O’Rourke Middle School Building Council Retreat Minutes
Monday, September 24, 2007
2:45PM
 Library Classroom

1. Review of the Minutes of the June 26, 2007 Meeting:  The minutes from the June 26, 2007 Council Retreat were accepted as written.  Questions regarding the makeup of the scheduling committee were asked to be clarified. These were related to whether the recommendations of the Council were firm; or were simply that, recommendations.  Clarification on this issue could not be definitively confirmed, although the minutes reflected that all members accepted the recommendations as firm.  Robin Gawrys, committee co-chair, assured the members that the final selection of candidates for the committee was done in an equitable manner assuring that all constituent groups were represented in the process.  The assurance of open meetings and open dialog will be utilized to solidify the information gathering and dissemination process.  It was noted that a parent representative for the committee has not come forward to date.  Parent members will continue to pursue a viable candidate to represent this constituent group.

2. Shared Decision Making Guidelines and Protocols:  The Council co-chairs reviewed the District’s Shared Decision Making Guidelines, highlighting the items found on the documents checklist. 

3. Standing Committee Memberships:  The membership and charges of the 14 building standing committees were reviewed and questions were fielded.  Specific information was provided for the members on committees which have ongoing initiatives:  Capturing Kids Hearts (training continues), Scheduling (timelines, membership, committee charge), Character Ed. (“Show the Love” assembly), School Climate (expanded to include student initiatives like “Spirit Day”, “No Excuses” campaign).

4.  2007-08 Goals:  The Council and Building goals for the 2007-08 school year were reviewed.  They can be reviewed in the June 2007 minutes, but are highlighted below:

a. Building SMART Goals:

1. To reduce the number of students failing two or more subjects by 20% by June of 2008.
2. By June of 2008, O’Rourke Middle School will reduce by 10% the number of students whose Personal Development Grade Point Average falls below 3.0 by establishing adult/student connections.

b. Council Goals:  

1.      Scheduling

2.      Communication

3.      Response to Intervention

5. Response to Intervention:  Work has begun on introducing RTI to the staff.  A presentation has been made to the Cabinet and PAT team with scheduled overviews for grade level teams in the next month.  A portion of the October 22 staff meeting will be dedicated to reviewing the premise behind RTI strategies.  Overtures will include an RTI column each week to update staff on pertinent RTI information.  Professional development opportunities are being planned for the future to support this work.

6. Council Membership:  The members reviewed the Council membership chart that is updated each year.  Questions were fielded regarding the history of the changes in membership over the past ten years.  It was suggested that the Council consider adding a school counselor to the membership considering their expanded role in the decision making process of the school and their direct work with students and teaching teams.  Research will be completed on the viability of this suggestion.

7. Middle School Conference:  The NY State Middle School conference will be held in Saratoga Springs from October 18-20, 2007.   Several O’Rourke staff members will be attending.  On Thursday, October 18, O’Rourke will be one of 6 local middle schools that will act as a host site for visitations by other schools.  To date, we have confirmed one school who will be visiting, South Hold from Long Island, with others considering us.

8. Class Night/Awards Ceremony:  A discussion took place regarding improvements in the delivery of the awards and class night ceremonies.  Numerous issues are affecting the comprehensive delivery of the awards ceremony including transportation, parking, substitute teachers, larger classes, parent attendance, more awards, etc.  Ideas were discussed to improve these programs, however it was agreed by the members that the standing committee should review the concerns and come back to the Council with recommendations.

9. Communication Council:  Penny McDonnell, Kate Kilmer and Don Germain will be representing the school at Communication Council meeting in late October.  The Communication Council agenda for that meeting has yet to be published.

10. Hostetter Building Use Task Force:  Don Germain is representing the Middle School on the District Hostetter Building Use Task Force.  This committee is charged with making recommendations to the Board of Education on the future of this facility.  Staff and community members will be surveyed in the near future to determine their opinions on the topic. 

11. Visionary Framework:  Revised copies of the Visionary Framework were distributed for Council review.  This document will be addressed in detail at the next meeting.

12. Master Schedule:  An overview of work on the development of the Master Scheduling Committee was given by Robin Gawrys.  K-12 representatives have been added to the committee to enhance the effectiveness of its membership.  Penny McDonnell and Don Germain will act as Ad Hoc committee members reporting back to Council as the work progresses.  A Committee retreat is scheduled for September 27, 2007 to begin this important work.  Meetings of the committee will be open to all constituents.

13. John’s Hopkins Program:  Questions were raised regarding the philosophy behind offering the John Hopkins program to O’Rourke students, the selection process, the distribution of materials, and other factors concerning this initiative.  Research will be completed on the history of this program offering at O’Rourke and presented to the Council at a future meeting.

14. Sensitive Information:  A request was made that sensitive information such as PACE letters, John’s Hopkins nominations, etc. distributed to students, be placed in a sealed envelopes.