SANTA MONICA HIGH SCHOOL PTSA
MINUTES OF ASSOCIATION MEETING NOVEMBER 18, 2003
SAMOHI CAFETERIA
ASB representative Keisha Rom is on the Environmental Affairs Council of ASB. They have worked with Judi Bloom and Bonnie Freeman to obtain recycle bins and have placed these bins on campus. Six organizations will be able to obtain funds that are received from the recycled items. Each group of students will have an opportunity to take the recycled items to the transfer station. The ASB Environmental Affairs Committee is dedicated to bringing environmental issues to the campus.
Cheri Orgel introduced Barry Snell, Co-President of the AAPSSSG. They will be holding a Kwanza event for the school. There are 7 principles observed during Kwansa and the AAPSSSG is asking each of the houses to take on one of the principles while the parents of their organization will assume the 7th principle. The event will be held Dec.13, 1-4 P.M.
We want to thank a student member of Running With Speakers, Chyan, for helping at the meeting.
Esperanza Caballero, representing SOL/BAC announced they are having a PotLuck Dinner on Nov. 24th, in the Cafeteria at 7PM. The topic for that evening will be "How to Strengthen Relationships".
Site Governance just completed their monthly meeting and PTSA representative, Janine Avner reported that there was no quorum. The Site Plan will be introduced and discussed at the next meeting. The final plan will be presented to the District in January. They are also discussing the High Places Survey and security cameras on campus. Site Governance will be speaking with Mr. Runyon, the principal responsible for campus security, and obtaining price estimates. Their next meeting will be on Dec. 16, 5-7PM.
Ed Foundation representative, Amy Van Pelt, announced the sale of Holiday Cards. The profits will be directed to "For The Arts". She also reported on the "Technology for All" funding program, which refurbishes computers for students who need them. Jack Casey of the Olympic School heads this project. The Ed Foundation provides academic grants, including 19 grants to Samohi teachers in the past two years. Students in the lower grades sell the raffle tickets that raise money for the Ed Foundation.
The minutes from the October Association meeting were pre-approved by committee.
Kim Eyler, Financial Secretary, reported that the account balance is $102,524.21. The expenses for the month were reimbursements for teachers, the cost of mailing of the first six-week progress reports and the College Fair. The Treasurer's Report has been filed as reported.
Louise Jaffe called our attention to the banners that are being displayed around school campuses and other district buildings thanking the community for passing Measure S last June and to the City for adding $2.5 million to the school district. She asked all parents to write to the City Council and the local newspapers to thank the community. The city will start the budget process soon with a review in December and calling for public input in January.
Denise Mesuro announced the Frozen Turkey Drive would be held Friday, November 21, 7-8:30 AM. There will be bins for the drop-off at 4 of the school gates and she needs volunteers to help receive the turkeys at each of the bins. The turkeys will be cooked for a Westside Dinner on Thanksgiving, November 27 which will be held at the Civic Auditorium for low-income families.
Inese Verzemnieks, Chair of the Bathroom Task Force, announced there will be a work day on Dec. 6 in the Girl's Bathroom in "O" House, located in the History Building and for the Boy's Bathroom in M House.
Jackie Pratt, parent of "A" House, reported that a student survey indicated that the #1 problem is the bathrooms. They have been working on improvements to the two bathrooms in the Science Building. The parents have added some artwork and a chair in the girl's room. She added that we must make sure we have adequate supplies.
Cheri Orgel provided an update on the parking situation around the campus. Many of the streets have permit parking and the neighbors on 9th street are requesting permit parking on both sides of that street. The City Council will bring this up on their agenda soon. Please watch for date and time notices on this issue. The District Website has posted the new gift policy proposal. The goal is to create equity for all the schools.
Cheri Orgel introduced the panel of guests for the evening.
Rosa Serratore, represented the Algebra/Biology block of classes. In each house there is a team of teachers that teaches Algebra for 90 minutes and then the same group of students has a Biology class for 90 minutes. The students have been selected for this block, because it was determined that they required extra help in these two classes. She is very thankful for the funding that is providing for this sequence of classes.
