Room 104. Goal is to complete this by 2/22/13. If we need more space we will use 101 and 102 when Mr. Tan and Mr. Machtay have preps.
–Nancy mentioned the A-G planning sheets. She sent the group guidelines via email.
–Nancy said on Tuesday night, 5:30pm – 7pm they will host a Road to College Program to inform parents about what courses their students need to take. Parents learn from School Loop, the PTSA the auto-dialer, etc. Two hundred families usually attend.
–Doug asked Nancy to provide the student HO numbers.
–Nancy will provide a calendar with all deadlines at the next meeting.
–Nancy must be completely done with the Master Schedule by June 1st with the new system, Synergy. She has been flexible with changes in the past, but this year there will be no changes after June 1st.
–Doug said changes in the teacher roster will require some flexibility.
All students, including 9th graders, and all teachers must be in place in the Master Schedule by June 1st.
–Kathleen said we need better data from the Newcomer students.
–Nancy suggested a Dept. Head meeting next Thursday to discuss the Master Schedule.
–This meeting is moving to 3rd period next year.
–Compliance issues will be a major item next year.
–Joseph suggested we keep the Leadership Team/Department Head meetings on Tuesdays, meeting each week for different topics. The group agreed so the group will meet every Tuesday during 4th period.
–Nancy said students can get a waiver for foreign language if they speak English as a second language. Also, students can be exempt from PE if they are an athlete. That can start in the Freshman year. All Freshmen will have to take PE. PE is optional for Sophomores if they are an athlete. A season of a sport counts as 1 semester. If an athlete becomes ineligible, they still can practice with the team and get credit.
–Sophomores can sign up for PE, JROTC, or get a waiver to be an athlete.
–Because of the PE and foreign language waivers, we will have some challenges to fill a 6 period day for all students.
–Ethan mentioned a coach who is not certificated now can give PE credit to an athlete.
Meeting adjourned at 11:45am.
Leadership Team/Department Heads Meeting Minutes – 12/13/12
December 13, 2012
GALILEO ACADEMY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Leadership Team/Department Heads Meeting
12/13/12
Marcus called the meeting to order at 10:10am.
Leadership Team
I. AP Course Enrollment/New Contract
–Michelle asked how we would handle the concept of open enrollment into the AP classes, given the new contract. If the course has 25 students, the teacher is given an AP prep. What happens if a student drops a class—does the teacher lose the AP prep?
–Nancy said she has no plans to change the 7-step process for a student to drop a class. Nancy would not change the Master Schedule if a student drops the class. Marcus said the AP preps will stay as they are in place at the beginning of the school year.
–Michelle asked if the district would do an audit during the year.
–As of right now, with 25 students in an AP class, the teacher will get an AP prep.
–Nancy said that they would talk to the district if an audit proceeds.
–At the semester, students could leave an AP class only if they are failing or getting a D.
–Doug said his department is always over enrolled and mentioned evaluating those students who want to enroll in an AP class.
–David said that each department probably does this differently. David feels this is up to the AP teacher.
–Doug says he fits in as many students as he can that will fit in the room.
–David asked about how the counselors handle students signing up for multiple AP classes. Lauren said they talk to the students, the parents, and they counsel them.
–Nancy said last year if students had 3 or more AP or honors classes, they meet with the student to make sure the students know what they are getting into.
–Lauren suggested teachers give the counselors an idea of how many hours of homework each level has would help when the counselors talk to the students.
–David asked if we should get parental signatures for more than 3 of these classes.
–Nancy said this year there are not as many students who are overwhelmed. She mentioned 5 cases.
–David also mentioned students who do not do well in the AP classes.
–Nancy said she needs feedback on Google registration sheets she sent to everyone by the end of finals week.
–David asked about course descriptions. Nancy said it was online.
–Ray asked about .71 Chemistry and when it will be on the item deck.
–Leah wanted to look at the AP Native Spanish speaker.
–Nancy said that freshmen will now have a choice of a VPA course or a World Language class.
II. Winter Assembly Details
–Joseph asked for clarification on 1 assembly or 2.
–Marcus said we plan for 2 but it will probably be 1.
–We will call the first group down and see how it goes.
III. Traffic Sign for Bay Street
–Kathleen wants to keep it on the agenda until it happens.
–Lisa said Katie has been making phone calls.
IV. Finals Week Suggestions
–Mat asked if Homeroom would be Nutrition time. Answer is Yes.
–Question was asked about the computer labs and homeroom. There will be signs posted next week and the labs will only be for study.
V. Dress Code
–Katie talked about a student at the football banquet who was inappropriately dressed. She looked in the Student Handbook and found a dress code. She also added something from Balboa’s dress code. Students will be sent home if they are dressed inappropriately.
