Connecting
Parent Council Meeting
March 11, 2008
ADOPTED MINUTES
1. Call to Order
The
meeting was called to order at 6:52 pm, at the Moon School Multipurpose Room,
2. Pledge of Allegiance
3. Approval of Agenda
Sharyle
Bloudoff motioned to approve the
agenda. It was seconded by Denise Lindvall. There
was a unanimous vote to approve the agenda.
4. Roll Call
The parent
council members present were: Lisa
Avila, Sharyle Bloudoff, Kathy Bowman, April Cavanaugh, Caroline Elness, Kathy
Jaworski, Denise Lindvall, Ron Mayo, Ronda Melendez, Melanie Oneth, Cynthia
Soine, Eva Stice, Tina Troglione, Toni Wirkkala, and Angela Yee.
Absent
parent council members were: Mary Ayala,
Darin Buttram, Heather Gilchrist, Laura Harker, Blake LeBaron, Kim Lewis,
Joannie Netzler, Laura Ortega, and Holly Sink.
5. Election of Officers / Committee Members
A. Council Treasurer (This member will be
responsible to do reports for the Parent Council meetings and come to the
Toni
Wirkkala was nominated by
Caroline Elness. The
motion was seconded
by Denise
Lindvall. It was a unanimous
vote in favor of Toni Wirkkala as Council Treasurer.
6. Consent Calendar
Approval
of Minutes
1.
Unapproved Minutes of the December 4, 2007 meeting were reviewed and approved. Caroline Elness motioned to approve
the December 4, 2007 minutes. It was seconded by Denise Lindvall. There was a unanimous vote to approve the December
4, 2007 minutes.
7. Hearing of the Public
No discussion by the public.
8. Information Items
A. Annual Cash Flow Report
No discussion.
B. Assessment Report
Sharyle
Bloudoff was concerned that the Scantron test results would not provide
the best results unless the students were tested at the end of the school year. Mrs. Nelson stated that the tests
were valid as long as there was 12 weeks between each testing administration. In the past, our students tested better when
the post test was given prior to STAR testing.
C. Attendance Report
At the
time that the report was sent out our attendance was 1775 but by the last
enrollment date we had 1789 students enrolled.
D. Audit Report
There were no findings
in our audit report. Our school is
audited every year and each year we have had excellent reports.
E. Budget
2008/2009 Report
Mrs Nelson stated that the budget will
be approved at the May meeting. The budget is a projection of what we think
the state will provide and the number of students who will enroll. It is based on an
Denise Lindvall mentioned that
someone who attended the WUSD board meeting thought that the district didn’t
know what to do with CWCS because of the budget cuts.
Mrs. Nelson explained that the issue
was that the district was deciding how to allocate the 3% oversight fee
received from
F. Calendar
(08/09) Draft
Our school will begin August 13, 2008
Our start and end date are determined according
to the need of students who plan on graduating in December.
We would like to have as even number of
days as possible between 1st semester and 2nd semester.
We don’t want to end the school year on
a Monday or a Tuesday.
The packet sent to the Parent Council showed
the spring break March 9-13.
The new calendar shows spring break for
April 6-10. The Parent Council unanimously
voted to accept the calendar with a spring break from April 6-10.
G. Curriculum
Report
Angela Yee asked for clarification
on checking out curriculum if you need to use it
for more than one year.
Mrs. Nelson stated that this is the
first year we have had a library system and we
are asking that all items that were checked from the learning centers be
returned for inventory purposes and also to provide materials for students who
have limited funding. High school
students who need tutoring or AESS (Additional Education Specialist Services) often
run low on funding. The policy given to
everyone at the beginning of the year was that the items checked out was for
the 10 month period that school is in session. This policy only applies to
items checked out from the learning centers.
Items checked out from the ES can be used as needed. It was suggested that a listserve clarifying
that items to be checked into the centers are only for books that were checked
out of the learning centers. Lori
Porter stated that she would send out a clarifying email the next day. March 14th is the last day to check out
library items from the
Check out for materials for existing
families will start Aug 6, 2008. The check
out dates for materials for new families is August 4th and 5th. The materials will be
on tables by grade level. Students
who are taking summer school classes will be able to check out books but they
will need to be returned at the end of summer school.
Ronda Melendez mentioned that she
has had some ordering dilemmas but they were
resolved when she spoke to her ES. Her
Es has access to the materials that she needed.
Mrs. Nelson stated that when parents
have any concerns that they should talk to their ES. If their Es doesn’t know they can get help
from their ES Advisor. Mrs.
Nelson mentioned we have over 80 ESes which is a large networking
resource to find materials and curriculum needed for our students. Parents can network with their ES. Parents should let
their ES know what they need.
