Humboldt Senior High School

Site Council Minutes

February 13, 2006

Attending: Valerie Atkinson (staff, co-chair), John Bianchi (Principal), Kandy Hedlund (parent), Andy Mosca (parent), Mai Tong Vang (student), Lauren Rekonen (staff), Mary Zehrer (counselor, guest), Becki Hamilton (parent, co-chair), John Hines (parent), Karen Woodward (Support Our Schools, guest), Diane Schroepfer (staff), Israel Moses (AP guest), David Mergens (staff), Marilyn Mauritz (staff), Natalie Hamilton (student), Mike Sodomka (AP guest), Anne Gangl (parent), Jennifer Purtell (parent), Tom Kranz (staff, union), Jolane Schlief (parent, guest), Jacqueline Lundgren (custodian, guest), Kari Denissen (community, secretary).

Absent: Bonnie Bellows (staff), Gilbert de la O (community)

I.          Approval of the Agenda

            Add section III, nomination of new council member

            Approval of agenda so moved by Tom K., seconded by John B. Motion carries.

II.         Approval of January 9^th 2006 minutes

            Approval of January 9^th 2006 minutes moved by Dave M., seconded by John H.     Motion carries.

III.       Nomination of New Council Teaching Staff Member

            Lauren Rekonen is a social studies teacher at Humboldt. She would like to be on           the site council to learn more about how the school works. Jackie, a member of         the custodial staff is also interested in serving on the site council in the future.         Nominated by Diane S., seconded by Tom K. Nomination carries.

            Please welcome Lauren to Humboldt’s site council.

IV.       Open Forum

            Dave: Moving forward on Humboldt “H Club” or Hall of Fame. The group is     inducting 15 Charter Members this year. The event will be at the Prom Center, we are trying to resurrect our alumni council. This group is co-chaired by two alumni   in the community; tickets to attend are $25 and include a nice steak dinner. The             event is also a fundraiser for the alumni group.

            Andy: Impressed with the brochure and publicly recognize Karen W. for keeping           him in the loop as the brochure was created.

V.        Update on Physical/Environment Improvements-D. Mergens

·        Folks from the board of directors and architects came to the school to talk more about the improvements we would like to make to the school. They drew up all our recommendations so they can get a better sense of the cost. They did say that we will get new lockers in the Junior High. They spent a lot of time talking with us about what we would like the entrance to look like. Also made comments about the wonderful view of downtown from a new second floor media center would have with windows.

·        Also applying for a grant from Ramsey County to get turf on the field. Other schools have had success with this grant and we are hopeful. Discussion: There are other grants out there like the STAR grant due in May. What is needed is a grant committee, or a subcommittee off the site council. Folks working on this effort now are spending a lot of time and would like more to get involved in roles like this. John B. appointed Diane S. to work with Andy to get this started (with support/guidance from Karen W. at Support Our Schools).

·        School board meeting: We will be getting this grant approved by the school board on the 21^st. This school board meeting starts at 5:45 p.m. Andy (a parent) will talk at the Open Forum about his support for improvements at Humboldt. Anyone who can be physically present to show support would be helpful. It is important that the school board knows that Humboldt is still organized and passionate about the improvements we want. We would like to line people up to make comments at each school board meeting.

·        Postcard campaign: Dave shared a postcard reminder that can be sent bi-weekly to board members to remind them of their commitment to support these improvements. Diane S. and Valerie A. will be responsible for making these cards. Should send the West Side school brochure with the postcard. Also a comment that post cards could eventually be made available to parents and community members to send to the board on their own.

·        The school will also continue to give the board brief updates on how the school is moving forward with the other improvement efforts (curriculum, etc.).

·        Students would like to be updated on the progress of the 3 improvement goals: there was confusion about what happened after the site council spoke to the board. A student on the school newspaper could attend site council meetings and work on articles that would update the student body on what is happening. Advisory may be another place where these issues can be included in a dialogue around these changes. Some fear that it is hard to get students hope up if it doesn’t happen. Others believe these are important teachable moments for students about the process and realities of engaging in civic activities.

VI.       School Continuous Improvement Plan (SCIP) Deadline Dates, District Action   Plan & Survey- (I. Moses)

·        May 5^th is the date the SCIP plan needs to be signed. Working backwards with a timeline, would like a draft in March and May meeting to discuss the draft and have a final copy by May. This means we will need time on March 13^th site council meeting to look at draft and time in April to make suggestions and comments. Our May site council meeting will move from May 8^th to May 1^st so we can look over the updated/final copy and have it signed by the site council prior to the May 5^th deadline.

·        Handed out and discussed the St. Paul Schools draft Action Plan for 2006-2009. Also a survey to take so that the district can get feedback on this draft action plan.

·        Discussion of Institute of Learning’s “Principles of Learning” that should be connected to the principles of learning (POL’s). Elementary students have “grown up” with the principles of learning, they know the talk. These students are now in the 7^th grade and asking teachers how, what they are learning, now is connected to the POL’s. We need to incorporate this so when these students come to the senior high we are connecting to concepts they know. Provides a consistent way of rating the students that students get used to, it is also easier for parents when all their kids are being accessed the same way.

VII.      Principal’s Report & School Board Meeting Dates-John B.

·        Huge “kudos” to everone who attended the committee of the board meeting-who spoke and were there to show support. Especially to Tom K. and Dave M. who spent so much time, each on one of the goals.

·        Also great to get to know the other principals on the West Side, we had not worked collaboratively together for many years. Now this group has put together the brochure to market the schools on the West Side.

·        We have the best site council around, and I have seen many. We are very active, respectful of each other, while still being passionate about our own views.

·        Mayor Coleman and schools participating in the “Power of You” came to Humboldt for part of its kick off.

·        Recruitment: been to many of the Junior Highs and doing individual contacts with students. Major concerns parents have are a lack of an IB program and no transportation for after school activities. VISTA volunteer starts tomorrow and will work with Marilyn M. in the library with accelerated reader. The other part of his job will be recruiting volunteers for the school.

·        Horatio Algiers Scholarship Program: Two students were recipients.

·        Community Connections: During workshop day in January, staff visited one of five organizations on the West Side to see what services are available and what those places are all about. Some of our AP’s have been attending site council meetings at the elementary schools.

·        Senior All Night Party: Becky Montgomery (West Side resident, past school board member and children who are Humboldt alumni) will chair the planning of this event. We need to recruit more people to be a part of this event. Contact Becky at: 651-292-0521 to get involved.

·        Principal leave of absence: John B. will be gone for medical reasons starting on February 21^st and gone for 6 weeks. Mike Sodomka will be the acting principal while John is away and someone will replace Mike’s position over this leave. John will talk with folks at the school often and can be reached by whoever needs him on his cell phone at: 612-382-3663.

VIII.     New Business

·        Tom Kranz handed a print out to the site council demonstrating where our students come from (Zip Codes/Location of Students attending Humboldt). Discussion followed about what impact this has in parent involvement such as the parent turn out for our Education Summit on Dec. 15. It is difficult to determine what impact this has on Humboldt when the other high schools also have similar enrollment data.

IX..      Adjourn

·        Motion to adjourn so moved by John H. Marilyn M. Motion carries

·        March meeting treats: Bonnie Bellows