P.A.C.K. Leadership

PACK Leadership Team

Carson Elementary School
PACK Leadership Meeting
April 9, 2012

Members: Administrators / Arturo Gonzalez, Andrea Drake, Kindergarten/ Sally Wolslegal, 1st/ John Huson, 2nd/ David Heagle, 3rd/ Kym Dunford, 4th/Erlinda Suarez, 5th/ Crystal Widmann & Patti Nance, 6th / Lauri Cotton, Specialist/ Amber Petersen & Jill Burch, Resource/ Debby Pancake, LAP/ Barb Stroud

Members Present: Andrea Drake / Lauri Cotton / Barbara Stroud / Jill Burch / John Huson / Lauri Cotton/ Patti Nance/ Kim Pisha /David Heagle / Sandi Adams-Ahlers/ Erlinda Suarez/ Erynn Acree

Meeting Began: 3:00 PM

Agenda

School Uniform Discussion
Research on School Uniforms-Erynn Acree
Research came out in the late 1990’s regarding student uniforms. Research reported that there was correlation between the wearing of school uniforms and increased student attendance. In the early 2000’s the research found that there was also a positive correlation with closing the achievement gap. It was during that time that educators began to focus on equalizing poverty within schools by instituting school uniforms.

The idea of requiring students to wear uniforms in the Puyallup School District was turned down by our superintendent and school board members six years ago. However, research continues to address the benefits the having student wear uniforms. Many schools in surrounding districts including Clover Park and Tacoma are requiring that their students wear uniforms. Discussions about uniforms have resurfaced. Other schools in Puyallup have also expressed an interest.

The States that have the most longitudinal research on the impact of school uniforms are Chicago, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, New York and Virginia.

Pros:
· In every study Elementary students are more in favor of wearing school uniforms.
· Less pressure for being fashionable.
· It more affordable.
· Erases cultural and economic differences among students.
· Enhances the self-concept or self- esteem
· Increased positive behavior leading to academic success.
· Research: On dress-down days- Positive behavior decreased by 30%

Cons:
· It infringes on the students first amendment rights and freedom of expression.
· This was more of an issue in secondary grades.
· Some studies found that school officials came down to hard on students who were out of

compliance with the dress code.

What would be next steps? We could gather information and present it to the current superintendant or wait until to present a proposal next school year.
Let’s have discussions in our grade-level teams. Six, second, third and second grades are in favor of having school uniforms. This is an initiative that we would plan to implement in the 2013-2014 school year. Some parents would embrace this idea and some may not. Keep in mind that the two major benefits for moving to have school uniforms is the direct correlation to school safety, academic achievement and Closing the Achievement Gap.

Questions to consider:
· Would students wear uniforms daily?

Class Lists for Next Year-Arturo
Encourage grade-levels to connect with resource teachers prior to placing and balancing classrooms for next year. Resource and specialist will be able to give their input by informing teachers their perspective about what students should be clustered together in the same classroom. They might also request that some resource students with similar academic needs and personalities be grouped together. Debby will list the areas that the students qualify in socially, emotionally, as well as those that need to work toward the same goals.

Jill’s Experience at Another School- After the teachers created the class list, the specialist had a chance to look at the classes to give their input. The specialists were able to give helpful input teachers.

Instead of meeting as a staff on April 25th it will be a time that week for grade-level teams to get together to work on class list for next year. Debbie, Barb and Jennifer will put information together for teachers to work with. The work will begin on April 25th and continue until the first week in May.

Assessment Data-Arturo
Over the past five years Carson students assessment scores indicate that they performed in the Fair category. Asian students (Korean and Chinese students) tend to do as well or better than white students n the category of math. However, there is not a significant difference higher math scores between Japanese and White students.
We can celebrate the combined reading and math scores of our Carson students.

There are four quadrants:
(1).lagging (2.) slipping (3.) gaining (4.) leading

Carson students are just barely in the leading quadrant. They have consistently been in low portion of this quadrant. How to we move our students forward and see them soar? What comes next in terms of the strategies we can use to accelerate the achievement of our students? This is one of the reasons why looking at how school uniforms and other strategies might help us reach that goal.

Schools that improve over time at some point level off in scores. The challenge is being able to find a way to make a leap forward.

Meeting Adjourned: 3:55 pm

PACK Leadership Meeting

Cason Elementary School
PACK Leadership
February 27, 2012

Members: Administrators / Arturo Gonzalez, Andrea Drake, Kindergarten/ Sally Wolslegal, 1st/ John Huson, 2nd/ David Heagle, 3rd/ Kym Dunford, 4th/Erlinda Suarez, 5th/ Crystal Widmann & Patti Nance, 6th / Lauri Cotton, Specialist/ Amber Petersen & Jill Burch, Resource/ Debby Pancake, LAP/ Barb Stroud

Members Present: Arturo Gonzalez/ Andrea Drake / Tabatha Aragon / Barbara Stroud / Amber Petersen /Sally Woslegel/ Kim Pisha /David Heagle / Erlinda Suarez

Guest: Amy Eveskcige

Meeting Began: 3:00 pm

Agenda

AR/Star Data-Amber
There has been an increase in Star Levels building-wide. Understanding the Star Report from Grade Level Placement: Time of year given; grade equivalent % of how student scores, NCE: score to watch for growth – Norm Curve Equivalence. This was established based on the score in the fall; anything above this score is counted and documented as progress. Five points either way, positive or negative, is insignificant – All grade levels are within the 5 points. STAR program, Growth Report, Student Summary Report are good ones to run - See Amber for a password to run these reports. Amber looks at NCE and at risk for correlation. Diagnostic Report look fors:
· At-risk students
· Students testing above level
· Students who are reading too fast and scoring too low

Olweus Training Update- Arturo
One of the goals at Carson is to have all of our teachers go through Olweus Training. The staff received an overview the Olweus program in January. A committee of teachers, specialist and parents will be identified to receive a 7.5 hour training on Thursday, March 22, 2012.

Diversity Symposium
March 7th is an EC day. However, the staff will participate that evening at the Diversity Symposium from 4:00-8:00. Staff will have the opportunity to participate in a variety of sessions regarding Northwest Native American culture, history, storytelling, dance, art and more. Teachers will be able to attend 3-4 sessions of their choosing and receive clock hours. All staff should sign up for the class on the Professional Development Website under #4159 Symposium. This training, on the evening of March 7th, will take the place of our April 11th PR time. Let Andrea and Arturo know if you are not able to make the evening Symposium training on March 7th. You will be informed of the place of the training in the coming days.

Washington Performance Index- Arturo
Arturo made a copy of the Washington Performance Index (WPI) for leadership team members. Expectation:
Reading- 3 through 6th grades
Math-3rd through 6th grades
Writing – 4th grade only
Science – 5th grade only

Highlights
2011 Achievement gap of 1%
2010 Students of color outperformed Caucasian students
2007-2008 (WASL)
Focus on colors not numbers – The color red for instance represents low scores and areas for improvement. Our math and science were in the red.

2009-2010 –yellow/fair, green/good, and white/great. Carson scored in the yellow and green in some areas. 2010-2011Carson had scored better in the yellow and green. Our greatest achievement was in the area of math and science last year. Improvement is exemplary.

Question: What are we going to do to maintain accelerate our achievement?
What can we do to bump our scores up? The Schools of Distinction compares the data of schools having the same demographic, same percentage of students receiving free and reduced lunch and other like factors.

Sixth grade is lacking in reading assessments. Can Dibels be available for 6th graders? Gonzalez says we can add them. DIBELS materials can be available for teachers to use in their classroom. Read Naturally can also be used.

Which like schools are considered schools of distinction? Gonzalez will look into finding out. Concern: While Carson remains in the fair category according to the Washington Performance Index, other like-schools are making progress and moving ahead.

Updates:
Math Night-Michelle Braithwaite is meeting with volunteer staff about Math Night in the morning. She sent out an email this afternoon.

Science Night was a success. Family turnout was great. There was more variety in content. Kim did a phenomenal job!

Reading Night is Friday March 2, 2012 from 5:00-7:00pm.

Choir-Burch
An email is coming out with details about the upcoming choir program. School Assembly:
· Pisha, McGuire, pre-school -2nd grade @ 8:40
· 9:10 for 4-6th grade PLUS Pyrtek, Dunford, and Simpson)

RTI-Sandy
In addition to Nuts and Bolts, the one of purposes of the grade level team meeting is to focus and address the issue of student achievement and closing the achievement gap for all students. Team meeting times need to be focused on student data. Therefore we will be asking grade-level teams to meet weekly and address student progress by looking at data.

