Parent Group Notes - September 2007
Submitted by Barbara Wohlforth
Parent Group Meeting Notes for 9/26/07 are now available on this website.
NEXT PARENT GROUP MEETING: OCT. 24
The first meeting of the year started with introductions and description of purpose.
Principal’s Report: Karin Parker
- This year there will be a quarterly All Community Meeting which will be used to further goals from last year, and begin the work involved in the Northwest Accreditation process.
- We are looking at parents who can attend the CES conference (November 7-8). The selected parent will be responsible for facilitating discussions and reporting to Steller groups. The deadline for applying is Oct. 5th
- The Advisory Group schedule change, which was discussed last year, has been implemented. The goal was to allow all students to attend at least some of the meetings, regardless of their scheduled activities. The meetings are now rotated through the periods each Monday. This allows input, which Advisory Group representatives can bring to the Op Group Meetings at lunchtime on Thursdays.
Treasurer’s Report: Mary Tanner
- So far this year there have been donations from 67 families, for $4,755.00. 458 families are registered for Escript, which brings in a 1-4% rebate on purchases made with a Carr’s card. A family can change their account when they move to a new school.
- Mary Tanner is spearheading a raffle for new car, in cooperation with Holy Rosary school. There is no cost to Steller, but there is a $10.00 share for each $20.00 ticket we sell. The car is on display at 5th Ave. mall. The drawing is 28th of December.
- Expenditures so far this year have been $73.00 for printing the directory, and $289.00 for the Back to School Barbeque.
Staff Report: Larry Nevada
- Staff is hoping to get funding for a full time tech support position. There is also a need for more printers, projectors. The WiFi system is up, and accessible throughout the building. It is password protected. See Larry if you need to know the password.
- Jack and Bob are coordinating the Coalition of Essential Schools (CES) trip. Donations of Ak Airlines miles are needed from parents. Funds for the trip will also come from the school’s Alternative Fund. Conference registration for each representative is $340.00 per adult and $100.00 per student, and airfare will be $540.00.
- Staff is priming for Northwest Accreditation, which is a self-evaluation and goal setting process. A site based team who will be visiting.
Old Business
- Thanks to Teresa Scott and other parent volunteers, the 2007//2008 Student Directory has been distributed to the Steller community. There are about 10% of the Steller families missing because they did not turn in their paperwork. Teresa has created a system for updating the directory easily each year.
New Business
- Ingrid Parish is requesting a parent volunteer to help with the Steller auction, which will be on Feb. 29. Parents can help by donating auction items and helping solicit donations from businesses.
- The day and times for this year’s Parent Group Meetings were agreed on. Meetings will be on the last Wednesday of each month (except for October because of Halloween), from 5:30-7:00
October 24, 2007
November 28, 2007
December 19, 2007 - Web site- Report from Sonda Juliussen. Parent Group is funding the new Steller Community website, which is replacing “The Flash.” Parents must be registered to get updates on email. The website address is http://www.stellerschool712.org
- Contacts for information or help are Larry Nevada (teacher), Sonda Juliussen (parent), or Tony Glavinic (student).
- To submit an item to the website email it to: webmaster@stellerschool712.org
- The 2007/2008 Parent Group Budget was approved.
- There was a discussion about the school report card mailed to parents this week. Karin Parker made clarifications about the scores and explained why Steller’s scores may have gone down in this year’s report, which included a change in the test provider, longer test periods, and higher “cuts” in how many points a student needs to be proficient or not proficient.
- There was a discussion of recent trouble in the computer lab, which has resulted in the lab being closed to students other than during a class. Problems that have occurred included trash, drinks near the computers, rowdy behavior, and bullying by older students. Students have not stepped forward yet to find solutions, but Larry and Karin are open to ideas for getting the lab re-opened.
- The nurse needs donations of cup of soups, tuna & crackers, granola bars, juice boxes, spoons, forks, and cups.
- Karin is requesting parent help in creating an exchange program with a school in Germany which is also named after Wilhelm Steller.
- Elections were held for new Parent Group Officers.
Officers are:
Co-Chair - Cindy Ebelacker (cjames@ak.net)
Co-Chair - Peggy Cobey (peggysteve@acsalaska.net)
Treasurer- Mary Tanner (mstanner@gci.net)
Secretary - Cheryl Childers (hilmes_cheryl@asdk12.org)
Assist. Secretary - Barbara Wohlforth (wohlforth_barbara@asdk12.org) - Advisory Group Parent Representatives were elected at the September All Community Meeting. Parents can contact their representatives to discuss issues, but ALL parents are welcome to attend and participate in Ad Board meetings. The first Ad Board meeting will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 3, from
7:00-9:00. Correction: meeting begins at 5:30.
Representatives are:
Becky Harrison-Drake
Jean Ward
Leslie Gale
Kim Frensley
Patrick McGownd
Paula Cullenberg
Helen Howarth
Alternates Are:
Ken Winterberer
Elizabeth Grover
Michael Jungreis
Beth Rademaker
The first Parent Group meeting of the year was adjourned.