• Ridgeline High School; School Community Council Minutes
    Tuesday, November 8, 2016 at 7:00 A.M.; Conference Room

    Members Present: Kerri Williams (Chair/parent), Crystal Howe (Vice Chair/parent), Michelle Palmer (Secretary/parent), Robert Henke (principal), Michelle Israelsen (parent), Joshua Nelson (parent), Kay Sweeten (parent), Emma Smith (teacher), Jerry Skidmore (teacher), Tara Johnson (counselor/non-voting member), Brittany Foster (assist. principal, non-voting member)
    Members Absent: Bonnie Odd (staff), David Swenson (assist. principal, non-voting member),
    Visitors: Diane Theurer, Marcie Lyons, Jef Nielsen
    Meeting Conducted by: Kerri Williams

    Agenda Item #1: Approve minutes from October meeting
    Discussion: Robert Henke made a motion to approve the minutes from the October meeting. Crystal Howe seconded. The vote was unanimous.

    Agenda Item #2: Counseling Items
    Discussion: Tara Johnson gave an update on the Utah College Application Week. Just over 50% of seniors applied for college. Several students applied for more than one college. We also know that some students will fill out applications at home and this week was a good reminder for them. 25 students and parents attended the FAFSA completion night. There was a good turn out from Latino and lower income students. FAFSA can be filled out earlier, using last year’s tax information. Crystal Howe and Kay Sweeten had the idea that Ridgeline could form a group of Latino parents who would work with the school to disseminate school information to other Latino parents, by talking to each other. Sometimes, these parents don’t have access to email or have trouble understanding the English language. It would be great to have some bilingual parents on this committee.
    Agenda Item #3: Street Name
    Discussion: Mr. Henke contacted Nibley City to see if a sign can be added to the streetlight in front of the school with the school name or “Riverhawk Drive,” to make it easier for visitors to locate the school. He is still waiting on a reply.

    Agenda Item #4: Monson Recognition
    Discussion: Mr. Henke talked to Mike Liechty to see what options we have to honor Oscar Monson, who once owned and farmed the land upon which Ridgeline High School was built. Possibilities include naming the greenhouse or the agriculture meeting. He will follow-up with Mr. Liechty and report back to the council next month.

    Agenda Item #5: 2016-17 School Improvement Plan/Trust Land plan budget status
    Discussion: Mr. Henke said that we have spent 28% of the Trust Land money so far this year. Most of the money has been spent on salaries for teachers and para-professionals (VISTA aides and flex aide). Some money will be spent to send some teachers to a PLC (Professional Learning Community) conference (travel and conference fees).

    Agenda Item #6: Discussion: Agenda Item #6: Report of October 26 training
    Discussion: Mr. Henke and Kerri Williams attended district school community council training. Kerri shared some information and handouts from the training. The videos from the training can be viewed on www.schoollandtrust.org.


    Agenda Item #7: Thoughts on academic and citizenship grades-Performance-based grading
    Discussion: Mr. Henke led a brainstorming session about having separate academic and citizenship grades for the students. Many ideas were expressed, including:
    · Kyle Day is a math teacher who knows about performance-based grading
    · The school PLC team (department heads) should discuss the possibility of giving the students a citizenship grade with specific criteria for the grade
    · Students would have to earn a certain citizenship GPA/credits for graduation
    · The citizenship grade could be based on tardies, participation, classroom behavior
    · Name it “Hawk grade”; base it on the 5 c’s
    · With academic grades—what should a grade reflect?
    · Should an academic grade reflect what a student knows and understands at the end of the trimester, or be an average score from the whole trimester?
    · We want students to know and be able to use the material that they learn
    · Having 2 separate grades would separate the behavior grade from the knowledge grade
    · Is there a precedence for this idea? Have other high schools done this? Is it working in other schools?
    · We definitely need to do more research
    · Students learning a good work ethic would be good preparation for students for college and careers


    Other Items:
    · Marcie Lyons, a visiting parent, brought up a safety concern with students crossing the highway near the school. There was a near-miss of a student crossing the street from Nibley. Possible solutions: UDOT change the 55 mph speed limit to 45 mph speed limit (on the highway north of the school) sooner; educate students to push the walk signal buttons before they cross the street to give them more time to cross
    · Crystal Howe made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Joshua Nelson seconded. The vote was unanimous to adjourn the meeting.

    Next Meeting: Tuesday, December 13, 2016 at 7:00am in the Conference Room

    Minutes Prepared By: Michelle Palmer