The fourth team looked at student assessment data in reading and math. The placed the names of their student on a template which indentified them as being a Tier I or Tier II students. Interventions were also written to strengthen them in the areas where they needed to experience growth.

Math Night- Michelle
Michelle is asking for at least two games per grade level. They can be from workplaces, number corner, or support activities. The games that you choose should not require a whole lot of manipulatives. As far as copies, if you could provide her with a master of the directions, record sheet, and whatever else is needed then I will make copies. At this time, she is, not sure on how many and it will be a topic of discussion at the math night meeting on the 28th.

The other item that she would like for you to do is collect student work. In 5th grade, Crystal had the idea of gathering work from all of the units that we have done so far (about 2-3 samples per classroom). That is not a must, you can focus on your current unit and just collect samples of worksheets, journal entries, etc that show what your students are doing in math.

Meeting Adjourned: 4:00 pm

PACK Leadership

Cason Elementary School
PACK Leadership
February 13, 2012

Members: Administrators / Arturo Gonzalez, Andrea Drake, Kindergarten/ Sally Wolslegal, 1st/ John Huson, 2nd/ David Heagle, 3rd/ Kym Dunford, 4th/Erlinda Suarez, 5th/ Crystal Widmann & Patti Nance, 6th / Lauri Cotton, Specialist/ Amber Petersen & Jill Burch, Resource/ Debby Pancake, LAP/ Barb Stroud

Members Present: Arturo Gonzalez/ Andrea Drake / Tabatha Aragon / Barbara Stroud / Amber Petersen /Sally Woslegel/ Kim Pisha /David Heagle / Erlinda Suarez/

LIC Calendar
March 7th is an EC day. However, the staff will participate that evening at the Diversity Symposium from 4:00-8:00. Staff will have the opportunity to participate in a variety of sessions regarding Northwest Native American culture, history, storytelling, dance, art and more. Teachers will be able to attend 3-4 sessions of their choosing and receive clock hours. All staff should sign up for the class on the Professional Development Website under #4159 Symposium. This training, on the evening of March 7th, will take the place of our April 11th PR time. Let Andrea and Arturo know if you are not able to make the evening Symposium training on March 7th. You will be informed of the place of the training in the coming days.

Copier Procedures and the Budget
Carson spent over $12,000 with Printshop copies alone last month. We are concerned about the amount of printing that is being done in the building. We are using 2/3’s of our in-building budget on coping. If we go over our budget allocation this year; it will be taken off next year’s allocation. Remember that the district will be responsible for the printing for Bridges. There’s no need to copy Bridges materials. However, teachers are making copies because the Bridges materials sometimes get to the building late. We will look at the volume of printing by grade-level as well as by individuals. That being said, we really need to find a way to cut back on the amount of copying that we do. We will look at this budget with the staff at our next staff meeting on February 29th.

Janis Heigl Follow Up
Janis Heigl would like to come back to Carson and work with our staff. There are two options:
Assessment and interventions with grade-level teams
Responding to questions with each individual team
Would we be interested in having Janis come back? Format: Hire subs for the day and have her work with grade-level teams. The PACK team was in favor of having Janis come back to work with the staff.

Pennies for Patients
At the PACK retreat last year, there was a discussion relating to staff contributions being separate from student contributions. The recommendation was that the contributions should be kept separate. The class with the highest donation would receive lunch from the Olive Garden. This year, we would like to look at other alternatives like having a reward for the whole school. We do not have to accept lunch from the Olive Garden. All students who donate funds can participate in a Hat Day for example. We will have a primary and an intermediate staff representative work with Janet and think about other alternatives for rewards. David will be the primary representative and Tabitha will be the intermediate representative.

Achievement Gap
Amy Eveskcige, Chief Academic Officer for Region II, works with PSD building principals once a month. She stated in the last principal’s meeting that the primary purpose of PACK/CSIP leadership is to focus on student achievement and closing the achievement gap verses “Nuts n’ Bolts” information alone. She recommended a person to work us and give us information about where our school is in comparison to other schools. Additional finds: How we are doing as a building? How can set goals based on data to increase the academic achievement of our students?

Therefore we will be asking grade-level teams to meet weekly and address student progress by looking at data. We will begin to share this information at staff meetings and PACK meetings.

Celebrating Our Teachers who Received their National Boards
On February 27th Kim Moorhead and Lindsay Pyrtek will be recognized for receiving their National Boards at the District Board Meeting. Let’s take them out to dinner before the Board Meeting. Tabitha will get back to the staff about a place.

Meeting Adjourned: 4:05pm

PACK Leadership Minutes

Carson Elementary School
PACK Leadership Meeting
January 23, 2012

Members: Administrators / Arturo Gonzalez, Andrea Drake, Kindergarten/ Sally Wolslegal, 1st/ John Huson, 2nd/ David Heagle, 3rd/ Kym Dunford, 4th/Erlinda Suarez, 5th/ Crystal Widmann & Patti Nance, 6th / Lauri Cotton, Specialist/ Amber Petersen & Jill Burch, Resource/ Debby Pancake, LAP/ Barb Stroud

Members Present: Andrea Drake / Lauri Cotton / Barbara Stroud / Jill Burch / John Huson / Amber Petersen / Sally Woslegel/ Patti Nance/ Kim Pisha /David Heagle / Sandi Adams-Ahlers

Meeting Began: 3:00 PM

Agenda
Olweus Training-Arturo
Lorraine Wilson was scheduled to provide an Olweus Training overview for the staff last week on January18th. However, it was cancelled due to inclement weather. Lorraine did send the power point to Arturo. How can we make up this training? We can possibly take some time during this Wednesday’s staff meeting on January 25th at 7:20am. (power point, at least).

We have purchased the notebooks needed for the committee. Lorraine has committed to train the committee, which she suggests should be only about 7 people: administrator, counselor, parent, primary rep, intermediate rep, specialist, resource, LAP. Melissa Ryan has volunteered to be the primary rep. Grade levels and specialists should discuss who might be interested in participating on the committee. Training would be scheduled during a school day so substitutes would be provided for the committee members.

Books are being put into binders by Karen so each classroom teacher will have one. We did purchase a CD/DVD for each grade level.

January 27 Math Training– Please make sure you have signed up on the Pro. Dev. Website before Friday!

Additional Math Support-Andrea
For Professional Development, the staff requested to have additional math support. Janis Heigl will do a workshop for our staff on Wednesday, February 1, 2012 from 12:30-3:30pm.

Janis’s presentation will be focused on:
`Big Content ideas in K-6 and how to develop them
`Math terminology and vocabulary
`How math curriculum ties into and supports MSP preparedness
`Expectations on sticking with the pacing schedule (What do you do when you get behind?)
`Responding to any questions that teachers submit prior to the workshop

Questions (ie. specific questions that will help you get through the year, grade-level specific) in from grade-level teams need to be submitted Wednesday January 25th by PACK representatives.

Diversity: Professional Development-Arturo
Original plan – Lynda Belt would put together a PR day on a Wednesday during an evening. 6 schools are focusing on Native American this year. We have a $2300 request for a grant for each school from the Puyallup Tribe.

New plan:
* Trade comp time on a future PR day – April 11 (you would be released on that Wednesday for the time spent at the professional development on the Thursday evening, yet tbd)
Arturo will find out from Lynda whether or not the Thursday evening is a go, before final plans are made.

E-Readers- Amber
Arturo and Amber put a letter together and Arturo will bring to each team meeting. It is not to go home with every child, but only distribute to those students to whom it applies or has expressed interested in it.
If you need copies of the letters, they can be obtained from Arturo – he has already had Print Shop run them.

Reading Night: Will take place during the evening that Book Fair is open in March (as done in past).

Math Night Update-Michelle will talk to Jessica Bernson (PTA president). How can we work together? We would like to get a committee together. Please talk to Michelle if you are interested in serving on the committee to plan the specifics of this event. Tentative date is March 13th. With Reading Night coming also early in March, question was posed whether or not we should/could move Math Night to the week before Spring Break (Tuesday, March 27 was an option discussed).
Feedback from teams thus far:
*Hill, Nance and Braithwaite from 5th grade have committed to help on the actual Math Night.
*2nd, 3rd, and 4th would like more info.
*Harper and Huson have committed to helping on the actual Math Night.
Questions? Please contact Michelle.

