SIT Meeting Minutes
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Melrose School Conference Room
3:30-5:00
I.
Attendance and introduction
Please see attached sheet for list of attendees
II.
Meeting Dates
The October meeting will be held on October 16 at 3:15 p.m. All subsequent meetings will be held on the
2nd Thursday of the month.
There was discussion regarding having a joint meeting with the Lawn SIT. One potential topic of discussion was how
SSR is conducted at Lawn.
III. Old Business
A.
Mission Statement
The mission statement will stay the same.
If anyone would like to propose suggestions for altering the
professional development guiding principle or adding a new guiding principal
regarding community involvement, please forward suggestions to Marilyn
Hostetler.
B. Self Selected Reading
1.
Programs used in each grade
Representatives from each grade discussed how SSR is conducted in their grade.
a. Preschool – students select from a basket of books on the current topic being discussed. Time allotted is 8-10 minutes.
b.
Kindergarten – students can pick any book in the
classroom. This usually occurs after
Writer’s Workshop. Midyear students
begin to get books to take home.
c.
1st Grade –All children have book baskets
and an open space to read. Reading
conferences are conducted with 3-4 children.
Reading groups consist of students at different reading levels. During conferences, children read pages
(literacy) from books and discuss what they have read (comprehension).
d.
2nd Grade- All children have
conferences. Conferencing occurs with
groups of children. There is a Reader’s
chair where students can read out loud to the class. Guided reading is conducted in groups while other students are
doing self-selected reading. SSR is
conducted for 30 minutes per day.
e.
3rd Grade – There is a library in the back
of the room where students can select books.
Conferencing is used to ensure fluency and comprehension. SSR is conducted for 30-40 minutes per day.
f.
4th Grade – Most students are independent
readers. Students keep a reading
log. Each student must read 25
books/year. Each month a different
genre (i.e. mystery) of book is chosen and students must write a book report on
the book. Students are beginning to
analyze writing styles in books. There
is a reader’s chair where students can share out examples of good writing. Students have conferences in a “fish bowl”
where other students can watch and listen to a small group of students
discussing a book.
2.
Observable characteristics
Carrie Melucci observed that there is consistency in the way that SSR is being
implemented for Preschool through grade 4.
3.
Future: maintain, change or both
There was a proposal to conduct a joint SIT meeting with the Lawn SIT in order
to understand how SSR is conducted in grades 5 through 8.
There was a proposal to discuss how writing is conducted across the grades.
IV. Behavior Policy
A. Brief “Respect Guides Community” overview
B. Open Discussion
Carrie Melucci asked for feedback from the group on the policy. The group approved of the policy and thought
that it had been well implemented. Some
of the parents commented that some of the acronyms (i.e. RTI) and programs
referred to in the letter to parents should be more clearly defined.
The Behavior Policy will be discussed during the group session at the Open
House. Carrie will revise the document
and SIT will approve it at the next meeting.
V. New Business
The agenda for the next meeting
was to watch a video on successful schools.
Since the majority of SIT members have already seen the video, those who
have not can contact Carrie to get a copy.
We will discuss the video at the next meeting.
Michaela Onosko discussed an initiative to implement a K-8 foreign language
initiative.
VI. Action Items
|
Action
Item |
Assigned To |
Due Date |
|
1. Collect input on changing guiding principals for
mission statement |
Marilyn Hostetler |
October SIT meeting |
|
2. Set up joint SIT meeting with Lawn |
|
|
|
3. Investigate how writing is conducted across the
grades |
|
|
|
4. Revise Behavior Policy with input from SIT |
Carrie Melucci |
October SIT meeting |
|
5. Distribute copies of video to SIT members who have
not yet viewed it. |
Carrie Melucci |
October SIT meeting |
Attendees
|
Name |
Email |
Role |
|
Marilyn Hostetler |
|
Teacher, SIT co-chair |
|
Peggy Swark |
|
Teacher |
|
Delores Bauer |
Parent |
|
|
Ramona Bessinger |
|
Parent |
|
Brenda Hawkins |
|
Parent |
|
Leanne Turenne |
|
Teacher |
|
Michaela Onosko |
Language Specialist Lawn |
|
|
BJ Whitehouse |
|
School Committee Laison |
|
Charlene Tuttle |
|
Teacher |
|
Jane Mitchell |
|
Teacher |
|
Trish McDevitt |
|
Teacher |
|
Jennifer Caswell |
|
Teacher |
|
Carrie Melucci |
|
Principal |
|
Kim Ferguson |
Parent |
|
|
Tara M. Higgins |
Teacher |
|
|
Carolyn Petrocelli |
Teacher |
|
|
Furhana DiBiase |
Parent |