Susan Motte's blog

Attendees:

Jodi Russell (co-chair), Sarah Kopf (co-chsair), Caitlin Racey, Megan Ratcliffe, Linda Illman, Keith McLaren, Sherry Jaqua, Jodee Reed, Robin Lofstrom, Brian Williamson, Susan Motte, Beth Armitage, Melanie Shelton, Jen Boget, Lisa Dunn, Suzanne Waller, Karine Dammer, Jeanette Lim, Laura/Dan Chang, A.J. Silva, Anastacia Sammelsen, Hillary Leonard, Paul Satushek, Margaret Clarrissimeaux, Amy Stackhouse, Caleb Banta-Green, Zara Kublin, Brian Prosser, Andra Gallegos, Craig Greene, Maria Gutierrez, Renee Gersdorf-Duncan, Kim Post, Jen Millen, Barb Jochum, Katherine Ropp, Lance Adams, Andre Evans

Legislative Chair’s Report:

Azra gave a report on upcoming issues and events including:

• The PTA Legislative Mtg. 10-14 & 10-15 @ SeaTac Marriott.  This is a very important issue and people members were encouraged to attend.  FOSB is a PTO, but if you wish to influence the PTA proposals you can discuss the issues w/a friend to relay your ideas for them to share at meeting.
• Introduction of Charter Schools in WA State.  School board elections are coming up soon and 4 of 7 members are up for re-election.  This is important to watch.  Zara’s #1 priority/goal is to work toward tax reform legislation (2010 failed).

Chair’s Report:

Jodi opened with a brief discussion regarding the reasons for FOSB being a PTO (instead of a PTA). Essentially, Salmon Bay School originally was two schools with two parent groups and when we merged to form FOSB, we decided to go the PTO route because everyone is automatically a member (no dues or membership required). The issue was discussed at length at last Leadership Retreat and the consensus was that the model worked well for Salmon Bay in our current form. However, we don’t get a vote on legislation which is a downside.

Treasurer’s report:

Katheryn distributed copies of the 2012 proposed budget (attached) and it is essentially the same budget that was passed last year. $1,000 was re-allocated from an overage in art to Mr. G and the mini-grant process is back in the budget. The money was raised last year at the auction and this is the best way to distribute the funds. There will be $4,000 for elementary, $4,000 for middle-school, and $5,000 for all-school purposes. The budget committee is seeking volunteers to form a committee to determine the criteria and application process to distribute the grants. Please see Kathyrn if you are interested. Examples of past grants have included Japanese cooking, plaster mask-making, video equipment, artists in residence, and special assemblies.

Secretary’s report:

The list of Directors (attached and posted on the school’s website) was approved unanimously. Minutes from last June’s FOSB meeting were unavailable.

BLT (Building Leadership Team) report:

The BLT is comprised of three elementary teachers, three middle school teachers, Jodee, a special education representative, and two parent representatives. The BLT is the decision making body of the school. This committee is a district requirement in every school and in general, focuses on the budget, on professional development, and the CSIP (Continuous School Improvement Plan).

At the last meeting, the BLT focused on professional development planning for teachers involving project based learning, the new standards-based grading system, and the beginning of the CSIP process. The BLT also discussed Salmon Bay’s new student attendance/arrival time policy and began researching how to become a member of the Coalition of Essential Schools (CES). Salmon Bay is not currently a member of CES, but since it focuses on many of the ideas that alternative schools embody, it might be a good fit for us. Any input to the BLT is welcome so that there is a two-way communication stream.

Volunteer Coordinator Report:

Caitlin reported that background checks are underway and that middle school camps are upcoming and drivers were needed. The email list is being set up. If you don’t receive the Monday morning bulletins via email, please contact Caitlin or Megan.

Megan also mentioned that background checks are underway. If you intend to volunteer in the school or drive for a field trip, please get in touch with Megan. This needs to be done every six months. You’ll need to submit copies of your license and insurance forms.

Megan and Caitlin are both contracted for 19 hours per week this year (up from 15 last year). Megan will be off on Wednesday; Caitlin will be off on Tuesday. 

Principal’s report:

Jodee said it has been a great start to the year! She has seen lots of community building throughout the building - all with age appropriate activities. She has viewed lots of procedures being learned, including practicing transitioning from one activity to the next. There was an improvement in the spring Map and MSP scores. The Map testing is optional this year and Salmon Bay will not be participating in the fall.  New homeroom organization provides a place for the kids to get their acts together before heading out into their other classes.

Standards based grading will be in effect this year. Examples of grading will be “Did you meet that standard?” “How close did you get?”

Expansion brought about teams and the teachers love it and are excited about it. The new teachers are fitting right in.

They have had two fire drills already and the fire department was very impressed with the job the students did in emptying the building quickly and quietly.

Jodee reiterated the procedures for drop-offs and pick-ups. She stressed that following drop-off and pick-up traffic rules are important. Especially in light of Salmon Bay losing the crossing guard on NW 65th.

Jodee discussed the benefits of joining the Coalition of Essential Schools and encouraged Salmon Bay to join. Nathan Hale is a member. If you’re interested in further info, it is available on their website. http://www.essentialschools.org/

Garden Committee:

Jen reported that there is a work party scheduled for Saturday, September 17th.

Alternative Education Committee:

Caleb reported that the committee (essentially himself at this point) is looking for new members. John Minor at Thornton Creek is Coordinator of Alternative (Innovative) Schools and they are trying to determine what all of the alternative schools common theme/mission is.

Playground Committee:

Robin reported that FOSB had received a $100,000 matching grant from the City and had applied for a $75,000 from King County. (The committee has since learned that we will receive $60,000 from King County.) While these are huge grants, they are matching grants and the committee needs volunteers to create the $$$ towards our match. The $60,000 grant from King County DOES count towards the $100,000 grant the City, so that is a big help.

Let’s Play Salmon Bayis a HUGE event scheduled for October 22nd at school to support the playground. Everyone’s attendance is important! ALL time spent (making a cake, showing up at events, bidding, meetings, etc.) is worth $20 per hour in matching dollars. Please keep track of your time and let Robin know.

The construction drawings are scheduled to be ready to go out to bid in early 2012. We’ll analyze bids prior to selecting a construction team.