Snow Make-Up Days-Amy Eveskcige, Chief Academic Officer
Schools were closed for three days, January 18-20, due to severe weather and wide-spread power outages. Through prior planning, the following days will now be school days:
· Friday, March 9
· Friday, May 25
· Tuesday, June 19
The elementary end of second trimester is moved to Monday, March 19 (AR cutoff date will be March 9th). Friday, January 27 will remain a non-school day for students. Previously scheduled professional development for staff will go forth as originally planned. It is cost prohibitive at this late date to make changes for this day.

Significant planning goes in to the development of the school calendar. Our calendar includes six make-up days in case school must be closed unexpectedly. This calendar was previously communicated to families and staff. As a result of good planning, we are able to readily implement the contingency plan that was developed.

Outside Gathering Space – Arturo
Rudy Fyles and Arturo will take personal days to drive up to Bellingham to pick up the cedar that is being used for benches. Arturo may take us out on a field trip in the future. Arturo will be requesting $480 from PTA to pay for getting the cedar. Funding has been the challenge.

Copier – Arturo & Andrea
Part of the protocol discussed:
If there are people waiting and you have multiple jobs to complete, please stop and move to the back of the line after you have completed one job. Classroom teachers, please make parent helpers aware of the rule to please step aside if a teacher comes in to make copies.

Meeting Adjourned:4:00 PM

January PACK Leadership Minutes

Carson Elementary School
PACK Leadership Meeting
January 2, 2012

Members: Administrators / Arturo Gonzalez, Andrea Drake, Kindergarten/ Sally Wolslegal, 1st/ John Huson, 2nd/ David Heagle, 3rd/ Kym Dunford, 4th/Erlinda Suarez, 5th/ Crystal Widmann & Patti Nance, 6th / Lauri Cotton, Specialist/ Amber Petersen & Jill Burch, Resource/ Debby Pancake, LAP/ Barb Stroud

Members Present: Andrea Drake / Lauri Cotton / Barbara Stroud / Jill Burch / John Huson / Amber Petersen / Sally Woslegel/ Erlinda Suarez/ Crystal Widmann/ Debbie Pancake/Kim Pisha/ Danielle McGuire

Meeting Began: 3:00

Agenda

Olweus Training
We are planning to get started with Olweus Training as soon as possible. We are looking at a 3 hour overview on one of our PR/CT LIC days. (The date will be determined as soon as we secure a date for our math training with Janis Heigl.) Students will participate in a survey. The program requires that students are in school for 6 consecutive weeks before taking a program survey. We will implement classroom meetings sometime in February. Additional training will take place in August during one of our Supplemental days.

Math Conversation
The District promised to provide Math Support for Bridges for the 2011-2012 school year. What percentage of our staff has taken advantage of the training support that has been offered so far this year? Have a discussion in your grade-level team meeting this week and be prepared to report back at the next PACK meeting.

Pisha-
At the last Bridges training, attendants received supplies for upcoming math units. It would be great if the training were more grade-level specific.

Math Training: From John Parker’s Office 1-2-12
This month will be our big training on January 27th for the Supplemental Day 3. The entire day will be focused on Bridges with break-out sessions, covering up to 6 subjects. Those in attendants will be able to choose three areas they feel they need the most help in. Janis Heigl will be the keynote speaker that day. There will also be grade collaboration time. Grade collaboration will be great as teachers will get to meet with colleagues from other schools at the same grade level. They will have the opportunity to focus on smart board lessons, number corner, fractions, algebra, support activities, technology assistance, unit prep etc. The goal is to provide staff a lot of tools they need to be successful. More information about registration forms will come out shortly.

Additional Math Support-Andrea
For Professional Development, the staff requested to have additional math support. We are planning to book Janis Heigl do a workshop for our staff on a LIC Wednesday afternoon from 12:30-3:30pm on one of the following dates. We will let the staff know the exact date as soon as we hear back from Janis.
· Wednesday, January 18, 2012
· Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Janis’s presentation will be focused on:
· Big Content ideas in K-6 and how to develop them
· Terminology/ Vocabulary
· How does curriculum tie into and support MSP preparedness
· Expectation on sticking with the pacing schedule (What do you do when you get behind?)
· Respond to any questions that teachers submit prior to the workshop

Math Night-Michelle
Several schools in the District have offered a Math Night for their families. It would be great for Carson staff to sponsor a Math Night for their families as well. Imagine this. Each grade-level (K-6) could be responsible to man a station. At each grade-level station there would be a display of student work for students and families to see. There would also be Bridges Work Places games for students to engage in with their parents. Our sixth-grade table could have math games for their students as well. All students could have a passport representing their visit to each station. Each station would have grade-level games as well as a simplified version of math concept of focus. This evening would last for 90 minutes. We would start with introductions, information about how to access the Website and a short presentation to families about the Bridges curriculum including Home Connection. This event would take place before spring break.

Pisha-
What other ideas might staff have? Talk about your thoughts in your grade-level team meeting. We need buy-in from the staff. Have a conversation with Lynette Petersen to find out about resources the PTA purchased in the past. These items could be used as giveaways.

Michelle-
The goal is to inform parents about the Bridges curriculum and show them how to support their child’s achievement in math. Needs:
· Volunteers to help with Planning
· Volunteers that would be willing to participate in Math Night
(possibly one staff member per grade level
· Need Grade-Level Reps. to talk to their team this week.

Grade-level representatives should talk to their team members in this week. Michelle will also share this idea with the staff this CT Wednesday. Grade-level representative should be prepared to email Michelle, Andrea and Arturo with their feedback by next week January 9th.

Diversity Day
The PACK Team had a chance to look at last year’s Diversity Day schedule and compare it to this year’s schedule. Each teacher needs to communicate what they will focus on in their Native American workshop session. Kindergarten will not participate in the culture walk.
Depending on the presentations, we may want to adjust the classes that have been grouped together to participate in the culture walk. (Is it a good idea to have all of the 5th and 6th grade classes together? This did not work well last year.)

Questions:
Do we try to extend the session to be one hour? No. The sessions are long enough.
Should we come up with an alternative to the CNN closing and instead have a school-wide gathering in a different format?

Idea
· Close with a storyteller in the gym. (School-wide Assembly format)

The second recess needs to be rescheduled for primary on Diversity Day. According to our 2011 Pack Retreat, primary would not have a second recess, but the time would be made up later. There will be an extra recess for on Wednesday, the week of Diversity Day.

e-Readers (Amber)
Many of our students are reading from their Kindles in the intermediate grades. Although school policy states that there should be no personal electronics at school, many students own and want to read from their Kindles. Kindles come with a variety of word games. They are bringing them to school as well. In addition to our public library Carson’s library also has e-books for students.

Question: How will we accommodate and support our student’s use of e-books at Carson? What will new system or procedure look like?

Plan:
Amber will work on a form that will go out to students by next week. She will get the forms out to the teachers. The students will turn in completed forms for their teachers to hold on to.

-Students will need their own personal accounts.
-Students who bring their Kindles to school must fill out a form signed by their parents.
-The school will not responsible for lost, stolen or broken items or property.
-Kindle use must be monitored by classroom teachers.
-Electronic books should be used by the owner only.

Copy Machine
We will revisit copy use at our next PACK meeting. The goal is to get feeback on how things are going with the new copier.

Meeting Adjourned: 3:59 PM

PACK Leadership Minutes

PACK Leadership Meeting
December 5, 2011

Members: Administrators: Andrea Drake, Kindergarten: Sally Wolslegal, 1st: John Huson, 2nd: David Heagle, 3rd: Kym Dunford, 4th: Erlinda Suarez, 5th: Crystal Widmann & Patti Nance, 6th: Lauri Cotton, Specialist: Amber Petersen & Jill Burch, Resource: Debby Pancake, LAP: Barb Stroud

Members Present: Andrea Drake / Barbara Stroud / Lauri Cotton / Jill Burch / John Huson /Kim Dunford/ Amber Petersen / David Heagle / Sally Woslegel/ Crystal Widmann/ Sandi Ahlers/ Debby Pancake

Meeting Began: 3:00

Agenda

Staff Bazaar
Karen Howard- Some staff members have expressed that they would like to sell Holiday crafts in the staff room. What are your thoughts about having a Staff Bazaar, possibly on the same day as the staff party on Wednesday, December 14th? Jack Widmann had a table last year. (If you charge $2 a table, it can go toward Sunshine. We will think about charging for tables next year.)

