Kennesaw Charter Science and Math Academy
Partners with the following Business/Community Members
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- School Improvement Team Description and Responsibilities
KCSMA Partners with the following Business/Community Members: Chick-fil-A – Barrett Parkway DREAM NFL Mentors Vulcan Quarry Wells Fargo Zaxby’s Atlantis Hydro Ponics Stevi B’s KCS Sustainability Wing Zone Depew Orthodontics Cobb County Water Shed Kid to Kid Student of the month is celebrated monthly.. Staff surveys indicates staff desire for increased meetings with the principal as grade levels, in addition to whole group. Principal and/or AP meets with individual grade levels each month to address grade specific needs and issues. Staff members distribute student compliment cards which are read aloud at the school’s bi-weekly morning meeting, attended by all staff and students. KCSMA Staff Christmas Party annually. KCSMA Teacher of the Year is determined by a staff vote. Teacher of the Year is invited to attend the county wide Give Teachers a Hand Breakfast, sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce. Kennesaw Business Association hosts Back to School Bash for three area elementary schools, one of which is KCSMA. KCSMA hosted this year’s Bash 2015-16. KCSMA Parent Teacher Organization is in its 6th year. President 2015-2016 – Greg Maloney and Denise Babin Co-Presidents. PTO Parent membership continues to grow, as do the events and activities for families and students. Activities for 2015-2016 include BINGO, International Celebration, and Holiday Shop. Local restaurant family dinners. PTO sponsors a Back to School teacher breakfast annually as well as luncheons for staff throughout the year.
E-mails, mass telephone message system and regular classroom newsletters offer additional contact tools, along with teacher blogs and a monthly newsletter from the principal, in addition to telephone communication, student agendas and written communication School and Board website offers all stakeholders updated information through links to classrooms, PTO and Enrollment Department. Engrade, an online student grade reporting system is available for grades 4-6. Parents may access Engrade as a means to stay current on student progress, classroom assignments, student grades and attendance. Parents are expected to fulfill 20 volunteer hours as part of their child’s enrollment at KCSMA. This ensures some degree of parent involvement in the school. Parents may submit suggestions, questions or other input electronically to parentclimate@kcsma.net or anonymously to parentclimate@kcsma.net https://suggestionox.com/r/ekewLZ Comments will be forwarded to the School Advisory Committee. Volunteer opportunities are posted via parent emails, monthly newsletters, mass telephone messages, and Facebook and Twitter. KCSMA school website has been re-designed and was launched in October. Kennesaw Charter Science and Math Academy enjoys notable parent participation in fund-raising activities, after school events and school wide celebrations, which makes it possible to offer students numerous opportunities for enhanced instruction and socialization. The leadership and staff of Kennesaw Charter Science and Math Academy ensure the school is responsive to community expectations and stakeholder satisfaction by including parent and community representation on school committees, conducting parent surveys, hosting Parent Night meetings, scheduling parent-teacher conferences, and encouraging parent participation on a day to day basis. Surveys are a practical tool used by the school to obtain and maintain a direct line of communication with stakeholders on questions, suggestions and opinions. Surveys are generated internally by leadership, by AdvancEd and by Georgia Department of Education as part of the TKES/LKES. Information derived from these surveys is used for continuous improvement in systems and procedures. Resources and Support Systems Average class size in Kindergarten is 19, first grade through third grade average is 22, with fourth and fifth grades projected capacity at 25 students. However, this year 3rd grade was above projected student numbers at about 25 students. There are 8 Kindergarten classes. Each Kindergarten class shares a half-day paraprofessional. All certified and classified employees are highly qualified. KCSMA staff meets every Tuesday. Grade levels have common planning 5 days per week. One day per week common planning focuses on data. Grade level chairs are responsible for sending grade level planning minutes to principal or assistant principal once per week. Crisis Prevention Intervention training is provided for designated teachers annually. Additionally, CPR and AED training is provided every 2 years. School Improvement Team Description and ResponsibilitiesSchool Leadership Team members were elected in spring 2015. School Leadership Team, (also referred to as School Improvement Team) members serve a 2 year term, but can be re-elected by staff at the end of the term. School Leadership Team minutes and SIT meeting schedule are kept in the front office for public access. The purpose of KCSMA School Improvement Team is to make decisions and oversee implementation of decisions regarding continuous school improvement through student achievement by:
Improvement decisions including parent and staff perspectives will produce informed, thoughtful outcomes. Staff representation on SIT is determined by certified teachers’ secret ballot votes. If any member of the team cannot participate, an interim member may be selected by the team to serve the remainder of the term. Parent representatives are nominated by parents and staff members. Nominees will be selected by secret ballot parent vote. This is usually conducted by survey, a voting box in the school office, or an election that occurs when a representative number of parents are present at a school event. Two to three parents may be elected. SIT term – 2 years. Members may be re-elected at the end of the term, but are not required to accept the position. Confidentiality Parent representatives may share SIT minutes with parents through PTO meetings or newsletters. ONLY conversations that are written into the minutes by the SIT Secretary may be shared. Confidential information about children is sometimes discussed in meetings. If information is not entered into SIT minutes it is not to be discussed with anyone outside SIT meeting. SIT Discussion Topics Topics specific to a teacher, parent, classroom, grade level or department should be directed to Chairperson or Mrs. Frey. If outcome of this meeting is unresolved, please place it on the upcoming SIT Agenda. Only topics submitted for the SIT Agenda prior to the SIT meeting will be discussed. School Improvement Team is NOT the “Complaint Department”. Concerns, criticisms submitted to SIT members should be accompanied by suggestions for improvement. SIT members do not advocate for those submitting ideas, questions or concerns. SIT members should not address or attempt to intercede, respond, offer solutions, or make commitments to parents’ input on behalf of the School Improvement Team. If someone approaches you with a concern, and you know it does not meet the criteria described here, encourage them to speak with the teacher, Mrs. Frey, or whoever you think will be most helpful. Those submitting topics must put the concern/suggestion in writing so the SIT member can present it exactly as it was meant to be presented, with no editorializing. SIT members should neither agree nor disagree with those submitting ideas, concerns or questions. Parent representatives should bring input from parents regarding “continuous school improvement through student achievement” by submitting item for agenda prior to meeting date and presenting item at SIT meeting. SIT response will be shared with parents, by SIT parent reps via official SIT meeting minutes. SIT Secretary is responsible for taking minutes of each meeting and sending to SIT members in a timely fashion. Decisions regarding school improvement require a majority vote by the SIT. Topics not appropriate for SIT include but are not limited to:
Mrs. Frey
KCSMA Student Advisory Committee Purpose: The purpose of the Committee is to offer a forum for school stakeholders- to share their opinions, expertise and ideas and provide responses to stakeholder questions (or provide direction as to where the response might be found). The KCSMA Student Advisory Committee is comprised of people with a genuine interest in KCSMA and a desire to see the school do well. SAC members serve as a sounding board, offering ideas and experience and giving honest feedback. Members of SAC are people with no axe to grind who want to listen to stakeholders and work as a team towards continuous school improvement. Above all, they want to contribute to the well-being of KCSMA. Extent and limits of authority Advisory committees can make recommendations and give opinions, but have no true decision-making authority. Committee members are prohibited from answering questions or responding to concerns as an individual. Concerns, questions, etc. should be presented to the Committee, once consensus regarding response is reached, the Committee will respond as a whole. It is vital that meetings have structure, maintain respectful interactions, and remain positive. Additionally, when meetings end, issues discussed in the meeting should not carry over into individual talks outside SAC meeting. ELECTIONS The Committee needs to elect people on the 10th. Administration should not be Chair