Announcements:

• Bookclubs: Karine announced that bookclubs will meet once a month to get to know parents and build smaller more intimate groups. Some books to be discussed:  Tiger Moms, Raising Sons, Raising Daughters. Anthony will be leading one group.
• Emergency Preparedness:Keith announced that he is forming a committee to replenish the school’s emergency supply inventory. He has looked into the school’s inventory and it is very low. He has prepared a general list of recommendations of necessary items.  We only have a 6 hour water supply and enough blankets for 50 kids, for example. He passed out lists with supplies needed to have on site (attached). The anticipated cost is $10-$15,000. Megan mentioned that there is $2,000 in the budget for food replacement and there is a possible neighborhood grant to cover a portion of the costs. The deadline for the neighborhood grant is 10/15 so it is unlikely that this will come to fruition. Neighborhood meetings are currently being conducted to educate citizens and are very informative and helpful. Keith is talking to big box stores regarding larger items they can donate to us.  A good goal for this year is for each classroom to have a bucket of safety supplies for their class. Jodee mentioned that emergency preparedness could be a good theme for the auction. Amy and AJ are willing to help out on this committee and they are looking for others. One parent suggestion was to throw a “Perishable Party” when items are getting close to their expiration date. This will be an on-going discussion.
• Classroom reps: Jodi took an informal poll of attendees to see if all classrooms were represented. There has been discussion of FOSB classroom representatives at each meeting for several years. Most of the classrooms were represented at the meeting. Perhaps this is the year it takes off.

Friends of Salmon Bay (FOSB) Roster 2011-12

OFFICERS

• ES Co-Chair: Jodi Russell reddsell@comcast.net
• MS Co-Chair: Sarah Kopf kopfpatterson@earthlink.net
• Secretary: Lance Adams lancecadams@hotmail.com
• MS Treasurer: David Sommerville david@sommerwindgroup.com
• ES Treasurer: Katherine Ropp roppkat@comcast.net

DIRECTORS

• Beth Armitage (ES BLT rep) macbethy@mac.com
• Susan Motte (MS BLT rep) susanmotte@aol.com
• Caleb Banta-Green (Alt Ed, Health & Safety) cbantagreen@gmail.com
• Jane Davies cj_davies@msn.com
• David Innes (Webmaster) david@innes.com
• Zara Kublin (Legislative Liason) zkublin@hotmail.com
• Robin Lofstrom (Playground) robin@lofstrom.com
• Jen Millen (Garden)
• Sherry Jaqua sherry@foryourhealthnw.com
• Sarah Kopf kopfpatterson@earthlink.net
• Beth Boram
• Hillary Leonard
• AJ SIlva (Mainenance and Facilities)
• Suzanne Waller (Auction, Scrip)
• Karla Alantara-Warren
• Sam Starr
• Kelly Bryant

LEADERS

• Direct Giving Campaign Kate Banta Green
• PIE Co-Chairs Patty Maier & Karine Dammer

DIRECTORS NOT SUBJECT TO ELECTION

• Jodee Reed, Principal jreed@seattleschools.org
• Michelle Ota, Vice Principal mota@seattleschools.org
• MS Vol. Coordinator Caitlin Racey caracey@seattleschools.org
• ES Vol. Coordinator Megan Ratcliffe mcratcliffe@seattleschools.org

Topic:  Discuss the connection between the school administration and stated vision of the school.

Guiding questions/thoughts:

Is the vision something that can be expressed and supported by leadership?

What avenues exist now for parents to get a feeling for the support of the vision by school administration?

Is supporting the vision something you would put a high priority on for the duties of a school administrator?

People are unsure about vision of school.  It’s not discussed enough for people to have a good understanding of the vision.  A more concise vision would be easier to remember, but may not necessarily help the school.

Principal and AP do not articulate the vision, the wonderful teachers do.  There is no overarching vision.  The vision is individual on who you ask.

Not a lot of direction from admin in terms of the vision.

Circulate:

• Put in Bulletin
• Classrooms
• Back door
• Administrators should by synthesizing what is happening in classroom.
• Do a better job of promoting within the community.
• Jodee’s bulletin – how is our vision being realized this week?
• All school events

Topic:  Exploring the Vision Statement

Guiding questions:

What do you love about it?

What’s missing?

Do you feel like it is useful in guiding the direction of the school?

“I think it’s perfect”

What should be included in mission statement but isn’t:

1. Relationships – between students and teachers, students and others
2. Emphasize community in community

Jodee:  wants to focus more on experiential aspect as major point of our being alternative esp. given the electronic non-connectedness increasingly defining kids’ lives.

“Difficult to put in a hall” - can we?

“It’s complex just like Salmon Bay”

• Keep it living vs. a hardened dogma (dead)
• How to keep, every year, giving it new birth
• Pick a single line from the vision to focus on each year
• Would the students get it?  Can we make a kid version?
• How to make parents see it more
• How important it is
• How it might be introduced to parents as a very important touchstone for their ongoing experience of the school
• For understanding the discussing their feelings both of what’s not going right and what is and/or could be made even stronger (build on its success)
• Remember long history of the crafting of the statement – it was a very unifying process for the people (teachers) involved
• Michelle could tie her “what I saw today” into vision statement in the Bulletin
• Jodee:  3 rules have been internalized by kids – in a good way!

Topic:  Talk about the relationship between teachers, parents and administration in areas like curriculum, school structure, and daily life in the classroom.

Guiding questions:

What kind of role should parents have in these areas?

What do you understand the decision-making process to be for these areas?

What do you know about the Building Leadership Team?

One view: parents are a partner, should not have input to make decisions, but parents want to be heard by leadership   **we have been hearing that parents are not feeling heard**

Another view: parents should have input, want handwriting curriculum, grammar

Unless parents attend FOSB meetings, they probably don’t know much/anything about BLT

Publish BLT agendas, make available

Coffee Hour – vary times/days, have leadership attend and present a topic to accommodate a variety of people.

We want to know what our teachers think.  We love when they come to FOSB and are part of the discussion.

Have a panel of teachers

Topic:  Discuss your views on alternative education vs. traditional education in terms of academic rigor.

Guiding questions:

What is the definition of rigor?

Is there a difference?

Does the child development play a role in appropriate levels of rigor?

