CMS School Council Members  2005- 2007

Rafaela Diaz and Tracy Gantt: Parent Reps         Roxie Hairston and Cindy White: Business Reps

Rita Cearfoss and Evelyn Thames: Teacher Reps          Lynne Hutnik, Principal

Meeting Schedule:

Proposed calendar for future meetings: 7:30 AM      Office Conference Room
November 15
December 6
February 14
March 21
 

 

Minutes

Campbell Middle School

School Council Meeting

December 5, 2006

 

I.                    Members Present: Cindi White, Rafaela Diaz, Roxie Hairiston, Evelyn Thames, Rita Cearfoss, Lynn Hutnik, Patricia Phillips, Kimberly Jackson

 

II.                 Call to Order

 

III.               Minutes – Approved

 

IV.              Code of Ethics – No problems noted. Ms. Hutnik will bring copies to the next meeting.

 

V.                 Outdoor Classroom – Ms. Cearfoss reported on plans for outdoor classroom. Ms. White will check to see if the Smyrna Scouts have an upcoming Eagle Scout that needs a project. Ms. Cearfoss will check also.

 

VI.              Curriculum/Instructional Update: Ms. Phillips reported on curriculum at CMS. She presented the unit planning log guide used by teachers to plan lessons. She showed the curriculum guides from Picasso and related unit plans provided in Picasso. Teachers use pre-tests to determine the student knowledge level before starting the lesson.

 

a.       Marzano’s nine best teaching strategies were presented. CMS is focusing on similarities and differences by using comparisons with organizers such as Venn diagrams, classifications, and analogies.

b.      The second focus area is summarizing and note taking. CMS is using Cornell notes in every classroom. The key is to summarize learning at the bottom of their notes.

c.       The third focus area is cooperative learning. This strategy gives students specific tasks within groups to ensure every student participates in learning process.

d.      The fourth focus area is generating and testing hypotheses. Students have to solve problems using their new knowledge in conjunction with their old knowledge and skills.

e.       The fifth focus area is using graphic organizers to visually display concepts.

f.        Levels of thinking and questioning are used to ensure that students learn at the higher levels of cognition.

g.       The use of hands-on activities and manipulatives ensure students that learn at a concrete level an opportunity to interact with the learning process.

 

VII.            Open

a.       Ms. Jackson reported on Wellness project. By February 9, 2007, we need to identify strengths and weaknesses. The web site is not currently working. She will communicate via email to ensure the process moves forward.

b.      Ms. Hutnik reported the parent liaison person, Ms. Alarcon, would be working full time through the rest of the school year.

c.       Ms. Jackson reported the call out system is working again. The homework hotline is operational again also.

d.      There will be a meeting on Wednesday, December 13, 2006 from 5:30 to 7:00 pm in order to train parents on I-Parent in both English and Spanish.

 

VIII.     Adjourned – next meeting Fe

 

 

 

Minutes

CAMPBELL MIDDLE SCHOOL
SCHOOL COUNCIL MEETING
OCTOBER 4, 2006


Members Present: Cindi White, Tracy Gantt, Rafaela Diaz, Roxie Hairston, Evelyn Thames, Rita Cearfoss, Lynne Hutnik

Call to Order


Introduction of new staff representatives: Rita Cearfoss and Evelyn Thames new to council this year.

Minutes: Roxie will distribute the minutes from the last meeting. Parent involvement, Title I was discussed.

Wellness Council:

Every school will need a Wellness Council. Ms. Jackson, Administrative Assistant will be trained to be the CMS representative. School Council could be the Wellness Council. District nutrition education goals were distributed.
Wellness includes physical activity, nutrition and hygiene.
The vending machine are full of junk food, the drink machines have juice.
Students need to have lunch before going to vending machine.
Council should think about ideas for wellness.
Health week: Focus on health in each class.
Whole Foods is a good potential partner in education.
Kaiser Permamente is a school partner. They have donated a wheelchair, Clinic book and clinic supplies.
American Red Cross will be in next week to discuss student/parent education. We will need 12 teachers to train on CPR, defibrillators, and basic first aid. If so, ARC will donate a second defibrillator. They also have speakers that come to speak to students. Tracy Gantt is willing to attend training.



Proposed calendar for future meetings: 7:30 AM Office Conference Room
November 15
December 6
February 14
March 21
May 9

Open
Communication Improvements
One-half time (afternoon) parent liaison has been hired. She is bilingual. She will help with conferences to translate. She helps organize Latino parent night.
A new county wide dial out system is going to be installed. It will automatically translate to Spanish as a native speaker. It will operate off our database system. Spanish speaking families need to be coded correctly. It should be running in the next month or two.
Front office staff attended some training on Customer Service from the International Wellness Center.
Also hired a ½ time clerk in the mornings.
The district has ALTs (area lead teachers). Ms. Cortes is fluent in Spanish. We also have a native speaking IEL and Spanish teacher.

Web Page
We are trying to make the web page more professional looking. Ms. Thames is looking for feedback on how to improve the web page.
Time sensitive notices should be posted. Put times and dates for things that are happening.
Information about administrators and staff members is needed.
Photos that include students would be great. Parents want to see pictures of students learning.
We could look into independent web site rather than the Cobb County site. This would allow for blogs.
The headings could be either grade level or teams. These headings could lead to information specific to teachers or activities.
Campbell High and Wheeler High both have good web pages with good ideas.
It would be helpful to provide basic computer skills training to Latino parents. Ms. Diaz would be here to translate for the training (404-399-4159). This could be added to Passport training programs.
Campbell IB students might be a good peer tutors to use for training. They would be bilingual and computer literate. Contact Judy Romoncheck.

Foundation Programs
Students and parents join together to hold fund raising activities for school projects. Examples: Campbell Education Foundation – Jonquil Jog, sell bricks, golf tournaments, etc. They provided grants to teachers to buy items to improve student achievement.
Campbell MS had a foundation at one time. Ms. Hutnik does not have the information. Ms. Thames will look into the old program.

Rep. Rick Golich contacted Ms. Hutnik last spring. We were allotted $25,000. The money has been released to the county and we are awaiting word. The funds have been allocated for additional technology.
The grounds need improvement: The south side of the building needs pine straw in the landscape beds. Ms. Gantt is working at Home Depot, and will see if they will donate pine straw. Ms. White will see if the Boy Scout troop will work on putting the straw down.
We received a grant to pay admission for every student to visit the Georgia Aquarium.
Lynne will contact Chamber of Commerce on process of locating partners in education. Gibbs landscape company is close and a possible partner.

VIII. Adjourned with the next meeting scheduled for November 15, 2006.