Old Mill School Site Council

May 18, 2009 Minutes

Mon, 18 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

DRAFT
OLD MILL SCHOOL SITE COUNCIL MINUTES
Monday May 18, 2009

Time: 3:00 pm

Location: Old Mill School Library

Present:
Jane McDonough - Treasurer
Mary Anderson – Secretary
Dawn Dobras – Vice President
Lisa Mudd
Ann Nichols
Hope Timberlake

Apologies:
Molly Bass
Bryce Goeking
Andy Mercy – President
Virginia van Royen

Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes: Minutes of the April 20, 2009 meeting were approved.

Action Plan, Objective 2: Support students in developing strength of character

Partnership with BAHIA VISTA elementary school:

• More BA and OMS classes are in contact with each other despite state budget funding challenges.

• Lost and Found. The Site Council sincerely thanks Tracey Gant for washing and sorting unclaimed lost and found.
Action: Fifteen bags of good quality, unclaimed, lost and found will be transported to BA by Dawn Dobras.

• OMS June 3 Almost New Book Sale.
Action: A selection of good books will be transported to BA by Dawn Dobras.
• Protocol concerning the exchange of personal information between BA and OMS students.
Action: Next school year’s site council will provide a letter outlining the protocol.

Action Plan, Objective 3: Sustain our emphasize on life fitness as core element of physical education program

Walking to school:
The MV Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan, which includes at least 3 segments of Old Mill Schools 4 high-priority pathways in its “Top 25” list, was unanimously approved by MV City Council on May 6, 2009. A long with a huge number of MV residents, including good representation from OMS, several OMS students spoke out eloquently in favor of the plan.

Site Council Parent Representative Election

This year there are three vacancies to fill. Voting will take place at Open House on June 3, 2009. So far two candidates have put themselves forward for consideration, Cindi Frame and David Weinfeld.

Action: Jane McDonough will contact the two candidates to inform them about the procedure. She will also check with Andy Mercy to determine if he wishes to stand for another term.

Other Business

• Action: Jane McDonough will provide some advice in her Grist article on how to encourage a smooth transition during the end of the school year, an anxious, exciting and stressful time for many students.

• Next year it would be good to reclad or replace the picnic tables which are rusting. It would also be good to install ceiling fans in the library.

Next Site Council Meeting: Monday, June 8, 2009, at 3

April Minutes

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 11:58:12 -0700

APPROVED
OLD MILL SCHOOL SITE COUNCIL MINUTES
Monday April 20, 2009

Time: 3:00 pm

Location: Old Mill School Library

Present:
Jane McDonough - Treasurer
Mary Anderson – Secretary
Dawn Dobras – Vice President
Bryce Goeking
Lisa Mudd
Ann Nichols
Virginia van Royen

Apologies:
Molly Bass
Andy Mercy – President
Hope Timberlake

Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes: Minutes of the March 23, 2009 meeting were approved.

Action Plan, Objective 2: Support students in developing strength of character

TRIBES:
John Selix kindly gave an overview of TRIBES, as he uses the program in his class. He feels that the two main benefits of TRIBES are facilitating getting to know each other (bonding) and working with each other (roles in groups). In his opinion the biggest challenge for students is respect. He is happy with TRIBES and stated that it may lack some specific language but over all it works extremely well.

Partnership with BAHIA VISTA elementary school:
Lisa Mudd provided the following update. As of April 1, two OMS classes have already started writing to pen pals at BV. Five OMS teachers are coordinating and planning with their BV counterparts and two OMS teachers have attempted to make contact with no response up to this point.

Jane McDonough requested drivers to deliver books to BA in early June. OMS students will be bringing books they no longer require to school to exchange and to donate. There will be more news on this new event closer to the time.

Action Plan, Objective 3: Sustain our emphasize on life fitness as core element of physical education program

Jump Rope for Heart:
Virginia van Royen provided the following report. Jump Rope for Heart was a big success this year with enthusiastic participation of parent volunteers, heart health facts for students and meeting our goal of raising $3,000 this year (students raised $3,200 – way to go!)

Walking to school:
Bryce Goeking informed us that the MV Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan, which includes at least 3 segments of Old Mill Schools 4 high-priority pathways in its “Top 25” list, will now be presented to MV City Council on May 6, 2009 at 7.30pm in City Hall.

Action: Jane McDonough will organize an OMS flash requesting parents to attend this meeting to support approval of the OMS priority pathways included in the plan.

Next Site Council Meeting: Monday, May 18,

March Minutes

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Approved
OLD MILL SCHOOL SITE COUNCIL MINUTES
Monday March 23, 2009

Time: 3:00 pm

Location: Old Mill School Library

Present:
Jane McDonough - Treasurer
Mary Anderson – Secretary
Dawn Dobras – Vice President
Bryce Goeking
Andy Mercy - President
Lisa Mudd
Ann Nichols
Hope Timberlake
Virginia vanRoyen

Apologies:
Molly Bass

Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes: Minutes of the February 23, 2009 meeting were approved.