Trad education rigor gauged by:  time spent on topic in classroom, amount of prescribed work, level/difficulties, topical weighting of 3 Rs vs. artistic pursuits in classroom, staff inclinations

Alt ed rigor gauged by:  where/how each student finds challenge.  Every student challenged, differentiation of teaching at classroom level.

Thoughts about rigor and Salmon Bay:

• Our community is self-selecting, not based on random assignment
• Does rigor apply to only test scores, or also emotional and social components of education?
• Differentiation (child-oriented teaching, meeting the child where s/he is) requires more planning
• We are better at addressing kids below achievement level than those who’ve reached the ceiling.
• Sad that multi-age goes away in the expansion.
• Kids aren’t getting the feedback they need for the work that they do.  Portfolio assessment is not sufficient.

Attendees:

Jane Davies (co-chair), Kelly Bryant (co-chair), Jodee Reed (principal), Lance Adams, Caitlin Racey, Michelle P, Beth Armitage, Susan Motte, Megan Ratcliffe, Robin L, Sam Star, Beth B, Jodi Russell, Katherine Ropp, Barb Jochum, Bridgett G, Keith McLaren, Katie S, Hillary Leonard, Suzanne Waller, Beth P, Sherry Jaqua, Amy S, Chieko G, Karla Acantara-Warren, Jen Millen, David Sommerville, Krista L, Martha B, Audrey L, Rolf S, Melanie Shelton

Chair’s Report:

• Announcement: The decision to change FOSB from a PTO to a PTA was tabled to a future date based on a lack of a clear consensus.
• There was a brief announcement that the name “FOSB” may be causing some confusion and could change in the future.
• The following Slate of Directors was presented and unanimously APPROVED

OFFICERS

• ES co-chair                          Kelly Bryant
• MS co-chair                        Sam Star
• ES treasurer                       Katherine Ropp
• MS treasurer                     David Sommerville
• Secretary                             Lance Adams

DIRECTORS

• BLT Representative        Susan Motte
• BLT Representative        Beth Amitage
• Playground                         Lance Adams
• Playground                         Robin Lofstrom
• Alternative Education   Caleb Banta-Green
• Garden                                 Jen Millen
• Facilities                              AJ Silva
• At-Large                               Sarah Kopf
• At-Large                               Jodi Russell
• At-Large                               Beth Boram
• At-Large                               Hillary Leonard
• At-Large                               Jane Davies
• At-Large                               Suzanne Waller
• At-Large                               Sherry Jaqua
• At-Large                               Karla Alantara-Warren

Jodee Reed, Michelle Ota, and both Volunteer Coordinators, Megan Ratcliffe and Caitlin Racey are each a Director with voting rights but not subject to election.

Secretary’s Report:

• We approved February, March, and April meeting minutes
• Next FOSB meeting is June 9, 2011.

Treasurer’s Report:

David presented the 2011/12 FOSB budget. He reported that the budget committee attempted to return spending to 2008/09levels. The budget is balanced and provides a conservative spending estimate (revenue at or about 2010 levels). The budget was presentedand unanimously APPROVED.

http://www.salmonbayschool.org/announcements/2011-04-27_fosb-2011-2012-budget-final-draft

ES Volunteer Coordinator report:

• Great teacher appreciation week just wrapped up.
• Elementary camps are coming up for all grades (except half-day K)
• New families (75 for elementary grades, 80 for middle) may be “buddied up” with existing families.

MS Volunteer Coordinator report:

• Great teacher appreciation week
• Camps coming up, 8th grade picnic/promotion coming up

Principal’s Report:

• Jodee reported that April 15th was the deadline for open enrollment; however we may not know the final enrollment numbers until the end of June.
• None of the current staff has to be let go due to a District mandated Reduction In Force (RIF).
• Start time in the fall is not anticipated to change. MS schedule may change slightly to allow a “home base” time (about 30 minutes - formerly known as  home room)

Parent Self-Evaluation 2011 Salmon Bay K-8:

Megan presented the survey data that was beautifully compiled by Caleb Bantagreen. See the attached document for more information. After, there were four mini sessions with varying topics related to the information presented.

The evening concluded with a hearty welcome to incoming MS Co-Chair Sam Star, and a heartfelt thank you to outgoing MS Co-Chair Jane Davies.

Submitted by Lance Adams, 5/12/2011 - 10:25pm

Attendees:

Kelly Bryant (Chair), Jane Davies (Chair), Jodee Reed, Lance Adams, Caitlin Racey, Jodi Russell, Susan Motte, Megan Ratcliffe, Katherine Ropp, Melanie Shelton, Sarah Kopf-Patterson, Katherine Ropp, Brian Williamson, Jen Millen, Caleb Banta-Green,  Robin Lofstrom, Carita Polin, Sally Massa, Beth Armitage, Sam Starr, Dorothy Jacobsen, Amy Gross, AJ Silva, Zara Kublin, Lisa Crozier, Marian Wagner, Karen Dugan,  Hillary Leonard, Rolf Sonnerup

Board Introduction and Announcements (9:20-10:00):

• Playground Update:  Lance Adams and Robin Lofstrom gave update of playground history with update of recent playground presentation from designers.  They were not pleased with the 400K price tag and then met to cut down to more reasonable 200K plan.  The playground very intentionally is designed to support ASD, which also satisfies the needs of all children.  They are continuing to think of grants to pursue – Robin has been doing a lot of work applying for these grants:  one is with Dept of Neighborhoods (want support from parents, neighbors) and with King County grant.  This will be discussed more on Thursday.
• Elementary Expansion Update:  Jodee Reed gave an update.  There is a movement to expand elementary school to 2 classes per grade.  This fall would start by expanding to two full K and two full 1st grade classes.  This will be discussed more on Thursday.  Marian Wagner gave teacher perspective of how this change has grown from the concern that the current pool is actually too small per grade to effectively balance and grow the overall classroom culture in ways that allow them to best support the children.  The teachers are working hard to balance/maintain the current culture and this growth will still allow Salmon Bay to have smaller school feel.  Sally Massa then gave a description of the intended plan once the growth ripples all the way to 5th grade with the future loops once the growth happens:  K/1, 2/3 and 4/5 with two classes at each grade.  Brian Williamson reiterated teacher support of the idea as being the best possible one for the children.

