Minutes

Members present: Polly Favinger, Laura DeRose, Bobbie Jaffe Nash, Jane Wynn, Jim Kistner, Craig Ferguson, Michelle Nilsen and Maddie Stockwell.

Members not present: John Van Haalen, Julian Rondello, Anica Stieve

1) The minutes from March 22, 2005 were approved as written with the possible addition of the PTSA Report at our next meeting.

2) Principal’s Report – Our student enrollment for 2005/2006 is projected at 1,049. Our FTE will increase by 0.8. How we will use the 0.8 FTE will become clearer next week. We must make some decisions about adding another one-to-one coach increasing our total to three coaches for next year, how many sections of the Culminating Project Class to offer, and how much time to allow for a Culminating Project Coordinator. The Leadership Team will make a decision about continuing with the DLC next year at their meeting on 04/21/05. The proposal would include maintaining Nova Net at some extent.

3) Update On Principal Interviewing Team – Shannon Carey, Steve Ruthford, Cathy Moran, Rich Bower, Sanja Pisker and Mitch Tan are the representatives from Sehome. There was some frustration and disappointment felt over the team selection and notification process. It appears that those chosen to be on the team were notified by April 8. However, the list of interested persons (both staff, parents and students) was quite long and many, if not all, of those people did not hear anything until Tuesday, 4/19. Many of the staff and parents on that list had kept their schedules open for Thursday and Friday and felt frustrated they had not been told sooner. Polly Favinger will compose a message to Susan Zoller to address these concerns on behalf of Sehome’s Site Council.

4) Action Plan Review –

a. The Mariner Memo has been posted to Sehome’s Web Page.

b. An article about Parent Connect was published in December’s issue of the Mariner Memo. Michelle Nilsen will follow up with Kenn Robinson and Susan Zoller to see what progress has been made on allowing student’s to have Parent Connect accounts of his or her own. Jim Kistner reported that 65-70% of staff is currently using Parent Connect. Craig Ferguson will confirm that number with the registrar for our next meeting. It was suggested that we put together a Site Council sub-committee to address this concern. We might consider putting together a Site Council Survey of teachers to understand teacher usage, concerns, etc. The next step might be to put together a recommendation to the district to develop a strategy to increase Parent Connect usage by staff.

c. The Building Map and ID Signs are not complete. Jim Kistner reported that we are waiting on an outside directional sign. Dr. Barga is the point person on this project.

d. The Sehome Web Page appears to contain errors. Jim Kistner checked with John Mangan to verify, and it appears that the front page is correct. The errors are contained on pages that are supported by individual departments. Craig Ferguson will contact John Mangan to determine who is responsible for updating portions of the web page. Jim Kistner will bring the concern to the Leadership Team on Thursday, 4/21. All members will review the web page to see what corrections need to be made.

e. Sehome Facilities Up Date: Jim Kistner noted there was nothing new to report.

f. The Spring Open House was a huge success! Attendance was great and the new format, three sessions, seemed to better meet parents’ needs.

g. Fall Open House – At the June meeting of Site Council, we will discuss possible changes to the fall format. We particularly want to see if parents may choose to attend sessions on their student’s second semester schedule, i.e. attending World Geography instead of Tech Connections.

h. Ninth Grade Parent Night: Michelle Nilsen and Jim Kistner will meet in sub-committee to discuss this idea further. The ideas presented today were a panel format for 9^th Grade Parents on how to get through the first few months of high school – What every parent should know!

i. Hispanic Parent Outreach: Jim Kistner suggested that we continue this event for next year.

5) Counseling Report: Michelle Nilsen reported that the counseling staff is continuing work to complete scheduling cards for the 2005/2006 academic year. The master schedule is expected to start taking shape next week.

6) ASB Report: Maddie Stockwell reported that the elections for 2005/2006 were completed. Maggie Peach and Tim Petryni will be the student Site Council reps. for next year. The senior class has begun selling Baller Bands inscribed with “Go Mariners” for $3.00 a piece during lunches.

7) PTSA Report: Bobbie Jaffe Nash reported there is a PTSA general membership meeting tonight. Superintendent, Dale Kinsley, Susan Zoller, Ann Marie Hanel, and Sherrie Brown will attend to present information on the direction of district high schools, how the district office supports that direction, provide a Gates Foundation update, discuss No Child Left Behind legislation, and discuss their vision of where the district is heading. PTSA will also elect their new officers this evening. The City Wide High School Pride garage sale is April 23. Items may be dropped off at Bellingham High School. Sehome will host Umbrella Fest next fall.

8) Site Council Elections for 2005/2006: Polly Favinger, Laura DeRose and Jane Wynn have one year left in their terms. PTSA will elect their representative to Site Council this evening. Bobbie Jaffe Nash has volunteered to continue in that role next year. Craig Ferguson and Michelle Nilsen have one year left in their terms. We need to elect one certificated and one classified rep. to Site Council for two-year terms beginning in 2005/2006. Michelle Nilsen will solicit nominations from staff before our next meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:05 PM. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 10.

Respectfully Submitted,

Michelle Nilsen, Counselor