The PACK Leadership Team voted to have at Staff Holiday Bazaar Wednesday, December 14th. Staff members can set up a table in the commons area to showcase and sell their items. Staff should let Karen know if they are interested in a table by Friday, December 9th.

Native American Professional Development
Andrea Drake- Linda Belt has been working with historians to get resources and educational support from our District Indian Education contacts. They were asked to do a workshop similar to the Polynesian Culture Professional Development our staff participated in last year at Edgerton.

The date has been set for February 1st, which is our PR Day, from 3:00-8:00pm. Multiple sessions will be offered. Teachers could receive between 3-5 clock hours depending on how long they stay. Sign-ins would be available for each session.

Carson teachers could leave school shortly after students are dismissed such as 12:30pm. Teachers would meet at a TBD site at 3:00pm and participate in 3 sessions as part of our PR Day. Teachers may choose to stay for additional sessions, but this would be an individual choice. Last year we ordered Pizza for dinner.

Things to consider:
Teachers need to communicate with administration if they are not able to attend the afternoon/evening sessions.

Additional Professional Development
Andrea Drake- What should professional development look like at Carson this year?
For the past month we’ve asked staff in their grade-level teams to meet to have discussions about what their needs are as well as what training and support they needed this year. The staff was informed that PACK representatives decisions, based on the input they receive from their grade-level team members at this PACK Leadership meeting on Monday, December 5th.

2011-2012 Professional Development Recommendations:
Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th 5th & 6th would like additional math training.
4th grade would like training in Writing and Math
6th grade would like training in Reading and Math

New Copier Protocol
Andrea Drake- In the past, Carson has had behavior norms, rules or procedures for copy machine use. For instance, parent volunteers should always allow teachers to use the copier first when there is a line. Perhaps there should be certain times for copy use for primary and intermediate. Example: Primary use in morning before school and Intermediate in the afternoon after school. Staff can use the copier during the school day as needed.

The PACK Team decided that they would revisit photocopy protocol one month after the new copier arrived. In the mean time, staff should be courteous to one another while using the copier. We will need someone to make a sign for our parent volunteers communicating that teachers should have priority, due to their limited time to prepare for lessons during the day. Such a sign will be hung above the copier.

I728 Funds
Andrea Drake-Each grade-level k-5 was offered up to $200 for instructional materials for math. They were to give their receipts to Karen for reimbursement. Only one grade level turned in a receipt so far. Please turn in receipts as soon as possible. The money that is not spent by the end of January will be applied to Carson’s professional development trainings.

Other Business
Jill-Our Choir Winter assembly is Monday, December 12th at 8:40 for P-2, Mrs. McGuire and Mrs. Pisha’s class. The 9:10 am assembly is for Mrs. Dunford, Mrs. Pyrtek, Mrs. Simpson and grades 4th-6th. Jill will put seating charts in the teacher’s boxes.

Lauri- The Food Drive truck arrives tonight. Let Lauri know if there are issues with 6th grade students picking up donations.

David- Art displays for Reflection have been enjoyable to look at. What about having children’s art in the halls and at the front entrance of the building year-round? It makes our school look welcoming and warm. Let’s see how we can implement this.

Crystal- Are envelops to go home from PTA for better participation? How do we help rally more PTA support? John has been rallying support for the PTA for popcorn sells.

Lauri- The Ixl.com program could be used to help our students prepare for MSP. The cost is $800 a year for the entire school. Is there any way that this program could be purchased for our school? Lauri could possibly talk to the staff and explain how this program could benefit their students and how it works for students K-6th.

Meeting Adjourned: 3:35 PM

PACK Leadership

PACK Leadership Committee Minutes
November 7, 2011
3:00PM

Members: Administrators / Arturo Gonzalez, Andrea Drake, Kindergarten/ Sally Wolslegal, 1st/ John Huson, 2nd/ David Heagle, 3rd/ Kym Dunford, 4th/Erlinda Suarez, 5th/ Crystal Widmann & Patti Nance, 6th / Lauri Cotton, Specialist/ Amber Petersen & Jill Burch, Resource/ Debby Pancake, LAP/ Barb Stroud

Members Present: Arturo Gonzalez/Andrea Drake / Kim Pisha / Barbara Stroud / Lauri Cotton / Jill Burch / John Huson / Amber Petersen / David Heagle / Sally Woslegel/ Patti Nance

Meeting Began: 3:00

Agenda

Spirit Assemblies
Erynn: A few parents have expressed that they want to be invited to our school’s Spirit Assemblies. It was previously decided that parents would not be invited to these assemblies for several reasons:

The after school traffic is a huge issue. By not having parents attend these assemblies, we cut down on the heavy student pick-up traffic at the end of the day.
The assembly is during the last 25 minutes of the school day.
There is no time to prolong the assembly to allow for pictures of the students who are recognized.

Solutions: Remind teachers not to invite parents to Spirit assemblies.
PACK Leaders will clarify assembly expectations with the staff
in their grade-level team meetings.

Amber: Dr. Almonds, orthodontist and one of Carson’s supporters, is coming in January to make a presentation to our school community.

November’s Character Theme: Dependability
Next Spirit Assembly: November 23, 2011

Diversity Day Update
A number of elementary school administrators, teachers and leaders in our district have been meeting together to collaborate, work together and plan a strategy for honoring and celebrating Native American Culture in their schools.

Grant Proposals have gone out to: ODA, The Puyallup Tribe of Indians, Lowes, Kiwanis and BECU
Carson Elementary has been working on grants to implement several projects:
-A Native American Welcome Pole that would be attached on the north end of our building.
-An outdoor Long House gathering, story telling and instruction area that would be located in the front of our school.
-Outside Art

Two of the Grants requested that we have a Diversity Mission Statement:

Carson Elementary Mission Statement
Supported by families and diverse community, Carson Elementary challenges its students to achieve their academic, creative and physical potential.

Carson Elementary Diversity Mission Statement
Carson recognizes and celebrates diverse perspectives, traditions, culture and backgrounds found in our school community and adopted curriculum. As a learning community, we model and emphasize the benefits of being able to understand and respect diversity so that students are successful and contributing citizens in a diverse and changing world.

Going for the GOLD
In December, we will need input from the staff about the enrichment classes that they have been attending. We need to keep track of this information as it is important for helping us reach our goal of Going for the GOLD!

Professional Development Opportunity
We would like to send two people to represent Carson at the Western Washington Native American Education Consortium Conference. One person would be from the Diversity committee. The other person may be from primary.

Professional Development at Carson
What should professional development look like at Carson this year? We want staff in their grade-level team meeting to have a discussion about what their needs are as well as what training and support they need this year. Your PACK representatives will make a decision, based on the input they receive from you at the next PACK Leadership meeting on Monday, December 5th.

Report Card Due Dates
Report cards go home on December 1st. Teachers can turn in report cards to principals by the November 23rd. Teachers can leave the AR section blank and insert comments and AR scores before report cards are sent home.

One March 15th report cards will go home. The AR cut-off will be on the 7th of March and report cards will be due to principals on March 9th.

Fro the end of the year, report cards will be due to principals on June 11th and they go home on the 18thof June.

Veteran’s Day
We will have our Veteran’s Day Assembly on Thursday, November 10th at 8:45am. Karen will call classes down to the commons. All students will be seated facing the front. Teachers can hang the banners up after school on Wednesday. Art work can be posted on the walls on the walls leading down to the commons or in the commons. Jill will provide the tape. A Veteran’s powerpoint will be running with music as students enter the commons. It will also be repeated later in the ceremony.

On November 14th after the PTA 6:00pm meeting, there will be another presentation honoring our Veterans. This program featuring our 5th grade choir will begin at 6:30 pm.

Barb Nequette has made a Veteran’s banner for the staff. It is in the staff room. Staff is invited to write names or post pictures of veterans and loved ones they would like to remember. Stars, markers and glue sticks are available for your convenience. The banner will be hung Wednesday after school in the commons. THANK YOU, Barb!