Kathy Mc Taggart, Psychological and Social Services noted that parents of adolescents send their students to school to be learners, but the students bring their social and emotional life with them. The brain of the adolescent is different than the adult brain. Adolescents have a growth spurt and they have to mediate between their emotional and logical thinking. This is a complex time of their lives and they may need other kinds of support. The School District and the City has a set of community programs available to them, including educational support. There is counseling provided by Jewish Family Services, which provides a large range of help to deal with all of their stress. The Alliance Program addresses children with multiple problems. There is a teen parenting program, that works to keep the teen parents engaged in school at the same time they are gaining parenting skills. They are here to help all students. Cheri Orgel added that a flyer explaining these services is being translated into Spanish.
Mary Kay McCray, a Regional Occupational Center counselor, explained what ROP is all about with a power point presentation. The students involved in this program get hands-on experience. The program provided student comments. ROP classes will be listed in the Course Catalog that will soon be mailed to all Samohi 9-11 grade families as well as families of incoming 8th grade students.
Tere Viramontes-Gutierrez, Bi-lingual Community Liaison, who works in the Parent Center, has been with Samohi for 10 years. Each of the schools that have an ELD (English) program has another program to connect with as many families as possible. The goal is to build a sense of community and trust and then to move on to look at a bigger campus picture. The Parent Center tries to make a personal connection with families and the focus has been on students that have below a 2.0 GPA. There are five Latino and five African American parent advocate mentors that have held three parent meetings. These meetings are to share ideas with parents, students and the Administration. At this time some parents don't react or respond and there is lots more to do.
Dr. Mark Kelly represented the AP and Honors programs that offer qualitatively different courses. The success rate of the students in these classes places Samohi as number 165 out of the top 700 schools nationwide. The AP classes are aligned to College Board curriculum and the AP exams are taken in May. A student successfully passes the course with a grade of 3, 4 or 5. These classes may give the students advance standing in college. There are 9th and 10th grade English HP classes and 11th and 12th grade English AP classes that provide greater depth in composition and literature. The Math AP classes include Calculus and Statistics and there are honors Pre-Calculus and Intermediate Algebra and Geometry classes. The Science Department provides AP classes in Marine Biology, Biology, Chemistry and Physics. There are AP U.S. History Classes for 11th grade students and AP Government and Economics classes for 12th grade students. Although the advanced French class is not aligned to the college curriculum the students can take the AP exam. There is a German 5 course, an AP Japanese 4 course and there may be an advanced course in Latin. The Art AP students prepare a portfolio for review. These courses help students when applying to colleges, by sometimes providing extra credit. Samohi does not give extra weight toward the GPA for the AP classes, but some colleges and universities do. There is always a question of how many AP classes is the right number to take. Students should look at their individual past experiences, to evaluate what they can handle and what schedule they can be successful in. Some questions about AP classes and the AP program can be answered at CollegeBoard.com. The AP exam can be taken without taking the class. Dr. Kelly encourages those students enrolled in the courses to take the exam. There are also Concurrent/Dual Enrollment classes. Santa Monica College offered some classes at Samohi and the students received credit at both schools; however this program has been temporarily discontinued. Students can also take college classes outside of Samohi, including summer classes. The students should speak to their advisor about taking these college classes.
Leslie Wells spoke for AVID, which is Advancement Via Individual Determination. It is designed to help students in an accredited program for three years. The students get consideration points on their college applications. They are often students in the middle of the school population and are first generation in their family to go to college. This is a curriculum based on writing to supplement what is provided at school. The classes are given two days a week and on two of the other days there are collaborative study teams. These teams work in small groups where students ask each other questions, and then work step by step to find the answers. This will also provide skills they will need in college. Friday is enrichment time for team building and often has speakers or visitors. The students are provided opportunities to visit colleges and universities. The classes are not remedial and are more than the tutorial classes provide. The students are taught to take notes according to the Cornell System and there are workshops in the Spring to help seniors fill out financial aid forms.
