RCO Meeting
10/6/2015
Attendance count: 29
(more came late)
Introductions (see attendance list)
Ground Rules and intro of Minute Taker (told everyone to
stay on task)
Parent Education
Chrystell
Reed talked about UCC and the recent tragedy in Roseburg and all recent school
shootings. She said that our strength at
Ridgeline comes from our community and communication. Talking to our students and body about
connecting can help. She said there are
a lot of opinions on gun laws but that is not our topic tonight. How do we keep our students safe. CR read from Core Values (inclusive,
creative, direct communication, safety, and many other wonderful values that
are key at Ridgeline). Safety is always at the forefront of our minds. Not just here but when they go out on field
trips. And not just physical safety but
also emotional safety. CR asked the
parent body to keep us informed about any concerns that come up close to
school. She gave an example of a call
from a parent informing of a close by emergency that took our school into lock
down, prior to being informed by EPD. CR
said that we have such a close-knit community and that it is tempting to text
staff members during emergencies but to please not do this. Your texting the staff could take them away
from other important tasks. The front
door is the only door that is unlocked during school hours. People can only get into the other building
by getting buzzed it. Upgrades from the end of last school year include
enhancements to the exterior doors to all classrooms. These doors are all now locked once someone
goes through the door. Ridgeline also
upgraded lock system so that all staff now have a single key that unlocks any
door on the campus. This makes a huge
difference for access. Ridgeline also
installed an intercom system and we can now do an “all page” or just within the
individual buildings. Something that we
don’t necessarily have control over is that we don’t have a high pedestrian or vehicle
traffic coming through our campus as we have at other sites. The majority of our campus is fenced in. We want people to feel safe when they are
here and we want the students to feel safe when they are here.
Safety
procedures and protocols, we have the safety plan that is updated and reviewed
each August. We have an emergency team
where we discuss roles and timelines, how we communicate with parents, how we
might reunify, if needed. Ridgeline has
a tool box that includes 4J’s emergency procedure manual. Any time we have a drill, staff grabs that
document and it helps to guide the process.
It includes class lists, emergency numbers, lots of resources.
With
the intercom system, we have adopted the stand response protocol. This gives consistent verbiage to the various
types of drills and emergencies. For
instance, if there is a LOCK DOWN we would say “Lock Down, Locks. Lights. Out of sight.” Then we would know via communication
where every student is and where they are.
A LOCK OUT is a little different.
This would mean there might be something that happened close by but we
are on a heightened alert. Evacuate
would be something that might require us to leave the building orderly. Highly visible Exit signs. We also have a badge system and a sign in
system. It is important that all visitor
sign in. Green means you can move
through the building. If your badge is
pink, you need to have a staff member escort you.
Recently
updated sexual conduct policy also drafted and adopted by the board. This ensures that students are safe and that
they are being interacted with appropriately.
CR gave the example of hugging a child when sometimes they might need a
hug, but to ensure that it is a brief hug.
If students are hugging each other, that it is appropriate contact.
Monthly
drills are typically announced drills.
But over the course of the year, Ridgeline will conduct unannounced
drills. It can be overwhelming and cause
anxiety. Teachers and staff are working
with our students so that their anxiety is lessened.
CR
opened it to questions:
Q. Is
this the standard safety protocol?
A. This
is a part of it
Q. Has
the staff had ALICE training?
A. This
Friday, Oct 9. This is shooter response
training.
Q. Is
ALICE a one-time thing?
A. CR
responded, “My understanding is a one-time training.”
Q. Is
there a check list or something to remind us at home about safety and various
safety topics? Something to give us a bit of an idea or start a conversation at
home about this.
A. We
have a strict policy about no weapons, even toy weapons. CR gave example about
playing an imaginary game that included guns.
Some students felt really unsafe and so we had a conversation with the
students. We don’t want to limit
imaginary play, but when it impacts someone feeling safe, we have to have these
boundaries in place.
Q. Do
you think we could have something put together by EDP that would detail more
safety procedures and policies? What is
the policy?
A.
Absolutely no weapons at school.
Q. Is
there also a buzzer for the front door?
A. A
staff member just brought that up and so this is now a conversation we are
having.
Q. What
are you telling the students that this drill is for? I just want to make sure
they understand this is a serious situation.
A. Your
student is being told that our drills are to keep you safe. For example our first fire drill is a new
experience for some students and so it is emphasized why it is so important to
remain quiet through the drill.