and is ex-officio. Co-Chairs - 1 Parent 1 Staff member - Prepare agenda, oversee and guide meeting according to guidelines and purpose listed above. Send reminders to all members one week prior to meeting. When we get this reminder Mr. Traster or Mrs. Frey will send parent notification. Timekeeper - budget time according to agenda items, update Committee members on time /time limits during meetings. Minutes - Take notes, send notes to all Committee members. Stakeholders may submit questions, comments or suggestions anonymously to https://suggestionox.com/r/ekewLZ Input will be shared with SAC monthly. The Agenda drives the meeting: Stakeholders welcome to attend but if it’s not on the agenda, additional questions /comments can only be made after the agenda items are complete. What if no “e-suggestions” or verbal issues are submitted to Settle or Beeler, and as a result there are no Agenda items? If the Committee has nothing to present at the meeting, those stakeholders in attendance may voice their concern, question or suggestions as soon as the meeting begins. If stakeholders attend and present questions or comments at the end of the meeting (after all Agenda items are covered) and there is not time to effectively respond, the Committee will place the issue as the first item for the upcoming meeting. Call to order Parent Suggestions or Comments Teacher Suggestions or Comments Parent Questions Teacher Questions Committee comments (this could be a positive way to end each session- maybe praising a parent or student for something – doesn’t matter if they are there or not- just acknowledging good works of others - updating an issue and talking about how it was resolved, etc.) Adjourn
Volunteers from America Reads remediate students in grades 1-5. Tutoring provided by America Reads occurs during the instructional day. As the student population increases, so does the need for additional administrative support. Leadership is challenged with utilizing office personnel in multiple capacities while maintaining the quality of job. Distribution of tasks continues to be a goal as roles and responsibilities are re-defined, cross-training occurs, and succession plans are amended to reflect changes in the department. Economic sustainability is vital to the success of KCSMA. The school’s CFO works closely with the KCSMA Governing Board, Principal and Cobb County, to ensure sufficient funds to support educational programming and maintenance of facilities. Monthly financial records are reviewed by the Board and by Wells Fargo, who oversees the municipal bonds secured by KCSMA for the new campus and school. Bambo Sonake CPA Accounting Firm, conducts an annual audit of all financial records. Mr. Sonake reports audit results at the October board meeting. Results are on file with the CFO, and are sent to CCSD and GaDOE. Administration and Crisis Team provide training for staff members annually. The School Safety Plan is reviewed with staff members throughout the year. Fire Drills are conducted and documented monthly, an annual tornado drill is conducted in February. Documentation on both is filed and forwarded to Cobb County. CPR training is provided for the staff on a bi-yearly basis. There are currently 10 members of the KCSMA staff qualified to perform CPR or to operate the AED machine. CPI (Crisis Prevention Intervention) certification training occurs yearly. A Licensed Practical Nurse is on staff, and provides service from 8:30am – 2:00pm daily. Governance and Leadership KCSMA Policy Manual, written by the Principal and KCSMA Governing Board, in cooperation with Georgia Charter Schools Association, is in place and accessible to all staff members. A Parent/Student Handbook is distributed at the beginning of each school year. Staff Handbooks are distributed at the beginning of each school year. Each is also mailed electronically. Substitute teachers receive a Substitute Handbook when they attend training with the Principal or designee. Staff handbook and New Teacher handbook are reviewed, revised and distributed yearly. Teacher Leaders’ opportunities for growth and advancement include chairing committees, mentoring new or struggling teachers, taking the lead position for the grade level or facilitating staff Professional Development. KCSMA principal and assistant principal are credentialed to evaluate certified teachers in Georgia using o the Georgia TKES (Teacher Keyes Evaluation System). Principal will be evaluated by Dave Peeples and Candice Wharton. KCSMA governing board member and credentialed LKES evaluators. Assistant Principal and Curriculum Coordinator will be evaluated by Principal Kay Frey, credentialed LKES (Leader Keyes Evaluation System) evaluator. Download 491.81 Kb. Share with your friends:
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