Issaquah Middle School Council Minutes – Approved

December 16, 2004

The meeting was called to order by Chairperson, Marianne Kersten at 2:26 p.m. The following members and guests were present: Marianne Kersten-Council Chairperson; Corrine DeRosa-Principal; Sandie Pike-Council Secretary; Cathy Jones-Issaquah Community Center Liaison; Lise Place-PTSA Liaison; Brian DeBroux-Staff Library Media Specialist; Vanessa Logue-Staff Special Needs Rep; Deed Chase-Parent Rep; Shari Koppel-Parent Rep; Liz Director-Parent Rep; Paula Weiss-Staff Team Leader Rep; Nancy Warnick-Staff Team Leader Rep; Sandy Grace-Staff Team Leader Rep; Lorna Furtado-Staff Team Leader Rep; Pat Randall-Classified Staff Rep; Jason Morse-Guest.

Approval of Minutes

Minutes from the November 18 School Council Meeting were approved with corrections.

Parent/Community Comments

A parent questioned Corrine DeRosa on the practice of teachers assigning major projects over the break. Teacher reps were not aware of anything being assigned over the break. Some projects were assigned before and are due after the break. Concerned parents should talk to the individual teachers.

There was a question on the policy for having cell phones at school. The policy in the student handbook indicates that students may not use cell phones at school. There was discussion on whether or not it was appropriate for students to use cell phones in the Library after school and it was decided that it was not appropriate.

Old Business

There was discussion on the Proposed District Site Council Policy changes. Marianne Kersten indicated that feedback is due by February 1. She shared that the District is moving towards making Site Councils advisory bodies and not decision-making bodies. IMS School Council will need to revise their by-laws to be sure they align with the new District Policy. Marianne will re-cap the discussion and bring back to the next School Council Meeting.

Lise Place presented the draft Communication Survey questions. It is planned to have the District set up a Zoomerang survey. It was decided that the survey would run for two weeks at the beginning of February. Marianne will send in a write up for the next Panther Press. Brian DeBroux will put notice of the survey on the website. Sandie Pike will advertise it in the Issaquah Press and Corrine will include the survey in an All-Call to parents at the end of January. It was agreed that computers in the Library would be made available for parents who do not have access to the internet at home. There was a suggestion to change the open-ended questions to a format where some answers could be anticipated. This will make the data analysis easier. There was discussion on changing/deleting some of the questions. Lise will e-mail the survey to Corrine for any last minute feedback from staff.

New Business

Corrine presented the Continuous Improvement Plan Phase III data. The data shows that IMS has a significant achievement gap between categories of students. The CIP team will be starting work on Phase IV after the break.

The District Bell Time Committee is looking for input. The final recommendation is due in January. Anyone interested in commenting can respond through a link on the District web site. Corrine asked School Council members for their preference between the two schedules being looked at - leaving times as they are or moving the entire schedule later by 15 to 30 minutes which will have a cost associated with it. Most members felt they preferred the later start time but were concerned about the late dismissal time for elementary students.

Team Reports

6^th Grade

The 6^th grade field trip to see “Secret Garden” went very well. They are planning another field trip in February.

7^th Grade

The 7^th grade team is enforcing the one-bag per student rule.

8^th Grade/Math

The 8^th grade team is addressing Spring Forum with students earlier this year. An overview will be presented during SSR the first week in January. Nancy Warnick indicated that the new math curriculum has been narrowed down to two texts and both will be piloted.

Subject Area

Sandy Grace reported that PE is involved with the dance unit now and the swimming unit will begin after break. She also reported that the team is looking into writing grants.

Special Needs

None

Classified Staff

None

ASB Report

ASB has been working on Adopt a Child. IMS was asked to adopt 50 children for the holidays and all 50 were adopted. The program was run through SSR classes. December 14 was the Recognition Assembly. The band, chorus, theatre program, girl’s basketball team and wrestling team were recognized. ASB is working on the Martin Luther King Jr. Assembly which will be January 14.

PTSA Report

Lise reported that the PTSA approved a funds request from Shona Campbell for an on-line grammar tutorial program. The PTSA is currently accepting nominations for Golden Acorn and Outstanding Educator Awards. Lorna Furtado thanked the PTSA for the funds they granted for Science Teachers to be able to attend the National Science Conference.

District Liaison Report

None

Community Center

Cathy Jones reported that there was no news on the skate park issue. Over 500 students attending the Middle School dance last week. The Youth Advisory Board will be sponsoring a Night Out for Parents on December 17. The Youth Center will be closed during Winter Break except for the two Wednesdays. They have only had four responses to their suggestion to open for morning supervision. The Community Center will be going on-line for registration beginning in March.

FYI – Corrine DeRosa

December 17 Student of the Month Celebration

December 20 – January 2 No School – First Winter Break

January 7 Staff Meeting

January 13 Team Leader Meeting

January 14 AM Assembly

January 17 No School – Martin Luther King Jr. Day

January 21 Panther Press Deadline

January 28 Mid-Tri II

Other

None

Next meeting will be January 27, 2005 at 2:25 p.m. in Room 411. The meeting was adjourned at 3:45 p.m.