Alternative Education Discussion (10:15 – 11:45):

• Caleb Banta-Green reviewed alt ed quality indicators and gave an update about the process he and Megan Ratcliffe have been going through to advocate for alternative education schools and then discussed decision that was reached to self-audit alternative schools.  We, as a school, completed the audit in the recent survey creation, completion and analysis.  John Miner is the acting Director of Alternative Education.  
• He reviewed the survey results, which had an overall very positive self-assessment.  In general 75% of the respondents rated almost all categories as high or very high and examples of the categories are:  quality of education, learning emphasizes discovery, inquiry, inter-disciplinary studies, teacher’s learning about each student’s needs/talents, children feel belonging, vision of school implemented …  Caleb also noted that on average people who rated “teachers develop a rigorous curriculum” lower also rated that alt ed was less important to them now they were in Salmon Bay.
  
  He then split the meeting into small groups to discuss areas for improvement and then groups gave summaries. 
  
  Vision Group:  gaps in current vision statement exist in assessment, relationship (parent, teacher, admin), leadership – these could be added to have a more complete vision statement, but is not essential that this is added.  Jodee pointed out that every 5-7 years a school should revisit, reaffirm and possible expand/change vision to accurately reflect school’s vision.
  
  Decision Making/Leadership support of vision/Vision implemented:  Might be good to get more information in this area to clarify what specific frustrations are behind the lower 25 percentile to better lend insight to possible solutions. 
  
  Rigorous Curriculum (discussed by two groups):  Learning happening and may not always look like it is happening because it grows naturally in a non-stressful way, but is happening.  The discussion highlighted the need for better communication with families about what learning looks like in the classroom and how it fits into long term goals, e.g. reading and writing is not an expected outcome for kindergarten, but rather part of a multi-year plan.  Also there is social learning that may cause waiting and other behaviors, which is social learning and is a different type of learning.  It was acknowledged that it is difficult to engage each child at exactly the right level of academics while balancing the needs of the entire class.  Carita Polin  stated that smaller classes and more narrowly defined by age better support differentiated learning.  Jodee clarified that rigor does not need to mean “hard”; it should more be defined as how broad and how deeply you are challenging their thinking. Within individual classroom, there could be more support from parents in the classroom to potentially support differentiated learning and that right now the lower and middle learners may have more support than the accelerated learners at times. 
• Thank you Caleb for doing such a great job with this overall creation, roll-out and analysis!!
• Jodee distributed report on Operational Assurances That Support an Innovative Learning Environment School (ILES) for future reading.

PTO or PTA Discussion (11:45-12:30):

• Jane Davies introduced topic on our history as a school about our not being a PTA and that we periodically revisit this as we are today.  There are advantages to being able to access the larger, more organized group that has centralized meetings and resources that we are currently using and there is a feeling by some that it would be good to include.  The group discussed how joining the PTA would impact our group autonomy, which is highly valued.  We had a show of interest in doing this by voting, although an actual vote would occur at one of the two next meetings.  There was significant blocking, so we will need to discuss this more.  It was discussed that if we end up staying a PTO, that we should change our name PTO from FOSB, so all parents in the school more clearly understand the group and its function. 
• Then, we broke for lunch.

Joint Decision Making at Salmon Bay (1:00-?):

• Jane Davies and Kelly Bryant introduced topic by saying there are some topics that are teacher driven, some parent driven, and so on and the decision making may be just by teachers at times solo at times with parent input; some jointly and some parent decision.
• The role of the BLT was discussed and how members are representing interests of teachers and parents.  It is an advisory or decision making body that Jodee explained is extremely helpful to a principal to get input into key areas facing school.  Agenda items often come from Jodee to get input areas she would like to raise awareness and gather input.  They are chartered with school improvement plan, budget and professional development.

I left at this point and may have missed closing points.

Attendees:

Kelly Bryant (Co-Chair), Caleb Banta-Green, Caitlin Racey, Jodi Russell, Ed Vesneske Jr., Beth Armitage, Sally Massa, Megan Ratcliffe, Robin Lofstrom, A.J. Silva, Robin Lofstrom, Rolf Sonnerup, Bridget Goglia, Katherine Ropp, Karine Dammer, Emily Agerton, Suzanne Waller, Hillary Leonard, Rolf Johnson, Keith McLaren, David Sommerville, Sarah Kopf, Karla Alcantara-Warren, Kelly Peterson, Hans Peterson, Beth Potts, David Jacobs, Amy Gross, Carita Polin, Brian Williamson, Lance Adams

Chair’s Report:

• Still looking for a middle school co-chair and a secretary.
• Caitlin will be the middle school volunteer coordinator next year.
• David Sommerville will continue as middle school treasurer.
• Katherine Ropp volunteered to be the elementary treasurer.
• Susan Motte and Beth Armitage were nominated for the Building Leadership Team (BLT)

Secretary’s Report:

• February and March minutes were not passed. There were a few comments to be addressed.
• Next FOSB meeting is May 12th

Treasurer’s Report:

• The auction grossed approximately $116,000 and had expenses of about $12,000 for a net total of approximately $104,000.
• The budget committee has been very active and will submit the 2011/12 budget at the June FOSB meeting. A DRAFT budget will be posted in advance of the meeting.
• FOSB should have approximately $50,000 in reserve at the end of this year.
• Kelly presented a proposal to allocate an additional $1,000 for the 8th grade graduation. (Currently, $1,000 is budgeted for the event.) Typical costs have been approximately $1,800. Several people spoke to the importance and significance of the event. The move to allocate an additional $1,000 from this year’s budget was passed unanimously.

Volunteer Coordinator’s Reports:

• Megan gave an update on the school calendar and mentioned that the Aloha Potluck dinner may have to take the year off due to a busier than usual schedule.
• Caitlin reported that the MS is having a dance on April 15th and she is enjoying the transition to her new position as MS VC.

Principal’s Report:

• Jodee announced that Salmon Bay will most likely have a new counselor next year due to the District’s re-assigning of existing positions as part of its Reduction In Force (RIF). Parents are encouraged to contact the District and all of the school board members to express their concerns. Call. Write. Email. The District typically notifies teachers by May 15 if their contract is not going to be renewed.
• Jodee gave an overview of the likely expansion of the elementary school. The likely scenario is that the kindergarten and first grade classes would each expand to two full classes in 2011/12 and the remainder of the elementary school would expand to two full classes at each grade level in 2012/13. There was a lot of discussion about making the transition fair for all students. (Secretary’s note: since the meeting, Jodee has sent a letter home to all parents regarding the transition. The letter was included in the Bulletin and is available on the school website.)

