October 18th, 2005
5:30 - 7:00 pm
CHS Library


Members present: Teri Poff, Daniel Grimm, Bob Neumann, Kristi Bonds, Laura Cannon-Robinson, Ed Thorpe, Valerie Lynn, Becca Ellen, Mariel Plaeger-Brockway, Paddy O'Brien, Terra Hegge, Chris House, Cindy Berger, Sue Anderson

The meeting was called to order at 5:35 pm by out-going co-chairperson Sue Anderson.

The minutes of the September meeting were amended and will be brought forth for approval at the November meeting.

Paddy O'Brien was elected as co-chairperson to serve with Principal Teri Poff. Laura Cannon-Robinson volunteered to take minutes beginning with the November meeting. For September and October, Sue Anderson agreed to send minutes to Scott Leduc to post on the web; in the future, Laura Cannon-Robinson will do so. Sue will send a corrected roster to Scott for the web as well.

The Council discussed goals from May 2005 around increasing communication between CHS and parents/families. The "Hints for Freshman Parents" handout developed last year had been a good addition to the orientation materials; this should be updated and posted on the web. One idea from the spring had been to hold one or more informational evening meetings on topics of interest to parents. Council members discussed a number of possibilities, including drugs/alcohol, family support for academics, opportunities to ask questions/share concerns or kudos about school policies and academics, etc. Last year's survey of 9th grade parents indicated that the strongest area of interest among the parents surveyed was academic, and there was general agreement that this was an important driver. A "listening post" format might provide a forum for parents to ask questions and generate ideas. After much discussion about a variety of needs and topics, four people (Val Lynn, Bob Neumann, Mariel Plaeger-Brockway, and Sue Anderson) volunteered to get together to work on a proposal for one or more evening events to bring to the November meeting.

Regarding counselor evening meetings for parents, last year council members had been helpful to the counseling office in notifying parents about them; this year, CHS tried the automated phone system to invite parents to Open House, and by spreading calls over a number of evenings, was able to use that system. There was general agreement that this system, combined with the e-mail list developed by the CHSPO, would provide efficient ways for the counselors to invite parents to evening meetings.

Another topic was having some interface with the CHSPO. Ed Thorpe volunteered to be the liaison between the two groups.

At the next meeting, the council agreed to talk more about the WASL and graduation rates. Sue Anderson will provide OSPI data for CHS.

The Council will also open a discussion of the International Baccalaureate program; Cindy Berger will bring informational materials about IB. Other topics will be closed campus and trimester/semester issues.

The meeting ended with agreement about next month's agenda, and a review of tasks from this meeting. It adjourned at 7:05 pm.

Tasks for November: Agenda Items for November 15, 2005:
Evening meeting(s)
IB program
WASL scores and graduation rates
Closed campus
Trimester/Semester
TOPIC ACTION WHO TIME
Introductions; minutes Approval Paddy 5 minutes
Principal update
• Finals Schedule
• Closed campus
• Trimester/semester
 Update Teri 15 minutes
“Family Night” possibilities Discussion; Decision Committee (Val, Mariel, Bob, Sue) 20 minutes
International Baccalaureate program Discussion Mariel
Cindy
 30 minutes
WASL scores and graduation rates Discussion OSPI info Sue
All
 15 minutes
Possibility of on-line grades Discussion All Table for next time?
December agenda and tasks Information Paddy 5 minutes