Update About El Sistema

Blythe SLT 02/02/12

Members Present: Gabby, Pope, Kolbenschlag, Stilwell, Cross, Itzhaki, Wolfe, Wattles, Thompson, Potter, Love

Update about El Sistema: Mrs Cross and Mrs Johanson have a meeting scheduled for February 9th with the representative from El Sistema. The consensus is that we plan to proceed with implementing El Sistema @ Blythe.

No Backpack Day: “A Place of Hope” is a program that supports people in Cameroon. A parent, Abong Fankam, is the founder of A Place of Hope. Her child Mongai Fankam is a student at Blythe. She came forward to her teacher, Mr.s Cross with an idea to reach out to the children of Cameroon. The day would be called “No Back Pack Day. The week of February 13th the kids would come and not use a backpack to carry their things. They can only use a plastic bag, to carry all their stuff to school, in order to build empathy. During that week we would collect school supplies (backpacks, pencils, crayons, notebooks) and donate them to A Place of Hope.Mrs. Crompton will draft a letter today to send out to Blythe families. There is a video clip that the SLT was able to view during our meeting. The video will also be viewed on morning announcements and will have a link on the school website for parents to access. www.placeofhopecamaroon.org No Back Pack Day Timeline  Letter – Feb 6th  No Backpack Day – Feb 13th  Collections – Feb 13-17th There is a possibly of offering another date to repeat this program: Mrs Wattles is retiring. There is a retirement party (sock-hop dance for families) planned (~June 1st) and Wattles said she wanted to link the party to collecting the same type of school supplies to support A Place of Hope.

SIP Updates Mrs Cross led a discussion about math and reading proficiency goals. She asked, from teachers, for ideas that are working. Ideas for how we’ve boosted our kid’s reading and math skills:  Extended Day Tutors started Monday  Tutors for students on borderline of scoring low  Book club for café  El Sestima  Radiant Life/Ardent Faith Church volunteers who are tutoring for Huntington Green students  MrsLabar – working with a specific group of 5th graders  Wells Fargo reading connection – they pay for all the books and came to read in Kolbenschlag’s room  Some teachers are seeking grants: to plant gardens, purchase reading materials, and update technology

Discussing Topics for SLT from Mrs. Johanson:(Discussion only. No decisions made)  Help parents transition from one grade level to the next (understanding expectations from one grade to the next). Possibly offer an Orientation  Make & Take event (Math & Reading/Curriculum) could include a meal and various stations 1. Teacher teams to choose what needs emphasizes 2. Some adults need assistance with literacy, math 3. There were challenges associated with how to plan this. Teachers already are over- taxed. Turnout for these events is always low. 4. Discussed curriculum night