MINUTES
SCHOOL SITE COUNCIL MEETING
November 3, 2004
- Call to order—5: 06 pm
- Flag Salute
- A quorum was confirmed.
- Members in attendance were: Parents— Ron Beilke, Frank Moreno, Anthony Soltero, Aurora Villon, Marina Caballero, Maria de Lourdes Baeza, Manuel Mejia, Sr. Students— Classified Staff— Vivian Martinez, Tony Hernandez Certificated Staff—James Halley, Dawn Hughey, Carol Stella Administration—Priscilla Linares ELAC—
- Members who sent regrets: Parents— ELAC— Emelda Hernandez, Fernando CamarenaStudents—Brandon Longoria, Shawn Acuna, Brandon Martinez, and Stephanie Mendez Classified Staff— Certificated Staff— Manuel Cruz, Marla Diaz
- Visitors in attendance: Esther Mejia,
- Chairperson Aurora Villon asked that we stay within the ground rules, especially sticking to the agenda and avoiding sidebars
- Minutes were approved with the following exception:
- The name of the priest at St. Mary’s Church is Don Liberty, not Ron Liberty.
- Student Reports—No students present—Mrs. Linares will make sure students will be represented at the next meeting
- DAC—
- Mr. Genis has advised us that a SSC member must attend these meetings in order to disseminate information, which is DAC’s sole purpose
- Vivian Martinez will be the member responsible for meeting the DAC requirements
- Parents will meet after the meeting to set calendar for sharing DAC responsibilities
- A motion was made and approved that the minutes of DAC meetings be kept at the school for easy access by SSC members
- Special Ed.—Nothing to report
- Title 1—DAC concerns which were acted upon by the council already
- GATE—
- Priscilla Linares is the facilitator
- Facilitator receives a $750 stipend, which she is placing back into GATE funds
- Students are placed in GATE based on several methods including standardized test scores and teacher recommendations
- Administration has received a list of potential students that are currently being investigated and designated
- GATE funds are being used for equipment, supplies, textbooks, teacher training, and occasional teacher reimbursement among other things that apply directly to the education of GATE students
- Numbers of GATE students are approximately 150-200
- Administration—
- It is Homecoming Week
- Tuesday was the carnival
- Wednesday was Blue Pride Day
- Thursday will be the Night Pep Rally
- Friday is the game and the dance
- Friday will also be the luncheon for the teachers and administration (it has been decided that the alumni luncheon will only be held every other year)
- November 12 th is Veteran’s Day—the football game has been rescheduled to this day because of the holiday
- November 19 th is the last day of the first trimester
- November 22 nd is the first day of the second trimester
- CAHSEE will be held on November 16 th (ELA) and 17 th (Math) for 11 th graders only
- Received our final API score on October 28 th—we made our target of 630; we will receive our new target in January of 2005
- SAT Prep.—
- We had a college prep. grant that funded the Princeton Review—we lost that money in the budget crash
- The Professional Development Team is looking for a grant to bring it back
- Websites we’ve looked at are pricing at $200-$300 per student
- Suggestion was made that perhaps the city will subsidize test prep.
- Priscilla Linares will look into it
- Fundraising—
- Not going to be able to have a scholarship through Activities
- Quickest, easiest way to set up scholarship fund is to have Frank Moreno open a private account; easier to request donations; easier to allocate funds
- Need to start planning in March for the Scholarship Awards
- Fundraising ideas
- Do we want big or small fundraisers?
- Recycle cell phones, toner, etc. (Earth Day)
- Shakey’s Night
- Class Competitions
- Frank will call Manuel about some of this
- Bylaws—None
- Public Comment—
- Vivian Martinez volunteered to supervise at Night Pep Rally
- Mrs. Esther Mejia was introduced; commended SSC for placing the monthly minutes on the Don Page; concerned about the DAC issue; explained that we would be fulfilling the DAC obligation that we had discussed earlier
- Comment about gate that is locked on the West Access Road; it’s being locked so that teachers don’t park there anymore; also, ROTC needs the space; asked that one side be left open so kids, but not cars, can get through
- El Rancho’s library has a wish list on Amazon.com—there is a link on the Don Page; people can go to the link and order books to be donated to the library—the request list is there
- Suggested that we look more closely at the Student Ambassador program
- Students are selected to go to other countries representing the United States as ambassadors
- Only one student from ERHS has gone
- An opportunity has arisen for ERHS because the program coordinators are looking for a school to host orientations and interviews; this would encourage more students to take part in this program
- About 40 students are chosen each year; often candidates are selected from Who’s Who Among American High Schoolers
- Two classrooms needed for interviews; space for four parent orientations needed (housing approximately 80 people)
- Band awards not mentioned in bulletin—accomplishments of all groups of students, sports or otherwise, need to be acknowledged
- Perhaps have student liaison from band, choir, cross country, etc. hsare all new with Mr. Crone to post on the Don Page
- Put in City Profile
- Put in Whittier Daily News
- Put on Marquee
- Have all events for each trimester published in a mass mailing
- Professional Development Team—Greg Smith and Marcelo Leonardi
- Group came together about 1 ½ years ago
- Dedicated to school improvement and reform
- Put together Project Fair
- Increased size and goals for this year
- Support professional development
- Helping to mentor new teachers/run workshops
- Promote social interaction
- Promote school in community—image and quality of education
- Have a lot of ideas
- Plan to accomplish:
- Assist and plan professional development
- Assist, plan, and put together annual Project Fair
- Community Pride Day
- Plan/implement freshman mentoring program
- Design/maintain WEB pages in 4 core areas
- Continue success on STAR testing
- Advertise/implement social events
- Continue brainstorming new ideas to improve school
- Improve parental involvement
- Agenda—
- The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, December 1 st
- Grant Program (need someone to oversee in district)
- DAC
- Meeting adjourned at 6:45 p.m.