2009/10 Action Plan, Objective 1: Support students in becoming effective problem solvers in mathematics

Next school year new math materials will be introduced to all grades. This is part of a County-wide initiative which integrates literature into math and uses formative assessments.

Action: Next year’s Site Council to monitor the implementation of this new math initiative.

2009/10 Action Plan, Objective 3: Sustain our emphasize on life fitness as core element of physical education program

Good progress is being made all round in P.E. The new curriculum, which accommodates a fitness model as opposed to a strictly game based model, is well underway and the majority of students are beginning to understand the importance of good behavior and sportsmanship during P.E.

Action: Andy to write a blurb in the Creek to parents reinforcing the importance of taking P.E. seriously – listening to instructions, implementing them quicker and with a positive attitude.

Bryce gave an update on progress being made to obtain funding to open up paths which will allow more students to participate in the walk to school program (part of objective 3).

• The Mill Valley Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan includes at least 3 segments of Old Mill Schools 4 high-priority pathways in its “Top 25” list. This plan is expected to be presented to MV City Council on May 4, 2009 at 7.30pm in City Hall.

Action: Please plan to attend this City Council meeting and encourage others to do so to support approval of OMS priority pathways.

• Safe Routes to School Action Plan. Bryce submitted the Site Council’s comments at their February meeting and reported that OMS is being used as a “role model” to encourage other schools to develop comprehensive travel plans. The Safe Routes to School Action Plan is another funding tool so it’s important that our 4 high-priority pathways are well positioned in their action plan.

2009/10 Action Plan, Objective 2: Support students in developing strength of character

Dawn provided Juan Rodriguez with a draft 5-year partnership outline which he received enthusiastically.

The Site Council agreed that it would be good to have at least a couple of classes initiate pen pal relationships and have a get together before the end of this school year

Action: Lisa will discuss this with her colleagues at the next staff meeting, check to see what progress has been made and encourage 2 or 3 teachers to take it on.

Next Site Council Meeting: Monday, April 20, 2009

February Minutes

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

APPROVED
OLD MILL SCHOOL SITE COUNCIL MINUTES
Monday February 23, 2009

Time: 3:30 pm

Location: Bahia Vista (BV) Elementary School, San Rafael

Present:
BV Representation:
Juan Rodriguez – Principal
Approx 7 staff / enrichment teachers

OMS Site Council:
Jane McDonough - Treasurer
Mary Anderson – Secretary
Molly Bass
Dawn Dobras – Vice President
Bryce Goeking
Andy Mercy - President
Lisa Mudd
Ann Nichols
Virginia vanRoyen

Apologies:
Hope Timberlake

Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes: Minutes of the January 12, 2009 meeting were approved.

Approval of 2008/2009 Action Plan Objectives: Approval was given to Jane to go ahead with the agreed 2008/2009 Action Plan objectives as outlined in previous minutes.

2008/9 Action Plan, Objective 1: Support students to develop strength of character

The purpose of this meeting was for OM Site Council to get to know BV and to brainstorm with BV representatives on how best to structure our school partnership with them in a way that works for both sets of students and teachers.

Both principals introduced their schools and an extremely positive and constructive brainstorming session took place in which it was obvious that both schools have many potential programs / activities to share with each other.

Some points to note about BV:

• BV relies mainly on state funding and so is currently suffering from state budget cuts. This means that any funding required to implement activities related to the BV/OM school partnership will need to be covered by the OM parent community in a discreet way.
• Gardening opportunities at BV. BV has a beautiful, spacious campus and they are looking to plant some more native plants in raised flower beds.
• Solar energy. A solar panel array is in place in the school yard and could be used for studying science.
• Bird Club. With help from Point Reyes an out reach program has been established to educate the students about local birds, how birds are an indicator of the health of the community and what actions students can take to improve their habitat.
• Nutrition program. With a nutrition grant from USDA cooking and tasting activities are underway to educate students and their parents to make healthy nutrition choices.
• BV does not have PE, music, art or science teachers. Virginia kindly offered to talk to BV teachers about some PE activities which can be conducted by grade teachers, such as brain gym.
• BV is a larger K-5 school with about 150 more students than OM.

Next steps:
It was agreed that this school partnership would mainly be driven by the individual teachers at each school and they would have the flexibility to go at their own pace. Already contact details have been exchanged and some pen pal activities have been initiated. In addition some joint assemblies and volunteer projects can be planned. The idea of developing long-term relationships between students was suggested if this can be achieved at a practical level.

Action: Dawn will kindly provide Juan Rodriguez with a draft 5 year partnership outline.

Action: Faculty Site Council members to discuss the partnership further with their colleagues and report back.

Next Site Council Meeting: Monday, March 23, 2009, at 3:00 pm in Old Mill School library.

SARC

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 13:43:36 -0800

http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/sa/
is the site where you can learn more about these reports and compare to our school in past years as well as other schools. This data was updated in December of 2008, but is reflective of the 07-08 school year.