Wendy Wax Gellis, of Literacy, Intervention and Tutoring, described the Literacy classes offered in each house. These classes have a small teacher/student ratio for 9th and 10th grade students and are designed to help students navigate through the classroom. Xinachtli is tutoring provided by UCLA students each Tuesday and Thursday afternoon in the Tech Building, room 212, to help students who are struggling in a specific class. There is AP tutoring in Calculus, English and History. Mr. Orloff provides Math tutoring in H200. The houses are developing plans for intervention and the school has received a grant for funding intervention. Right now the houses are gathering ideas for students in need. There have been meetings for families of students receiving D and F grades. The idea is to reach families and ask what we can do for these students. Chris Thornton provided a list of parents who have offered to give tutoring. Parents are asked to e-mail any ideas.
Librarian, Dana Bart-Bell thanked the PTSA for the help they have provided. She hopes to obtain the funding to get the additional time back to have the library open from 7:30-5:00. It currently closes at 4PM The library provides access help, computers, books and other resources and services, such as book recommendations. They will have AP class links. There is a quiet side of the library and a group study area. Students can purchase books from the discard pile. AP Students can get a UCLA library card. The library has P.Cs and MACs, two digital cameras, color printers and copiers. There are on-line library catalogues and on-line availability to databases that provides information not available on the Internet. Passwords are given to students and families to use off-campus to access the databases. Students who do not know how to research information, can get help at the library. Co-President Louise Jaffe commented that she hopes the fundraising goes well and that the PTSA can help to expand the library hours.
In response to a question from a parent regarding membership to AVID, although AVID is not only for students of color, it is for the under-represented students and they will take any student that qualifies.
Another parent asked why students sometimes must take courses at other places that are not offered at Samohi. Dr. Kelly responded that classes with smaller enrollment are not offered during all six periods and this may limit students from taking the particular class at Samohi. It is difficult to determine when to hold these classes to have maximum participation.
Louise Jaffe thanked the panel for their participation.
Dr. Ilene Straus noted that students don't know about all the services that are offered at the school and this meeting hopefully explained these services to the parents. She announced that the following Wednesday would have an early dismissal at 1:05 PM instead of a late start. Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond will be speaking at the school. She is a published expert in small schools within a large school to make a larger high school better for our students. There will be a meeting with the principals and teacher leaders, a reception at 1:30 and then the meeting with the parents. While trying to build the smaller autonomous schools we are also trying to offer the larger spectrum of a large school. Dr. Darling-Hammond has been invited to speak at the point of the first 100 Days of redesign. Dr. Straus thinks the first quarter of the school year has been successful and hopes that Dr. Darling-Hammond's visit will validate our work.
In December, data will be published that AP scores have increased every year. More students are taking these classes and they are doing better in the courses. Considering the diversity of our school, it is amazing that we rank 165th out of the top 700 US schools.
The houses meet twice each month to provide professional development. The houses are developing ways to work better and to create an intervention plan for each house. We have received a $166,000 grant per year, for three years for professional development and intervention. The administration is looking at the best ways to use this funding. Although the houses are providing smaller units, they are still big. The maximum population would be 600 students per house and we are currently at 575. The question is, can we make enough of a difference? The administration will be watching attendance, grades and other long-range measures.
Maryanne Solomon has updated the school website and she is welcoming any ideas. The administration has been looking at security cameras, even though there is currently no funding for them. The school may receive a donation for this purpose. Hopefully there will be less vandalism with the cameras. Part of the discussion is whether the cameras will be used only after hours or during the day also. There will be a Blood Drive next week and Club Day is next Friday. Students are encouraged to join the clubs. There are a few teachers on maternity leave and Dr. Straus is continuing to interview for substitute teachers to provide consistency and stability in the classrooms. Part of the "No Child Left Behind" national government program includes a requirement for information about students to be provided to the military services. A new disclosure form will be published for parents to complete which will waive this information to be provided. If the parent signs the waiver form, the names and other information will not be released.
Co-President Cheri Orgel adjourned the meeting at 8:45 PM.
Respectfully submitted by,
Helene Phipps
Co-recording Secretary