Grand Ridge

Site Council Minutes

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

In attendance:  Erica Davis, Amy Ciszewski, Debi Courage, Anne Coxon, Leah McGraw, Natalie Ootkin, Beck Rappin, Erika Taylor, Cathy Wilson, and Barb Walton

Not in attendance:  Jill Ward and Kathy Juhn

Public Comment:  Jacob Davis, a Grand Ridge 4^th grade student, presented two Action Requests to the committee.  The first request was a request that t-shirts be purchased for students in grades 3-5 that say - “I Survived the WASL”.  The second request was a request for an after school “Young Inventors Club” for students interested in science. 

Barb discussed our role as a committee and fundraising guidelines then the committee recommended sending these requests to the new PTSA Board for consideration. 

Call to Order:

4:34 pm

Approval of Minutes:

Approved as written.

New Business: 

Grade Level Updates (submitted by CIP team members)

Kindergarten:  In kindergarten this month the kids have had fun learning about the life cycle of frogs. They have created "frog" art projects, written about frogs and enjoyed stories about frogs, toads and other pond animals.

In EDM they have worked on lessons involving measurement, money and three-dimensional shapes. The kids have also played a lot of games!

The kindergartners continue to work on reading stories in their reading groups and discussing story elements such as: beginning, middle and end, characters, setting, etc....  They have had fun reading a wide variety of books including fiction, non-fiction, author studies and stories that go with our monthly classroom themes.

Their writing skills continue to improve as the kids write often in their writing journals. Also, they have been working on their printing skills--particularly on correct letter formation and writing within the lines.

The kindergartners are really looking forward to next's month's unit--rocks and minerals!

First Grade:  In science we are studying the life cycle of the Painted Lady butterfly.  For the next few weeks, we will be observing our caterpillars and learning all about their metamorphosis.  Our math lesson on symmetry fit right in with the study of butterflies.  Units 8 and 9 in math focus on fractions and a continued study of money, math facts, and place value.  First graders are also reading books about Henry and his dog Mudge.  On May 15^th, we will be attending a play at the Moore Theater based on the “Henry and Mudge” books.    

Second Grade:  2^nd grade has been finishing the study of the desert. It is the last habitat we will study! All the 2^nd grades should be done by the middle of May with this study and then start the solar system. We have also received our sound kits and will start or have already started the study of sound and the ear.

Third Grade:  Third Graders are busy learning their multiplication facts by memory. They have set goals and if they meet their goal, they can attend the ice cream sundae party.  In Everyday mathematics they have completed a unit on multiplication and division strategies. They have learned two very important strategies, one is called Partial Products and the other is called Lattice Multiplication. We reinforce the skills with many fun and different games.

We are getting ready for our field trip to Alki Beach led by our Science to Go leader, Carol. Kate Poaster taught the initial lessons on animal life in the Puget Sound and the students experienced a lab where they had to read and discover to find their answers.

We are getting excited about our musical that will be presented on May 20^th. They love singing the songs that they have all memorized in music class.

The third grade team is also participating in the preparation for the Olympics by writing letters to the U.S. Rowing team. They are giving their advice and words of encouragement to the men and women as they prepare for the team selection process. They are also learning about what it takes to be a competitor at the elite level as well as finding out about the history of the Olympics.

Fourth Grade:  May looks very busy for fourth grade.  We have 3 field trips planned.  The first week of May, Rick Hartman, a.k.a. the Toyman, will be here to launch our Air and Flight Unit.   On the 15^th we enrich our Pacific Rim International Trade Unit with a visit to the International Trade School and a tour of the Seattle Seaport and Harbor.  There students will get a first hand look at a working seaport and learn more about how trade is important to Washington state.  At the end of the month we complete our Washington Economics Unit with a trip to BizTown. Students have applied for and been assigned specific jobs and will soon break into business teams to prepare further for the day.  In math, we are studying the properties of solids, exploring volume, reviewing units of measurement, and subtracting positive and negative integers.  Along with this students are reading and discussing various novels.  

Fifth Grade:  We have just wrapped up the WASL testing for 5^th grade and now we are looking forward to seeing how our students grow for the final 7 weeks of 5^th grade. In social studies we are starting to transition from the American Revolution to the founding days of the United States Government. We are completing the American Revolution unit by having each student make an ABC book about the American Revolution. In a few weeks we will be studying the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. In reading, 5^th grade students will have the opportunity to read the book The Kid who Ran for President, which as you know is going to be a super book for them to read with the upcoming Presidential election. In science, students are revisiting the human body systems and then they will be working on Code Blue which is a class simulation where the students get to become doctors and work in clinics to solve “real life” patient cards. We are all looking forward to doing a few interesting and beautiful art projects…you will have to wait and see what they are.

Old Business: 

Site Council Elections:  Kathy Juhn and Debi Courage reworked the current form to reflect our new timeline.  The committee briefly discussed the need for references that was added and determined they were not necessary.  The decision was made to remove them from the document and the revised form was approved.  The committee then reviewed the E-news open position blurb and agreed to add a list of position criteria before sending it out Friday, May 2^nd.   No hardcopies will be provided; interested applicants will apply on-line.

Grand Ridge Garden:  An update was given on the status of the Grand Ridge Learning Garden.  Barb indicated that the city of Issaquah planted a flowering crab apple tree in the garden at the Arbor Day festival.  Work parties will be needed during the initial phases and the committee brainstormed possible sources.  Becky Rappin will follow up on these suggestions. 

Boundary Review:  Barb updated the committee on the decisions to leave the high school boundaries as they currently stand.  Now the committee will look at the middle school and elementary springboard proposals to make their recommendations.  The springboard proposal for Grand Ridge is to have the school remain a Highlands school. 

PTSA: 

• Training the new board
• Luau on hold due to multi-purpose and gym availability.  It will be postponed until June.
• Angie McBride has stepped off the board.
• Yearbooks orders end April 30^th.  500 sold so far.
• The Learning Garden was granted $3000.00
• The PTSA gave almost $10,000 in classroom grants.
• Reptile Man is being scheduled.
• They will offer the school supply pre-buy again this year.
• Bear Hunt scheduled for June 4^th.

Principal:

• WASL 2008 went very smoothly.
• Classroom placement process to go out in E-news soon and teachers will begin balancing classes soon.
• Count your nose postcards will be sent out in July. 
• The Issaquah Roving Actors from HIS will perform for grades 3-5 on Friday, May 9^th.
• Volunteer Tea is planned for May 29^th. 
• Numerous musical concerts are scheduled.
• Welcoming K-parents is being coordinated.

Meeting adjourned at 5:17 pm.