Heritage Elementary

Heritage Elementary School

School Community Council

Minutes

Wednesday, November 8, 2023

In attendance: Lance Robins, Maria Jones, Sara Anderson, Julie Clark, Kendal Welker, Melisa Richardson, Andrea Linton, Gretchen Gibbs, Bonnie Bickers, Josh Nelson, Angela Sorensen 

1. Welcome to Heritage Elementary School Community Council.

2. Review SCC Minutes from last month (October).

3. Approve the minutes from October.

Motion to approve 1^st Julie Clark

Motion to approve 2^nd Sara Anderson

4. Heritage Safety Week review 

   1. Thanks to the PTA for doing such a great job organizing it!

   2. News about it was posted on the website, the newsletter, and in the library.

5. Safe School Information (Angela Sorenson)

   1. “Safe Routes to School” 

      1. For updated information about routes to help students get to and from school safely, please see the Safe Routes Utah website. Heritage’s specific site can be accessed here. The site shows stop signs and crosswalks with crossing guards. 

      2. Ms. Sorenson plays a huge role in this, and she does a great job.

      3. This information covers things like traffic, drop-off/pick-up areas, and crosswalks.

      4. Because of the 2023 bond, there may be questions in the future about things like where the exits will be. Ms. Sorenson will help update the site so that it continues to provide safe routes to school. There is a lot of time invested in this.

      5. We evaluate it every year. There’s constant change in Nibley (like new subdivisions and crosswalks). We do our best to address these changes. It will change again next year with the subdivision across the street.

      6. There is a principal in Bonneville who lost a student in a pedestrian accident. They would like to get more administrators involved to bring cameras back to catch speeding in front of schools. They are currently against the law. The child was hit just outside the school zone. They’re trying to convince the state government that it’s okay to bring cameras back. Mr. Robins will get involved. We have a high-speed area in front of our school, so he’ll be a part of the process.

      7. Ms. Sorenson has had a few parents ask about areas without buses. We have a few places deemed as parent transportation areas. By law, we can only have so many bus stops, so we do have areas in our boundaries that do not have buses, especially in the new subdivision areas. Snow also makes it difficult for students to get to school.

      8. Ms. Sorenson sent out an email encouraging students to ride the bus because it’s a safe way to get to school and it cuts down on traffic.

9. PBIS (Ms. Jones)

   1. PBIS is Husky Habits.

   2. PBIS stands for Positive Behavior Intervention Support.

   3. We also incentivize students with husky paws. Husky paws help, but we also wanted a visual for the school. Not every student gets husky paws. We have posters throughout the school. Courtney Walker, the art teacher, made them. The prep teachers review them three times a year, or we review them again if we see an uptick in behavior.

   4. There is a new rule in the cafeteria that students must raise their hand to be excused because students weren’t throwing away their trash.

      1. The faculty discussed this problem to find a solution, and the lunch staff thought about it and came up with a plan. They asked the teachers, and they agreed on the plan. Things are going a lot better. Students are cleaning after themselves. The students are now wiping down the table and it’s more sanitary.

   5. The PBIS program gives students basic information on how to behave.

   6. The prep teachers and the classroom teachers take time to review this program, so students get it in two places.

   7. Students are shown a slideshow that matches the posters so students can recognize the concepts.

   8. It’s working and the teachers like it.

6. Reading Counts Information (Gretchen Gibbs)

   1. The second cutoff was on Monday, so they’ll do more certificates next week depending on the book fair.

   2. The book fair does not fall on a conference week this time, so students can purchase books during their library class and before and after school.

   3. There is an eWallet option that students can use. It can be set up on the Scholastic website. Ms. Gibbs will send more information home with the students. Multiple kids in a family should be able to use the same eWallet. If funds aren’t used, they’re transferred over to the next book fair.

   4. This is the last year of Reading Counts. They stopped making quizzes for new books. 

   5. Everything is going well in the library.

7. RISE Testing Data from last year (Lance Robins)

   1. RISE test scores from past years are available on our school website. RISE test scores from 2022-2023 are available on this page.

