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Hillsdale High School Site Council
October 23, 2006 Minutes

Present:  Chris Crockett, Tim Williams, Cheryl Lawton, Marty Roberts, Pam Rianda, Greg Lance, Pam Sachs, Laurie Fineman, Suzanne Radotic, Yvonne Shiu

House Reports:
Seville House-Parent support meeting is scheduled for Monday, November 6th.
Kyoto Juniors-Fall Kite Festival raised $1000 for The Smile Train on Saturday, October 14th.  About 30 students met at the SMPAC to hear the author of  The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini, speak.
Florence House Sophomore teachers did not get the Peninsula Community Foundation Grants.
General news-The Peer Mentor program will begin on Weds, November 1 during Advisory.  The Writing Center is now open.  There are three Stanford students on campus every Monday from 12noon- 1pm.  The contacts for these tutors are Marty Roberts (Marrakech House), Greg Lance (Kyoto House) and Tim Williams (Florence House).

Tim and Cheryl are drafting a letter to be sent to local companies to solicit donations.  Marty Roberts will be forwarding information to the council about the Foundation Center located in downtown SF.

Distinguished School Application:
It was unanimously agreed that we cannot afford not to apply.  The intent to apply letter is due November 15th and the application is due December 13th.  Suzanne Radotic has graciously agreed to take our last SLC application and WASC report to formulate a rough draft of the themes in the application.  The first draft will be shared at the November 13th meeting, then a final draft at the November 21st Site Council meeting. 

Library and Computer Lab closure:
It was agreed that the computer labs and library remain closed when unsupervised.  It was agreed that Hillsdale could not afford the loss of valuable resources if these areas are left unattended.  Brett Stevenson, Tech Coordinator, will handle the computer lab sign ups.  Sandy will continue to schedule the library via email when not on the Hillsdale campus.  The library would be opened for teachers who signed up.  It was suggested that each house leader have the key to the computer lab.  The question regarding textbook check out came up.  Should teachers be trained to check out books to their classes?

Copying:
The numbers of copies run by staff members needs to be examined.  Due to the budgetary crisis, teachers need to be more careful about what is being copied.  House leaders expressed concern regarding budgets for supplies.  Parents suggested an email via schoolloop be sent out asking for supplies.

Celebration:
It was suggested that we have a schoolwide potluck on Friday, November 3rd right before our faculty picture.  Lucy will be in charge of assigning the menu. Reinstating Friday afternoon get-togethers was suggested.  POW-too small.  How about Ausiello’s in San Carlos/Belmont?  Faculty celebration at a hotel seemed too expensive.  Laurie Fineman suggested a clubhouse in Foster City-not expensive to rent and fairly large.  We are ready to celebrate!

Passporting:
The following addition was suggested:
In order for a student to be passported, the following criteria must be met:

  • The move is necessary to meet the student’s academic needs
  • No other reasonable option is available
  • Teachers, advisor, counselor, and core team must agree to the move
  • Receiving teacher is to be notified before scheduling changes occur

The policy is going to be sent to all staff members via email.

SLC Model for the future:
All agreed that in two-three years, the ideal SLC structure would have advisory at all grade levels.  The level of service provided to juniors, seniors and special education students was a concern.  Due to budgetary reductions, the number of advisories has been greatly reduced, as well as the number of students on special education teachers’ caseloads.   There is a fear of returning to the in-house vs out-of-house teachers and the inequity of class load assignments.  The need to maintain the collaboration period was recognized as a vital piece to the SLC model.  It was suggested that professional development time be available to the upper grade level teachers to brainstorm what an ideal advisory or looping model would be most effective.  This led to each house reporting out to the faculty on their adopted advisory model; each house at the junior year has a different advisory structure.  Each house should be prepared to share strengths and weaknesses of their model and parent input will be solicited.