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DRAFT SLT Meeting - 6/14/17 Attendees: StaffTom Carty, PrincipalJessica Snell, Assistant PrincipalLauren Theoharis, Teacher, SLT SecretaryDeanna Oddo, TeacherAngela Deleo, Teacher, UFT CoordinatorMaura Martinez, TeacherParentsKimberly Walters, PTA PresidentJoann TabeekApril Alberghini-RaduAlicia VaichunasFrank Riggio, SLT ChairpersonGabby Ruiz Absent:Helaine Berkowitz, TeacherBarbara Doyle-SartiMinutesMr. Carty - Administrative Updates The State Board of Regents voted to reduce the state test to two days rather than three days. However, there is no word on how this might affect the format. Curriculum adjustments - The school has purchased the Passport to Social Studies, which is the DOE’s new Social Studies curriculum. It follows the scope and sequence of the current Social Studies curriculum. Ms. Deleo, who is one of the authors of the 7th grade Passport to Social Studies, explained that the curriculum provides lesson plans, unit ideas, and materials. Overall, the Passport to Social Studies provides teacher with more materials and support. Math - Math teachers will be using GoMath to supplement their current curriculum. Teachers received training on Monday, June 12th. GoMath will be introduced k-8 next year. It was piloted this year in 8th grade. Alicia said she thought it was really good, her son is in the 8th grade.Testing is officially done for the year. Today was the last Regents exam (Science). Mr. Carty said he felt that all testing went very smoothly this year. He also said that next year, with the extra space in the extension, it should go even more smoothly because there won’t be as many space issues. On average, most kids who took advantage of the extra time used about 20 minutes. Alicia asked if there was a difference between this year and last (regarding the amount of kids taking advantage of the extea time), Mr. Carty said that it was probably about the same amount of kids. Drama - There were two drama performances recently. The 6th grade put on a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the drama club, Beowulf. Mr. Carty said that both went very well and that the kids did a fantastic job.Summer work will be going home next week for Math and ELA. STEAM Night is tomorrow night, June 15th, from 4:30-7:30. There will be 24 stations of STEAM activities for students to participate in. Kindergarten graduation is coming up on June 22nd at 9 am. The students are designing their own graduation hats this year, with the help of the 8th graders. The 8th graders will also be performing at the Kindergarten graduation (singing a song and using sign language).High School directories are going home with 7th graders this week. On June 22nd, there will be a High School information night with Ms. Viglietta. There will be another one in the fall. Ms. Viglietta can be reached between now and the end of year if any 7th grade parents have questions.Summer School will be held at 113 this year, 49 will be closed due to construction. There are 10 mandated students that have to go to summer school in order to be promoted. Also, 5 second graders will be attending the enrichment program. Students attending summer school will be picked up here by bus and taken down to 113. On June 20th, 3 pieces of art are being displayed at the MET. It’s the first year a teacher got more than one submission. Five students worked on the 3 pieces. Two pieces of artwork from 49 will be shown in Times Square on the big screen. One of 49’s students was chosen to speak at the ceremony. This is all part of the PS Art program.Studio in a School is having a show at Christie’s Auction house. Two of 49’s students had pieces selected for the show. There will be a red carpet for the kids, etc. The air conditioning is currently working in all rooms. 8th grade graduation is coming up on June 27th at 6pm. Letters for extra tickets went home on June 13th. Class placement - Mr. Carty said that the school cannot honor requests for class placement. Staffing - two teachers are leaving 49, Ms. Uy and Ms. Huala. Ms. Uy is moving on to a school in the city where she will be a founding 5th grade teacher at a school that’s growing. There is also potential for Ms. Uy to take on a leadership role. Ms. Huala accepted a position at Louis Armstrong. Ms. Huala gave a recommendation for an art teacher and Mr. Carty has a demo lesson set up with another teacher, as well.There will be 9 new positions, some of which have already been filled - music, art, Spanish, 2 5th grade ICT teachers, 1 4th grade ICT (filled), 1 8th grade ICT (filled), 1st grade math, and 1 self-contained teacher. Interviews are currently being conducted for all open positions.Ms. Tina Crispo is retiring as of June 30th. Ms. Collazo has accepted the position and Ms. Collazo’s position is being filled by a staff member from Mr. Rampartap’s old school. The new Parent Coordinator is bilingual.Mr. Carty opened up the floor for questions - Joann asked how Mr. Insana has been feeling. Mr. Carty said that he is doing fine and that he wanted to come back, but Mr. Carty advised him to stay home and rest. He will be back next year. Mr. Carty brought up Mr. Reddington who went in for serious back surgery on June 12th. His surgery went well and he will be back next year. Also, Ms. Thompson is returning from sabbatical as well. Joann asked if she is still planning to do a period of coding as part of the 8th grade Social Studies curriculum and Mr. Carty said yes. Joann said that she is sad about the two teachers 49 is losing (Ms. Uy and Ms. Huala). Mr. Carty agreed, and said he understands their reasons for moving on. He is also said he is confident in the candidates he has seen so far. Joann asked if two art teachers will be maintained. Mr. Carty said yes, there will be a middle school art teacher and an elementary school art teacher. Mr. Carty’s CEP Updates - Goal 1 - English as New Language (ENL) students will show a 3% increase in proficiency on benchmark assessments measuring reading, writing