Glacier Valley Elementary School
Site Council
September 5, 2007
Present: Ted Wilson, Stephanie Allison, Craig Kahklen, Mela O'Brien, Pam Nicholson, Lori Heagy, Burke Barton, Laneville, Jennifer Mannix, Destiny Sargeant, Denise Guizio
Introductions: Ted announced that this is the second meeting of site council, however first official meeting of the Glacier Valley Site Council. The Site council is a fixture of each public school in Juneau to give feedback and guidance to the principal. Everyone went around the table and introduced themselves.
Morning Musicians: Invitations went to all 4th & 5th graders, including Montessori. At the organizational meeting 42 students signed up, with 10 returning. Instruments will again be limited to clarinet, flute and trumpet. The advanced class will be meeting Wednesday & Friday, beginners Tuesday and Thursdays and sectionals on other days.
Access Arts: A program after school will be offered for 10 weeks in the fall and spring, visual arts (2times a week) to 1, 2 & 3rd graders, 3rd & 4th grade movement classes (1 time a week), drama for intermediate 1 time a week and an African drum class.
GV is one of 25 schools in the nation nominated for a national award. The national award will be announced September 15th. Lori is also the education recipient for the Mayors award for the arts.
Tumble Books: A website available for early readers which reads books aloud while the child follows. In general there are picture books only; higher reading is available at another program. There is a link available on the Glacier Valley website. Ted gave us a tour of the site.
Other Programs: Breakfast Club, 7:30 - 7:55, free for those eligible for free and reduced lunch, others are $1.00 per day or $15.00 per month. Varied menu is provided and averages 65-85 each morning. The school began with a balance of $2,700 for the breakfast club; there will be fundraising for the club all year. A number of community groups contribute during the school year. Aldersgate Church contributes to the club and has a van which will transport children to the school for the club. The van will pick up between 2 and 10 students. Stephanie asked about Price Smashers for Superbear which Ted suggested to talk to the breakfast coordinator, Kimberly Patterson. Twelve Costco employees have been trained to be literacy tutors and will be tutoring students individually during the school year.
New Staff: Ted ran through the staff list and assignments. Stephanie asked about the 18th classroom and the thought process for 2nd grade classrooms at 26 and 25 students, while first grade remains at 20 and 19. Stephanie was wondering why there wasn't a 1/2 class to lower the 2nd grade classrooms size. Ted stated that he felt that it was better to keep the kinder and 1st grade classes small, so that students could be better supported. He explained that there are other ways to support the 2nd grade classes. Also, Ted stated that he tries to only have split classes if the class can be maintained, for example there has frequently been a bubble at 4th grade so the 3/4 class helps resolve that bubble and will hopefully work to be a 4/5 class for the next school year. The preference is to not create a split class unless the split can be continued to further benefit the students. GV is 7 students shy of adding a class, Ted is hopeful that 7 students will enroll and the district will add a teacher, for this reason the classroom that was set up for a kinder classroom has not been broken down.
Ted then presented the wonderfully colorful schedule. The schedule has again been tweaked in order to try and limit the amount of time the gym is used for lunch. Ted stated they are working on Professional Development which will be during student lunches every other Friday and voluntary for teachers to attend. A new addition to the schedule on Friday is at 11:45 with the 4th and 5th grade classes, where they have a second special, all combined. The 4 specialists involved are collaborating to provide enrichment to these students in their various areas of expertise.
Emergency Drill Packet: Ted presented the Emergency Drill Guidelines, pointing out the last page, "Emergency Drill Notice to Parents". Ted noted that a fire drill was performed today, however it was noted that the volume was not loud enough to be heard in a classroom at normal volume levels. There will be ten fire drills performed over the school year. The Earthquake, Stay-Put and Lockdown drill are practiced twice a year.
Budget Advisory Group: The budget process is beginning again soon, Stephanie agreed to represent Glacier Valley to the group again this year. Stephanie asked that everyone begin thinking about the priorities for Glacier Valley in the next school year.
Meeting adjourned at 6:25pm Future Meetings:
October 3
November 7
December 5
January 2
February 6
March 5
April 2
May 7
Respectfully submitted: Stephanie Allison