Playground Committee Report:

• The playground steering committee hosted an hour-long meeting before the regular FOSB meeting; the final schematic was presented, and the parents and neighbors in attendance participated in a Q&A.  Immediately following, FOSB was presented with the same information, with an additional Q&A.
• The committee is now in the process of applying for the following additional matching grants:  Department of Neighborhoods Large Project Fund ($100K), King County Youth & Sports facilities ($75K), and an additional Small & Simple grant ($20K).  Notably, the LPF and the KCYSF grants match one another.  The majority of our required match will come through volunteer efforts and outreach.
• The Playground Committee presented a proposal to show the support of the parent body. The proposal included:
  • $10,000 budget line item for the 2011/12 FOSB budget.
  • Fundraising event in the fall.
  • The potential that the project would need additional funding through the auction Fund-an-Item, to cover any gap.
• There was a lot of discussion regarding the conflict that would exist in the fall, if fundraising were to occur for both the project and the annual Direct Giving campaign. Megan pointed out that there is never a “good” time to ask parents for donations.
• A motionwas made and the above proposal was approved.

Attendees:

Kelly Bryant (Co-chair), Caitlin Racey, Jodee Reed, Caleb Banta-Green, Katherine Ropp, Melanie Shelton, Kim Post, Dave Middleton, Beth Armitage, Jodi Russell, Zara Kublin, Sam Star, Karen Dugan, Robin Lofstrom, Lisa Dunn, Jenny Boget, Jen Millen, David Sommerville, Suzanne Waller, Byron Waller, Lance Adams, Megan Ratcliffe, Sarah Kopf

Chair’s Report:

Opened with positions on the FOSB board that are still open.

• Middle school chair (could be elementary chair if that was preferred and Kelly Bryant switched to Middle school chair)
• Elementary Treasurer
• BLT elementary
• Secretary

We haveadded David Summerville and Suzanne Waller as signers on the bank account.

Next time FOSB will meet is our retreat on April 9th.  Jane Davies  and Kelly Bryant are looking for topics and these are some options:

• Alternative Education Survey results
• PTA or not to PTA
• Communication Improvement

Robin Lofstrom has graciously offered to host the retreat at her house.

BLT report:

We have enough funding in our new budget from the district to pay for everything in our current program without a parent grant.

The district is finally funding K-8’s as they are required to. 

The district funded all the WSS proposals for K-8’s.

We are funded for a full time librarian.

FTE’s will no longer be broken down into units smaller than a .5 FTE.

Kindergarten is still full time and the cost for families is $237.00 per month.

Zara Kublin is going to write a thank you letter to the school board and the K-8 WSS committee from FOSB.

Principal’s report:

Jodee Reed talked about the change in superintendents and about the principals meeting with Dr. Enfield, the new superintendent. 

Budget cuts at the district's central office are going ahead and things will be business as usual until the end of the year when Dr. Enfield is reviewed. 

Jodee Reed told us about the discussion happening at school about growing our elementary program and increasing to 2 classes at every grade level from our current level of 1.5 classes.  This would mean no more multi-age classes but only looping. There is much discussion going on amongst the staff and this will continue.  This would add about 90 students and the timeline is still being discussed with a staged and gradual change being recommended.  The earliest time we might see a change is fall of 2011 which would probably see us adding  .5 of a kindergarten class and .5 of a first grade class.

The district perceives Salmon Bay as having extra space in our building and this would let us control how this space is filled.

Volunteer Coordinator Report:

Megan Ratcliffe reported for both positions and said that the tours are going well and have had decent attendance.

She reminded people that even if you have a sibling of a current student they still need to be enrolled and chose Salmon Bay as your school of choice. 

 Playground Committee:

Robin Lofstrom reported that the design is going along beautifully and they could really use some more people to take an active role with the committee.  There is an open house coming up on Wed. March 23rd from 6-8:30 in the Salmon Bay Cafeteria. 

Fundraising:

Sarah Kopf reported that the Jog-a-Thon date has been changed to Friday May 20th.

 Alternative Education:

Caleb Banta-Green reported that the alt. ed. survey has had about 25% participation so far and Jodee Reed is going to do a robo-call to remind parents to take part in it. 

Jodee Reed talked about the fact that John Miner is putting together a proposal of the policies that alternative school principals would like to see supported regarding alternative education.

Gardening Committee:

Jen Millen reported that the gardening committee is having a work party on March 19th from 10-1 and would love to have lots of people attend.   Ballard Tree Service donated wood chips and the school district is sending a gardener who will provide tools. 

Budget-

Kelly Bryant gave an overview of what the budget committee has been working on.  She handed out the proposed budget and asked for feedback or questions. 

David Summerville talked about the guiding principles behind the budget committees’ work. 

We discussed whether to fund the volunteer coordinators and if so at which level? It was decided to fund the volunteer coordinators at last years’ level of 19 hours per week (which had been cut to 15 hours this year). The cost to FOSB is approximately $25,000.

We also decided to fund a 0.2 FTE increase in art in the elementary school. 

Much discussion followed…..

Someone brought up the idea of funding a math specialist and Jodee Reed talked about her idea of expanding the reading specialist position to maybe include some math support. 

Sarah Kopf asked what it would take to get keyboarding for all the kids and Jodee Reed explained it would be hard to fit that into the all school curriculum. 

One important part of this discussion is that if FOSB purchases the additional Full Time Equivalent teachers/staff (FTE’s) before Jodee Reed submits her final budget than we will get them at an $8,000.00 discount. This is based on the fact that parent groups (such as FOSB), pay the average price for FTE's when submitted as part of the school budget. After the budget is approved, we would have to pay actual costs for additional FTE's. 

We talked more about the extra FTE’s for art and thought we could get Barb Leuty for more hours in the Elementary and either use her as a resource for the middle school or set aside money for middle school artist in resident program.

