Thursday January 19th, 2012
Ivy Stockwell’s SAAC Meeting
Attendance: Principal Rhonda Richer, Chairperson Brenda Shelton, Paula Hoogland, Don Keck, Jan Lord, Jason Lundgreen, Sandra Adamson, Tamara Doak, Jean Bonnette, Dean Book, Jason Hooker and Sue Ellis
Visitors: Danielle Roth and Lisa Paradis
The meeting started at 4:05 pm.
Welcome
Introductions of all were made due to new members and visitors.
Approval of minutes
The minutes were sent via email to SAAC members, and were approved. Thank you Jean Bonnette.
DAAC Report
This will be discussed at another meeting.
Budget Updates
There will be cuts made. The District is asking for input and this can be done through the website.
Other Business
Rhonda Richer led the discussion on ISES becoming a school with a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) focus. A team from the ISES staff spent part of the summer investigating its’ possibility. The ideas were presented at a staff meeting and the consensus was to go ahead and discuss this with SAAC and the parent/community. The general pace is to become an Elementary School with a STEM Focus over a period of maybe 3 years.
As the District continues its UbD (Unit by Design) planning of the curriculum it would be a good time to blend STEM ideas with Literacy and Social Studies.
It may be beneficial to the future of the students to have a STEM focus as ISES is a feeder to TMS, which has a Math focus, and BHS, which has a STEM program.
Our approach would be inquiry-based and involve problem-solving activities. We would encourage engineers, links to companies etc… if it could be of benefit to the students.
We created a list of possible FAQ’s and discussed what it could look like. Ways to present it to the parents, clearly and articulately were also discussed. We need to get the information to the parents in February, with possibly a podcast and a link to a Zoomerang Survey, so we can see their points of view and input.
The discussion continued until the meeting was adjourned at 5:20 pm.
The next meeting will be Thursday, February 23rd, 2012.
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