IS THIS THE SCHOOL THAT I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE?: ENACTING THE SCHOOL ADVISORY COUNCIL (SAC)

1. IS THIS THE SCHOOL THAT I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE?:ENACTING THE SCHOOL ADVISORY COUNCIL (SAC) St. Louis Language Immersion Schools 2010-2011

2. AGENDA 6pm-7pm • Welcome and Overview • Art to Remember reminder • School Advisory Council Overview • Is this the school that I thought it would be? 7pm-8pm • School-specific Forum and Next Steps

3. Why School Advisory Council (SAC) ? SLLIS is committed to Shared Leadership and identifying meaningful ways for parents and staff to create and sustain effective school functions. This forum is essential for creating an opportunity for parents and teachers to learn about each group’s perspectives and how both groups can work together to support our school culture.

4. What is the primary function of the School Advisory Council? • To protect and nurture the mission and vision of the school in the implementation of every aspect of the charter.   • The School Advisory Council will neither have authority to dictate policies of the school nor issue directives.  It is designed to give parents a voice in the operations of the school.   • Its function is to provide advice to the school leadership, surface concerns from parents and communicate with and mobilize the larger school community. • May also provide leadership and fundraising for the school, but this will not be its primary function.  

5. Who is part of SAC?  • The School Advisory Council will consist of equal numbers of parents elected by parents, teachers elected by teachers and community/business leaders appointed by the Council. •  Elected and appointed members of the School Advisory Council will serve one-, two- and three-year terms • The School Advisory Council may elect officers and create working committees.   • Head of School is the Chair of the Council.

6. Shared Leadership: How does SAC work with the Board of Directors or Parents’ Assembly? • Board of Directors establish policies based on SLLIS’ charter and strategic plan. The Board evaluates the overall performance of the school and oversees expansion. (Finance, Facilities, Sponsor Relationships, Charitable Development) • Parents’ Assembly is a parent-initiated, parent-governed group that supports the SLLIS network. PA creates task forces that are a direct response to parents’ needs/ideas. (Communication, Recurring Needs, Fundraising, Volunteer Engagement) • School Advisory Council brings teachers and parents together to assist the Head of School in school-specific efforts. (Parent Engagement, Student Enrichment, Culture)

7. For example: The Playground • Board of Directors : SLLIS’ charter does not stipulate any specific playground structure or recess activities. The Board of Directors does not discuss the playground or recess. • Parents’ Assembly : Parents interested in nature play formed the Green Space task force, wrote a grant to fund an outdoor science classroom and successfully organized myriad volunteer days to establish and maintain the space. • School Advisory Council : As a school-specific group on a shared campus, SAC will make school-specific recommendations/observations. For example, they may want to identify teacher needs and how parents can support them during recess.

8. Next Steps We will open the floor for responses to the question “Is this the school that I thought it would be?” Rhonda and Sylvia will record responses and send them to the Heads of School. At 7pm, in your school-specific forums, Conrad and Arlene will outline how their school SAC will operate. Rhonda and Sylvia will scribe the school-specific forums. Tomorrow we will publish the slide show, parent responses and school-specific notes to blog, parent e-mail lists and have print copies available during Family Conferences next week.

9. Parent Responses Yes, this is what I expected No, this is not what I expected… • Absolutely exceeded expectations regarding staff and academic process (36 in agreement) • Disagree with some policy decisions, feel isolated, would like more input (28 in agreement) • Great job, would like to see a University structure providing one set of procedures for all campuses in order to feel more like one unit (34 in agreement) • Homework packets don’t seem on target, while the children can exibit use of the language, it is unclear what else they are learning, a clear picture of the academic process has not been established, there are inconsistencies with homework being too hard / too easy (34 in agreement) • There needs to be more individual feedback for each child that comes home in the backpack (19 in agreement) • Discipline actions seem to stray from the expectations of the PYP program and it seems as if the PYP is being lost (8 in agreement) • Had an excellent elemtary experience and finds it wonderful that there is daily communication and responsive teachers (40 in agreement) • Feels like there is still a lot of input with administration (17 in agreement) • Children are speaking in their language and they are more prepared in formal situations (48 in agreement)

10. Parent Responses Yes, this is what I expected Not what I expected… • Bright Idea: weekly home School Reach announcements for the week including events, changes, trips, etc… (43 in agreement) • School culture: students need to be more responsive , reflective, and engaged in school culture (29 in agreement) • Did not expect to see HOS managing on their own, anticipated that assistants would have been identified and hired (32 in agreement) • Feels the fundraisers are excellent but items of monetary value are being entrusted to children’s backpacks and do not necessarily make it home to parents; it should be possible for parents to sign off on such items (45 in agreement)