   2. The RISE test is an end-of-year summative assessment for science, language, arts, math, and writing.

   3. Our proficiency scores from last year are as follows:

      1. Third Grade Proficiency:

         1. ELA: 60%

         2. Math: 70%

      2. Fourth Grade Proficiency:

         1. ELA: 63%

         2. Math: 70%

         3. Science: 62%

      3. Fifth Grade Proficiency:

         1. ELA: 66%

         2. Math: 64%

         3. Science: 56%

         4. Writing: 6/10

      4. Sixth Grade Proficiency:

         1. ELA: 68%

         2. Math: 60%

         3. Science: 79%

   4. Our summative school average scores from 2022-2023 are all above the state and district scores in every category:

      1. Science - 66%

      2. Language Arts - 64%

      3. Math - 65%

      4. Writing - 6/10

   5. The 6th grade scored very high. We see this often with the 6th-grade teachers.

   6. We scored lower than the district in science in the 4th and 5th grades, but our scores were still above the state average.

   7. The 6th-grade scores were so high that it brought the whole school average up. 

   8. Testing information is important because it helps us determine which academic areas need improvement. Our job is to find where we need to improve and work to improve in those areas.

   9. Science is probably something we should target.

   10. Math and language arts are required in science. 

   11. Science is sometimes taught in Spanish in DLI.

   12. There might have been a disconnect with a new teacher in the 5th grade in covering the science standards. The 5th-grade teacher is now working with a partner teacher to make sure the standards are taught. If the 6th-grade science scores go up this year, that would be a good indication that this was the cause. We will find out.

   13. Things must still be fun. Ms. Jones has fun science experiments where kids learn and have fun. The students comprehend the material and display it in testing.

   14. We look at the data down to the level of teachers and students. We have student percentile scores for about 95% of the students, and teachers are working on helping each student grow. 

8. Teacher needs/wants for the upcoming year.

   1. Mr. Robins would like to pay for AMITY Aides with TSSA funds. He would also like to support TIER II instruction with paraprofessionals, and he would like to target science.

   2. Our teachers are strong, and if we can hold on to them and support them, we can see good things happening.

   3. We got a lot of new technology this year and accomplished what we needed to accomplish. Teachers received new devices such as computers, speakers, microphones, document cameras, and short throw projectors. 

   4. We have to allocate the money based on the RISE scores from the previous year. We’ve been targeting language arts, and our scores from last year show that our efforts have been effective.

   5. The amount of TSSA funds we get is based on enrollment. It’s a few thousand more than School Land Trust Funds. Mr. Robins is allowed to allocate TSSA funds, and he looks for input from the school community council on how this money is spent.

   6. There is no budget for some necessities at the school, such as rugs and leaf collectors.

   7. TSSA money can be spent the way we need to use it.

   8. TSSA money has been a huge benefit for the school. We were able to incentivize teachers with extra pay to do activities like curriculum mapping. Every teacher took advantage of this, and it gave them a head start. Teachers were able to hit the ground running. 

9. After-school information (Bonnie Bickers)

   1. The after-school program serves 75 - 100 students in the afternoon (about 200 students are registered). 

   2. There is a teacher at each grade level.

   3. There are two teachers for third grade.

   4. The parents are appreciative that their kids are getting the extra help.

   5. Teachers such as Ms. York can help students with the homework she knows they need and encourage them to come.

   6. Some students can get help that would be difficult to get at home.

   7. This is the last year of the grant.

   8. The kids get a snack. When their homework is done, they can play games in the gym. This is an incentive and it helps them not distract the other students working on homework. Sometimes students are disappointed if they don’t get to go to the gym, but overall, this system is working.

   9. The before-school program is available by request only for students who need extra help. There are about 5-6 students per grade level and one teacher per grade level. Ms. DeFriez helps an ESL group with the help of aides.

   10. There are a few schools that will continue to do the after-school program next year. They received a grant about four years ago and were able to renew it before the COVID money ran out. Nibley is one example, and they’ll run it for two more years. 

