Elementary Principal’s Meeting

December 14, 2001

Notes/Minutes

Please review the minutes and send any changes to Jay Marino.

Bill Osborne provided a festive atmosphere for the meeting. Thank you Bill!!

Ø Mary Jeanne Hutchinson and two other Park Board staffers were present to share information and to get feedback from principals. She asked: “What do we need to do so that parents are better prepared for registration?” They will begin sending short electronic announcements than can be included in weekly elementary newsletters. All forms and fliers have scholarship information attached.

Ø Sheila Burns provided Elementary Reading Kits and the principal updates. ESL kits are also available. The kits provide a wealth of professional information and student materials.

Ø Dr. Markward reviewed the January 16, 2002 schedule with Patrick Dolan and the Rock Island staff.

Ø Deaon Clark, MTIP Coordinator, introduced himself to the group. He will meet individually with building principals soon after break to assist with tailoring the program to meet individual building needs.

Ø Dr. Foster reviewed the work of the PE/Music staffing committee. He talked about the difficulties in using staff efficiently. Alternatives to consider are hiring new staff with the ability to teach in more than one area. He also mentioned contracting with a private company for PE and music instruction. Please e-mail Dr. Foster with any suggestions you may have.

Ø Ann Wilkinson introduced Bill Gibbons and associates. He spoke about HOST, a nationally recognized mentoring program. His company recruits and trains community mentors to work with identified students for 30 minutes per day. Each child is assessed and has an individualized plan for improvement. Initial costs are $60,000 per building, with a $39,000 yearly fee to maintain the program. Training and support are provided by the HOST organization.

Ø Scott McKissick shared the draft of the intervention guidelines and application. Small groups reviewed the draft and shared feedback. One general comment focused on the time needed to complete the application. Funds may be used from on-going programs or those offered during intersession. Many felt that immediate, prescriptive interventions would have the most impact. There will be a meeting in early January to finalize the process and to share examples of successful program models from the area or discovered through ProQuest research.

Those in attendance were split into three groups for discussion. Excerpts from the discussions as follow:

• Proposal for intervention funding may be too lengthy.
• Provide examples and let the Principal choose what works for their building.
• Would like to investigate the Frog program for after school
• Activities during intercession need to be more fine arts oriented
• Take out third intercession language if we don’t want that for our building. If staff wants intercession then OK
• Principals would like to have money ASAP
• What happened to Sat. Academy?
• Intercession more enrichment based
• Liked the idea of the proposal and money but the proposal is too long.
• Don’t use intercession. We want to be prescriptive and we are better off after school getting our best staff.
• Maybe have intercession opportunities at selected sites only
• Would it be possible to have it on a smaller scale during third quarter and them bigger in the fall?