WALKERTOWN HIGH SCHOOL
SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT TEAM MEETING
December 18, 2013
In Attendance: Mrs. Handy, Mr. Crews, Mrs. Starbuck, Ms. Carter, Mr. Hagmann, Mrs. Johnson,
Mrs. Watkins, Mrs. Higgins, Mrs. Koeslin, Mrs. Burgess, Mrs. Carespodi, Mr. Webster, Zach
Heavener, Dr. Jones, Mrs. Allred
I.
GLOBALLY COMPETITIVE STUDENTS
a. Saturday School – Mr. Hagmann
i. The first two Saturday school sessions went well. 39 students attended on
12/14/13. There will be one more session before exams. It was decided that all
students could be invited to that session.
ii. Saturday School is planned for each two weeks in the spring semester. The
number of students is currently limited to sixty for each session. Transportation
has been an issue for some students.
iii. A question was raised about elective teachers sending work or lessons for
students. Currently only core teachers are assigning students to Saturday School
and preparing assignments with Learning Odyssey.
iv. Teachers who receive a report detailing what their students accomplished during
Saturday School. Students are making up time, doing enrichment, and doing
remediation.
b. SIP Updates – Dr. Jones
i. Dr. Jones shared feedback from the staff meeting SIP Review.
ii. The SIT Committee is to highlight issues or topics that we feel are important to
include on the SIP Review, which is part of the overall plan. Email those issues
and possible solutions to Dr. Jones.
iii. Subcommittees will work on issues.
c. Reassignment letters/January 10th schedule – Dr. Jones
i. Some students may be reassigned to their home school. Letters will be sent out
January 10. We will have a regular schedule on January 10 with a period of
homeroom at the end of the day to distribute letters.
II.
21st CENTURY PERSONNEL
a. Math Department – Dr. Jones
i. Two new math teachers have been hired. Administration is working on
scheduling to help reduce the class size of the Math 1 courses.
III.
SAFE AND CARING SCHOOLS
a. Schedule Pick-up – Dr. Jones
i. It was decided that second semester schedules will be distributed in the cafeteria
before school on January 22. Several staff members will help give out schedules.
b. Course Change Request Form – Dr. Jones
i. Dr. Jones shared a revised course change request form. Students will be
required to meet with a teacher, counselor, or administrator if they want to
change courses. If they or their parents still wish to switch courses, the form will
say that they may not be able to drop the course once it has begun.
IV.
Concerns – Dr. Jones
a. We had a discussion regarding tardies. Teachers were concerned that the consequence
for tardy students (ISS) takes students out of class. If they are tardy, they are already
missing class and ISS causes them to miss even more. Saturday School is an option as
a consequence if students have transportation, which is not always the case.
Dr. Jones asked if Saturday School should be the consequence for 10 tardies or if it
should be reduced to 5, 6, or 7 tardies. The team decided to add a “warning” bell before
the tardy bell between classes to encourage students to get to class quickly. Teachers
must be sure to log tardies in Power School so administrators have accurate
information.
The following items were on the agenda but we did not have time to discuss.
21st Century Personnel – Media and Technology Advisory Committee
Safe and Caring Schools – SIP Update and WSFCS/FCAE Survey Results
Collaborative Partnerships – Adam Carter, PTA Staff Rep and Open House Night on January 27
Respectfully Submitted,
Kristi Allred