Morgan Elementary School
School Improvement Team Meeting
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
3:00 pm
 Welcome – Agenda
In attendance: Hayes, Nelson, Herrin, England, Spencer, Hauhuth, Vaughn,
Logan, S. Walker, Coates, Ingram, Coffield, Overby, Meyers
 School Improvement Plan review information
There are new assessments for SIT committees and a new Rubric for
Quality Assurance. Schools are required to have at least two goals but
Morgan has had four goals. Going forward we may reduce the number of
goals to two so the team can concentrate on two strong goals with specific
action steps.
 Academic concern referral process – IST vs. parent referral
There is concern that some teachers are encouraging parents to refer their
children for the IST process – the thinking being that it accelerates the
process. That is incorrect, as the process remains the same, but is more
compacted and can require meetings during the summer if initiated late in
the school year. If we as teachers are not recognizing the needs of our
students, then perhaps we aren’t looking closely enough at our students’
needs.
There is a cut-off date for testing by the end of the school year, but you
can begin the IST process before the end of the school year and it will then
carry over to be completed just after school begins the following fall.
 Supervision of students (morning, during instruction time, recess, dismissal)
Mr. Hayes and Ms. Ingram have noticed more classes being left alone while
teachers go to get coffee or make copies, for example. Children should not
be left alone at all and some teachers are good about asking a colleague to
watch their class while they use the restroom. If you must leave your
students, call the office and they will be happy to send someone to watch
your class for a few minutes while you leave the classroom.
 Technology purchase suggestions
 Requests and suggestions for Technology purchases were ranked from 1 – 5
(with one the highest priority) based on the level of interest shown on an
earlier staff the survey. Here are the rankings:
o Ipads 1.5
o Laptops 2.3
o ActivBoards for rooms without one 2.67
o Other: tech specialist on site, extra and faster wifi, subscriptions(such
as BrainPOP), Kindles, tablets, educational apps, and digital books 4.5
Spread the word among grade levels that we now have a defibrillator and it is
mounted in the main hallway near Mr. Hayes’ office. It’s in a white box and there
are verbal instructions on how to use it with the defibrillator.
 2015-16 schedule planning survey (DUE back to Mike by Friday, May 1)
A survey was given to each SIT grade rep. regarding scheduling feedback to
be used for next year. Each grade level will discuss what parts of this year’s
schedule worked well, which did not work as well, and suggestions for next
year.
 Grade level concerns
- the clocks in the cafeteria and the teachers’ lounge need to be
synchronized because they’re off by several minutes. Cornelia and Debbie
will adjust them.
- There are large bees around the orange slide on the playground. Can
something be done so no one gets stung? Mr. Hayes to look into getting
rid of the bees.
- There are problems with parents banging on the glass doors outside the
cafeteria so they can get in the school and pick their children up without
going through the pickup line. Students open the doors for them. Mr.
Hayes will put a note in the Morgan Flyer and do a telephone message to
remind the parents that the rules apply to everyone. We need to go back
to the rule of no pickups between 2:00 pm and dismissal time. Too many
parents come in during that time so they don’t have to wait in the pickup
line. The office gets swamped right before dismissal when they have to
call so many classrooms.
- The tables in the cafeteria are not always clean, especially the teachers’
table. It could be because some students eat there when they have silent
lunch. Mr. Hayes will address this issue.
- More communication is needed if a specials teacher is not going to be in
the building. Teachers are not finding out about the absence until after
specials begin. Cornelia mentioned that we don’t always find out about the
part time specialists, because they are based at Kimmel Farms and that is
the school where they would report their absence.
- Dismissal concerns – some classes are leaving way too early and crowding
the hallways. Everyone has to follow the plan and wait until their grade
is called before leaving the classroom. Mr. Hayes and Ms. Ingram will be
holding teachers accountable for leaving their classrooms early.
- Ms. Ingram still can’t understand why students are running through the
halls at dismissal talking loudly with no teacher in sight. All grades should
proceed through the hallways carefully and quietly, especially at dismissal
time.
- Mrs. Nelson, the PTA/parent SIT rep mentioned that some parents are
disappointed that there won’t be a Spring Musical this year. Mr. Hayes
explained that there are several reasons why there isn’t a spring
production. Third grade also mentioned that it is difficult for them to
work in time for the extra practices for the holiday musical. The time
commitment really impacts instruction time.
- Parents are coming to classrooms without scheduled appointments and
they’re interrupting instruction time. Parents should not be allowed to go
to a classroom unannounced unless they have a pre-arranged conference
or they are tutoring or volunteering. In one case, a first grade parent
roamed around upstairs so he could talk to his child’s guided reading
teacher. Parents should not be allowed in the hallway unless they have a
pre-arranged meeting scheduled. Teachers should be notified if a parent
is coming to their classroom.
- Duty free lunch – Is duty free lunch working out or is it hard to get your
children back under control after lunch? Should we consider different
solutions now that teachers don’t have to sit with their children every
day? Having just three adults in the cafeteria to supervise 12 tables of
students is difficult and many times one of the duty free helpers sits
down with the kids and doesn’t help supervise the children. Any
suggestions regarding duty free lunch for next year would be welcome.
- Teachers are still not leaving the lunchroom on time. The lunch schedule
is set up so no more than two classes arrive or depart at the same time.
If a class arrives late it makes the food lines longer, and if a class leaves
late it causes congestion around the tables and at the exit door.
Teachers should begin clean up several minutes prior to their departure
time so they can get out of the cafeteria before the next classes come in.