SDMC Agenda
December 14, 2015
HISD Global Graduate
I. Call to order
II. Roll Call – Establish Quorum – Roberts, Garcia, Liu, Deggs, Brown,
SDMC Meeting Norm
Simpson, Penn
• Be on Time
III. Adoption of Agenda - Adopted
IV. Approval of Minutes – November 2, 2015 - Adopted
• Be Efficient (1 hr)
V. Agenda Items
• Stay on Topic
1. Middle School Curriculum Update
• Mutual Respect
a. Electives ideas
• Be Transparent
i. What about Martial Arts? Mr. Deggs suggested that
would be a good tie-in to our program and it
incorporates health, culture, physical fitness, language, character education. Ms.
Simpson mentioned that it’s also co-ed.
ii. Interior Design - Suggested by Ms. Liu, maybe part of life skills
iii. Choir – suggested by Mr. Deggs
iv. Media – suggested by Dr. Penn
v. Yearbook, Newspaper – suggested by Maggie Brown – combination of digital
design, photography
vi. Ms. Simpson asked about certification requirements for middle school electives
teachers.
vii. Brown and Simpson – Maybe it can be 5th/6th it is more exploratory in nine weeks
cycles. In 7th/8th grade, students can have more choice and go into more depth
viii. Dr. Penn asked if our current track will retain our current students (5th graders)?
Maggie feels some who may want to leave are leaving for reasons other than what
we could address through specific course offerings.
b. Sports – UIL Basketball and Cross-Country
i. Can teams be sponsored? Mr. Deggs got sponsorships for a soccer league he
created between several HISD schools that fed into Jane Long.
ii. Mr. Deggs asked about adding Track and Field. That would give us a sport for
each season.
iii. Ms. Simpson asked how will they be paid for? Student fees?
2. PAT Update
a. Everything is on track for Summer move-in.
b. Ms. Simpson – What will the new money mean for our school?
c. Mr. Deggs expressed grave concern about sharing elementary and middle school PE
spaces.
3. Safety Council Meeting
a. results of fire & safety inspection
b. monthly fire drill
6300 Avenue B, Bellaire, Texas 77401
mclims.org
Phone: (713) 295-5276
Fax: (713) 662-3527
c. front gate maintenance
d. storage on the stage
e. Garcia
i. A parent came to me about the restrooms, wanting to put up signs about being
more clean. The restrooms can be filthy. Can a parent make signs in English and
Chinese? Is it something parents need to reinforce at home?
1. Liu – The restroom is dirty. I’m not sure how many times they don’t put
the toilet paper in.
2. Deggs – That’s a district-wide issue. Mr. Doucet has to borrow stuff from
other schools.
3. Garcia – We’re having to buy materials with our own school budget.
4. Penn – Are the levels adjusted to our current enrollment? Garcia says yes,
but its just that they’re not sending anything.
VI. Teacher Representative
a. Simpson – A parent asked that for parents with multiple children, she would like to see a
universal homework routine. E.g., a weekly packet assigned on Friday, due the next Friday.
Pre-K and K would be exempt because of developmental differences
i. Ms. Liu – I think there’s differences between kids and differences between parents.
There’s a lot of variety of preferences. I wouldn’t want it to be inflexible.
ii. Brown – As a parent with multiples, there are differences. Some level of
standardization would be good. How many minutes per grade level, etc. Not
necessarily decrease as they get older.
iii. Deggs, Simpson, Penn, Brown – If there are clear standrds and goals, then a good
level of standardiztion might follow. E.g., do we expect writing? Then there would
naturally be writing work.
iv. Ms. Liu would be okay with some standardization—e.g., all kids should be able write
all of the high frequency Chinese words.
b. Liu – A parent mentioned wanting to leave due to inconcsistencies between grade levels.
i. Simpson – The teams should be sending home the same packets, etc.
ii. Liu – The academic expectations are not consistent.
iii. Brown – Teachers don’t necessarily have consistency with assessment regimen, etc.
iv. Liu – Maybe we need to set up assessments to a similar way. How do we test
speaking, listening, writing, etc. That would need to be a PLC conversation with
Chinese teachers.
VII. Parent Representative
a. Penn – How was attendance on the week of Thanksgiving?
i. Deggs – The district had data showing district-wide decrease in attendance on week
of Thanksgiving. He thinks there’s talk of changing the caldenar
ii. Penn – It would be great to not have school that week.
VIII. Open Forum
IX. Proposal for next meeting (Next Meeting Date: Jan 11, 2016)
VII. Adjourn
6300 Avenue B, Bellaire, Texas 77401
mclims.org
Phone: (713) 295-5276
Fax: (713) 662-3527