A proposal allowing the budget committee to approve up to an additional .2 FTE for art to be purchased by FOSB and added to Jodee’s pool was motioned, seconded.  There were some thumbs up and some thumbs neutral but no blocking votes so consensus was reached.

Attendees:

Kelly Bryant (ES Chair), Jane Davies (MS Chair), Jodee Reed, Nancy Shah, Sam Star, Dave Middleton, Suzanne Waller, Edith Fuchs, Lisa Dunn, Robin Lofstrom, Rolf Sonnerup, Renee Gersdorff-Duncan, David Innes, Margaret Clarissimeaux, Lance Adams, Carita Polin, David Somerville, Melanie Shelton, Caitlin Racey, Caleb Banta-Green, Katherine Ropp, Susan Motte, Keith McLaren, Zara Kublin, Jodi Russell, Beth Armitage, Hillary Leonard, Beth Boram, Jen Millen, Sarah Kopf, Michelle Pearson, Jessica Phillips, Megan Ratcliffe

Chair’s Report:

• April 9th retreat will discuss many topics, including PTO/PTA, a debriefing/discussion of Alternative Schools Coalition survey results, continuation of ongoing conversation regarding communication quality at Salmon Bay, plus a bonus topic (to be revealed at the March FOSB meeting).
• Open positions on FOSB for 2011-12 are:  Middle School Co-Chair, Elementary Treasurer, and Secretary.  Contact Kelly Bryant or Jane Davies for more information on any position.
• Both Volunteer Coordinator positions will be open next year.  Contact Kelly Bryant if you are interested in or have questions about the positions.
• Seeking volunteers to help with grant writing.
• Chairs dedicated time to discussing improving communication with classroom reps. Thoughts raised were:  

 - the role could serve to personalize important appeals and/or reminders on the level of parent-to-parent communications and ideally increase overall participation rates
 - make sure there is “quality and consistency” of expectations among volunteers serving as reps
 - avoid creating “overwhelming frequent” communications that would compete with teacher emails, Bulletin, etc.
 - ensure that the reps have a narrow “job focus,” i.e. that of communicator, and avoid multiple duties   

Overall, there was great support for the concept both as a way to increase connection to the school for parents and to improve communication.

Secretary’s Report:

• January minutes posted and passed.

Principal’s Report:

• Tours going well and she is pleased to see the children really stepping up to represent and support our school.
• WEP going well, even with difficulty of rainy weather at Snoqualmie.
• Math night is rescheduled and new date proposed is Monday, Feb 28th.
• In terms of bus transportation, as of today Salmon Bay is scheduled to receive the same services next year as this year (boundaries and eligibility remain the same), and our bell times are unaffected by district-level transportation policy changes.

Volunteer’s Report:

• Megan R:  Very busy with tours and tour planning including taking brochures to elementary schools and working on auction.
• Jessica P:  Very busy working on middle school tours and had good turn out so far.  Thank you to the parent who prepared the brochure!  WEP going well, but rain has caused early ski/board bus departures.

Treasurer’s Report:

• David Sommerville reported that budget committee is very active right now planning for delivery of budget back to FOSB.
• Tues, Feb 15th at 9:30am is meeting time for budget meeting with Jodee.  Jen Busch has been gathering input via a survey of parents and teachers.
• Reported on central PCTSA meeting and talked about $35 million dollar cut and also that council is trying to cut with minimal impact to teachers and classrooms. And will try to cut via transportation, maintenance and other central cuts where possible that sounded in synch with our discussions.
• WSS – weighted staffing standard change is that Salmon Bay will be weighted as a K-8, which helps our budget –we have often been treated as an elementary and not had full K-8 budget advantages we should have; so this is good news.  However, of course, cuts will affect all schools and we will see what the impact will be. 
• Feb 18th is when building budgets are given to principals.  Then there is roughly a four week process of reviewing the budgets.

Additional Reports:

• Alternative Education Committee:  Caleb has not heard new information, but will be starting the parent online survey Feb 28th and we will discuss results at the retreat.  There was discussion about how best to report back the information to the wider school audience.  Jane suggested that our annual meeting (May 12) might be a good time to present results.
• Legislative Chair: Zara Kublin is new legislative chair!  Yay!!!  Feb 21st is big march in Olympia to demonstrate support for SPS.  Go!!  It’s important to send a message to the state that we are not satisfied with current funding levels!
• Kelly reported:  Thorton Creek officially has a tie breaker for 6th grade entry, in addition to sibling and geozone and then lottery. 
• Budget:  Melanie reported for she and Connie – science has been dropped from strategic plan.  Science teachers are looking for support letters to put it back in.  There are support talks coming up to discuss this.  The high schools have been given money for science curriculum adoption (Chemistry, I think) and it is possible to view the curriculum at central offices. 
• Auction:  Edith, Auction chair is in the middle of procurement and is setting up teams to get all the pieces done.  They are really busy and procurements are coming in – we need lots more!!  Everyone send in your procurements and think of items that might be good at generating money.  Would be good to have a few more people following up on procurements from businesses.  Megan reported that another focus this year is to get more people to come to the auction.  So everyone, think now, think of grandparents and of asking people.  Email testimonials to Edith and Megan about what you’ve enjoyed to help communicate how our auction is a fun event!
• Fundraising:  Sarah reported that we are going to have an additional fundraiser, a jogathon of some kind later in the year as another source of funds. They have discussed April 29th as date for jogathon during PE. We would need parents to volunteer to support the event.  Jodee reminded that middle school funds raised would have to go to ASB, not to FOSB.  People thought April 29th was too close to the auction and the proposed date change is May 20th during bike to school push.
• Playground Committee: Lance Adams reported that the landscape architect (Johnson|Sutherland) will be presenting three design options based at the next community meeting on Feb 15th, 7-8:30 in the school library.  Fundraising options/grants are being explored. In early March there will be another community meeting and the committee should have a more solid plan/bid for playground designs.