Building Security
An email from Perry Wisdom, Director of Operation, was sent to all administrators. Alarms have been set off in buildings more frequently than we would like to admit. Consequently to address the problem, all staff across the district will be required to wear their PSD ID badges. Training will be given to staff that need training on how to turn off the alarm. Staff who do not wear or have their badges will be escorted out of the building by PSD security. Ouch!

Carson staff, we have our own system that works, if we are careful to honor it. We must be diligent about using our sign-in /sign-out sheet located at the front door. In addition, there will also be directions on how to use the school’s intercom system to inform other staff that you are in the building.

ELO
There were no official allocated funds for ELO’s this year. ELO is optional each year. However, we are still accepting applications from teachers who are still interested in participating. Talk to Andrea if you are interested.

Meeting Adjourned: 4:06 PM

PACK Leadership Meeting October 3, 2011

PACK Leadership Meeting
Monday, October 3, 2011

Members: Administrators / Arturo Gonzalez, Andrea Drake, Kindergarten/ Sally Wolslegal, 1st/ John Huson, 2nd/ David Heagle, 3rd/ Kym Dunford, 4th/Erlinda Suarez, 5th/ Crystal Widmann & Patti Nance, 6th / Lauri Cotton, Specialist/ Amber Petersen & Jill Burch, Resource/ Debby Pancake, LAP/ Barb Stroud

Members Present: Andrea Drake / Debby Pancake / Crystal Widman / Erlinda Suarez / Kim Pisha / Barbara Stroud / Janet Tran / Lauri Cotton / Jill Burch / John Huson / Amber Petersen / David Heagle

Meeting Began: 3:05 pm

Agenda

Veteran’s Day (Jill)
Veteran’s Day Assembly is set for Nov. 10th at 8:45 am. There will be an evening presentation Nov. 14th at 6:45 pm after the general PTA membership meeting. Jill would like to have each classroom make a banner. Michelle will bring a sample banner to share with classroom teachers. Crystal is going to dye cut all the stars and each class will get a set. Students can take a star home and decorate it then glue onto the banner. If teachers can’t get to the gluing of the stars, contact Crystal or Jill for help. Banners will go in the gym and commons area the week before the assembly. If teachers would like to display other decorations, they can put them up in the hallway by the commons.

Morning Recess & Line-up Expectations
Students seem to be doing a better job of lining up in the mornings and throughout the day after recess. We would like to acknowledge classes for doing a good job. Morning para and playground supervisors have a check of system for keeping track of classes that are doing a good job of lining up in the mornings and throughout the day. Once a week, a class could receive a shout-out over the intercom for demonstrating exceptional behavior. Each month up to two primary and two intermediate classes will be acknowledged for exceptional line-up behavior.
This is in addition to the token system. Feedback is needed from staff on the “para system” of acknowledging classes over the intercom. Idea: Perhaps a recess Wall of Fame. Staff question: Could students get an extra recess instead of a certificate? Concern: How are we going to manage 3 different systems? Reps. are to go to their teams to discuss the new system and how it would work with recess tokens and do we need a reward system for lining up. Classroom teachers could take out their classes for the extra recess instead of a para.

Recess Tokens
Primary to accumulate 15 tokens and then you would get a free recess to be set up with a duty. Teachers would keep track of the tokens. Teachers would contact the paras via email to organize a free recess, but many times classes didn’t get their extra recesses.

Lunchroom, Bathroom & Hallway Expectations
Teachers and all staff must hold their students accountable for positive lunchroom, bathroom and hallway expectations.

Lunchroom: The classes that have an assigned seating arrangement generally do a much better job eating respectfully at their tables. The voice level has been a little better. Teachers need to be attentive in supervising their students. Some teachers have a system where a responsible student is the monitor at their table. Bottom line, there needs to be a system in place where teachers hold their students accountable.

Bathrooms: Many teachers have a system in place that allows their students to go to the bathroom. However, we want to prevent some students from taking advantage of the privilege of getting to the restroom during class time. There should be a system in place that honors responsible students as well as a system that allows our struggling students to take care of their needs. What will that look like in your classroom? What are alternatives for the students who have proven to be irresponsible? Each teacher needs to have a plan in place.

Hallways: We need to tell some of our students over and over about walking in the halls with their voices off. There are ways that the entire line of students can be monitored. This should include a discussion about how students should walk up and down the stairs. We need to have a discussion in our grade-level teams and support one another in the behavior success of our students.

Student Volunteer Procedures
How can we hold our students accountable as volunteers in the building? Ideas: Have one day a week for student volunteers. Teachers must be in agreement each week about illegible student volunteers. Students must have a volunteer pass to present to the teacher they are helping.
Reps to team: Once a week have a student volunteer day. Teachers should have a list of students that could be a volunteer. They need a pass when volunteering. Expectations of how to be a student volunteer. Volunteers need to be arranged by teacher to teacher and they need a pass. Teachers need to write up (using the behavior form) any students loitering in the hallway who doesn’t have a pass and send to the office.

ELO Applications
We don’t know at this point what the ELO allocation for Carson will be. District is waiting for assessment scores, which will help them determine the allocation for each building. In the mean time teachers should be thinking about what they will do to support the learning progress of their Tier II students. All teachers need to remember to use the assessment data as well, to inform them about needs of their students. Teacher should plan ELO instruction using pre and post data to show evidence of student progress. ELO applications are due to your administrators by October 17, 2011 and sent in electronic form. Keep in mind when putting your schedules together that choir (4th, 5th, 6th graders) meets Tuesdays and Thursdays after school,

DIBELS
All classroom teachers will be given their username and passwords for the DIBELS Data System. This will allow them to record benchmark data; plan interventions and progress monitor their students. The system will give you many different options of looking at and analyzing student’s data. Administration is going to teach teachers how to insert scores.

Carson “Welcoming Place” Look Fors
Gerald Denman will be visiting all building across the district to experience a positive and welcoming climate for all. There are look fors that we as a building can pay attention to. Refer to 2011-2012 Culturally Responsive Classroom Principles and have a discussion at your grade-level meetings.

Trading Comp. Time for Evening Conferences
Staff asked if we could trade the January comp day to the Friday before spring break. PACK

How Staff Can Help PTA?
PTA is having a hard time getting volunteers. Staff can encourage their classroom parents to volunteer. Remind PTA to send reminders to staff to join. Reps. need to discuss with team to encourage PTA involvement.

Additional Comments/Suggestions
Agenda sent to staff prior to principal and team/collaboration days.

Question: Sending kids back to the classroom when they are sick. What is the procedure?

Meeting Adjourned: 3:58 PM

PACK Leadership Team Meeting September 12, 2011

PACK Leadership Meeting
Monday, September 12, 2011

Members: Administrators / Arturo Gonzalez, Andrea Drake, Kindergarten/ Sally Wolslegal, 1st/ John Huson, 2nd/ David Heagle, 3rd/ Kym Dunford, 4th/Erlinda Suarez, 5th/ Crystal Widmann & Patti Nance, 6th / Lauri Cotton, Specialist/ Amber Petersen & Jill Burch, Resource/ Debby Pancake, LAP/ Barb Stroud

Members Present: Administrators / Arturo Gonzalez, Andrea Drake, Kindergarten/ Sally Wolslegal, 1st /Cristeen Harper, 2nd/ David Heagle, 3rd/ Kym Dunford, 4th/Erlinda Suarez, 5th/ Patti Nance, 6th / Lauri Cotton, Specialist/ Amber Petersen, Resource/ Debby Pancake, LAP/ Barb Stroud, Intern/ Diana Hafterson.

Meeting Began: 3:10 pm

Agenda

PACK Calendar: The PACK Leadership Team requested to meet two Mondays each month at 3:00 pm. Members signed up to facilitate the leadership meetings for the year.

LIC & Conference Schedules: The LIC calendar will be forwarded to the staff.
Oct. PR, EC, EC, I, (Evening Conference Oct. 12th for 5:00-8:00)
Nov. EC, EC, CT, PTM, I
Jan. 11th EC Comp. Day

Staff Parking Lot: The staff parking lot will be open with cones. This will allow staff to get in and out of the parking lot.

Lunch Time: Due to overcrowded conditions in the lunchroom, a schedule has been set identifying which classes will eat in their classrooms. It is important to respect the schedule.

