Alcott Local School Council (lsc) Meeting Minutes

Alcott Local School Council (LSC) Meeting Minutes

Location: Alcott East Campus

Meeting was called to order at 7:49am by Libby Thompson.

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  Homecoming Feb 6 was great; neon theme
  
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  Junior talent shot Feb 12; winners Hot Mess (school band), Mia, and Emily
  
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  Freshmen considering Spring Dance
  
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  Open Mind, Open Mike was Feb 26 topic Violence; great turnout
  
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  Seniors preparing for prom
  
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  Students selecting classes for next year
  
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  Juniors took ACT Mar 3
  
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  Peer conferencing field trip helping to empowering student; preparing for peer mediation group
  
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  Chess team has been successful in competitions
  
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  Louder Than a Bomb (poetry, spoken word group) has been successful in competitions
  
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  An additional Spoken Word group has had professional instructors available through CPS network grant
  
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  Science Olympiad group participated in competition last weekend; every participant placed and several first place winners
  

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  PARCC
  
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    1^st session will be administered next week for 3^rd – 8^th grades at East and 9^th grade at West
    
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    2^nd session will be end of April or beginning of May; may overlap with Spring NWEA testing
    
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    3^rd-5^th will use a paper test
    
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    6^th-9^th will test online; concern with Java portion of PARCC software update
    
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    Results this year will not be used for evaluation purposes but will be on state report card
    
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    PARCC is not an adaptive test like NWEA
    
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  East
  
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    Mar 20 at 8am parent workshop by NWEA representative for CPS; please submit questions ahead of time to Mr. Estrada
    
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    May 29 Field Day and Walkathon
    
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    Mar 12 Talent Show
    
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    Number of after school programs has maxed out our space
    
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    May 14-15 Annie Junior show
    
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    Mar 20 lottery list released; need to review numbers before adding any lottery KG students in order to remain at 26-27 students per class
    
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    Anthony DiBartolo new East engineer shared with Newberry; on the list to have single engineer for East and West not shared with another school
    
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    3^rd floor girls bathroom is particularly bad
    
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    3 classes of pre-K enrollment are full; additional applications will be on wait list
    
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  West
  
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    Will potentially include 2 introductory engineering classes in next year’s course catalog
    
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    Course catalog being released next couple of days
    
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    Acceptance letters released; will meet projected 100 incoming Freshmen
    
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  Budget
  
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    Trying to get separate unit numbers for East and West for budgeting purposes; any change would start 2016
    

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  None
  

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  Pre-K: Students are working on Buildings with an emphasis on the story, The Three Little Pigs. They are having lots of fun making predictions and building houses with various materials (pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, paper, Legos, etc.) and testing out each house created to see if the wolf will Huff and Puff and Blow their house down using a hair dryer. Following their tested item, we discuss their predictions and compare their predictions to the tested conclusion. We also had The Three Little Pigs Story Bus visit us last week. Oh what fun!!!
  
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  KG: In kindergarten this week we are doing many Seuss-inspired activities. We have made a number of classroom books modeled off of our favorite Dr. Seuss stories. And the real fun will come when the students taste test green eggs (lime jello jiggler eggs and cool whip) on Thursday and make oobleck on Friday!
  
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  3^rd
  
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    We had a guest speaker come talk to our class about the Chicago World’s Fair. The Pinkert family’s grandma used to work as a docent and came to our class to share her expertise about Chicago. We will continue to learn how Chicago has become the city it is today.
    
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    Language Arts is more literature circles and ReadyGen. We are substituting more vocabulary and foundational skills to help enrich this part of our curriculum.
    
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    Math is multiplication and division bar models. It is tough but we are learning a lot!
    
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  Primary science
  
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    1^st: Continuing to work on plants and animals. Students will be creating an animal diorama at the end of the unit. I'm hoping to display these on the first floor in the hallway.
    
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    2^nd: Completing air, weather, and space unit. Students recently were sent home a recipe for no-bake moon cookies. Check out my site under the second grade tab for that NASA recipe.
    
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    3^rd: Completed the first portion of the structures of life unit about plants; however, we're taking a brief break from the unit in order to prepare for science fair. Science fair will be held April 24th, 2015.
    
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  4^th
  
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    4th grade is reading "Wonder" and really enjoying it. We are incorporating writing into Social Studies by participating in the great mail race. Each student has chosen a state to research and a school to write to within that state. Hopefully we hear back from them soon!
    
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    We are also participating in our first virtual field trip! As part of our Ag in the Classroom program we will be "visiting" an egg farm in Warsaw, Indiana.
    
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  5^th and 6^th
  
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    5^th LA: The fifth grade is still working on their poetry unit in Literacy and composing a piece of expository writing comparing and contrasting the two main characters in the last novel they read for class, Walk Two Moons. Students will be spending a lot of time in Writing Workshop to get the piece ready for publication.
    