FOSB Board Meeting Minutes –

1/13/2011

Attendees:

Jane Davies (MS Chair), Jodee Reed, Jean Lehman, Suzanne Waller, Keith McLaren, Rolf Sonnerup, Caitlin Racey, Susan Motte, Jodi Russell, Katherine Ropp, Caleb Banta-Green, Sam Star, Jessica Phillips, Marian Wagner, Renee Gersdorf-Duncan, Dorothy Jacobsen, Melanie Shelton, Jane Hewey

Chair’s Report:

• Passed December minutes.
• Seeking volunteers to help with recruiting, especially with middle school and the roles identified are photographer, graphic designer, PTA outreach to incoming elementary schools, display case and hall “spiffing up”.  Goal is to increase recruiting efforts to increase enrollment.  Tours:  Feb 8th   (elementary) Feb 10th (middle school) and Mar 8th   (elementary) Mar 10th (middle school) and Mar 15th  (E) and 17th (M).
• Elementary treasurer position is open and we are seeking a volunteer for that position.  It’s a good job for getting a sense of what is going on in the school.  Also, we are looking for a middle school co-chair for the 2011-12 school year as this is Jane’s last year.
• Katherine is moving to other volunteer fundraising role with Jodi Russell, so the legislative liaison is open. 
• Jan 15th, 9-11, Michael DeBell has open coffee time to ask questions at Café Appassionato.
• Spoke about Bulletin and best ways to distribute information and the difficulty of disseminating information. Tentative plans for chairs, volunteer coordinators and principal to talk about ways to improve communication in general.
• We need to replace emergency supplies because food and water are expired.  Keith is working on quantifying what we need.
• Bulk of meeting time then was dedicated to new fundraising committee headed by Jodi Russell and Katherine Ropp.

Secretary’s Report:

• December minutes posted and passed.

Principal’s Report:

• Open house tours are announced. 
• District Zone crew is at school for a few evenings doing general maintenance on the building working through backlog of maintenance requests.
• The superintendent has recommend to include in the budget the proposed K-8 funding changes which include full-time librarians, new formula for discretionary funding and several adjustments. These are seen as adjustments to the model as opposed to increases.  It isn’t know yet if all or some of the recommendations will be able to be funded.  The Chairs or legislative liaison will push a letter writing campaign in the coming month to support adjustments. Math night is coming up on January, Thursday 27th, 2011; this may get changed based on WEP make-up day occurring January 27th, 2011.  Evening will be about how math is taught and how parents can help students at home and also provide an opportunity to ask questions about math at Salmon Bay.

Volunteer’s Report:

• Jessica:  WEP is going well!!  Lots of volunteers, which is awesome and really helps it go well.  Megan is back!

Treasurer’s Report:

• We are seeking an elementary school treasurer.  Contact Kelly Bryant if you are interested.

Additional Reports:

• There was a comment that it would be good to add to last month’s minutes the strength of opinion from teachers communicated in support of PE, full time librarian, volunteer coordinator and art.
• Fundraising Committee:  Jodi Russell and Katherine Ropp have started fundraising committee to support additional fundraising efforts (additional to direct giving and auction, but also in support of the direct giving and auction) as needed, which came from discussions in budget committee.
  • We know we have said that we don’t turn to children for the fundraising.  Should we stick to that?
  • Could we have calendar of when it makes sense to ask middle school and elementary school families that doesn’t conflict with times that families are giving money at other times.
  • Could we inspire donating by saying FOSB has all donated; or could we say a grade has all donated; …
  • Could we have fund raisers in classes to raise money for camp (like car washes where kids are together having fun) – could we give teachers and classes freedom to come up with their own ideas?
  • Talked about having a post-auction event to clear auction left over. 
  • Talked about having donation box out at events, especially when there is something given, like dinner as extra way to gain $$$.
  • Other ideas discussed were jogathon, beach clean-up, and tree sales, geranium/plant sales, carnivals can be a fun way to have fun and raise $$$$ …
  • Nice to have budget shown to parents and testimonials in bulletin, so people understand need for $$$$.
  • Nice to go beyond parents to community and grandparents, aunts, uncles, so same pockets aren’t tapped …
  • Question about whether winter enrichment and camp is too expensive and also see that it is a really valuable part of our program for middle schoolers.
• Alternative Education Committee:  Caleb distributed and outlined the updated Parent Alternative School Evaluation Survey; which has been created in a way that is easy to complete and gives a good overview of how we’re doing based on our vision.  Next goal is to figure out how to maximize response rate, so we have a good overview.
• Legislative Committee: The geo-zones have been shifted and we have 412 students in our geo-zone. 
• Katherine Ropp reported on project that is recruiting schools to participate in reducing car idle time – briefly discussed if we should do this.  Also, February 21st, there is a March on Olympia event organized by the WA state PTA in support of education spending.  We are hoping to find a parent to organize a group of Salmon Bay families to attend.

FOSB Board Meeting Minutes –

12/9/2010

Attendees:

Jane Davies (MS Chair), Kelly Bryant (ES Chair), Jodee Reed, Carita Polin, Brian Williamson, Rolf Sonnerup, Dan Miller, Donna Mack, Lance Adams, Robin Lofstrom, Caitlin Racey, Beth Armitage, Susan Motte, Megan Ratcliffe, Zara Kublin, Andy Mates, David Sommerville, Jen Millen, Jodi Russell, Robin Lofstrom, Karla Alcantara-Warren, Sarah Kopf, Peg Peterson, Beth Boram, Lisa Crozier, Michelle Pearson, Katherine Ropp, Caleb Banta-Green, Jennifer Busch, Sam Star, Melanie Shelton, Jessica Phillips

Chair’s Report:

• Passed November minutes.
• We have a middle school treasurer.
• Bulk of meeting time (7:30-9) was for budget discussion to communicate and gain clarity on budget philosophy questions.  This is to communicate and understand what people value and want to especially protect in the program in light of tough budget years. 
• Key highlights from budget discussion were:  what should we spend monies on:  arts, librarian, PE, key elements that make Salmon Bay unique, as well as core components like math/language/art, etc. … 
• Key opinions were: 
  1.  as long as the district wasn’t fully funding the staff we felt were vital to the school, parents want to continue to offer a grant to the school to help fund the shortage;
  2.  also, full time librarian, PE, volunteer coordinators and arts are critical to the curriculum – opinion expressed by teachers and parents;
  3.  parents feel we could increase fund raising efforts and like idea of assigning fund raising to specific items, so parents understand what they are donating to.

Secretary’s Report:

• November minutes posted and passed – thanks Robin for doing them!

