January 17, 2001 Minutes

In attendance: Mike Bachicha, Bill Strom, Pete Zell, Howard Hayes, Peggy Rothenberg, Maria Murphy, Mary Balciunas, Jill McClennan, Stacey Fitting, and Donna McCurdy.

Mr. Bachicha reported that the Similar Schools Ranking was released today. Farallone View was the highest in the district, ranked in the 8th quartile for similar schools. Only two other schools in San Mateo -- San Bruno Park and Brisbane Elementary -- grouped with Farallone View. The “Similar Schools” groupings are determined by a number of factors including parent educational level, number of English Language Learner students, Free and

Reduced Lunch qualified applicants, etc. He reported that there have been a number of calls regarding kindergarten registration, which begins in March. A number of teachers have written successful grants, primarily through Philanthropic Ventures, including Donna Ashcroft and Maria Murphy for an Ano Nuevo field trip, Genevra Putnam for “homework packs”, Kelly Farnsworth for art supplies, and others.

Mr. Bachicha will be attending the BASRC conference in February. BASRC, which stands for Bay Area School Reform Committee, is a consortium of schools and funding agencies which funds various schools and educational programs. In this funding cycle they will be looking primarily at collaborative efforts by schools and districts. Farallone View is a membership school with BASRC but has not received funding as a participating school. However, there are several ongoing programs and projects within the district involving FV which may be eligible for funding, such as the RESULTS reading assessment and teaching strategies program, and the Writers Workshop program. BASRC will announce the guidelines for their Request for Proposals (RFP) in February. Principal Bachicha will be working on this.

Due to teacher request, Farallone View will be piloting an extended day for Kindergarten starting in February. The K teachers feel that they need more time in the classroom to meet the more rigorous standards. Mr. Bachicha mentioned that recent studies have shown extended-day kindergarten to be one of the “great equalizers” for socioeconomic differences in academic achievement for students.

The California Department of Education may pilot a program next year with certain elementary schools to move the kindergarten age cutoff from December birthdays to September. Those pilot elementary schools would be funded to run a preschool for those children affected by the change.

CUSD has added Mike Putnam to the staff as an additional technical staff to help maintain technology throughout the district. This will free Tom Ferenz for more time with students.

Bill reported that the $2,500 allocation approved last month for the purchase of a multimedia projector would probably not be enough to buy equipment appropriate for the level of use at Farallone View and that $3000 would probably be needed.

The Chess class starts next Tuesday with Eric Schiller. It will be a 10 week program with a tournament scheduled for the first week of March. There will also be a program through the California Poets in Schools with three writers, following the chess class, for 7 weeks. The students will learn techniques for creative expository writing, and publish their work. There

Ms. Fitting reported that the January PTA meeting had excellent attendance, due to the speakers scheduled (pediatrician Dr. Ari Hauptman and child psychiatrist Dr. Mark Perlsweig).

In general news, the PTA student directory was distributed this week to all Farallone View families. The Farallone View yearbook are on sale this month. Donuts for Dads is scheduled for Jan. 23rd. The PTA is once again sponsoring a school-wide writing contest, which was the subject of some debate. The final decision was left to the committee on how to structure it.

The Ed Fund Silent Auction and Talent Show will be held March 17 and they are actively soliciting donations. Another Kids Night Out will be held in February, in the new Moss Beach location. Each Kids Night Out brings in about $400 -- $500.

Principal Bachicha introduced John DiNapoli, a Farallone View parent who is very interested in participating in Site Council. After some discussion, it was determined that the Site Council, according to the by-laws, can hold a special election at a meeting to fill a vacancy. As there is no current parent-alternate member, it was decided to add this to the agenda for the February meeting.

Mr. Bachicha discussed the need to have a representative of the Site Council attend the Superintendent's District Advisory Committee meetings, held in Feb., April, June, October and November. Stacey Fitting volunteered to attend as representative.

Math League Test Purchase Proposal (M. Bachicha)
Jolanda Schreurs proposed (via email) that the Site Council purchase 2 class sets for grades 4 & 5 of the Math League tests, given at the same time as the Math-A-Thon. Mr. Bachicha reported that the total cost would be $507.50, and that the teachers were very much in favor of this purchase. The purchase as proposed was approved by majority vote.

Principal Bachicha reviewed the key assessment data as presented in the Site Action Plan. Specifically, 24% of this year's 2nd graders did not meet the benchmark book standard, and 14% of all grades did not meet the standards (for their grade level). The teachers use the RESULTS benchmarks, which are more rigorous than the CUSD (Cabrillo School District) standards. The benchmark consists of assessment of each student's ability to read with 95%

accuracy a selected grade-appropriate text, and focuses on comprehension, fluency and speed. (An example of a text would be ‘Danny and The Dinosaur’ for 1st grade.)

Mr. Bachicha noted that teachers have been attending a number of workshops and training sessions, both on and offsite, to learn RESULTS teaching strategies, which are aligned to state standards. The state has provided stipends for the K-3 teachers, however the 4-5 teachers may not receive funds from the state. It may be an appropriate use of Site funds if not. He will know if the state will provide their stipends, and how much the API reward

Bill Strom clarified that the Site Council would need to know how to allocate funds most effectively and in line with the Site Plan. Pete Zell pointed out that the Site Council should look at a Math Needs Assessment, as well as other areas such as Science, before allocating further funding. Mr. Bachicha noted that it is not yet clear how much FV will receive from the state, that it cannot be used to fun recurring personnel cost, and that it may be a one-time reward.

Items for Next Meeting: Reading Action Plan, continued; form Nominating Committee; special election of Parent Alternate Member; Multimedia projector allocation; SDAC report; API allocation.