Advisory Council Minutes
August 28, 2014
Called to order: 6:02pm
Adjourned: 7:17pm
Attendees:
Cheryl Rich
Heather Turner
Elizabeth Grubb
Josette Altiers
Randall Lanier
Brandi Milam
*Welcome & Introduction:
Cheryl went around the group, and we all formally introduced ourselves and affiliation with the school.
*Review of Advisory Council Rules & Regulations:
Cheryl reviewed the pamphlet "School Advisory Councils" with the members.
*Presentation of Principal Entry Plan
Cheryl presented a slide show. She has 3 directions she wants to take.The first being with her staff. She has been introducing herself to staff members and been present and sociable with the staff. Second is with parents & business partners. A goal being met is to update the school website, meet in the advisory council 6 times throughout the school year, and to arrange a meet & greet. Her third direction is with her students. Her goals are to greet the students, be visible in the classrooms daily, converse during lunch, and be a strong presence in during the school day.
*Safety at Welcome
One huge safety concern that has already been taken care of is the deep stairwell behind the art building next to the concession stands has been fenced!
Cheryl then presented 2 major safety concerns of hers that she would like to see met. Those are hand held radios and security cameras. She has been price quoted 14 radios being $2,100 (plus tax) PTO is going to be assisting with the funds. Security cameras are still yet to be price quoted. We are guessing in the $20,000 range. At that point, the advisory council then questioned who do we approach about possible donations in the community?? Randall recommended the Chamber of Commerce as he is a member on that board. Another recommendation for a donation was the RCR company. Josette is going to talk to the RCR board about a possible donation.
In other areas of safety, Cheryl then stated that we currently have 636 students enrolled at Welcome School. The ratio for 2nd & 3rd grade students is at/over capacity. With that being said, a new teacher will be joining the staff next week to create a 2nd/3rd combo class. Cheryl asked that we keep this within the council, because she will be sending home a letter to 2nd & 3rd grade parents only within the next few days explaining the capacity concern, and how children will be pulled from each classroom to form this new roster.
*Curriculum
Cheryl presented the council with a short video by June Atkinson about the standard Course of study & Common Core. She shared a standard of study timeline along with description. There will be NO changes in math or language arts for the 2014-2015 school year. Another key note from the video clip is that we have had EOG testing for grades 3-8 since 1993. Common Core has NO further testing than standardized testing. For any further questions or concerns, go to
At this point, Cheryl shard the 2013-2014 proficiency scores with us. Scores looked drastically better (see attached "Welcome Elementary Proficiency Scores 2013-2014" handout. The key point that Cheryl added was the a Level 5 has been added. Level 4/5 means a child is college & career ready. Level 3 means a child is landing right where they should be/it is "good"/they passed. Level 1/2 means they are below their grade level.
*Ledger Report
Cheryl then went over the Ledger Report with ending date of 8/31/2014. After going over every line in detail with the council, Cheryl's major concern is her general fund. Her budget for the remaining entire school year is $4,720.06 and she is very uncomfortable with that. Brandi brought up that the PTO will be hosting their annual Fall Festival on October 4th with high hopes of raising a large sum of money to help the budget situation. She also reminded everyone of the Little Caesar's Pizza fundraisers. Speaking of fundraisers, Cheryl then asked the council their thoughts on if the school itself does a fundraiser (in addition to anything PTO related). She is recommending the World's Finest Chocolate bars. These sell for $1 each with a .50 profit for each bar. The council agreed that this was a great idea. Cheryl then told the council that her reasoning for having fund raisers to build up our school general funds is because county office informed her that a comfortable place for an elementary school to be budget wise is around $10,000. The council agreed.
*New Website
Cheryl then presented the council with the school's brand new website. It is wes.davidson.k12.nc.usThe entire staff is going to be going through training within the next 2 weeks.
*Meeting dates for the next year
Cheryl asked the council their thoughts on the dates she had posted. (8/28,9/25,11/20,1/29,4/23,6/11) The council agreed that all meetings could be held at 6pm.
*Upcoming important dates
Cheryl went over the posted 3 upcoming dates. Sept 4 is the Parent Night/PTO general meeting/Principal entry plan. Brandi brought up that Sept 9 is the first PTO Dine out night at Little Italy. Sept 11 is the 3-5 Parent night/PTO optional/Principal entry plan.Sept 25 is our next Advisory Council meeting.