Math Bridges Materials: Grade-level Teams will be reimbursed up to $200. with a receipt for materials purchased for Bridges. Grade-level teams received a copy code for copying Bridges materials only. Teachers must work together in their grade-level teams to determine what really needs to be copied.

Each PACK member will talk to their team members about books and materials that need to be ordered by Wednesday.

Library: All hardback text books are to be brought to Amber. She will inform you of all expectations in October. (Inventory and bar-coding of all textbooks happening soon!)

Professional Development for the 2011-2012 school year: Math will be the focus this year. Teachers will get input from their grade-level team members about what kind of training will be helpful. Additional training with Bridges will be helpful. Teachers need time with their grade-level team members to organize their math lessons for each day. Are updated pacing guides being sent?

Grade Book: Sandra Jacobson will come to train the staff on how to use the Grade Book in TAC on our next CT Day on September 21st

Meeting Adjourned: 4:10 pm

PACK Leadership Meeting – June 6, 2011

Members Present: Jill B./Specialist, Kim M./Gr. 1, Patti N./Gr. 5, Sally W./Kinder, Cristeen H./Gr. 2, Kym D./Gr. 3, Kim P./Gr. 4, Barb S./LAP, Amber P./Specialist, Debby P./Resource, Andrea D., Arturo G.
Meeting Began: 3:00 pm

Check-Out dates and times:
All staff must be out of the building before Thursday, June 23rd. The building will be cleaned starting June 23rd.

PACK Leadership Retreat: Our PACK Retreat time needs to be changed, due to our Tuesday, June 21st staff checkout time. Do we need an entire day for our retreat? We will look at the agenda and determine if we need an entire day. We do want to give staff the opportunity to contribute to the agenda for the retreat. Arturo sent out the beginnings of an agenda earlier today. PACK Leadership Team members will share this information with their grade-level team members and add, modify, etc. to the proposed agenda.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011 will be the new date for Carson’s PACK Leadership Retreat from 8:00-4:00pm. PACK Leadership team members will take a look at the agenda with their grade-level team members so they will have the opportunity to contribute to the agenda.

Who will attend the Retreat? The following staff will represent their grade-level and be compensated for their time: Sally (K), Cristeen (1st), David (2nd), Kim P. (3rd), Sandi (4th), Patti/Crystal (5th) (Crystal will serve next year. Patti will split compensation with her.), Lauri (6th ) Specialist: Jill, Barb, Debby
*All other participants are welcome and will receive clock hours for attending. Amber will attend the retreat as well. Please let Arturo and Andrea know if you are interested in attending so that we have an accurate lunch count.

Inventory/district curriculum on counter: Teachers need to review the information that will inform them about what items need to be boxed up and marked, obsolete and or surplus. We will be keeping all math manipulates. Last year, there was an issue with lost materials and curriculum. We are requesting that all teachers leave their materials on the counter by the windows in their rooms. We are requesting that all looping teachers and teachers who are changing grade-levels, exchange curriculum materials before they go out for the summer. Teachers will have the opportunity to take curriculum home to study over the summer after they have been accounted for.

Our para educators are working their regular hours on Monday, June 20th. Staff should not move furniture and heavy items. However, chairs need to be stacked. More information on room check-out expectations to come.

May 2, 2011

PACK Leadership Meeting
May 2, 2011

Members Present: Sally W., Jill B., Debbie P., David H., Lauri C., Barb S., Kristeen H., Amber P., Patti N., Arturo G., Andrea D.

Meeting Started: 3: 06

Lunch Schedules/ Scott:
Let’s be proactive in looking at our calendar to better plan for next year. Scott brought important information to consider for next year. As students eat in the classroom, how can we do a better job of keeping rooms tidy?

Suggestions to consider:
Would like fewer students eating in their classrooms.
Only classrooms downstairs to eat in their classes.
5th & 6th to eat at the same time. They can help with clean up.
Allow 5-8 minutes between lunches to have time for set up for the next group.
Would like grade levels eating together.
Would like students to come to lunch on time.
Celebrations & Parties in the room are ok, but not everyday.

Challenges:
Scheduling of specialist

Climate Survey Feedback
Thirteen staff members met with Arturo and Andrea to give positive feedback in regards to the climate survey. One comment shared by staff: “If you aren’t at the table, you are on the menu.” They were concerned that some staff had been targeted. Administration has to keep conversations confidential. They cannot control the comments and perceptions of staff. Sometimes the perceptions of staff are not based on all of the facts. Another comment from another staff member had to do with a concern that all staff may not feel comfortable enough to share their true thoughts with administration.

What are the next steps? The PACK Leadership Team members will share this information with the staff. They will also talk to their grade-level team members about whether or not they are ready to move on. PACK Leadership Team members will give Arturo and Andrea feedback from the staff by Wednesday, May 4th. Arturo and Andrea will review the results of the climate survey with their CAO. They will follow the direction of their advisors.

Writer’s Workshop Training
June 1, 2011 is a PR day and dedicated to do class list for next year.
Writer’s Workshop Training is to be an “after hours,” paid staff development, but we are being given the option to have that “paid” staff development during our regular work hours (1 – 4 p.m.). All who participate would be paid for 3 hours. The PACK Team leaders will give the Arturo and Andrea feedback by Wednesday, May 4th. We will go with the majority.

Meeting Adjourned: 3:57

April 18, 2011

Present: Barb S./LAP, Amber/Library, Jill/Music, Sally/Kinder, Kim/1st, Cristeen/2nd, Peggy/3rd, Kim/4th, Patti/5th, Andrea/Assistant Principal, Arturo/Principal

Retreat Planning for CSIP 4th and 1st grade is one vote per grade level, as many people as want to come but the CSIP team member gets paid Crystal: Outgoing and Incoming CSIP team members paid, one vote Amber: Those who serve on the committee get a stipend that also includes retreat at end of year Kinder and 5th grade: one vote per grade level; put money in pot and share for those who come PACK agreed to one vote per grade level. However all certificated staff members are welcome to attend. Additional votes: music/library/PE=1 vote, LAP/Resource=1 vote, para-educator=1 vote, parent=1 vote Discusson of and agreement of having an agenda of the retreat so staff can choose to attend all or part of it. The CSIP rep for the year will receive the stipend/paid day. If the CSIP team member is not able to attend then a rep will be identified to be the official rep and receive the stipend/pay. Discusson of date for PACK Leadership retreat Retreat date: June 21st, 8:30-4:00 pm. Lunch will be provided.

Lucy Calkins Curriculum Pro Dev Discussion of Lucy Calkins writing curriculum suggestions included: waiting until next year for training, pro dev this spring and spending time over the summer for next year, see a grade level specific training, separate for primary and intermediate, request that looping teachers have opportunity to attend both grades if separate sessions. Discussion of when the training can occur included after school for a couple of hours, Discussion of benefits of having the training at Carson or the presentor's own classroom. Acceptable locations: Carson as first choice, then other schools not too far away Acceptable days: Monday thru Thursday. Not Fridays

Student Grade Level Placement for 2011-2012 Kim shared past process for creating next year's class lists Forms used two years ago will again be utilized It is up to each grade level to determine the process that they will use for separating students as long as classrooms are balanced in terms of academics, behavior, other needs, etc. However, the forms to office do need to be the same. Questions: When will the list be due? By the end of May, but as soon as possible. Request: Once the lists have been finalized, it should be final.

Diversity Day: Refer to the Carson Diversity Committee minutes from last May (scroll down right side of blog) for info on this year's Diversity Day schedule, lunch schedule, recess schedule.

The current change is that we will not be able to combine classroom groups for teaching individually.

Arturo will send out a survey today to get info for scheduling classrooms.

We will follow the same schedule as last year. (Example) 8:45-9:30 Opening Assembly 9:45-10:30 Session I (S1) 10:35-11:20 Session II (S2) 11:30-12:00 Lunch for primary/Recess for intermediate 12:00-12:30 Lunch for intermediate/Recess for primary 12:45-1:30 Session III (S3) 1:30-2:00 Closing Event Activities using CNN 2:00-2:30 Recess for Primary

Budget The amount of copying has increased. Please share with staff members that as of three weeks ago (approx.) we had $2,800 not encumbered. We have limited paper and copying for the remainder of the year.

