SIT Meeting – Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Meeting called to order at 3:35 pm
Meeting opened by Mrs. Venessa Betancourt, Principal. She welcomed all present for the inaugural
meeting of the 2015-2016 school year.
All those present introduced themselves, and their role as part of SIT and part of Hernando.
Present:
Venessa Betancourt - Principal
Patricia Pedroza – ELAR & SS. SCEI
Amanda Bechtel – 8th Grade Exploring Careers – CTE Department Rep.
Rafael Hernando –Community Member
Daisy Newport – 7th Grade Texas History, Campus EPAC Rep.
Raul Gamez – 8th Grade US History – SS Department Rep.
Mandy Porras- 8th Grade ELAR – ELAR Department Rep., SIT Secretary
Sara Castillo – Counselor
Seiglinde Fleenor- Assistant Principal
Cathy Dixon – Band Director – Fine Arts Department Rep.
Jaclyn Anaya- 8th Grade Science – Science Department Rep.
Sergio Jaurrieta – District Representative
Erica Torres – 6th Grade ELAR – EPAC Alternate Rep.
Eddie Lopez – Coach – Physical Education Department Rep, Campus Athletic Coordinator
Blanca Chan – 6th Grade ELAR, ESL Lab 6-8,7th grade AVID, Campus AVID Coordinator
Alex Erales – Parent, Community Business Partner
Sonia Baez-Morales – Librarian, APYN Coordinator, UIL Coordinator
Eduardo Flores – 7th Grade Math, Math Department Rep.
After introductions committee follow along with a PowerPoint, reviewing SIT Roles and Responsibilities.
It is important that all stakeholders know that
1. Anyone in the campus is invited to participate in SIT Meetings
2. SIT is the decision making body for Hernando, and so having input to what will be happening
at Hernando is important, and the more communication and feedback the better.
3. Be an active advocate for your department, or club, especially in the area of wanting to
make changes, start new initiatives, or wanting funding for resources
There will be a slight change to when SIT meetings are held. Due to EPAC dates changing, and needing
to occur before SIT; meetings will now be held the last Tuesday of the month. This will also affect
Faculty meetings, which will now be held the 3rd Wednesday of every month.
Next SIT meeting will be September 22, 2015.
Slides on SIT meeting committee requirements reviewed.
Next the Title 1 Components of the CIP were reviewed.
All SIT members should familiarize themselves with the Campus Improvement Plan (CIP). It is a “living
document” that will outline Hernando’s plan for campus improvement and strategic direction.
All members of the committee took turns reading each of the 10 CIP components and Mrs. Betancourt
elaborated on each point.
For example, under Component 1: Comprehensive Needs Assessment – Mrs. Betancourt has asked
David Akers – IT Department to organize an inventory of the campus technology and gauge where the
need for technology improvement lies. This will then assist in judging what needs to be allocated in the
budget to meet the needs of staying 21stCcentury Learner ready and complaint. Is there the need to buy
new tech, or upgrade tech systems already in place to improve functionality and access?
As the elaboration of each component continued some key points that are important and need to be
addressed are:
o
o
o
o
o
Increasing parent involvement, mentoring opportunities for them in helping their
children and their learning. Some ways would be through Parent Nights, Coffee with the
principal, etc...
Campus is doing targeted intervention for highly at-risk student. I.E. – SCEI’s will have 20
students each that they will closely follow.
 Kudos – Hernando has always done a great job at helping our kids move
towards improvement and success.
Budget money allocation should be purposeful in supplementing education.
Communication should be transparent all across the campus. Department
representatives should share SIT discussions with department members. Feedback is
critical, and then those points should be brought back when SIT next convenes.
We should be strategic in how items are rolled out to the campus, so that all are
receptive and excited about campus initiatives.
Opened to questions regarding components – None.
Agenda items were next brought to order.
Agenda Item – Direction 1 – Safe and Supportive Schools
Safety, Olweus, Progress Reports, CHAMPS
Mrs. Fleenor spoke on :
Safety
1. Our Safety Gate for Evacuations at the end of the football field has finally arrived.
2. The campus is on track with the drills. The District wants to minimize interruption of instruction
and so all drills will be conducted by the end of September. This is not inclusive of the
mandatory monthly fire drills.
Olweus
1. We have just had our 3rd week of Olweus class meetings
2. The Olweus Committee has been formed and will be meeting soon to discuss the Olweus Kickoff Rally. Date to be announced.
Progress Reports
1. Presently our campus has 14% of the faculty that have 10% or more of students failing. If a
teacher has 10% or more of their student population failing, they must complete an intervention
plan for each individual student. Teachers need to look carefully at grades and identify patterns
of what could be going on with that student.
2. Teachers need to keep up with Eduphoria documentation. Develop a game plan for
intervention, get parents on your side, and if you cannot reach parents, contact Admin for
assistance. Communication is paramount. There is no budging on this.
Mrs. Castillo spoke on:
CHAMPS – it will be taking the place of what was once Monday Mentoring. It is much like the program
in that it will have Admin and counselor mentoring at-risk students. Students will meet with their
CHAMP mentor weekly. Meetings will take place during the day as opposed to after school with the
previous Monday Mentoring. They are asking for volunteers to mentor even just one student.
