Minutes for 07/09/2008

SLT Meeting

July 9, 2008 

In attendance:

José Maldonado, School Principal

Miriam Hubbard, Parent Association president 

SLT members

Candy Gulko

Damaris Padilla

Adam Stern 

SLT non-member parents

Eve Cagan

Lisa Peters 

DOE budget cuts and impact on CSS  

Academic pressure

--It was noted to some SLT members by CSS parents that some children who were not at the top of the academic rung felt the impact of academic pressure in the past year and would like more support to be provided to their children, who are in the middle range

--SLT members felt this was a good idea

--Jose noted more support resources had be provided in the past year to children who were struggling

--Candy mentioned a psychology testing center at Teacher’s College that could help kids who are not

      succeeding

--Jose felt it was better to use core faculty to identify children needing help and to provide them with

      the help needed

--Jose noted that the need for recognition of progress and niche categories had been established with

      additional awards, given at the awards’ ceremony

--Candy stated belief that it would be great if CSS was able to help each kid reach his/her potential

--Damaris noted that there needs to be distinction as to whether a child is having a problem or whether

      he or she is just having a temporary problem, like not getting an assignment handed in

--Jose mentioned that children have crossed the Rubicon on power and authority as they are able to

      bring teachers and even the principal to a hearing if they feel there has been an injustice  

Advisory system

--Discussion was held as to whether to or how to systematize the advisory system

--Jose noted that Dana Ligoki, ELA teacher for 7^th grade, will be playing a quasi-administrative role,

      working with class leaders Chance Nalley and Meredith Hill to develop the advisory program

--Adam wondered whether the teachers assigning homework and getting it back were instructed to say

      if a child was doing better or worse and if they were supposed to address issues of behavior and

      sloppiness

--Jose noted that an institutional agreement was instated in the first semester, that children would be

      given opportunities to redo everything, but that it was the prerogative of faculty members to

inform them of this.  This was done to greater and lesser extents by different teachers 

--Adam wondered whether parents should be taken out of the loop so that the kids would take

      responsibility

--Lisa asked whether a policy could be established by each teacher and put on the web, so as to indicate

      how grading would be done and what the consequences were of certain levels of work

--Jose agreed that the homework penalty had been implemented unevenly, despite the fact that there

      was an institutional policy and this was not a teacher’s prerogative

--Damaris mentioned that each teacher might want to have his/her own policy

--Adam thought that it would be helpful for kids receiving lower grades to know what is expected early

      in the term so as to bring their grades up if possible

--Candy mentioned that learning should be the focus for the students and that they should be inspired

      to do an assignment well for its own sake, that this was part of being educated to be a good

      student

--Jose noted that what is surprising is that almost all of the kids know what it means to do well and are

      not confused about the rubric, but that they don’t necessarily allocate their time realistically

--Eve was concerned about an incentive system that focuses around grades that a striving for

      grades could interfere with developing a love of learning

--Adam expressed the view that everything the children are taught has the potential to be inspiring and

      that getting grades is part of life

--Eve felt that a motivation system focused on grades might not be the best way for children to reach

      their potential

--Jose felt that CSS had attempted a balance between carrot and stick approaches and felt that the

school was trying to get it right with incentives for kids, implemented based on Jose’s experience with the advice of Meredith and Chance 

Enrichment

--Jose reported the plan to add two more enrichment programs: a chess club and team and a

      field biology based club with camping trips built into it

--Other enrichment to be kept: astrophysics, robotics, architecture 

Outreach to Spanish-speaking families

Jose: CSS has hired a Puerto-Rican teacher as well as a newspaper reporter in Puerto Rico 

Library

Columbia will be providing CSS with access to its library system 

Safety at CSS

--There have been a few incidents in the cafeteria involving children from PS 125

--It was noted that changes were made to reduce  crowding in the cafeteria , including migrating

childrens’ lunches by fifteen minutes and sending children down in groups when the lines were down