Whittier Site Council Minutes
Monday, May 9, 2016
Media Center
5:00 pm
Update on Classroom Classification for 2016-2017
Staff has taken more time to work on the new classification method rather than just a day as in previous years. Teachers have created a lot of information about students to begin defining the clusters at Whittier.
Ms. Gibbs would like to nurture and retain students in the Hi-5 program. She would also like to expand the concept of Pre-IB.
Student Placement
Bryan Fleming, Director of Enrollment Management and Student PlacementServices for Minneapolis Public Schools was a guest speaker at the May 9th Site Council meeting. His team manages the migration of students at all Minneapolis schools using a weighted lottery system. They also complete assessments of language, math, and reading for people new to the district, region, and country. Families that move to other schools within the district will also make the change through this office.
Mr. Fleming has been visiting schools to get a feel for what is going on and what the context is at each school. He and his team are also looking ahead at what the district will look like in future years, to be intentional in their planning rather than reactive.
The district uses a weighted lottery system. The system is complicated and we must consider the relevancy of the prevailing criteria. Everyone wants their own choice to work out, but there needs to be a limit. A system is necessary to ensure fairness, but we do need to make changes to how we prioritize placement.
There are different rules for community schools and magnets. For example, if a child is in 3rd grade at Hiawatha,sibling preference is not a higher priority than someone in the zone. Every child has an assigned weight based upon ten categories. Please see the school district website for the priority protocol.
What do we know about the Whittier data? Before choice cards were due, 25 students had chosen Whittier as a first choice, but now there is a waitlist. What happened? Where is the data? Some grades are full but if there is a sibling here, Ms. Gibbs would like the new student to be here. Ms. Gibbs would also like to support families that are intentional about choosing an IB program.
There are children that live two blocks away that can’t get in to Whittier. What can be done? Mr. Fleming can look at the individual cases.
When the district was struggling and enrollment was down, the district started magnet schools. Now, many families are looking for community schools. We need to rethink the philosophy of magnet schools. On the other hand, families that haven’t chosen IB should be placed at other locations.
Is there an example of a magnet and community school? Locally, there isn’t a blended model. We could create one. The school board will need to have a discussion about boundaries. Everybody is struggling with how to educate inclusively.
Does everyone in the district have a right to attend an IB school if they choose? Three schools isn’t enough.
17,000 students are leaving the district. It is not the white students that are leaving. Issues of safety, class size, and student/teacher relationships are causing many families to consider other options. Many are moving to charter schools.
What are charters doing that Minneapolis isn’t? They have more marketing. They offer smaller class sizes. Many of the students that are attending charter schools leave and come back to the district. A parent’s perception of a school is more about how the family feels rather than academic data.
At Whittier, we can adopt some of the features that are attractive at a charter school. We can control the program, the tone, and safety to make people feel welcome. A community school should aim to maintain a welcoming feel.
The school board will look at the steering committee’s proposal in June. Mr. Fleming has some specific ideas and will ask for the priority codes to change. He would like to share more of the presentation with Whittier in the fall.
Ms. Gibbs needs to know the trends to start marketing the school more. Ms. Gibbs plans to look into and access more date about placement at Whittier.
The School Improvement Plan was distributed for review.