Funding and ordering issues
were discussed. Eses can begin ordering
with next year’s funds on July 1, 2008. The
deadline that teachers have from administration to order for this year is April
18, 2008. However, each ES may have their
own deadline for their parents that may vary among Eses.
Kathy Bowman asked what the school
does with unspent instructional funding.
Mrs. Nelson explained that unspent instructional funding has
been spent on additional curriculum for intake and the learning center
libraries. The instructional budget is the schools funding that is allocated
and spent by the ES. Although they spend
it by student the entire budget is considered the ES budget.
As a non classroom based
charter school we have to submit the SB740 waiver to receive 100% funding. The waiver requires that we spend a
designated amount on teacher salaries and instruction, etc. in order to receive
100% funding. We have received 100%
funding each year since the school opened.
.
H. ES Support
Report
No discussion.
I. Graduation
Report
No discussion.
J. Guidance
Department Report
Ronda
Melendez has a record keeping
system for her student records. Ronda
Melendez
and Mary Halter have been talking about
putting together a record keeping system for new families where they can keep
track of college records, compile data, etc.
They would like to put together a system that would help incoming
parents. The system would make record
keeping easier for existing students and parents when they meet with their ES. The question was asked if this was something
we could send out on listserve as a survey to see if this would be helpful to
parents. It was suggested that we use
the free survey online tool called surveymonkey.com. Ronda will develop a survey. Ronda mentioned that the ESes were
surveyed last year as to what parents seem to need help with as they meet with
their ES. Tina Troglione stated that it’s important that we provide
options for parents and not tell them that they have to use one system.
It was mentioned
to have a record keeping training session at the Parent Workshop next year. It was noted that we had one at the 2006-2007
Parent workshop training but with a different emphasis.
Ron
Mayo mentioned that a record keeping system is not only helpful for new
parents but also existing parents need to know what is required and helpful as
they meet with their ES.
Ronda
mentioned giving parents the basics to get started, a package to organize their
learning records. For high schoolers Mary
and Ronda
are discussing combining
that with what they need for college and career planning, etc.
Tina
Troglione mentioned putting samples on the website for parents to
download would be helpful.
Ronda
Melendez mentioned that we could use Elluminate to share organizational
tips with parents who can’t come to the learning center for a workshop.
Lori
Porter said she can put out on the listserve a survey to parents giving
them options to see what works for them.
Lori gets calls all the time from parents wanting to know about organization. Lori
Porter will tell them what worked for her and the parents welcome the
suggestions. Lori mentioned parents
really do want suggestions. Some parents
need just a little bit of guidance.
K.
No discussion
L.
No discussion.
M. Literacy
Specialist Report
No discussion.
N. Math
Specialist Report
No discussion.
O. Parent
Support Report
No discussion.
P. Treasurers
Report
Caroline Elness concerned that the
Several more fundraising
options were discussed.
Angela Yee mentioned the cookie
fundraiser that we talked about at our last PC meeting.
April Cavanaugh brought up “In and
Out Burger” as a fundraiser.
Mrs. Nelson mentioned candy bars
with CWCS on it as a fundraiser option.
Caroline Elness stated that she
would head out a CWCS cookbook fundraiser.
Lisa Avila stated that her husband
would donate Nestle’s candy
Mrs. Nelson said we need parents
interested in fund raising who will organize and be part of a committee. CWCS does not have the time to focus in
fundraising at this time. Most schools have parent groups raise funds for the
school. The following Parent Council
members agreed to be on a fundraising committee:
Caroline
Elness, head of the committee
Parent
council members who have volunteered for the committee with Caroline:
Cynthia
Soine
April
Cavanaugh
Sharyle
Bloudoff
Ronda
Melendez (Ronda’s term ends in
May on Parent Council. She wants to help
as a parent by being involved in fund raising.)
Ron
Mayo
Caroline
mentioned having a conference call if people can’t attend their fund raising
meetings.
Mrs. Nelson said it would be good to
raise money for the DC trip and STAR testing rewards.
Lisa Avila has friend that sells
Caroline Elness asked if we got a
lot of donations for STAR testing this year.
Mrs. Nelson said that letters were
sent out for donations from last years donations. Students who received a
high gain received a certificate and maybe a
small prize.
Cynthia Soine suggested that we have
a table at the Learning Centers for fund raiser
items to look at while parents are waiting for their children. We could include a big fundraiser banner
above table.
April Cavanaugh will look into having “In and Out Burger” come to our graduation as a fundraiser. They will bring a van right there and make
the food.
Eva Melendez did a little calling
for donations with another school. She
found vendors need 3 months notice to process things and give a donation. Some vendors give money, some give snacks.