–Please review these policies with your department. Students can wear their PE uniforms or get clothes in the Deans’ Office.
–This is district policy and in the handbook. We need to be consistent about this now and remind students.
–This is not something to suspend students for.
–Lauren asked if students could make up work for the time they are off campus to change.
–Call the Deans’ Office if you are unsure about dress or behavior. If teachers feel uncomfortable addressing students, call the Deans.
–Doug mentioned the past and students not wearing hats. If there is not consistency, it will break down. Katie said this is also a safety issue.
–Doug would like to take this out of the teacher’s responsibility and give it to the Deans, counselors or administrators.
–Allison spoke about classroom rules and what the teacher’s rules are.
VI. Mandatory Lesson
–January 18th on Internet Safety. Everybody has to do this. This is funding for the state. It will be during a specific period.
–Michelle asked if the video is culturally sensitive.
–Marcus will distribute copies of the directions.
–The state will capture the attendance for that date and period.
–Joseph suggested we air it on G-House TV.
–Michelle asked about the TV networks not working with the change over.
–Katie said they switched from analog to digital and now each TV must have a box. They will provide 3 boxes. Each new box is $1.99 per month.
–Katie will deal with Comcast.
Department Heads
I. CLA
–Marcus distributed district information to apply for up to $2,000 in extended hours to work on CLAs. Principals have been asking for compensation. Let Lisa or Marcus know if you are interested.
–Marcus would like to see work on the CFAs and CLAs that we have been doing in English and Math.
–This is a project outside of the classroom.
–We will table this item until the next meeting.
II. CPT Calendar Spring 2013
–Lisa thanked everyone for working with her and meeting with her.
–Lisa distributed the CPT calendar and did some highlighting.
–Yellow times are those each member should do the planning. Lisa offered some suggestions.
–In January please let her know what you will be doing on those days—goals, activities, location, etc. There is a share folder on Google Docs you can use. She would like them to be all in that folder.
–Lisa said this folder is a living document and members can make changes.
–Lisa mentioned the new grade level team meetings and how they would work. This will be on January 10th.
III. Balanced Score Card Data
–On January 16th there will be Balanced Score Card work in departments. How do we pull out what is useful and how do we find out what is meaningful will be the topic on January 9th. Then on the 16th, each department will be able to look at department data. Lisa asked what each member would need to lead this meeting.
She mentioned needs, growths, etc. Let Lisa know what data you want.
–David asked for a list of guiding questions.
IV. Common Core
–Lisa said the Common Core is coming and will affect English and Math in a very extreme way, but it affects everyone across the board.
–The district has come up with some smart test questions they will provide.
–The Common Core Standards will be in effect in a year and a half—the implementation will occur at that time.
–She distributed one from Algebra and one from English for the group to look at.
–Michelle said in her department they learned that the standards have changed. She said they looked at student work, what they are teaching, and what the standards are. She said it was eye opening. There are more demands from the students. This is an elevation from what we have done in the past. Much will depend on what the middle schools do with this and then what we do as the students enter high school.
–Joseph heard a report on MPR radio from Chicago, and it mentioned the test scores went down.
–Discussion followed.
V. ELL Next Steps
–Bissa is here for the meeting. She spoke of the QTEL activities. We received the Newcomer students when that school closed and we have the Lau walk through from last year. She explained some of her activities.
–She asked for feedback on ways to move forward around ESL strategies. She asked about ideas for professional development and what would be helpful. When the IOC or Federal Government comes again, what would be helpful to move ahead?
–Michelle said the negative feedback from the past came from too much material for the time period. It is hard to find time in CPT to do multiple presentations.
–Doug said that all the PD’s do not incorporate a math classroom. This is frustrating for the Math teachers.
–Bissa is looking for ways to make things better.
–Ray said there is no discussion about language acquisition. We have many students come with lower levels. No discussion on how we learn language.
–Stan said folks were upset about the critique, but our scores are getting better.
–Leah said the model lessons they were given are geared toward the students, and not necessarily the teachers. Adult learners are not being engaged.
–David said that we need to start focusing on subject area groups, rather than the general sessions.
VI. Miscellaneous
–Michelle mentioned 2 years ago that we eliminated 9th grade honors. This was supposed to be district wide. She said there are still some 9th grade honors classes. She asked if it is a possibility to reinstate 9th grade honors. Nancy will look into this.
–Doug asked Nancy when she needs to know if some students cannot move on to the next Math level. She needs this information ASAP.
–David mentioned the Science Department budget and asked for extra funds. He has some items that need replacing. He also cannot send anyone to conferences.
–The PTSA and GAA are asking for grant applications. Marcus said they are not getting enough applications.
Meeting adjourned at 11:45am.
