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Peter Tromba , Principal
José da Silva, Asst. Principal
Anne Tomlanovich, Counselor
Reba Zeleny, Head Secretary
Marta Lagumina, Registrar

2800 Bailey Lane
Eugene, Oregon 97401-5296
Phone: 541-687-3254
FAX: 541-687-3679

November 1, 2007

Members Present:  Peggy Quinn, Dorothy Syfert, Pam Schmieding, Lynda Firth, Molly Hammans, Joel Iboa, Margot Pillette, Laurie Brody, Sjana Barcroft-Hundt, Shirley Madathil, Peter Tromba

Students Present: Jackie Jones (7th), Jonathon Goddard (8th), Eva Lopez (7th), Emma Catalano (7th), Keyla Massingham (7th), Zulema Iboa (7th)

Visitor: Kim Ketterer (District Instructional Technology Coord.)

Thanks to Molly Hammans for snacks!

INTRODUCTIONS:
Our Site Council Committee is growing! For our first meeting, only staff attended, and for our second meeting, parents joined us. Today’s meeting had students present also. Site Council is extremely important because ALL voices can come together, and be heard.

SPENDING REQUESTS:
Staff Development funds are available. Peter will be sending an email out to staff to remind them to submit requests.

Two requests have been funded already this year.

1. Oregon Fruit/Veggie Summit ($175.00)

Sarah Kerr-Daly attended this conference at OSU.

Sarah and Peter have been discussing the possibility of healthier food choices for students. Our District’s food provider is a huge corporation, and limits schools to sell only their foods. Healthier choices will be a work-in-progress.

8th Grade Block Team Mtg.

This team wants to reconfigure some of their curriculum for the purpose of aligning some units. The focus is to strengthen reading skills. Substitute funds were provided for Crystal Barnes, Shirley Madathil, and Dorothy Syfert.  Anne Williams and Tom Di Liberto will be part of this meeting
also.

It was mentioned that past practice has been to supply staff members with cost of hiring a substitute only, and not the cost of a conference, workshop, etc.

TECHNOLOGY:
Kim Ketterer (One of 100 Distinguished Apple Educators) joined our meeting today to discuss Monroe’s possible future in technology. Peter attended an inservice at the beginning of the year that showed a lot of great examples of technology.

Currently, Monroe has only one COW with the most updated Macs. The other COWS are made of G4s. There is a need for computers and projectors. Some of the needs for teacher computer stations have been met. Where does Monroe go from here?

The District is moving towards Technology Infusion. This not only means more computers, but also other tools like digital cameras, document cameras, etc.

Three Phases are part of this infusion.

Phase 1:

1. Spend time w/ teachers.to focus on instructional technology, and not just the technology itself.
trainings on how to use software
2. Workshops for incorporating software, establishment of TLT (Technology Leadership Team) for each school. (1 rep. per grade level per subject)
3. Set schoolwide goals

Phase 2:

Continue training with focus on a subject. More student equipment would be provided, and the building would become wireless. A Summer Institute (5 days) would be available for planning of implementation.

Phase 3:

Assessment to evaluate meeting of goals.

Monroe has not entered Phase 1 yet. The participation in the TILT grant next year will begin moving us forward.

Questions for Kim

*If we go wireless, how will that affect internet security?
            All users will have usernames and passwords.
            Guests could use for one day.
*Successful Tech Leadership Teams?
            Representation from every area
            Computer novices included.
*How do these phases affect the school’s Computer Support person?
            Schools that are in these phases have at least .5FTE for a Computer Technician.
            Certified teacher as an Instructional Technology Coach
*How much does the Smartboard software cost? (free)
*Concerning Smartboards, what do we do for teachers who are mobile during the day?
            Portable smartboards are available.
*What about Computer Maintenance costs?
            It is now beginning to be factored into the Dist. Budget.
            Currently, it cost $50 to maintain one computer per year.
*How many COWS are needed to take care of our school’s needs?
            Difficult to answer. Scheduling of classes plays a huge role.

*If we move in the direction of each student having a computer, what about insurance?
            4J is self-insured.
*Would SPED dept. have the same machines as the rest of the school?
            It isn’t an easy task, but possible.

It was mentioned that some parents would like to see Monroe catch up with other schools in the area of technology. The feeder elementary schools are ahead of us. Our students are coming in expecting more access to technology.

A survey was taken, and unanimous support was given for the Tech Team to discuss Monroe’s possible participation in Phase 1.

LATINO PARENT MTG. REPORT

Joel Iboa shared that attendance at the last meeting was good, however, almost everyone was new to the group. There is a desire to continue meeting on a regular basis, and have the group grow. Some items for discussion came up.
            Request for an interpreter at Open House and Parent Conferences (possibly a parent from the group could help)

Peter is going to check on the following:
            Headphone/Translators possibly provided by ESD
            Automated Phone caller translations
            Other help in this area
            Quality of translated student materials from publishers
            Concern that the materials still don’t help with the process discussed in class. Some are still confused by homework.

Mrs. Quinn would like to acknowledge the excellence of student work. There is an increase in quality and quantity of assignments. Mr. Iboa will pass this commendation on to the Latino Parent group.

PORTRAIT OF A MONROE GRADUATE:
A grid was introduced that includes Academics/Personal and Social/Career/Service as areas in the life of a Monroe Student. Peter has talked to many groups about this grid including Sheldon, Monroe’s Parent group, Star Staff, Monroe’s staff. The next goal is to have Monroe students give feedback.

Some ideas for distribution
                        SSR on a given day
                        Block classes
                        Some teachers are already planning on distributing this grid to their classes.

Next Meeting: Thursday, December 6th, 2007