April 4, 2011

PACK Leadership April 4, 2011 Present: Andrea D. / Admin. Tammy, O./Kinder, Cristeen H./2nd, Kym D./3rd, Kim P./4th, C.Widman, L.Cotton./6th, Amber P./Librarian, Debby P./Resource, Jill B./Music Meeting Began: 3:05 pm Diversity Day: Our current date for Diversity Day was May 27th. However, it has been verified that May 27th has been scheduled to be a half day snow make-up day. Therefore, Carson’s Diversity Day will be moved to Thursday, May 26th. Grade-Level Meeting Minutes: We appreciate the grade-level meeting minutes that we have received. They are helpful in informing administration about what is going on at each grade level and in our building. It’s great being made aware of the exciting work you are doing with students. Although we have to say that we appreciate receiving your grade-level team minutes, they are not required. Professional Development: The staff made a commitment to focus on writing using Lucy Calkins materials. What training is needed? What will it look like? Will we use LIC/ CT/ or EC (?) days? Suggested date? Will training take place afterschool? Should we bring in a presenter? This is for this year and next year. We would like to get started with it ASAP. Make sure to sign up for Math training. K-6 teachers should sign up for training by the end of May on the professional development website. PACK Retreat: We need to talk about our PACK Retreat. It takes place the week after school is out in June. In the past, all staff who attended the retreat received payment. Although all staff is welcome to attend, the practice of paying everyone is eating into our I/728 funds. In the past we have even had to use the Building Budget to cover the cost of training. We need to come up with a plan that will not drain our resources so quickly. Questions: 1. Date for the Retreat? 2. How will grade-level team members decide who and how many staff will represent them? 3. How will the input of each grade-level team be represented equitably? PACK team suggested: - Give a set amount to each person to come - Only allow one person on the grade level team to vote - Each grade level picks one person from each grade level to represent their team - The teacher that has participated in the most PACK meetings the most will go to the retreat - Look at dates for retreat right after school Climate Survey: Climate surveys can be a very valuable tool to inform us about how our staff is doing. (What’s going well? What are the areas for improvement?) Our staff responded to two surveys. The first survey was taken last year in 2009-2010, and the second was taken this school year. We will take the month of April to review the results of both Climate Surveys. As a staff we will categorize major themes. We will give groups and individuals the opportunity to set up a time to meet with Arturo and Andrea to talk about concerns and proposed solutions. The data from these meetings will be organized and presented to the staff. Next steps will include having the staff decide on whether or not the entire staff or the PACK Leadership team will make the decision on what proposed solutions we incorporate into our practice to ensure that we improve the climate in our building. This is a safe place and we want staff to be able to share information and work to a positive solution. Timeline: · PR-LIC Wednesday April 6, 2011: Staff reviews results from Surveys 1 & 2 · April 7th -22nd: Individuals or groups can schedule to meet with Arturo & Andrea (Proposed solutions to the survey) · Data Organized · Data Shared with the Staff by the last week of April · Next Steps (End of April/TBD) · All of this will be addressed in the month of April Meeting Adjourned: 3:40 pm

FEBRUARY 2011

February 28, 2011

Present: Sally W./Kinder, John H./1st, Cristeen H./2nd, Kym D./3rd, Kim P./4th, Maria F./6th, Amber P./Librarian, Debby P./Resource, Jill B./Music

Diversity Day: Our current date for Diversity day is May 27th. There has been some conversation about this date becoming a potential half day as part of the snow make-up days (this is third party info that has been heard by different sources but that I have not verified). What I have verified is that the district is not planning on addressing the modified calendar regarding make-up days until we've cleared this unpredictable weather so that they can do it all at once; which makes sense. This puts us in a bad dilemma. The longer we wait the less opportunity we will have to book certain groups to perform and individuals to come support the event. The request by the Diversity Committee is to book this event for May 26th so that we have a solid date. Decision was made to move Diversity Day to May 26th.

Report Cards: We need to identify the dates to begin submitting report cards to Andrea and Arturo. The overview is as follows:
March 4 TAC Opens
March 14 Report Cards Submitted to Andrea and Arturo. They may be submitted earlier.
March 18 Final printing
March 21 Report Cards go Home

January 3, 2011

Pack Meeting

Members Present: Debby Pancake, Patti Nance, Lauri Cotton, Jill Burch, Sally Wolslegal, Kym Dunford, Barb Stroud, Cristeen Harper, Danielle McGuire, Andrea Drake, Kim Moorhead

Pro Dev-People need to register at the ProDev website for clock hours

Math Night – has been cancelled because the Diversity training is scheduled for that day-Diversity training at Edgerton has been moved to January 11th – Math Night will be moved to March 10th from 5-7– Staff needs to sign up for Diversity training on ProDev website – need 80% of staff involvement

Book Study: Some of K-2 are involved in Teach Like a Champion book study. If other grades are interested in conducting another round, let Andrea know.

Read-a-Thon – Tuesday, January 4th – 5-7 and all reading minutes for that night will be doubled

Writing Professional Development – Grade levels need time to discuss the Lucy Calkins books – would like time to create mini-lessons – would also like to have time to talk to other grade levels to find out what is being taught
Can we put some time in the C/T days? What else would grade levels like to see to help support writing?
We also need time to share the 6-trait binders from the writing committee. All grade levels K-5 will have one.
We need to come up with “Carson’s Culture” as far as teaching writing. What are we committed to do at each grade level?

June Toy Drive – We are going to have a toy fundraiser in June to support Giftmakers. Staff and families will be able to donate. They were completely depleted and served 40% more families this year.

December 6, 2010

PACK Leadership Team
Minutes
December 6, 2010

Members Present: Andrea, Sally, Kim M, Cristeen, Kym D., Kim P., Patti, Jill, Lauri, Amber, Barb, Holly Mickel

Meeting Began: 3:00 pm

Read-a-Thon: Holly Mickel
The PTA is planning to do a fundraiser that will also promote our student’s reading enjoyment and achievement. Kick-off assemblies on Dec. 16th at 8:35 a.m. and 9:35 a.m. presented by Jeff, “Magic of Reading,” who was the same magician who did the anti-bullying assembly. Goal is that Read-a-Thon will replace other fundraisers (cookie dough, gift wrap, etc.). Individual prizes are $10 = popcorn, $20 = $5 gift cert. to Book Fair, $30 = individual ice cream. Top 3 classes school-wide will earn choice of pizza or root beer float party. Teachers are encouraged to help class to set a goal with a class incentive. Duration of the Read-a-Thon is Dec. 16th – Jan. 6th. Read-a-Thon flyer will go home with information soon.

Math Night: Holly Mickel
Math Night is scheduled for January 11 from 5 – 7 p.m. This will be a school-wide event sponsored by the PTA. However, we will need teachers to volunteer to help make this event a success by running the games. Volunteers are there to help explain the games to the players or help parents/students understand the concepts. It will take place in the commons/gym. Volunteer sign up will be in the faculty room. There will be prizes. The PTA’s goal this year is to support Carson in the content areas of reading and mathematics.

Grandparent’s Day: Cristeen Harper
In the month of January, Carson Elementary will have a Grandparent’s Day for each grade level. Grandparent’s Day is a fun event for a lot of our students. However, there are a lot of students whose grandparents will not be able to attend. In an effort to make this day enjoyable for all students, all classes will eat lunch in their classrooms. Grandparents and family members will be able to take their children down to the commons to eat lunch. Students may choose to give their grandparents a tour of the school. Grandparents will be able to go to recess with their grandchildren. Teachers will be responsible for instructing grandparents when their students should be escorted back to class. Grandparent’s Day for each grade level are as follows:

January 12th / 5th Grade
January 18th / 6th Grade
January 19th / AM Kindergarten
January 20th / 3rd Grade
January 21st /1st Grade
January 25th /4th Grade
January 26th / PM Kindergarten
January 28th /2nd Grade

*We will need garbage cans in the hallways and in each portable.

AR Reading Night: Amber& Barb
Possible date being considered in March, near Dr. Seuss’ birthday
Amber will also have mobile computer carts ready for AR testing at PTA Reading Night on Jan. 4th from 6 – 8 p.m. in the gym.

Meeting Adjourned: 3:28 p.m.

Nov. 10, 2010

PACK Leadership

November 10, 2010

Members Present: Sally W., Kim M., Sandi A., Danielle M., Patti N., Erynn

LIC Calendar Change: The PACK Leadership team got together at the request of a couple of staff members to revisit our LIC Wednesdays and how they are being impacted by the report card due date.