and listening skills.There has been at least a 15% increase in each grade band in reading and writing. Based on this year’s assessments, ESL students struggled the most with listening, so the ESL teachers plan to incorporate more of that next year. Goal 2 - structure will be implemented to better provide for the social-emotional needs of students with disabilities (SWDs). The increased support will allow students to strengthen their academic focus resulting in a 2% increase in proficiency on NYS ELA exam.It’s hard to say whether we will meet 2% for growth for the ELA test, but Mr. Carty feels good about the structures and supports put into place. The part time guidance counselor will be here next year 10 times per month, which is an increase from this year and should also help in servicing SWDs as well as general education students. Goal 3 - All students will have portfolios in place and will have engaged in a minimum of two-self assessment reviews. Additionally, at least 5% of student will have engaged in student led conferences.Portfolios are all in place and will be passed on to the next year’s class. Mr. Carty feels comfortable saying that this goal was met. This program was successful and will continue next year. Goal 4 - Administration will have designed and successfully implemented a program that allows junior high school students to operate on an eight period day for the 2016-2017 school year and beyond. This is essential to help the school better serve these students by offering a more varied curriculum that increases physical education, foreign language, arts instruction, and STEM programs, and better aligns with state mandates.The program was discussed in administrative updates. Goal 5 - Administration and student government coordinators will have implemented structures allowing student government representatives to assume a leading role in increasing parental involvement at school functions as evidenced by a 5% increase in attendance at PTA meetings.Percentages might have been off the mark, but there were some new events, etc. that were nicely attended (such as Literacy Night, STEAM Night, etc.). Mr. Carty brought up next year’s CEP goals. The CEP draft is due by June 30th. At that stage it gets reviewed by a central reviewer and then that central reviewer will give Mr. Carty feedback. That feedback will then be incorporated into next year’s SLT. Mr. Carty distributed a draft of the goals (copied below), which the SLT reviewed. Mr. Carty explained that the guidance he received from the district was to focus on the school’s culture, SWDs, and student autonomy. Goals 2 & 5 came out of last month’s meeting. Draft CEP Goals2017-2018By September of 2017 administration will build on programmatic changes implemented in the 2016-2017 school year to offer middle school students increased access to STEAM curriculum. By June of 2018 administration will build on existing character education program to ensure its consistent implementation across grade levels and expand the program to increase focus on civic responsibility. This will positively impact school culture and student experience as evidenced by a score of 4.0 for Supportive Environment on the 2018 Framework for Great Schools Report. By June of 2018 ENL students will show an increase in reading proficiency as evidenced by movement of at least three reading levels on Lexia's progress monitoring assessments. By June of 2018 students with disabilities will show an increase in math proficiency as evidenced by a 3% increase on GoMath's summative assessment.By June of 2018 all students will have engaged in at least two authentic tasks designed to promote student autonomy and to help students see the relevance of their work through real world applications.Goal 5 - Ms. Oddo spoke about the GoMath program and explained that they include a real world project for each unit. She also explained how each lesson has an engage portion, which is usually a real world application, as well. Mr. Carty said that the school will also continue student-led conferences, which speaks to Goal 5. Mr. Carty touched on next year’s program again. He said that the administration will look for places to increase access to STEAM. Some ways include:8th grade will be receiving 1 period of code a week (as part of their Social Studies program). The goal is to increase math classes in the middle school by 1 period per week (or 8 math periods per week). This means an extra math teacher, which might cause budgetary constraints, which might limit access to things like test prep. Mr. Carty also said that with the extra period a week, there should be less of a need for extra test prep.The program will continue to be tweaked over the summer, with a focus on adding access to STEAM where possible. April asked if 49 will still operate on a split schedule. Mr. Carty said, yes, it has been working very well and he’s been sharing the model and its success with other principals because not many schools do it. Gabby asked about the proposed Goal 4, she asked how “3%” is being determined. Mr. Carty said that it’s based on past performance. Mr. Rampartap came up with 3% because he felt it was realistic based on past performance. The reason Mr. Carty stayed away from including state exams in any goals is because the length of the test is changing and therefore it would not lend itself to a direct comparison to previous years’ exams. Ms. Snell discussed the Lexia program. It was piloted this year. Kids used it in Saturday school and it was used as a basis to come up with the numbers for Goal 3. Ms. Snell explained that the program was very well received and that everyone will have access to it next year in school and at home. Mr. Carty brought up the budget meeting, which he attended last week. He explained that 49 is budgeted for all of the teachers needed and that there is a cushion built in in case of any changes to enrollment. He does not anticipate any drop in enrollment, however, it’s customary to budget for the possibility. Although the extension