November 15th, 2005
5:30-7:00 pm
CHS Library


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

Members Absent: Mariel Plaeger-Brockway, Lori Stern, Kathleen Burns, Lynn Le, Brittany Ruiz

The meeting was called to order at 5:33 by co-chairperson Paddy O'Brien.

The minutes of the September meeting were approved.

The minutes of the October meeting were presented. It was brought to the Council's attention, that "Scott Coleman" should read "Scott Le Duc." With this correction, the minutes were approved.

Ed Thorpe brought to the Council the possibility of on-line grades. Ed shared with the Council a letter he wrote to the Olympia School Board outlining the benefits of the district implementing such a program. It was noted that the OSD is currently looking at the option of on-line grades.

Laura Cannon-Robinson reported on the possibility of Math tutors from TESC. Laura spoke with Sylvie Mcgee, coordinator of the Community-Based Learning Center, to inquire whether the center could aid Capital in finding interested volunteer tutors. Sylvie enthusiastically responded and is checking with TESC math faculty, and the Quantitative Reasoning Center to locate interested tutors. The Council discussed the logistics of a math tutor system, and realized such a set- up would require a coordinator for the tutors. Ed asked if a parent could volunteer in this role. It was also brought forth, that tutoring could be a community service option for seniors.

Principal's Report Finals Schedule
The schedule for finals this first trimester will be as follows:
November 30 1 & 2 periods
December 1 3 & 4 periods
December 2 5 & 6 periods

The schedule change will appear in the daily bulletin and an automated phone message will go out to each student.

There will be two finals each day, with school dismissing at 12:05. This will give students additional study time and teachers extra assessment time. Capital was granted permission to carry out this finals schedule for one year.

Closed Campus
Currently the building cannot accommodate all students in two lunches, and thus Capital has an open campus. However upon the completion of the current remodel, Capital could become a closed campus. The expectation is that Capital will close the Campus. Though this is a board decision, there was discussion whether to take a "dipstick" reading of what the community desires.

Trimester/Semester
Currently Capital runs on the trimester. There are reasons to evaluate and explore the possibility of switching to a semester:

The decision to either stay with a trimester system or change to a semester system is an OSD decision that must be made by February 2006 to impact next year's schedule.

"Family Night"
Val, Bob and Sue presented a draft proposal they created regarding "Listening Posts Family Night". The proposal addresses two CHS Site Council Goals; to improve student learning, and foster parent involvement. In summary, the listening posts would provide a forum for parents and students to communicate their views and questions about the strengths and challenges of various topics related to academic success. The format would include a discussion and brainstorm period followed by "voting" via sticker dots. A summary report would then be written and placed on the CHS website. The Council would then place the priority issues on Site Council agendas.

Much discussion followed this presentation, with questions such as "What do we want to accomplish?" "What subject areas do we focus on?" being asked and discussion around the value of giving parents an opportunity to express themselves. In addition, the Council discussed the list of possible invitation methods the proposal included, focusing on how to appeal to a wide audience. At this point, the Council needed to move to the next agenda item, and any additional input should be emailed to Val by Dec 1, 2005.

International Baccalaureate Program
The Council began an extensive discussion of the both the merits and challenges of the International Baccalaureate Program. Teri Poff gave a quick history of some of the details of the program coming to Capital, as well as a list of positives and negatives she has heard from parents, staff and community members. After much discussion, it was decided in order to be most effective the Council would benefit from a small group of Council members identifying issues and present these issues at the next meeting. Site Council members who volunteered to be part of the IB Committee are Paddy, Barb, Sue, Cindy, Ed, and Terra.

Agenda Items for January 2006 meeting:
Family Night
WASL
IB Program

Meeting was adjourned at 7:16.