The committee has reviewed the request that Nov. 17th LIC-Coll & Team be moved to a later date (earliest would be January). The reason for this is that there are three LIC Wednsdays between now and when report cards are due. Two of those Wednesdays are already traded times and staff would not have time built in to work on report cards. The other Wednesday is a Coll & Teaming day.

The PACK team has traded a future Conference and Evaluation day into the Nov. 17th date. This will give teachers the opportunity to work on report cards next Wednesday. The Coll & Teaming day will be rescheduled through PACK at our next meeting.

November 8, 2010

PACK LEADERSHIP

November 08, 2010

Members present: Lisa Benjamin, Kim Moorhead, Debby Pancake, Lauri Cotton
Barb Stroud, Sandi Adams-Ahlers, Sally Wolslegel, Kim Pisha, Andrea Drake, Arturo Gonzalez, Patti Nance, Jill Burch

LAP: Grant money (almost $11,000) used for:
Time increased (2 ½ hours in afternoon) will use project rooms; add two 4th grade and one 3rd grade section, one 2nd, one 1st
Para professional development
Reading/Math night
Summer Academy possible here at Carson

Report Cards: home on Dec. 2, so due to administration on Wednesday, Nov. 24 (before Thanksgiving) or Monday, Nov. 29 but if you finish early, let Karen know. Karen will print all report cards.

Book Study: Lucy Caulkins Units of Study
Goal: work as teams (primary/intermediate) and grade levels to produce materials that can be utilized in the building as we continue to use this resource

Pro Dev $: Money could be used for compensation for attending district professional development that is not available for hourly pay,

Pro Dev 2010 – 2011 (Diversity, Writing, Math Alignment)

November 17 (CT)
December 15 (PR)
January 5 (PR)
January 19 (CT)
February 2 (PR)
February 9 (CT) writing scoring
March 2 (PR)
April 6 (PR)
April 13 (CT) MSP training
May 4 (PR)
May 11 (CT)
June 1 (PR) writing scoring

November 1, 2010

Pack Leadership

November 1, 2010

PACK Leadership MeetingMembers Present: Arturo Gonzalez, Andrea Drake, Kim Pisha, Kim Moorhead, Amber Peterson, Lauri Cotton, Janet Tran, Sandi Alhers, Lisa Benjamin, Barb Stroud

Meeting began: 3:01 pm

Diversity Enrichment

Linda Belt came in and talked Carson’s staff about the three levels for receiving enrichment and training in Diversity. Carson qualifies for the Bronze level which, means that we will receive $600 dollars for a Martin Luther King assembly. Recommendation: We will need Carson volunteers to form a Diversity Planning Committee. This committee would be responsible for developing a three-year diversity training plan which would move Carson forward to the Silver or Gold level. This team would receive input from the staff.

Lauri Cotton suggestion: Carson parent, Scott Isom has put together a website featuring his travels around the world. He is interested providing professional development to teachers and doing school assemblies featuring diverse people, places and cultures. He has a lot of resources that he would like to make available to Carson’s staff and school community. Mr. Isom worked as a “Walking Tour Guide” in many different countries.

What are the goals for Professional Development?

Professional Development Training

*Lucy Calkins, Writing

*Math Standards (Aligning 3rd & 4th Grade)

*Diversity

*Book Study/ Teach Like a Champion
(Globally focused philosophy that presents a lot of instructional strategies)

We do not presently know what our allocation of funds will be this year. Funds are coming. We want to be proactive about planning professional development that will be meaningful to us as a staff.

On Monday, November 8, 2010 the PACK team will meet and map out the dates that could be used for professional development and discuss what our training could look like. In the mean time, the PACK Team will talk to their grade level team members to receive their input.

Extended Learning Opportunities

There are changes this year in the Extended Learning Opportunity (ELO) requirements. Student interventions must take place two or three times a week. There are also other changes. Arturo will make this information available to the staff.

Unsupervised Students

Karen Howard: We have an issue with students coming too early to school in the morning. Parents are also not showing up to pick their children up on time after school. The office staff cannot be responsible for students who are involved in after school activities or tutoring. Students should not be present on campus before 8:05 am. There is simply no supervision. Students will now be required to present a pass indicating that they have permission to be at school before or after school hours. We will send out a message through school messenger to inform parents. We are considering a consequence for students who continue to come early.

Meeting Adjourned: 3:55 pm

October 18, 2010

PACK Leadership Meeting
October 18, 2010

Members Present: Debbie P./Spec., Sandi A./Gr. 3, Patti N./Gr. 5, Sally W./Kinder, Barb S./Spec., Lisa B./Gr.2, Lauri C., Maddie Names/Parent, Andrea D., Jill B./Spec., Kim M./Gr1, Arturo/admin

Meeting Began: 3:02 pm

Spirit Assembly Feedback: The Spirit Assembly is scheduled for October 29, 2010; it will continue to be last Friday of each month. The Spirit Assembly schedule will change and second recess will also change in order to accommodate students not returning to intermediate classrooms hyped which has resulted in students not being able to be as productive as possible with their learning; intermediate teachers expressed concern about the rest of the learning time being lost. New Schedule: Intermediate will begin to enter the gym at 2:10 pm. Primary will enter the gym from recess at 2:15 pm. The Spirit Assembly is scheduled to be approx. 20 minutes in length.

Diversity Day: Diversity Day will be moved to the last school day before memorial day weekend. Grade-levels teams were directed to collaborate and discuss the date change to accommodate teaming up with Edgerton Elementary for a potential grant sharing (Edgerton is also focusing on the Pacific Islander culture this year). Darla Barkely suggested having art night the same night as Diversity Day. She would also work to assure that art activities supporting our theme would occur throughout the year so that they could be on display. We will keep in mind that if there is a snow makeup day we will determine whether to move Diversity Day to that Friday based on whether we are still trying to coordinate with Edgerton.
The PACK team made the decison to have Art Night and Diversity Day on the same night. Darla will have the option of scheduling Art Night the night before Diversity Day to account for participation by families who may not come the evening of the last day of school due to travel over the extended weekend.

Grandparents Day: In the past, Grandparent's Day has been scheduled the last two weeks of January with one grade level being scheduled per day. Teachers have the option of eating in their rooms, in the cafeteria, or a combination.
We will follow the same schedule format as last year. Kindergarten will have their day on Wednesday. Grandparent's Day will be the last two weeks in January.

LAP Funding Priorities: Barb reported that LAP has recieved additional funding. She shared that the funding could be used for additional para time, professional development for LAP staff, supplementary materials, supporting family events such as a math or reading night. Should we have a discussion with our grade-level team members about how to prioritize the spending of funds? Barb knows the needs of her students and grade levels.
The PACK leadership deferred decision making for the funds to Barb. Additional para staffing priority will be: 4th grade, 3rd grade, 2nd grade. Barb will prioritize the specific staffing (it may be only one grade level). Funding will also be set aside to support family nights, some supplemental materials if needed, and pro dev for LAP staff once Barb has found out what is available from the district. Barb will update the PACK team at the next meeting.

Veteran's Day Assembly: Our Veteran's Day is scheduled for Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 8:30 am. All students will face the center of the gym (same format as Spirit Assemblies). Assembly format includes: Grades performing two songs; readings "Veteran's Day is important because..."; choir performing Star Spangled Banner and Armed Forces Song; adults in the audience who have served/serving in the military invited to share their name, branch of military and connection/child at Carson. Decorations are encouraged to be set up by classrooms. If have questions, please see Jill.

Student Passes During Recess: It was shared that there are many students wandering the halls particularly during recesses and they are also not limiting the use of the bathrooms to those located across from the commons. Students appear to be sneaking in when other students exit the building.
We will revisit a plan for students to have a pass for recess that will allow them to enter the building to go to the bathroom. The use of the pass will be enforced by teachers and a possible hall monitor. Arturo will work with paras to determine the hall passes to be used and implemented.

Hand Sanitizers: Patti reported that there are hand sanitizers in the the custodial room. They have not been used or set up in the lunch room. Arturo will look into this and report back.

P.A.C.K. Meeting Minutes: A reminder was give to email PACK minutes to the staff in additional to posting to the blog.

Speed Bumps: The District will be installing speed bumps this month. There will be a total of six. It is anticipated that this will be a big help in slowing down traffic.

Meeting Adjourned: 3:37 pm