will be opening in September, 49 is only slated to receive one extra class, which is Kindergarten. A question arose regarding possible cuts. Mr. Carty said that if any cuts needed to be made, it would have to start with anything related to enrichment. Things like Studio in a School, for example. There will be 5 arts teachers in house, so there might not be a need to spend money on a supplemental arts program. The projected register is for 1,141 students. By October 31st, enrollment comes in below that number, the school would have to give money back (which is why there is a cushion built into the budget). However, if enrollment comes in higher than that number, than the school would receive additional funds for the extra students and could also spend the extra funds that were set aside as a cushion for enrollment fluctuation. Mr. Carty also explained that there is an incentive for schools to hire people out of the ATR pool. If an ATR received a full time job, the school would not be responsible for their full salary. For example, the school’s responsibility to pay their salary would be as follows: “free” for the first year, 50% the second year, 75% the 3rd year, and 100% the 4th year. Mr. Carty has gone on the open market and he has reached out to colleagues who are excessing teachers who are only in the system 1 or 2 years and are quality teachers. These teachers would be placed in the ATR pool. This could help with budgetary constraints. Alicia asked if Mr. Carty is looking to hire an AP for Special Education. Mr. Carty said that he is not planning to hire one for next year, but that he most likely will be hiring one within the next year to two years. He said that in a school this size, it is realistic and necessary to hire a 3rd AP. Joann asked if Mr. Carty anticipates any program changes that he has not yet mentioned. Mr. Carty said there were a few things mentioned at the last meeting (May). He reiterated some of those changes. The way it looks now, all middle school grades will have visual art for 1-2 periods per week. Grades 6-8 will also each have another specialty. Sixth grade will have Drama, Seventh grade will have Music, and 8th grade will have 4 periods of Foreign Language. The goal is to provide 8th graders with the opportunity to take the Spanish proficiency test although it may take a couple of years to reach that goal. Most Seventh grade classes will have 2 periods of Spanish per week, however, 1 class might only have 1 period a week since there are 5 classes on the grade. Mr. Carty said that the extension will house most of the middle school classes and it will be full. Mr. Carty said that he doesn’t think the school can accommodate 5 classes per grade going from Kindergarten up. The school doesn’t have pre-k right now, but it could happen at some point. Mr. Carty explained that while he will always advocate for the most logical use of our space, central does maintain the final in school utilization. A discussion ensued about a possible influx of kids transferring from catholic schools in the area. Mr. Carty noted that he hears that every year, but generally it’s not that many students. Next year there will be 25 students in each Kindergarten. An exception was made this year because Kindergarten was oversized, therefore classes received Paras. April brought up that a couple of years ago they had parent volunteers in Kindergarten. Mr. Carty said they are still more than welcome to do so. Gabby brought up concerns about the playground, from Kindergarten parents in particular. She explained that parents said that this year Kindergarten often had gym in their classrooms. Parents were concerned that they were not given enough free time to play and run around. Gabby said that some of the parents have kids who attend the after school program. Mr. Carty said that the primary activities in the after school program involve going outside and running around. He also explained that free time/play in Kindergarten is not really part of the curriculum anymore. He also explained that Kindergarten teachers often took their classes over to the playground at Juniper this year. He added that next year, when construction is complete, the schoolyard/playground will be back in use. However, because of the extension, it will be smaller. Every grade may not be out there every day because it will be too small to accommodate all the students at lunch. A schedule will be worked out. Furthermore, weather permitting, the kids go out and play at the park, etc. Gabby brought up a concern regarding departmentalization in the lower grades (1st-2nd grade). A conversation ensued about the benefits of departmentalizing those grades. Mr. Carty explained that departmentalization provides more quality instruction because each teacher can focus solely on his/her subject area. The math teacher is a specialist in math, for example. Ms. Deleo explained that she has a 1-5 common branch certification and only took one math class in her certification program. The teachers who are certified in a specific subject have taken multiple classes in that subject area. Furthermore, Mr. Carty explained that departmentalization allows teachers more opportunities to attend PDs specific to their subject area, which leads to better instruction. Carty also explained that departmentalization of grades 1-5 was put in place before he started here at 49. He went on to say that he has researched and observed it for the last couple of years and feels that it is beneficial to the students. Gabby said that one parent felt there was a lack of communication between the teachers on a particular grade. Mr. Carty said that he was not aware of this but that if a parent feels that way they should feel free to contact him. Mr. Carty noted that even if the lower grades weren’t departmentalized, a parent might still have to see/communicate with up to 6 teachers at a time (homeroom, science, art, phys ed, music, etc.). Ms. Snell noted that the younger grade homeroom teachers are really good at helping the students