October 19, 2020 – Minutes

School Community Council
Monday, October 19, 2020

Members in Attendance (in-person):

Jim Jensen                               Kelli Miller                               Joe Schino

Cache Merrill                          Melissa Gibbs                         Shannon Kershaw

Callie Bjerregaard                   Garry True

Members in Attendance (via meet.google.com/jrw-mnqr-qwq):

Rochelle Stone                        Chet Linton                              Ron Strohm

Page Checketts                        Tricia Leininger

Others in Attendance:

Carolyn Cannon (Secretary)

Not in Attendance:    

Brian McGill                            April Richardson                     Brittany Stephenson              

Chad Heyborne                       Katie Christensen

1.Welcome, Review & Approve minutes from September 28th meeting (Jim Jensen)

• Minutes were not sent out, so they will be sent out after this meeting and will be voted on at the next meeting

2.SCC Vice-Chair Nominations

• Nominate Kelli Miller – Melissa Gibbs
• Second – Shannon Kershaw
• Approved unanimously

3. Student Government/Events Update (Packer and SBOs – via text)

• Student Government is trying to finalize everything for the school-wide fundraiser. They are having to be creative with the plan due to the unusual circumstances.  They don’t have much to share today, but will have plans solidified at the next meeting.

4. PTSA Update (Rochelle Stone)

• They didn’t think they would be doing the Food Bank (Alta Stash) this year, but they were able to get it up and running so it will be opening tomorrow.
• Make-up picture day is tomorrow at the PTSA will be assisting with that.

5. Counselng Corner (Callie Bjerregaard)

• Utah College Application Week – Counselors generally go around to all the Senior classes and invite them to apply to at least one college. Due to COVID, they had to revise plans and are going to the Senior Advisory classes.  Counselors have also set up help sessions on Fridays and during lunches for students to receive help completing their applications.  Resources were sent out and it was very helpful for parents and students. 
• The Utah Promise Scholarship Program fills the gap to cover tuition for any student who receives the Pell Grant but still owes tuition. So cost should not be a reason to not go to college.
• Last Tuesday they held their FAFSA Night. It was very well attended and went very well.  It provides great assistance to families to get the FAFSA filled out.
• Senior CCRs were cut short, so they are still talking with Seniors and encouraging them to check their grad requirements.
• 9th Grade CCRs will start at the beginning of November.
• Circles is a program to help with Social and Emotional supports. It gives every student an opportunity to talk and to be heard.  It also builds unity and connection and gets our counselors’ names and faces in the classrooms.

6. CSIP Data Review (Kelli Miller)

• 2019-2020 School Improvement Plan Final Report
• There are several data points that will remain progress monitoring data, as state testing, evaluations and other measures were suspended Spring 2020.
• We don’t have state testing or reading inventory for the end of last year because we didn’t have the opportunity to finish out the year.
• The Academic Goals revolved around reading proficiency, meeting all 4 college readiness benchmarks on the ACT, and maintaining at least a 90% graduation rate.
• We should be over the 30% mark for ACT, but won’t receive official scores for a few more days – preliminary results show we should stay at 32-33%
• Graduation rate for 2020 stands at 92%, but this is not final until all students are counted.
• Aspire testing was cancelled in the Spring so we don’t have good numbers there yet.
• The numbers on the Early Warning Atendance system are skewed. Kelli will work with the District to see if they can get better numbers.
• The School Climate Goals were to have at least 75% of Alta faculty demonstrate a 4 to 1 positive to corrective ratio on their CTESS classroom observations, Increase numbers of Seniors earning the Hawk Engagement Award, establish required supports for MTSS, and increase the number of students earning the Advanced and Honors Diplomas and participation in advanced courses.
• Teacher evaluations were cancelled so our data is only through February 2020. So, this data is not completely accurate, but it looks good.
• We increased the total number of Seniors who earned the Hawk Engagement award. We had 110 students apply.
• We used Land Trust funds to get more resources to our students for MTSS.
• Many students still earned the Honors and Advanced diplomas.
• We don’t have the numbers for the Regent’s Scholarship yet.
• Trends for AP Exams are good. We want to make sure our underrepresented population still has access to the advanced courses.  We have seen a sharp decline – probably due to COVID and not having access to the supports.  We approved many requests for fee waiver on AP tests.
• Shannon Kershaw is visiting all the AP classes to encourage students to get signed up for AP tests. Deadline is November 1st. 
• Last page of the handout is a list of the new goals for the 2020-2021 school year. Many are maintenance goals or are the same goals but with slightly higher numbers.  There is a little more emphasis on meeting the needs of our underrepresented students who may be struggling more due to the unique circumstances we are in.  Also, there is a little more emphasis on looking at our Early Warning System indicators.
• Once data is wrapped up from 1st Quarter, Kelli will put it together and bring it to our next meeting.

7. Split Schedule (Kelli Miller on behalf of Brian McGill)

• See handout for student and teacher expectations.
• The continual changes have been hard for everyone, but the hardest has been that every time there has been a schedule change, there has been a change in the expectations of students, teachers, and parents.
• Although we aren’t in charge of our schedule, but we can at least set some standards for expectations. So, we have set those expectations for all to use as a guideline.
• We have asked the teachers to be as consistent as possible with their format and how they work things. They will at all times have some students working from home.  There are three different models – Flipped, Blended, and Synchronous. 
• There were frustrations shared during SCC about how hard the implementation of the three educational models has been. Parents are requesting flexibility with due dates, etc.  Canvas is frustrating to understand and work with.  Communication isn’t happening as well as it should.  It would be nice if emails and communication would go to both students and parents, but it seems to be inconsistent.  It was also suggested that maybe teachers should leave everything open in Canvas until the end of the quarter.
• There is hope that with the Friday prep day for teachers, parents should see a better turn-around time on assignments going in, emails, etc.

 8. Construction Update (Garry True)

• Construction is going better than anticipated. The construction area is in various stages of completion.
• Finishing and framing the old auditorium into the music suite, the band room, the choir room, and the school store is coming along nicely. HVAC and duct work are going in.
• The hallway from the old Counseling offices down to the Driver’s Ed room has been sheetrocked and now they are starting to put tile up in the hallway. Grout is not in yet.  Electrical is done.
• New Main Office area has been closed off and the framing is in and it is being sheetrocked.
• Down the hallway south of the restrooms has been painted, ceiling grids are in, electrical is going in, and doors have been painted. Other areas will be painted tomorrow.
• They are not saying the we are getting it any sooner than June, but Garry thinks they are way ahead of schedule. We should be using that hallway sometime in the near future.  It will help with, (1) flow of students, (2) getting to places faster, (3) reunite all offices.
• Challenges continue to be COVID rates among construction workers and getting all of the construction materials in. They continue to try to utilize Fridays to make quick progress.
• The Commons is complete, but they are still waiting for the lighting to come in.
• Exterior paneling to be done from the Gym to the Main Entrance and on the upper roof area of the Commons.

9. Other Items

Motion to Adjourn – Garry True

Second – Kelli Miller

Meeting adjourned

Next SCC Meeting:  Monday, November 23, 2020 @ 3:00 pm, Hawk House Gallery & Online