MUIRLANDS MIDDLE SCHOOL
PTA MEETING
November 3, 2005
The meeting was called to order at 12:35 PM.
The minutes from the October 6, 2005 PTA meeting were reviewed by three readers, finalized, and then posted on the website.
President’s Report—Linda Dowley
Check Recipient Amount Purpose
1224 PTA Council $2043.00 Dues
1225 Dorie Gayner 197.45 Red Ribbon Week
1226 A. M. Cameron 83.83 Newsletter printing
1228 PTA Council 288.00 Dues/fees
Corresponding Secretary – Mary Rose Schwartz
Membership – Tina Greenberg
Money Books – Teri Newlee
Parliamentarian – Renee Savage
DAC/GATE – Amy Cheshire for Melanie Gold
Governance – Jennifer Eve for Margaret Ohara
Foundation – Dorie Gayner (not in attendance)
Ms. Hargrave was provided a list of questions prior to the meeting.
1. Please give a brief introduction about yourself and your tenure at Muirlands.
Ms. Hargrave was a math and history classroom teacher for 10 years. She was a teacher at Muirlands about 10 years ago. She also worked as a Peer Coach and a Vice Principal before becoming the Principal at Mann Middle School. She is in her third year as Principal at Muirlands.
2. Describe your goals for this year and for the next several years at Muirlands. Can you tell us anything about how you are pursuing these goals?
For all students to: 1) achieve at high levels; 2) love to read and write and understand math; 3) apply learning to life; 3) get along in groups; 4) be critical and analytical thinkers; and 5) get a global education.
3. Please share any news about the start of school, campus life, and upcoming events (including professional things that you participate in as the Principal).
6th graders participated in outdoor education camp. 7th graders will go to Yosemite in the spring. 8th graders will have an East coast trip. Most children who want to go will be able to go. The Sacramento trip for 6th graders has not yet been planned.
Flag football is being played during lunch and after school. An intramural basketball game has also been formed. Western Day is coming up. The recent dance was well attended by 6th and 7th graders. The reason the dance tickets were pre-sold was to know how many students would be attending and plan for supervision. Tickets were sold at the door.
4. Please describe any changes that you see in the district with the arrival of the new Superintendent. Do the schools still have Peer Coaches and Instructional Leaders? Are there specific changes that have taken place at Muirlands? (It seems that our Literacy Administrator is gone, but our Math Administrator is still here.) Any information you can provide on changes or anticipated changes in teaching and personnel policies is helpful.
Ms. Hargrave has not yet met the new Superintendent. She will be meeting with him, along with other principals, at the end of the month. There are no Peer Coaches or Content Administrators. There is a half time research person who works in the classrooms. The title of Instructional Leader is no longer being used - it is now called Assistant Superintendent.
Ms. Hargrave hasn’t heard of any drastic changes coming. The new Superintendent is still meeting with groups and fact finding.
5. Please discuss the "5 Ps." Please tell us a bit about the history of coming up with the idea and how different teachers and staff share them in the classroom and around campus.
In an effort to encourage positive behavior, the 5 P’s were established. These are the five behaviors students are expected to exhibit – polite, prepared, positive, prompt and productive (all under the umbrella of pride).
6. Please explain how parents can support academics at Muirlands and help teachers without violating the privacy of any students.
Due to privacy issues, the school can’t have parents scoring work in classrooms. There may be some opportunities for after-school tutoring with parents. This idea will be brought up at Governance to see how teachers feel about it.
7. How are the quantities of required reading (pages and hours) determined?
There is a California standard—one million words per year (about 20 books) of outside reading is expected for each student. Individual teachers determine the grade weight for the reading component of English. Ms. Hargrave will look into this issue to see how consistently it is being applied among teachers.
8. Can you explain the school philosophy of how homework should be used to support instruction? Is there discussion among the teachers and administration about the amount of homework that should be assigned?
