June 4th Meeting Minutes

School Site Governace Meeting Agenda
Thursday, June 4th
Animo Venice Auditorium


Objective:
1. Review existing committees and goals
2. Create plans and roles for completing unfinished business before summer

• Introductions, review objectives
o Reviewed minutes
o Ramos reviewed objectives for the day, packet of proposals and protocol for passing them

• Next Meeting Date: Thursday, August 20th
o Ramos requested that members consult schedules to determine next meeting date. Request for members to contact Ramos about availability by EOY.

• Public Comments (10 min)
o Revolution Foods (15 min)
 Staff presented the philosophy and nature of Revolution Foods. Presentation included description of food ingredients and sources of ingredients. Discussion of pros and cons of current lunches. Students and staff voiced opinions and gave recommendations for change.
 Discussion of price of Revolution Foods in context of $900,000 budget cut.
 Discussion of ways to subsidize the cost and whether or not it is worth it.
 Decision to vote at the end of the meeting

o Roman asked about whether or not new school will be ready in time for the beginning of the school year


• Committee Reports— (3 min each)
 Fundraising
 End of Year Ceremony-June 6th
 Better Attendance
 Community Partnerships
 Recruitment
 Hype

• Policies to be voted on— (10 min)
 Detention Committee
• Review of detention proposal, discussion of legality of teachers supervising detention during lunch, discussion of possible mandatory office hours in place of lunch detention, logistical issue of retrieving students and adequacy of two detention periods a week, possible system of merits and demerits
• possibility of choosing a dean with a period of adjunct duties to coordinate this and possibly implement a system of merits and demerits
• issue of the integrity of detention, does detention matter now? Why is detention given?
• Karlo motioned to pass lunch detention proposal with the understanding that amendments need to be make and consistency needs to be established. Additionally, a merit/demerit system needs to be implemented. (More than just the time of detention needs to be changed).
• Proposal was approved unanimously
 Service Learning Committee
• Report, Discussion, Motion/Vote
• Many parents have connections to non-profits (Karen), many non-profits are looking for volunteers
• How does this factor into the 40 community service hours?
• Currently, are seniors getting their 40 hours?
• Brainstorming around different community organizations studens can get involved with
• Possible option of asking organizations to provide information about “job description” and “mission”
• Ramos moved to accept proposal, seconded and approved unanimously

New Business— (20 min)
• Spanish Placement
 Do we have an adequate measurement of placing student into Spanish classes?
• Problems with student placement. Students are placed incorrectly or do not complete assessment
• Lorrain reported her concerns and explained the current placement process. Explained the difference between native and nonnative speakers. Native students read, write and speak the language. Nonnative speakers have ONE of those three skills (read, write or speak). Use of parent survey and Spanish interview.
• Question of whether or not students should be tested on language before it is taught
• Should Spanish diagnostic be given at the beginning and end of the year so that we are measuring validity of test and amount of growth each year.
• If students are misplaced, advisors have the option of requesting that a student be retested
• Question of logic of course sequencing for Spanish, is it logical to assume so many students will take AP Spanish Language (yes, it is not a difficult test).
• Possibility of Spanish elective

 Voted to reinstate Revolution Foods contingent upon raising $6,ooo

• Club Establishment Process
• Vote to table this discussion
• Karlo will coordinate with other club leaders and report back to the committee
 Can we codify how to establish a club here at Animo Venice?
 What is the process for establishing official clubs?
 Who is involved in the process? When can it take place?
 How many students are needed? How do they raise / get money?
 What is their connection to ASB?
 Is there a stipend / release time for advisors?
• Master Schedule
 How can we be more transparent about changes regarding committee objectives?
• Suggestion that changes to master schedule are communicated to all constituents (students, staff, etc). Decision to post changes on bulletin.

• Adjournment

Proposal for Recruitment

Recruitment Committee

Summation of Current Concerns:
It is clear that to provide all the services that we need for our students, we need to be budgeted at a minimum of 560 students for the next school year. Currently, our enrollment at grades 9-12 is 400 students with 170 incoming freshmen. However, we are anticipating the departure of some of our students due to the move so we need to actively recruit students to fill in available slots at grades 10-12.

Date of Last Meeting: Saturday, May 9th, 2009 NEXT MTG: TBD

Proposal:

A. Parent Outreach
Parents will reach out to their local communities in the West LA, Inglewood, and Fairfax areas.
B. Private School Outreach
Karen Lauterbach suggested reaching out to private schools in the area including St. Monica’s and St. Bernand’s. Animo Venice can be an opportunity for parents who may no longer be able to afford private schools in these economic times.
C. Venice High Outreach
Mr. Chang will figure out who to speak with at Venice High that can advocate for Animo Venice to students who need an alternative setting to a large high school.
D. Local Churches / Community Groups Outreach
Coach Henrie will reach out to such organizations through flyers and letters to promote Animo Venice.
E. Farmers Market Outreach
Mr. Silbiger will research local farmers markets where we can hand out flyers.

Update / Next Steps:

A. Information sessions
Two information sessions have been scheduled for Thursday, 6/4 @ 6pm and Saturday, 6/6 @ 10am. We will be targeting 10th – 12th graders.
B. Creation of Recruitment Flyers
A color flyer has been created by students.
C. Student ‘Viral’ Marketing
Students have promoted information sessions through Facebook, Myspace, AIM, E-mail
D. Outreach
Coach Henrie has reached out to local churches and community groups. Patty Millan has reached out to directors of organizations such as MDR Work Source, Boys&Girls Club, Inside-Out Art Program, Vera Davis Center
E. Parent hours
In the communication envelope and bulletin, there was mention about student recruitments. Parents will receive 10 hours of service for every student that enrolls at Animo Venice and 2 hours of service for every person that shows up to the information session.

Any and all suggestions, questions, or comments on this proposal can be directed to Mr. Chang at tchang@animo.org