RDLS PTSO Meeting 12/18/2012

Post date: Dec 19, 2012 5:41:22 PM

RDLS PTSO Meeting 12/18/2012

Financials

1. PTSO Board approved fund requests for:

· $500 Projector for classroom support

· $600 Art Supplies for Sra. Krause

2. Family Fun Night recap

· Grossed over $1400, and after expenses we cleared $700 for the fundraiser for the Art Supplies

· Worked best to announce where the fundraiser proceeds were put to use

· Great feedback which created more of a buy in from our community – people were happy to help

Guest Speaker

3. Brian Zambreno - Middle School Transition

· Principal Zambreno met with the RDLS students last week and was pleased with the amount of excitement our students have for moving on to the next level.

· School day runs from 8:05am – 2:40pm

· Logistics - Looking at 300 sixth graders spread out over 12 teachers. Keeping class size manageable is important at this grade level.

· Kids will be grouped into Teams and within that Team are clusters of GT kids or ESL kids

· Overview of parental support from Transition Team’s input helped to form structure

· Daily Student Core Schedule is called MESS – [Math, English, Science, Social Studies and SMART]. Currently these will be the required courses. Looking at options for SMART. Students will also have the opportunity to take 2 elective courses.

· Juan Figueroa will teach 6th grade Social Studies in Spanish which will be Core.

· Spanish Language Arts will be another offering in Spanish – this count as one of the Electives.

· There will also be electives/exploratory such as GT, Band, Choir, Art, etc.

· Immersion Commitment will be needed from parents to continue with program. This is needed for curriculum planning, space planning, resource planning, etc. Look for a document coming in February

· There is concern for students whose first language is not English. There will be literacy coaches and Language Arts coaches to assist the students with proficiency efforts.

· Common Core – Classes will all be taught in English with the exception of Social Studies.

· Math curriculum is broken down into different paths based on the student’s ability [Algebra, Geometry, etc.]. Math placement will be based on a number of different factors [MCAs, Test Scores, achievement gaps, etc.]

· Look for coming information on Sixth Grade orientation night

· Incoming Sixth Graders will have the opportunity to tour the school in the upcoming months

· Staff is very welcoming – many already have two language proficiency and teams are already looking at ideas to blend this into mix

Regular Business

4. Cindy Byrnes – Reading specialist

· Presented tips on reading with your children at home – stressing Spanish for English speakers

· Any type of readying you can do at will help with both languages. If the children read in Spanish, ask questions in English. This will help with their understanding of the story content.

· Develop a consistent routine, special place, for a consistent amount of time – at least 20 minutes – these are keys to developing a strong reader.

· The Seven Keys to Comprehension by Susan Zimmerman is a great resource for parents to help support their children’s literacy efforts. Here is a link to the PDF http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CEAQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.readinglady.com%2Fmosaic%2Ftools%2F7%2520Keys%2520Parent%2520Handout%2520from%2520Sandi.doc&ei=TvrRUIaPB8iErQHfwIGwCA&usg=AFQjCNEg8ucGwvq7afaPF-9NPVfipMTYJg&bvm=bv.1355534169,d.aWM

o Create mental images

o Use background knowledge

o Ask questions

o Make inferences

o Determine the most important ideas or themes

o Synthesize information

o Use fix up strategies

· If children are reluctant readers in a second language, bring down the reading level so they build confidence in their reading. Their confidence and reading efforts will grow.

5. 5th grade t-shirt proposal

· Graduation shirt/commemorative shirt for the graduating fifth graders.

· This would be a gift to each of the fifth graders – we don’t want this to be cost prohibitive to any family.

· More discussion is needed on funding and costs

6. Announcements

· Sra. Marta has stressed the importance of all school visitors first checking in at the office when they come to the school. This includes parents who simply want to drop off a lunch, boots, books, etc. The school staff is doing all they can to keep our school safe.

7. Read-a-thon Preview

· Tabled for next meeting

8. Next Family Fun Night

· Tabled for next meeting

9. Next Meeting scheduled for January 22nd, 2012. Hope to see you there.