Generally, students should have about two hours of homework per night. Advanced, accelerated and language classes will typically have more homework. If students have more than two hours per night, parents should talk to the teachers. Ms. Hargrave agreed to send an email message to all teachers regarding a minimal homework load during the Thanksgiving week vacation. She will also alert teachers to the February 10 holiday issue. Parents expected it to be a holiday, and it has been changed to a school day. There will likely be students who are not in school that day due to the inability to change vacation plans.
There was discussion about the cumulative workload from each teacher adding up to more than two hours per night. It isn’t feasible to coordinate homework assignments with all teachers or to plan a full week in advance. It partially depends on how much of the lesson is completed in class as to whether or not there is homework that night.
The issue of teaching study skills in Advisory was discussed. It would be considered another prep unit, and cannot be added to teachers’ current load.
9. Are organized school sports returning to Muirlands? (e.g., Touch Football and Basketball)
Already discussed.
10. Periodically parents hear about incidents of bullying at school. We understand that the Counselors handle these issues. Has the school considered any structured teaching programs that address bullying and teasing? A few years ago a district counselor came to a Muirlands PTA meeting and discussed the “Don’t Laugh at Me” program. He suggested that several Advisories would try out the program. Has this program or any others like it been tried at Muirlands? Do you have any thoughts about the effectiveness of this type of program?
Due to the broader definition of “bullying,” the number of incidents is up. The counselors and school nurse will be attending a workshop on this issue. They will be invited to address the PTA after attending the program. The “Don’t Laugh at Me” program was designed for younger children, and wasn’t effective. Children who bully are punished.
11. Do you have any advice for parents regarding the placement of their children on an accelerated track? Some parents have suggested that it doesn’t affect the High School Math experience when their child is put on the accelerated track. (Should scoring at a certain level on a Math test automatically mean the child should be placed in a higher level class – for example Pre-Algebra as a 6th grader instead of 6th grade math?)
The decision is up to the parents. Parents can have students opt out of an accelerated class. A parent suggested that prior to a student automatically being placed in an advanced class, that there is parental notification. This would prevent the disruption and possible embarrassment if a parent doesn’t want the student in the advanced class.
12. Muirlands tries to prepare the students for high school, in most cases LJHS. There seems to be some controversy on how well prepared or specifically how unprepared the kids are for the high school math classes. Could this be a result of casting the net too wide during advanced placements due to the community’s over-achieving nature? Should the administrators and educators, as experts, determine the placement criteria and adhere to it? Could these criteria be created from the typical indicators, but also from the historical performance data that is available at the high school? Who are the children that are coming unprepared? How many students that have skipped 6th grade math have either repeated a year or struggle to get an A or B by 11th grade? Should any student that has been pushed a year ahead and is in the “honors” math program be struggling for a good grade? Would the data reveal that the Muirlands’ math students are very prepared when left on the more typical path?
According to the test scores, the State of California recognizes Muirlands students as prepared for algebra. Some La Jolla High School teachers have voiced disagreement over the readiness of students coming from Muirlands. Muirlands and La Jolla High staff will be meeting to get more information and provide continuity in the math programs.
13. Why are the language classes High School level? Can Middle School level language classes be offered? Would Middle School level classes better prepare students for High School language classes?
The French class was dropped this year due to lack of interest by enough students. A parent asked if Chinese might be added in the future. Ms. Hargrave said there would need to be at least 25-28 students to justify offering Chinese at Muirlands.
14. In the past, the Yosemite trip had a higher academic and citizenship GPA requirement than it currently does. Last year the criteria were changed and a lottery was instituted to pick the students for the trip. Please explain why the change was made. There are far fewer slots for the Yosemite trip than the East Coast trip. Can’t a good argument be made that the requirements should be higher for Yosemite so fewer people can apply for fewer slots?
The Yosemite trip is for children who are really interested in it. It is not intended to be a reward for good grades. 40 students can attend, as that is what the park holds.
15. It appears that adding the requirement that an essay be written has helped moderate the number of students who apply to attend the seventh grade Yosemite Trip. Has the administration ever considered instituting a similar requirement for the east coast trip?
A lottery was used last year and almost everyone who wanted to go, got to go.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:10 PM.