Caroline Elness said “Mom and Pop”
shops are generous with donations.
Example: She went to a hair salon
and received free product, and certificates.
Little places are great because they welcome the word of mouth for
advertising.
Mrs. Nelson said Lori
Porter took letters to places she knew like mom and pop shops when she
was with the school and received donations for STAR testing.
Caroline Elness suggested a silent
auction for next year.
Q. Vendors
Report
We are pleased with our new list of
vendors.
9. Director’s
Report
Mrs. Nelson recapped her report.
Mrs. Nelson is very pleased with our February
CAHSEE participation rate.
The Parent workshop training was great
success. We had over 200 students
compared to 40 last year. All those who attended
said it was well worth it.
At Open
house we were awarded 1000 for the Governor’s Fitness
Challenge
Mrs. Nelson asked PC members
to put the date of the WASC visit on their
calendar and to be available as needed.
10. Discussion Items
A. Parent Workshops/Trainings
Sharyle Bloudoff said having “In and
Out Burger” available next years parent workshop is an excellent idea
Lisa Avila had suggestions
to connect students with other students. She felt that there was not enough for
Junior high students at the Parent Workshop Training.
Lisa suggested the
following activity for our students: Interact
Club, which is sponsored by a city’s Local Rotary Club. Students involved in
the Interact Club do service projects for their community. April Cavanaugh will research and
report on findings.
Lisa Avila mentioned Science
Olympiad: Students compete against
other students their age. Lisa and
husband would help with this but a teacher is needed to facilitate. Mrs. Nelson mentioned that teachers
have been asked in the past but no one accepted. Lisa Avila will research and find
out what the duties and commitment would be for the teacher and report
findings.
Monthly fun activities such as: bowling, volunteer
day, or cooking.
Mrs. Nelson mentioned that
there was our first Field Day at the beginning of the year that was organized
by a student and was very successful. It
would be nice if someone else could have taken the momentum and had a Field Day
each quarter.
Mrs. Nelson said any parent is
welcome to organize an event and invite others to attend. The problem is not organizing an event, but
people showing up. She recommended that
parents find what they like to do and invite others to attend.
Denise Lindvall suggested doing a survey
of topics to see what students are interested in. Lori Porter will put the questions on the
listserve if they are sent to her. She
can set up as a poll.
Lisa Avila mentioned on our vendor
list we have hundreds of choices to choose from. Maybe next year we could showcase outside
vendors that offer 5 classes, art, music, dance/drama, etc. This
would encourage CWCS student attendance.
Mrs. Nelson asked her to give her the suggested vendors and we
will highlight them.
Toni Wirkkala said her children were
involved in Medieval Marshall Arts and loved it.
April Cavanaugh mentioned starting a
student council for high schoolers. This
would develop student leadership skills. Mrs. Nelson will mention this to
CSF.
Ronda Melendez asked what Acadeca was. Mrs. Nelson stated that it stood for
Academic Decathlon. Mrs. Nelson knows the
person who organizes Acadeca for WUSD. Mrs. Nelson will talk to him with
regards to starting our own program.
Mrs. Nelson mentioned our students
involved in CSF (California Scholarship Federation) would likely be interested in
student council and Acadeca.
B. Career
Expo
Mrs.
Nelson thought the Career Expo worked out really well.
Ron
Mayo liked the way the vendors were set up. Caroline Elness mentioned that the Career Vendors were gone before parents who were helping could
visit them. Next year, we should ask
them to stay longer.
C. 2008 Parent Council Nomination Form
Mrs.
Nelson told the council their nomination form along with their stipend
form needed to be turned in before they left the meeting.
D. WASC Visit April 22
Mrs. Nelson said WASC has not
contacted her on exactly what they want to see.
11. Council
Comments
Lisa
Avila suggested “Favorite t-shirt”
day for testing.
Ron
Mayo mentioned school t-shirts,
etc as a fund raiser.
April
Cavanaugh asked how fieldtrips (Group Activities) work through the
school. Mrs. Nelson said families
can use their funds individually for educational activities with an approved
vendor. The Es sets this up for the
families. However, Denise Lindvall and Julie
Hilbert
set them up for school groups. Funds for
field trips are only good for the students, not the parents. Ron Mayo said some places offer
parent discounts.
These group trips are advertised on the parent
listserve and detail how a parent can sign up for them.
Mrs Nelson said that we provide a lot of choice and options for group activities
12. Adjourn
The
meeting was adjourned at 9:06 pm. Denise
Lindvall motioned to adjourn. Motion
was seconded by Caroline Elness. There was a unanimous vote to adjourn.
The
next Parent Council Meeting: Our
regularly scheduled meeting is May 6, 2008.
Note : We will
be approving the budget at the next meeeting.