Arrangements can be made to allocate for meeting time during the day.
Mentoring will be more personalized. It is meant to be a refreshing and awakening experience for the
student. To start the 10 students who were retained will be the first to be mentored, and more will be
added. It is more about the quality of the mentorship and not the mass quantities. Also, CHAMPS is not
about looking at the past mistakes a student has made, but looking forward to the successes they will
attain.
Agenda Item – Direction 2 – College and Career Readiness
Mrs. Chan spoke on:
AVID
This year AVID is looking to get parents more involved in the program. I.E. – the bulletin board contest.
Parents looked at TEKS and judged boards on the content of the work posted, rather than the
presentation.
Parents were also involved in the interview process for hiring more AVID tutors.
AVID will be taking a fieldtrip to Freemont Mac-Moran Refinery. The goal is to have especially the
female students see and meet female engineers.
AVID will vigorous work on fundraising this year for all ancillary activities, such as field trips. They need
funds!
AVID needs to have 3 tutors and so hopefully soon that will all be in place.
EPISD has visited Hernando twice. They are impressed with Hernando and the degree of
implementation of AVID in such a short time.
Mrs. Castillo spoke on:
Theme – Oh the Places You’ll Go
Classroom presentations will begin soon. Mrs. Castillo commented on how wonderful and welcoming
teachers are in allowing the presentations to happen. Through the theme and the content of the book,
all strands of CCR will be covered in all grade levels, especially for the 8th grade students.
Mrs. Betancourt spoke on:
THRIVE
This is a new digital curriculum being piloted. Hernando was selected for being one of the top campuses
in the District. It is being piloted through Math and Science.
It does not replace teaching, but supports the technology plan for our learners.
Agenda Item – Direction 3 – Highly Qualified Teachers
Mrs. Betancourt spoke on:
Staff Development
1.
Professional development is critical to teacher improvement and thus trickling down the
learning to the benefit of the students. Make requests for staff development on and off
campus. Make sure that it will be relevant and purposeful.
SIOP
1. The goal is for 100% of the campus to be SIOP trained. New staff will be signed up to attend
training soon.
** Additionally there are also plans to have 100% of teachers trained for Stetson, and AVID. This
year funds have been set to send 10 more teachers to AVID.
Agenda Item – Direction 4 – Parent and Community/Business Relationships
Mrs. Sandoval not present for meeting.
Mrs. Betancourt spoke on
Visibility/ Parental Involvement
1.
Mrs. Betancourt has made it a point to attend as many school functions as possible. She
wants parents and other community stakeholders to know that communication and
transparency is key to building strong relationships of trust and support.
2. PTA is starting off strong. There are experienced parents who are part of Hernando PTA and
they want great things to happen for the students of Hernando.
3. Teachers are encouraged to join PTA. Meeting attendance is not required, but just joining
and paying dues helps the organization.
Calendar
1. Information transfer is important for parents. The calendar should contain event information
that is relevant to parents and students.
2. Mrs. Porras brought up about additionally creating a calendar that addresses school specific
events relevant to teachers. Tweaks will be made to meet this need.
3. Mrs. Betancourt additionally encouraged the creation of a Sunshine Club or Fisherman’s club to
celebrate staff, help in times of need and so on. Building “family” is also crucial to Hernando.
4. Mrs. Porras additionally brought up Cavalier Pride awards. Mrs. Castillo gave an overview of
how it was run. Mrs. Betancourt liked the idea of reviving this method of student recognition.
5. Kudo cards will continue. Staff will select two students to send cards home, praising hard work
and improvement.
Agenda Item – Direction 5 – Accountability for ALL
Mrs. Betancourt spoke on:
Gradebooks
1. Grades need to be posted in Tyler and for students and parents to see all the time. Teacher
should be posting updated grade reports in their room weekly.
2. As professionals we need to be reflective of how we want our students to know where they are
and so constant communication is a must.
3. Document parent contact the moment a student’s grades fall below a 70%.
4. Use Eduphoria to not only document parent contact, but also to document interventions that
have been done. I.e. lunch tutorials, after school tutoring, etc…
At-Risk
1.
Information on calendar and documentation will be forthcoming. Mrs. Betancourt expects it
will be discussed at the Leadership meeting on 8/20.
Mrs. Castillo spoke on:
504
1. There are LOTS of 504’s this year!
2. Thus far there are 30 meetings scheduled for August and September.
3. All teachers will need to sign a Meeting Consent form. On this form teachers will select
either the option of voluntarily attending 504 meetings during planning time, or choosing to
not attend meetings during planning time and thus being available to attend meetings after
school.
4. Feedback forms must be filled out by all teachers who serve a 504 student. They are critical
to the success of the meeting and setting into place the best accommodations for that
student.
Floor opened to new business or questions.
No new topics for discussion.
Thanks to Mr. Erales for bringing snacks for all SIT members. You are very appreciated!
Meeting adjourned by Mrs. Betancourt at 4:50pm