stay organized with their books, etc. Ms. Oddo explained that teachers have a common prep once a week, which is a good time to debrief about the kids so that all of the teachers are up to speed on all the students. Mr. Carty said that in talking to the kids, it doesn’t seem to phase them at all. He hasn’t seen any student suffer or be upset by the movement from class to class. He would even argue that lack of movement gets them very antsy. Mr. Carty continued to explain that when he first started at 49, he heard some concerns regarding the logistics of the movement but the staff has worked to address them. He further stated that now there are teachers from this district and others coming to observe the departmentalization program as a model. Gabby asked if it would be possible to send a letter home a few times a year regarding best ways to communicate with teachers, this way parents always have that information. Mr. Carty said that he will send out the communication protocol two-three times a year. However, it is sent home in September and given to any students who enroll at other points in the year. He reiterated that any parent experiencing difficulty communicating with their child’s teachers should feel free to reach out to him. Joann noted that sometimes departmentalization can lead to a feeling of disconnect between the parent and the teachers. She suggested setting up a meeting with the child’s team of teachers so that everyone can meet and get on the same page all at one time. Alicia agreed and Joann also brought up Tuesday morning parent time, when the entire team of teachers on the grade level is present. Gabby introduced another parent concern, she asked if it would be possible for parents to evaluate their child’s teachers. Mr. Carty said no, the administrators evaluate the teachers. He also noted that there is a school survey conducted every year and that would be a forum for parents to provide feedback. Frank suggested there be a protocol for submitting feedback about a specific teacher. He also said that feedback for each teacher should be tracked. Mr. Carty said this is similar to any other concern, if a parent has a concern with a teacher they should address it with him and he will deal with it appropriately. Gabby also brought up a question from a parent regarding the ratio of students to administration. She asked if the school should have two principals once the extension opens and it reaches a certain level of enrollment. Mr. Carty said no. Gabby then asked, if not, how are the APs involved and what are their responsibilities? Ms. Snell explained that APs are both involved in all the grades. Each of them has a focus according to subject area, but they visit all grades. This way, they can get to know all of the kids. Mr. Carty said that ultimately, if another AP came in, they might split by grades. Alicia noted that Ms. Snell and Mr. Rampartap are very involved; they are always in the lunchroom and they are always with the kids. Mr. Carty said that the best way to describe it is that they cover their content areas. Mr. Rampartap works with Math and Science and Ms. Snell works with ELA and Social Studies. In addition to this, each of them handle a lunch period, along with Dean DiMario. Gabby then brought up a concern regarding the SLCs. She explained that her daughter is in Kindergarten and recently participated in a SLC. Gabby said that she wasn’t that happy with the conference. She said that her daughter was very nervous and intimidated sitting at the table and explaining things at the conference. She suggested that the younger kids, especially Kindergarten, follow a different format for SLCs. For example, she suggested using pictures to help them better express themselves. She also suggested allowing the younger kids to lead their parents around the classroom, rather than sitting at a table and just discussing their work. Mr. Carty said that he thinks this is a good point and trying a different approach with the younger grades might be beneficial. He said he will look into different formats over the summer. Ms. Snell agreed and said a less formal conference might be better for them. Kim also noted that the nature of the conference itself could cause students of all ages to feel nervous. She said that her child is usually very talkative and that he said barely anything at the conference. Ms. Martinez said that teachers should also intervene if they feel a student is having trouble expressing themselves. Gabby introduced another parent concern regarding bathrooms. She said that a lot of younger grade girls are complaining that older students are standing on the toilet bowls and peeking over at the other kids. Mr. Carty said that this conversation has been taking place for some time and noted that it was the boys who were complaining before. Mr. Carty said that the extension will solve some of these bathroom issues because it will allow for more separation between middle and elementary students. Ms. Deleo noted that a bathroom was closed this year due to construction, which meant more kids using the other bathrooms. Mr. Carty said that overall, this type of behavior is unacceptable, but he is hoping it will be addressed next year with more space and bathrooms. Mr. Carty noted that there will be a zero tolerance policy for cell phones next year. He said kids bring their phones into the bathrooms, they film each other fooling around and it’s very hard to police/control. He said because of this, and other cell phone related distractions, the school will have to require parents to pick up students’ phones any time that they are confiscated. Kim brought up that at the district meeting, they said that there has to be a one stall, transgender bathroom. Mr. Carty said that one will be available next year and that it will most likely be one of the ones across from the library, which is currently a staff bathroom. The SLT approved minutes for April and May. Meeting adjourned. ................
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