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School Governance Councils

Ansonia High School

School Governance Council

AHS Media Center Conference Room

March 9, 2016

7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.

Attendance: Sara Crooks, Christine Davis, Amy DeFelice, Joe Dobbins , Ed Hilser, Eileen Lawlor, Jane Liscio, Karen Phipps , Susan Nargi, Emma Rosa

Absent: Haley Arruda, Laura Lane, Amy O’Brien, Nina Phipps, Lorrie Vaccaro, Alison Wynus

Welcome: Karen Phipps welcomed all Council members.

Minutes: Minutes from the January 13th meeting were reviewed.

NEASC Report: Karen Phipps and Christine Davis discussed the final NEASC report sent electronically to all Council members. Karen explained that per the NEASC guidelines, a copy of the final report was sent to Dr. Merlone, BOE Members, AHS administrators, faculty and staff, Ansonia Library, Valley Independent Sentinel and the Valley Gazette. While there are 35 recommendations, Karen reminded the Council that this is a significantly reduced number from our last NEASC visit. Christine commented that some recommendations are already being addressed. Christine also stated that this is a favorable report and there were no glaring issues to address immediately.

In March 2016, AHS faculty must review the Core Values, Beliefs, and Learning Expectations. Review takes place every 5 years. Karen invited all members of the Council to be part of the Core Values and Beliefs Review Committee. Once a meeting date is confirmed, Karen will send an invitation to all Council members.

SAT/Credit

Recovery

Updates: Christine Davis gave an update on the Saturday SAT preparatory course at AHS. The course began on January 23, 2016, and forty-eight students are enrolled in the course. Christine stated that the students have already taken a pre- and mid- newly redesigned SAT. Emma Rosa commented that she felt comfortable taking the CT SAT on March 2, because she had already practiced the new SAT two times prior to testing on March 2. She said the strategies she learned in the class have been beneficial.

Christine Davis reported that she is creating SAT question stems for evidence-based reading to prepare students for the new SAT. She will share these question stems with all teachers, so they can embed these questions throughout the school year. Further, Christine shared two instructional strategies that will be embedded in lesson plans as well as keys/skill-building strategies to the SAT with Grade 7 and 8 AMS teachers. The two skill-building strategies for reading, writing and language are OPTIC (Overview, zoom in on Parts, Title, Interrelationships, draw Conclusions) and SOAPSTone (Speaker, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Subject and Tone).

Sara Crooks reported on Credit Recovery. AHS is using the same on-line program as last year through Jefferson County Public Schools. Eleven students earned credits last year. Credit Recovery runs from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Saturdays. Guidance has identified students in jeopardy of failing or who have failed a class. Currently, students signed up for Credit Recovery are working on English, Chemistry and history courses. Teachers are able to check on students’ progress/progress throughout the course. Karen Phipps stated that if a student receives an 80% or higher on a pre-test, he/she can skip the unit. Joe Dobbins noted that since the start of Freshman Academy, freshman failure rates have dropped significantly.

Joe Dobbins congratulated Ed Hilser for organizing CT SAT Day on March 2, 2016. Ed reported that 12 juniors have to make-up the SAT on April 27. Ed commented that the success of the day was attributed to a true team effort by all faculty and staff members.

Scheduling

Update: Ed Hilser reported on scheduling. All lead teachers and school counselors had several meetings, and the course evaluation sheet for students has been revised. Further, the Program of Studies has been updated. Ed is meeting one-on-one with all juniors for course selections. Grade 9 and Grade 10 students are meeting in small groups with Katelyn Foran and/or Stacy Marchionni. School counselors will go to AMS by the end of March to register incoming students. At this time, the goal is to have all course selection sheets completed by April and schedules completed by May/beginning of June.

Joe Dobbins stated that he is forming a committee to review the pros and cons of adopting a proposed 8 drop 2 schedule for AHS. Currently, the high school has a 7 drop 1 schedule.

District

Improvement

Plan: Joe Dobbins thanked Karen Phipps and Christine Davis for their work on creating the AHS School Improvement Plan. Karen explained that AMS and AHS are working on the same goal (college readiness). Eileen Lawlor was pleased that the goals of the District Improvement Plan (DIP) and NEASC goals are aligned. There were no questions concerning the DIP. All Council members received a hardcopy of the DIP.

Review of

Goals: Christine Davis read the goals of the SGC for 2015-2016:

1.  Parent Involvement: To recruit at least 10 parents/guardians to be present at the NEASC panel presentation on October 25, 2015.

2.  Develop strategies to support students as they transition from the high school to college, career, or military.

The Council acknowledged that the parent involvement goal was met (goal 1).

A discussion ensued regarding goal 2 and strides being made to meet this goal:

·  Ed Hilser has registered AHS as a participating high school at the Southern Connecticut College Fair on March 31 from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Webster Bank Arena, Bridgeport. Over 200 colleges will be present with guest speakers from Princeton Review and Wells Fargo and raffles/giveaways.

·  Katelyn Foran and Stacy Marchionni are taking a group of students to the Hartford College Fair in the morning on March 31.

·  Joe Dobbins commented that the primary focus of his class meetings centers on higher education.

·  Jane Liscio inquired about AHS holding a Career Interest Day. This is the missing piece to the College Fair Day.

·  Ed Hilser stated that students complete a career interest profile as part of their Student Success Plans

·  School counselors speak one-on-one with seniors about career choices

·  Karen Phipps hosted Meet an Engineer Day. Eight engineers from Sikorsky came to AHS and had round table discussions with students.

·  Grade 11 students complete a Career Interest Survey through Naviance. After completing the survey, students receive a generated list of possible careers suited for the student based on the interest profile.

·  Miss Cherry is taking interested female students to Gateway for Girls in Engineering Program field trip.

·  Ed Nicefaro is taking students in May to Construction Careers Day: high school students learn about the construction industry with hands-on activities​.

·  Through Junior Achievement, students visit Perkin Elmer in Shelton in the fall and in the spring.

·  Grade 11 students participate in the Financial Reality Fair at AHS. It will be held on April 26 from 8:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. It is sponsored by Sikorsky with the help of Karen Phipps. The Grade 11 students are split into two groups and then meet individually with a financial advisor at the end of the fair. This is the third year AHS has hosted the fair.

·  On April 5, Grade 11 and Grade 12 students will attend the Funny Money presentation in the AHS auditorium. The speaker is James Cunningham, comic, actor, author and host of Eat St.

·  Eileen Lawlor shared that Prendergast is hosting Career Day instead of International Night on March 19. Parents and community members will present careers and trades to classes. Teachers are playing off of Dr. Seuss’s book Oh, The Places You’ll Go! Dr. Seuss’s birthday was on March 2.

Next

Meeting: Wednesday, April 27th, from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. in the AHS Media Center