7475 Westover * Houston, Texas 77087 * (713) 845-7405
Karen Jackson Laura Gonzalez
Principal Assistant Principal
October 13, 2014
SDMC meeting 10/13/14
Time: 3:30-4:30 pm
Agenda
· Fourth Grade Bilingual Vacancy
· Campus Safety
· Dismissal Plan
· Winter Celebration
· Questions/Concerns
At the introduction of the meeting, Mr. Moy addressed the SDMC committee to ask about coming back to clean teachers’ cars- perhaps once a week. Questions had arisen in the past regarding the background of the workers and safety issues of teachers and the students. The principal stated that liability is an issue if something were to happen to the students or to the teachers’ cars if it were to be damaged. The committee voted to not continue his car washing services on the school premises.
Fourth Grade Bilingual Vacancy
Mrs. Tepedino is leaving Cornelius because her husband accepted a job outside of Houston. She will be leaving Friday. Her class will be split among the remaining fourth grade teachers except for Ms. Harding. Those fourth grade classes will be increased from 22 students to approximately 26 or 27 students.
Campus Safety
Some students are leaving the line in the morning as they are escorted to their assigned homeroom classes from the cafeteria. About seven students have been missing during this transaction and have ended up in another teacher’s homeroom class. Homeroom teachers need to make sure they are receiving their own students in the morning.
Second grade teachers (there should be a total of 3 second grade teachers who are coming to pick up their partner’s class as well as their homeroom class from the cafeteria) will need to escort the students from the cafeteria and walk them behind the school building along the walkway by Ms. Moore’s room instead of coming down the hallway of the first floor to relieve the congestion in the hallways with the first graders and Kindergartners/Pre-K students.
There were suggestions to prevent Pre-K and Kindergarten students from confusion in the morning. Some offered that those two grade levels should not leave the cafeteria until 7:55 am once all the upper grades have picked up their classes; however, many members felt that this would most likely not work because there are a lot of teachers who do not pick up their students on time at 7:45 am.
Another member stated that parents are dropping off and coming into the teacher parking lot to drop off students early between 6:30-6:45 am; however, there are some students who do have tutorials with Mr. Knights in the morning at 7:00 am. Ms. Jackson suggested that letters need to be sent home to warn parents about dropping off students early in the morning since there is no adult supervision during those hours.
Dismissal Plan
It has been a struggle to get kids from the kindergarten area to their buses on time. In addition, there were concerns that the second graders who are bus riders have shown up by themselves to the cafeteria. Additionally, buses have been backed up.
Concerns were brought up about parents who park in the middle of the street to pick up their children. Ms. Jackson says that there is supposed to be an officer monitoring outside the front of the school to stop parents from parking in the middle of the street.
Also, parents need to display signs in their car when they pick up their child. Consequences over what is to happen if parents don’t have their signs displayed will need to be discussed.
A teacher brought up concerns that the after school program students and bus students are getting out of control in the cafeteria during dismissal. Mr. Serrano is supposed to get the kindergarten kids for the after school program, but because he is still outside on duty until 3:30 to assist with dismissal, kindergarten students are left unattended in the cafeteria. Suggestions have been for Ms. Fleming to ask Malcolm to monitor students who are left unattended for the after school program from 3:00-3:30 pm.
Winter Celebration
There will be a Fall Festival on Friday, Oct. 31. Grade levels will plan the activities and the rotations (similar to last year). Grade level teams will dress up in a theme (optional).
The Winter celebration will be on Friday, Dec.5 (deciding on either karaoke, Top Golf, or Lucky Strike bowling).
Questions/Concerns
A teacher mentioned that there is chaos with students going through the cafeteria line since teachers are just dropping off students and not monitoring when they are in line (mainly upper grade teachers’ classes as the lower grades tend to have to assist the little ones through the lines). It was stated that teachers’ official lunch times do not begin until the first student in the line exits the cafeteria door. Questions arose- should teachers monitor until all their students go through the cafeteria line? Principal says it’s a classroom management issue if students are misbehaving in the cafeteria line. Teachers are concerned that the cafeteria line is backed up due to the cafeteria staff itself. In addition, cafeteria ladies are getting students’ lunch cards mixed up with other teachers and that may be why the cafeteria line is being slowed down.
Another teacher brought up a concern that many teachers are having to answer a lot of phone calls from the front office in their classrooms (sending a student to pick up their lunch, student leaving early, teachers needing to check their mailbox, etc.).
A Teachers’ lounge was suggested. A teacher was requesting for another microwave in the cafeteria. Principal Jackson says they can get another microwave or two.