Ridgeline Community Organization (RCO)
Parent Council Meeting Minutes
February 3, 2015
Approximately 24 parents attending
MAIN HIGHLIGHTS FROM MEETING:
**The “parent education session” was presented by teachers from the Upper El classrooms. They showed examples of projects from the classroom, and summarized the difference between Upper El and Lower El: greater independence, responsibility, more focus on abstract concepts, and helping kids determine their individual learning style.
**The DDD current total is $14,763. Much discussion about the need to “ramp up” fundraising efforts.
**Various future events discussed, including the spaghetti feed, a Mazzi’s benefit dinner and the jog-a-thon in May. E-scrip and clothing sales also discussed.
**Ridgeline Board is actively recruiting for 2 vacant positions. The Board handles financial and personnel matters at the school.
**Chrystell shared that the financial outlook from 4J is generally good. Ridgeline will amend the charter contract with 4J to raise the enrollment cap in order to accommodate full-day kindergarten next year.
RCO Business (Rhonda and Christine)
-DDD current total is at $14,763.
-$300 raised at the Sam Bonds fundraiser in January.
-$1,200 has been raised thus far with eScrip. There will be computers set up at the spaghetti feed for parents to enroll in the program.
-DDD campaign will include a collection jar at events and during pickups on Fridays.
-Mazzi’s fundraiser is on Monday, February 9th. 30% of sales will be donated; the flyers will be required in order to be eligible.
-The March parent education session will be by the music teacher, counselor and/or PE teacher.
-One suggestion for future education topics include someone who specializes in fundraising, particularly related to small organizations.
-Tshirts and hoodies sales: there are some still available, but we’re switching to a pre-sale arrangement. Clothing sales are not a huge fundraiser, but are more about community building and awareness. Michelle and Erica are the main folks working on the shirt sales.
-May 15th Jog-a-thon will occur on the Rexius Trail. There are still many volunteer needs in order to organize this event.
-Volunteers needed for the spaghetti dinner on February 20th at 5:30. Ceramic tableware will be available for auction during the dinner. Each classroom will be collaborating on creating the glaze painting on the ceramic artwork.
-RCO will have representatives holding the donation jar at the curb on Fridays. Volunteers are needed for this activity. Costumes are encouraged. Setting fun goals for fundraising also suggested.
-Miriam who works on the Blog is thinking that more folks are seeing information on the Ridgeline Facebook page than on the Blog.
-Discussion of making a fund-raising thermometer that would show the DDD progress.
Parent education session: Upper Elementary Teacher presentation by Dana and Sara
-Dana brought examples of work plans, an example of a “research calendar” (which encourages kids to find a research topic that interests them, make artwork, etc).
-Dana mentioned that the focus in Lower El is fairly concrete; more abstract concepts are introduces in Upper El. Kids learn early in the year what their learning styles are; how they learn best.
-Significant projects include the production of a Shakespeare play. They also conduct an annual Science Fair.
-Dana spoke about the pros & cons of homework in Upper El. In her classroom, she doesn’t assign nightly homework – but there are intermittent projects that do require some work at home.
-Sara talked about the normal routine of the day in her classroom, in terms of structure and subject matter. The kids have a lot of independent work time, and the teachers’ challenge is often how to help kids juggle the amount of work with the freedom that comes from independent time.
-The journey from Lower El to Upper El includes an understanding of independence and responsibility; also more abstract concepts. Some time spent on keyboard skills, in order to allow them to express themselves in writing without the difficulty of typing “getting in the way”.
-Equipping children with the skills that will be required in Middle School (be it at Ridgeline or a public school) is also a focus.
-Approximately 10% of 5th graders change to a public middle school, rather than staying in Ridgeline’s 6th grade. Dana spoke about the need to identify individual needs of the child in order to decide where they’ll be served best.
-There is an aide in each of the classrooms that participate with lesson plans and teaching.
-Question about how long it takes for new 4th graders to adapt to the new Upper El environment. Answer: it depends on the child and varies a lot. One important skill for 4th graders is learning how to ask for support. Teachers tend to guide the 5th & 6th graders on how to be role models and teachers for the new 4th graders.
-Some discussion about the different needs and abilities of the varied ages in the Upper El classes, in terms of some kids still being pretty innocent, and some approaching puberty.
-Overnight field trips will occur in each class every three years, so that each child will get to do it once during their time in Upper El. Dana’s class went to the Oregon Coast a couple of years ago; stayed in Yurts at Tugman State Park. They did environmental education stations related to marine ecosystems; also visited the Umpqua lighthouse.
Admin Report (Chrystell)
-Information session for new families is this week, Thursday the 6th.
-Financial information will be included in the upcoming Ridgeline Reader.
-Encouragement to share information about the school with friends and family.
-A request to 4J to amend the charter contract has been submitted which would raise the enrollment cap at Ridgeline. The primary need for this came from the change from half-day to full-day kindergarten: a class of 28 half-day kindergarten kids only “counts” as 14 kids, in terms of enrollment. With full-day kindergarten, the enrollment numbers will “count” this same class as 28 kids. The class sizes in other rooms will not change.
Board Report (David)
-Board deals with financial and personnel matters at the school. The meetings are held monthly, open to the public, and the board is still seeking to fill 2 positions.
Site Council Report (None this meeting)
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