Principal’s Report:

• We were short on time so we abridged reports to have time for budget review.

Volunteer’s Report:

• Megan: Caitlin filling in for Megan while she’s out of town and she’ll be in touch next year for tours etc.  Directories are done!

Treasurer’s Report:

• We have a new middle school treasurer, David Sommerville, – yay and thank you David!

Additional Reports:

• BLT:  Sam Star (middle school rep) reported that they discussed rescheduling conferences and the planning for a math night. Sam encouraged parents to email him or Robin regarding any questions parents may want raised at BLT.
• Facility Committee:  A.J. Silva has contacted district and is coming up to speed on seismic updates as the funding becomes available to make them.  He is working on master list of the current state of the building and remodeling needs.
• Playground Committee:  we have a landscape architect, Maggi Johnson and are excited to move forward.
• Auction Committee:  Edith Fuchs is the new head of the auction committee with help from Megan.  Thank you Edith!
• Alternative Education Committee:  Caleb is working on tool for self-audit of alternative schools and is continuing overall efforts with John Miner.
• Legislative Committee:  Katherine Ropp reported on district meeting last week.  The district shrunk our geo-zone by 4 blocks.  Sibling is still first tie-breaker, followed by geo-zone and then lottery.  There is discussion of removing sibling preference for option schools in the future.

Commencing at 7:10 pm

Kelly Bryant, Chair

Jane Davies, Chair

Caitlin Racey, director

Sarah Kopf, director

Melanie Shelton, educator

Caleb Banta-Green, Alternative Schools Coalition rep.

Beth Armitage, director

Suzanne Waller

Anna McAllister, Treasurer

Keith McLaren, educator, Principal Intern

Jen Millen, Gardening

Sam Star, BLT

Beth Boram

Lance Adams, Playground Committee

Rosemary Daszkiewicz

Lisa Dunn

Renee Gersdorf-Duncan

Carita Polin, educator

Rae Keyes

Rolf Sonnerup

Jodi Russell, director

Brian Williamson, educator

Robin Lofstrom, BLT, Playground Committee, PIE

Outstanding needs:

• Related to the district:
• MSP/WASL:  How will test results impact our school and our alternative programs?      
• Student assignment plan:  There are two upcoming regional meetings.  Please attend if you can.  The district is proposing a geographic zone as part of its assignment plan for Salmon Bay, something which would threaten the ability for new families to make a choice to attend our school as the geographic zone would come before other tiebreakers. 
• Fundraising:
• Auction:  We still need a chair. Auction kick-off party is on Saturday, November 13th, at Caitlin Racey’s.  We need a Procurement Chair, and an Auction Chair.
• Scrip:  We are losing Alodie Loney because her family is moving. 
• Leadership positions:
• MS Treasurer position:  Open.
• Budget committee:  This new committee needs volunteers, as well as a Chair.
• Open director slots:  November is a time when people who are interested in serving as a director to FOSB are elected to that position.  Beth Boram, a new parent in the Kindergarten program, offered to step-up, and was elected.  Her email address is e_bethboram@hotmail.com. 
• School events:
• Fair Trade Fair and Pancake Breakfast:  Last year, the fair and breakfast funded Bridges to Understanding.  It was a great event, but without a committee to move it forward, it will be difficult to sustain the event.  The funds from this event will not fund Bridges to Understanding.  The funds will be used instead for WEP scholarships. 
• Elementary Spaghetti Feed:  We need volunteers.  Middle school music program will be performing, and ASB is offering babysitting services at $5/child in the gym (the funds will sponsor their dances).
• Program support:
• WEP:  Jay is managing the ski program.  WEP is run through FOSB – we need someone to be the liaison between FOSB and Jay to keep WEP moving forward.

Principal’s Report:    The district now publishes a “school report card,” available online.  Copies of that report were distributed.  Unfortunately, the district refused to separate our elementary goals and program from the middle school goals and program, so it appears that there are blank spots in the report.  There has been ongoing discussions that schools who are graded as 4 or 5 will have some autonomy to deliver their own programs, make their own hiring decisions, etc.  However, it would not necessarily put them in a place where they are no longer participating in assessments like the MSP.  MAP results charts the growth of a student over time, and it’s felt that there is some correlation between these results and the district’s report card. The results of the 4th grade math scores are concerning to parents and staff; the staff and BLT is looking at ways to improve math instruction, and is trying to make sense of the results.

Alternative Schools Coalition:    Six to eight weeks ago, the coalition met with the district’s Chief Academic Officer, Dr. Susan Enfield.  The result of that meeting is that it’s now clear there will be no external audit of alternative schools; additionally, the coalition now has a de-facto director, John Minor (principal at Thornton Creek).  There is work on an internal self-evaluation tool.  Earlier in the evening, a small group of parents met to review the quality indicators, something which may form the core of that self-evaluation tool.  The indicators were a document created some years ago by alternative school principals and community members, and Caleb Banta-Green has offered to work with the indicators in order to create a more meaningful data-driven series of questions; the current language of the quality indicators makes it very difficult to make real measurements against them.  The coalition will be meeting before December 9th.   

The district seems to be leaning towards referring to alternative schools as “innovation sites.” 

BLT Report:    The BLT is reviewing the C-SIP, and setting our goals in regards to math, reading, and writing.  They are discussing math instruction, and looking at finding ways to parents to work with students to improve learning.  They are also evaluating how teachers can coordinate math instruction.  That work will continue.

Survey of Alternative Education at Salmon Bay:    Those in attendance at the FOSB meeting were surveyed about what resonates for them regarding alternative education at Salmon Bay.  What’s going well was the focus of our discussion, rather than a review of how things used to be and how we can “be” in the future.  The motivation for the discussion was to help assure our enrollment, as tours are coming up and we want to keep our demand high by highlighting what works.  The following is a list of items that participants shared:

• WEP
• Camp
• Small middle school
• The goal of shared decision making
• Staff is committed to building relationships with parents and students
• Friday sing
• Looping, and mixed-age classes
• Making History
• The energy and joy here
• Peace and justice assemblies, song, emphasis
• PE every day
• Library
• Recess
• Shakespeare plays
• Experiential learning
• Sense of community
• Reading Buddy program
• Soft entry to 6th grade
• No-cut sports

Adjourned at 9:20 pm.