   11. Ms. Bickers wrote the same grant four years ago, but it didn’t work out for our school.

10. AAPPL Testing (Lance Robins and Maria Jones)

1. DLI students have been taking the AAPPL test all week. Grades 3rd - 6th are the only grades that take it. 

2. Shalayne Merrill has been working with the technology department to make sure the test is up and running.

3. There are only four elementary schools in the district that administer the AAPPL test (the elementary schools in the DLI program). Ridgeline DLI students are also taking the AAPPL test this week.

4. The DLI teachers met in September as a team. There are two new DLI teachers in the 4th and 5th grades. They share ideas as a team, discuss what the test will look like, and prepare the students. 

5. The 3rd and 5th graders are taking a speaking test. 

6. The 4th and 6th graders are taking a listening, reading, and writing test. It is a big test. Everything is in Spanish. They struggle the most with writing. They are almost finished. If students miss a day this week, they can take the test next week. Ms. Jones is happy with the scores they are getting. The teachers worked on preparing the students during the whole month of October.

7. Ms. Jones does a great job. She helps the new teachers. The AAPPL test is only administered once a year. Students are tested after only 2.5 months with her, and after the summer where students don’t usually use the language. Students come back after the summer break, remember, relearn, and November is early to be tested. 

8. Sara Anderson said it’s nice for parents to know what level their kids are at.

9. Ms. Jones said she sometimes sees higher scores than she expected, which shows her that students have the potential but she doesn’t always see it in class. 

10. Comprehension scores are better than expression scores.

11. We’ll have the scores in about 2 weeks.

11. School Land Trust spent year to date

    1. Total Funds: $110,878

    2. Spent: $47,211.00

    3. Left: $63,666.36 (57.42% left)

    4. We can’t carry more than 10% of the funds. We need to spend the funds this year.

    5. We are right where we need to be.

    6. Most of the money so far has been spent on technology updates.

12. Other Items 

    1. The due dates for spring reports are set by the district.

    2. Julie Clark said she’s heard that people would like behavioral aides in the school.

       1. Mr. Robins said behavioral interventions are getting harder. Matt Mallory has been an amazing resource to the school. Some students have behavior that is significant enough that a classroom needs to be cleared. In the past, we could get an aide for the child to support them and get them through the day, and special education funding paid for that. It’s harder to get aides now because we need to make sure that we have the least restrictive learning environment possible for a student. 

       2. The district funded a general education team that will track a child and help them fit in with the classroom. If this intervention doesn’t work after 6 weeks, then they call a special education team and they try for another 6 weeks. The special education team tries to intervene before using a behavioral aide. As a school, we’ve tried to provide a classroom aide which can help with behavior, but this prolongs the ability to get a behavioral aide if we’re already taking care of the issue. Mr. Robins and Mr. Mallory talk at length about getting the data to know when to get an aide. It’s hard for Mr. Robins to see a child disrupt a class to a point where the teacher can’t teach, but if we intervene, that could prolong the ability to get a behavioral aide, so they’re trying to find the best solution. Mr. Mallory could spend all day handling behavioral issues, but we need to be careful about how to do this if it gets to a point where a behavioral aide is needed. It is a frustrating situation. We use practices and policies to make sure the kids are being taken care of. Mr. Robins feels good about the direction the district is going to find the least restrictive environment for the child. We have time to work with the child if we’re patient. Teachers can be frustrated, and we need to support them. Julie Clark is a substitute for aides, so she can see what’s going on in the classrooms. She loves being here and says it's a good environment.

13. Reading Plan Review/TIER II information (Mr. Robins)

    1. Brian Heinson took over Mindee Larsen’s spot as a reading facilitator.

    2. We were sad to see Ms. Larsen leave.

    3. We are lucky to have Mr. Heinson.

14. Motion to Close this meeting:

    1. Motion to close 1^st Sara Anderson

    2. Motion to close 2^nd Julie Clark

15. Thank you for attending