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    6^th LA: The sixth grade is finishing their poetry unit and is resuming their studies in Scholastic Scope magazine. Students will be busy doing close reads and argument writing.
    
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    5^th Math: Students began the geometry unit. Students are starting with angles and connecting to 2-Dimensional shapes then ending with 3Dimensional shapes and volume.
    
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    6^th Math: Students are finishing a unit on ratios and proportions. Students will begin a data and probability unit next - look out for some March Madness :)
    
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  7^th and 8^th
  
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    7^th Science: Students are finishing up a unit on mitosis and meiosis in preparation for a unit on genes and heredity.
    
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    8^th Science: Students will be finishing their astronomy unit by constructing telescopes and studying the optics involved - particularly, finding lens focal length and computing magnification.
    
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    7^th Math: We are using a technological aid called "Khan Academy" to supplement the math curriculum and it's been a big hit so far with students and parents.
    
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  Art
  
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    PreK and Kindergarten has been looking at the artwork of African-American artists such as Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence and Faith Ringgold. Kindergarten students have been impressing Mrs. Swenson with the writing they have done to describe their drawings!
    
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    1st grade has been working on paper Kente cloth weavings, and those will be on display in the front hall.
    
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    2nd grade has been working very diligently on yarn weavings, to be finished in the next week.
    
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    3rd grade has now finished a lines to curves painting project.
    
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    4th grade has been looking at the paintings of Aaron Douglas to inspire their mixing tints and shades of colors.
    
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    5th is working on a scale model project, to be on display where the 8th grade wire sculptures are now.
    
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    6th grade finished their Roy Lichtenstein paintings and are sewing soft sculptures inspired by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami.
    
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    7th grade has finished a printmaking unit that ended with screen printing onto fabric.
    
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    8th grade will be working on an altered book project as a new medium for a self-portrait, and how they see themselves in the future. Three middle school students have artwork in the upcoming "Elephants with Riders" exhibit at Northside College Prep this Saturday, March 7th. If you are interested in helping to manage art displays in the Alcott hallways and have time after 2pm during the week, please let Mrs. Swenson know.
    
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  Kindergarten Aid Fundraiser
  
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    $750 per student, same as with previous years
    
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    Assume 50% participation
    
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    Should cover J at School aide for 2015-16
    
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  Spring Spirit Wear order
  
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  Combined $600 total, Field of Dreams $216k including Cubs; with $30k reserve leaves about $345k for general use
  
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  Mar. 7 auction; please bid on items
  
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  Ordered SMART boards for primary science lab, middle school math lab, and computer lab with Scholastic funds; will have enough for another board after spring book fair
  
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  Kudos to Ms. Vincent for preparing a wonderful assembly for Black History Month with KG, 2^nd, 7^th, 8th
  
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  Bree Warren made a motion to approve the fundraising proposal for the KG aide; John Ketchum seconded. Motion carried 7-0. See Exhibit Motion #2015.03.02.
  
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  John Ketchum made a motion to approve the fundraising proposal for Spirit Wear order; Libby Thompson seconded. Motion carried 7-0. See Exhibit Motion #2015.03.03.
  

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  1^st grade only grade using interventionist this year; unused internal money and SGSA funds roll over to next year’s budget
  

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  Principal Evaluation Committee
  
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    Evaluation needs to be by Mr. Estrada by May 1 and to network by Jun 1
    
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    Parents and students will be solicited for input
    
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  Steering committee
  
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    Next meeting next Tuesday
    
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    Focusing on asking CPS for additional support for single administrator for 2 schools
    
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  Diversified Learners
  
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    Durkin’s Best Buddies Night was very successful; raised $2300 which was an increase from last year $1400
    
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    Mar 19 speaker on transitioning after school
    
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    May 14 disability benefits CPS OLDS meeting
    
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    May 21 OLDS network meeting at Brown Elementary
    
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    Trying to schedule meeting for outside speaker on how to navigate CPS ILP process
    

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  Thanks to John Ketchum for donating Grateful Dead tickets for the auction
  

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  none
  

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  none
  

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  Parent complaint about person issuing parking tickets. Mr. Estrada has been working with Alderman Smith to contact his supervisor. If you have complaints, contact Mr. Estrada and Alderman Smith.
  
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  Questions about when we’re getting money from Alderman Smith and state grant for the Field of Dreams. Meetings continue with CPS. Aldermanic money is encumbered. State grant expected to sign off within next 2 weeks.
  

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  Mr. Estrada made a motion to adjourn the meeting; Aurelia Chaudagne seconded. Motion carried 7-0. See Exhibit Motion #2015.03.04.