A
parent mentioned that you could talk to your child pediatrician of you wanted
to get additional resources on safety, fire arms, etc. Also, along the lines of what our students
perceive during the drill, it opens a conversation with our students. We got to talk about following your teachers’
instructions and also to say if your teacher could not give instructions, then
you should hide.
Q. Do
you anticipate that you will change any policies this year based on ALICE
training?
A. I am
not sure the policy would change but the procedures might change.
Q. Can
we put the ALICE training on the agenda for the next RCO?
A. TBD
Q. Are
there supplies at Ridgeline like food and water?
A. We
do need to get these supplies back in place.
Pre-fire, we did have these items. There were suggestions about getting
donations from parents and putting up a wish list.
Q. What
is the way you would communicate with parents?
A.
Right now, phone call (Autodial) and email.
Site Council (Yaeko Rodriguez)
YR
introduces the site Council and gave a quick update. She said they are unique bc they consist of
board, staff, and parent. One of the
items they work on is the school improvement plan. She updated up on the improvement plan. Sharon Dursi-Martin does this. Three main goals she put together: Program,
academic performance math, academic performance language arts. SDM said we out preformed the state. The main goal for the coming year is to make
sure we continue along that growth. We are taking on the whole child goal. Whole child is a program set up to look at
all aspects of the child. There are 5
categories and we are selecting one per year.
This year is sustainability.
Recruiting and staffing, creating a consistency in staffing, retention
of staff. YR has the entire report
available. She also talked about SC
retreat over the summer. They talked
about what would be on the agenda for the entire year. Survey, attendance, something
from admin to help out with the school’s daily tasks.
Board Report (David Vazquez and Amy Sage)
DV said
“The board talks about policy. We meet
the third Thursday of each month. The
meetings are open and please feel free to attend. We also handle fundraising. RCO fundraises for the general fund. The board FR’s for the capital campaign. The CC pays for the building.”
Admin Report (CR)
Off to
a great start. 5 new staff members. New PE, Music, upper el (they are Montessori
trained). Oct 17th is a work
party. We always need more help. Sharon Ladner, from design bridge, will
install part of the brick pathway during the work party. In July and August the
board approved paying down $90K toward the mortgage that is held by ECS. What
that means is that the balloon payment is now $158K do in April 2017.
Cynthia
talked about vision screening and results being sent out Friday. Bike and Walk to School day is tomorrow from
Tugman Park and Crossfire church.
RCO Business
Misenga talked about B & W to
school at Tugman. Three adult leaders
will bring kids in on bikes. Leaving at
8:10. Between 8:10 and 8:15, we will
leave from Crossfire. Having the
students using Crossfire’s parking lot has really made a difference. There will be snack and ribbons at school for
them. Also a raffle to win bike helmets,
razor scooter, bottles. Any student is
eligible. They include bus takers and
car poolers. Additional bike rack is
forthcoming. Parents are also welcome to walk.
Fundraising
Michelle explained the different
fundraisers.
Capital Campaign which is FR
for the building.
General Fund pays for PE,
counseling, Music, and include the DDD.
For the DD portion, we want to raise $30K. The other FR activities (diners, events, etc)
will help to raise the additional $10K.
$680 raised at Laughing Planet
event.
Other FR portions:
Teacher materials. The Barnes and Noble, Scholastic book orders,
talent show, etc. news on Dancing
Weasel, was not really a great FR for us.
Escript sign up! But Safeway is no longer participating. Easy to sign up. Online Mall includes a
forget-me-not button that makes it easy to remember to shop. Amazon, LL Bean, and 600 more vendors
connected.
Community Events for us to get
together for fun and not for raising money.
For instance, Darcy is doing the talent show. January talent show. Anything but gymnastics
or dangerous movements.
But back to the DDD…
DDD ends December 18 and runs
shorter this year ($2839 so far). See
the green sheet. We are asking each
family to contribute $150. That will
give us our $30K. The rest will come
from FRing through the year. The DDD is
about not selling wrapping paper and cookie dough. This is a great way to contribute without
having your kids sell or solicit.
A parent asked about available grants and whether or not the
school qualifies. CR explained that
grants don’t generally fund operating budget items but rather new programs or
materials.
Parent support group
Info went home on Friday and CR talked about having a
connection with other parents. It is a7
week commitment. First mtg is Monday,
Oct 19. Q. Is this something that you will offer again? CR said possibly. A parent suggest a different time or date for
future sessions. Does include child care.
OBOB
Rhonda talked about OBOB. Oct 14 will be first meeting for
6-8 grade and Oct 16 will be first meeting for 3-5th grade.
