CHARLES W. FLANAGAN HIGH SCHOOL
SCHOOL ADVISORY COUNCIL and SCHOOL ADVISORY FORUM
September 21, 2015
4:00 PM -Media Center
Meeting Minutes
4:09Pledge of Allegiance: Peer Counselors, Ariel and Frank, led the Pledge. Peer counselors are there to
raise awareness and feed positivity to students and to the school. They create banners, make presentations, and do announcements. They assist with Kefford’s Kids and offer quotes to match different celebrations for different months, such as ADHD awareness month in October.
4:12Establish Norms, Review Minutes from previous meeting and confirm dates and times of meeting (September 21, October 19, November 23, January 25, February 22,March (14 or 28), April 25, May 16): Matias Arellano, SAC Co-Chair. Norms were reinstated as is from the previous year and were
agreed upon unanimously. The motion to accept them was made by Ms. Friedman, a parent, and was seconded by Ms. Dohring, a parent. SAC then discussed voting on whether to hold a SAC meeting on March 14th or 28th. Ms. Friedman motioned to accept March 28th as the meeting date, and Ms. Pena seconded the motion. The motion was accepted unanimously.
4:17SAC Parent Elections and Introduction of all Members: Kristine Knapp, SAC Co-Chair
Identification of Parent Representatives (Gifted, ESOL, ESE, IZ Rep, & SAF Designee) Mrs. Kefford
introduced Gina Montagnino as the new assistant principal who will oversee SAC/SAF and JennellLozin
who will assume the responsibilities of literacy coach. Zone meetings will take place once a month,
and Ms. Friedman agreed to represent Flanagan again. SAC also recognized our new 10th grade
representative, Megan Otero.
4:18SAF Report: Timothy Arnwine,SAF Chair, reported that new SAF trainings are being conducted.
4:26SAC Introduction of Officers for 2015-2016Student Elections:
Kristine Knapp, SAC Co-Chair, reported that every other year, student representatives are elected
for a two year term. Since there was a vacancy this year in the sophomore position, Meghan Otero
joined SAC.
4:27Communication Plan: Gina Montagnino, Assistant Principal, created a remind101 account for students
to use to facilitate communication. Students can text 81010 and use @FHSfalcon in the text box. This
will help disseminate important messages and safety concerns to the student population. She is also
publishing a monthly newsletter that will highlight different activities, events, and classroom lessons
that are occurring at Flanagan.
4:37Media Center Hours: JennellLozin, Literacy Coach. A motion was made by Ms. Chandler, a teacher, to appropriate money from the Accountability Fund to pay Ms. Larmonyfor keeping the library open after school Mondays through Wednesdays from 2:45-3:30 for student activities. Ms. Thomason-Deautriell, a parent, seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
4:39Testing, Staff Development: USA Test Prep –JennellLozin, Literacy Coach, reported on the programs
offered at Flanagan to aid in literacy: Achieve 3000, item bank testing, and USA test prep. The school
just finished a focus on vocabulary, and now the focus has shifted to central idea. Classes will
continue with Flanagan Reads, where students will answer questions and write responses that are
based on the school’s focus that week. Ms. Friedman asked about the SAT and ACT and what the school is doing to prepare students for the exam. Lozin reported that Flanagan pushes the ACT since there is a concordant score for that test that can allow students to meet the reading graduation requirement. Flanagan offers free tutoring after school on Tuesdays in both ACT and SAT. There are also practice tests being offered for both the SAT and ACT for $10. Ms. Pena also mentioned that many English classes begin the day with daily ACT or SAT warm up activities. Ms. Pijuan, a teacher, mentioned that the PSAT on 10/14 is being offered to sophomores but freshman and juniors can pay for it for $15.
4:50Monitoring SIP Action Steps and Staff Development Activities including Interim Measures from Data:
JennellLozin—Literacy Coach, Common Core (reported already)
Rhonda Ben-Ezra—Writing Coach. Her report was tabled for next month.
Susan Gladstein—Science Department Chair – reported that she is looking at their original assessments
to see if they align with the EOC exam. Science is using USA Test Prep. They changed
the order in which they teach and will now begin with ecology rather than ending the
school year teaching it. Ecology is a heavy focus of the EOC. Each benchmark on the
EOC is being focused on.
Martha Pijuan—Mathematics Department Chair – reported that there are no scores for Algebra II
or geometry yet. Teachers in this department plan together and stay consistent in
lessonplanning. They also grade the same way so that no one teacher is harder than
another. Mathematics also uses USA Test Prep and CARE packages to remediate and
enrich students. They also utilize learning trackers so that students can track each
learning target. EOC’s will be given for algebra, Algebra II, and geometry. AP classes
are doing well and there are many students enrolled in pre-calculus this year. Mu Alpha
Theta tutors on Thursdays after school in the media center, and NHS tutors Monday
through Wednesday after school in the media center.
Matias Arellano – Social Studies American History PLC Leader – reported that 11th grade students did
well on the American history EOC. There is a discrepancy where the credit is not yet
showing up in virtual counselor, but the situation is being addressed. They are focusing
on integrating reading and writing using the literacy plan into their curriculum.A motion
was made by Ms. McGraw, a teacher, to use $4429.17 appropriated from the
Accountability Fund to renew the USA Test Prep program for the following courses: Gr
9-10 Language Arts FSA, Biology EOC, Reading FCAT 2.0, Algebra I EOC, Algebra 2 EOC,
Geometry EOC, PERT Mathematics, ACT Workkeys, ACT Reading, ACT Mathematics, AP
English Language & Composition, and Writing. Seconded by Ms. Pena, a teacher. Passed
unanimously.
4:56School Data: Michelle Kefford, Principal, reported that we have not yet received a passing rate for the
FSA. We do know that 58.7% of the 10th graders passed the reading FSA, 75% passed
world history, 56.7% passed algebra, and 59% passed biology. Our schoolis performing
wellcompared to our neighboring schools.
5:03ELOP: Mrs. Kefford reported on an opportunity that Flanagan can have where teachers can teach in 8
week sections a class of their choosing. Any student can sign up to take these classes
at a relatively low cost. Money will go into Flanagan’s funds. Classes must have 12
students sign up in order to run. Ms. Cummins, a parent, motioned to allow Flanagan to be a partof ELOP, and Ms. Friedman seconded the motion. It passed unanimously.
5:08Review/Amend SAC By-Laws: Kristine Knapp, SAC Co-Chair, reported that changes to By-laws
were boxed and requested that SAC review the copies. Ms. Chandler motioned to
accept the By-laws, and Ms. Friedman seconded the motion. Motion passed
unanimously.
5:10Behavior Plan: Mrs. Kristine Knapp, SAC Co-Chair,reported that the CARE posters have
been posted throughout the campus. A special thanks goes to Henry Rose for making
them.
5:11New Business: Ms. Knapp thanked Ms. Chandler for sending out remind texts about SAC meetings.
5:12Meeting Adjournment: Ms. Friedman motioned to adjourn and Ms. Pena seconded it. Motioned
passed unanimously.