October 22, 2021 – Minutes

Brookwood School Community Council Minutes

Friday, October 22, 2021
7:45 AM
Brookwood’s Media Center

Members Present:

Parents: Abby Pohlman, Amy Jones, Derek Matsumori, Megan Olson, Hadley Waters, Beau Olsen, Tori Easton, Katie Park

Faculty/Staff: Principal Corrie Barrett, Caroline Butters, Kathy Smith

Members Excused:

Parents: Misa Sorenson

Faculty/Staff: N/A

Attendees Present: Jessica Pohlman

1. Welcome – Abby Pohlman
   1. Called to order 7:51

2. Abby Motioned to approve September Min. Kathy 2nd. All in favor.
3. Digital Citizenship and School Safety Plan
   1. Digital Safety Plan can be found on the district website
   2. Content Keep is the filter used on devices throughout the district. This program works on and off the WIFI. All devices are tracked at home and school.
   3. Lan school is the big brother to Content Keeper and is used in 2nd-5th grade on chrome books. This is a service that teachers can see all screens in their room from their computer screen.
      1. Teachers can also comment to the kids through Lan School through a “chat box”
      2. There are different levels of protection from elementary school through high school. (Less filters in high school than elementary)
      3. Corrie has had to only collect 1 device in her 6 years at Brookwood due to activity flagged from content keeper/land school.
         1. Corrie has only had 7 events where a word or phrase has been flagged, while at Brookwood, which has resulted in a conversation with parents
      4. Common Sense and Think Safe are programs that every school website has linked for parents to have easy access to
      5. Schools have monthly messages to parents sent home
      6. Kids get 3 one-hour lessons with Ms. Vernon in October/November (through Google Be Internet Awesome and Common Sense Media)
         1. These lessons include:
            1. Kindergarten- what is the internet, going places safely on the internet, pause for people
            2. First- how does technology make you feel, my online neighborhood, pause and think online
            3. Second- digital trails, the power of words, keyword searching
            4. Third- rings of responsibility, be an upstander, secure your secrets
            5. Fourth- share with care, is seeing believing, phishing
            6. Fifth- My media balance, reading new online, finding credible sources
      7. Brookwood PTA hosts an annual White Ribbon Week. This year is it Feb. 28- March 3
      8. Monica Rotermund (4th grade teacher) is the digital citizenship coordinator for our school.
      9. Parent education- internet safety links, common sense media links monthly, messages posted on Brookwood’s website
      10. All members of SCC feel we have a great plan in place for digital citizenship

4. School safety
   1. Parents need to realize when they register their students there are boxes that need to be checked to be notified of emergencies
   2. Members of the SCC need to be aware of changes that need to be made to the Safe Walking route
   3. Every teacher has an emergency binder by their door and receive annual training/review on expectations in case of any emergency
      1. In the binder one can find:
         1. The school has “area leaders” who have clear expectations and a map of the specific sections of the building they oversee
         2. “If/Then” type chart with how the events will be handled by the teacher and Area Leader – “if there is an Outside Threat, then….”
         3. Subs get a sub binder with the same information when they check in at the office
            1. Without a head secretary at the moment, this has not been as consistent. SCC feels we need better communication with our substitutes regarding the safety plan. The office will update sub binders and train the new secretary when she starts work on Nov 1st.
         4. There will be a lock down drill on Oct. 28. The kids will be told what to expect and parents will receive an email a few days before
         5. Every classroom has an emergency button that will page the office if a teacher ever needs help.
5.  Data:
   1. Acadience composite scores 2020/2021 (beginning, middle, end of year):
      1. Kindergarten 79%/93%/86%
      2. 1st 76%/77%/78%
      3. 2nd 81%/84%/80%
      4. 3rd 82%/89%/90%
      5. 4th 73%/93%/93%
      6. 5th 69%/84%/95%
         1. These benchmarks get harder as the year progresses which is why they don’t always show a steady climb
      7. School average growth was 87%
   2. Last year’s goal was 90% at or above TYPICAL growth in grades 1-3
   3. The teachers focused on tiered growth intervention, so all kids were receiving what they needed
   4. 1st-3rd Brookwood Acadience typical growth (middle/end of year)
      1. 2018-2019 82%/88%
      2. 2019-2020 71%/NA
      3. 2020-2021 72%/69%
   5. K-5th Brookwood Acadience Typical Growth (middle/end of year)
      1. 2018-2019 77%/87%
      2. 2019-2020 71%/NA
      3. 2020-2021 77%/74%
   6. Consistency and time worked against the students and teachers due to COVID it was tough to put the planned plan into place
   7. This year’s plan- Similar, goal is the same
      1. This year we are adding to the action plan because there is more of a need for tier 2 interventions. There are gaps to close as there is a lot of unlearned material from the past 2 school years.
         1. The attendance issues are alarming
         2. Our teachers are extremely overwhelmed
            1. We need to help the teachers and get subs in their rooms when needed
   8. Math goal- 17% increase in proficiency
      1. Brookwood Acadience math composite scores for 2020-2021 (beginning/middle/end of year)
         1. Kindergarten (beginning quantity discrimination)- 70%/88%/95%
         2. 1st- NA/73%/65%
         3. 2nd- 82%/89%/82%
         4. 3rd- 63%/87%/77%
         5. 4th- 81%/90%/88%
         6. 5th- 68%/93%/88%
            1. 2nd-4th average proficiency- 84%
6. There are no new financial updates
7. PTA Input:
   1. PTA is really trying to be better at communication. They would really like to encourage parents to follow their Instagram and check their website often
   2. We are really encouraging parents to sign up as volunteer subs. Volunteers will be assigned classrooms in twos.
8. Community input: none
9. SCC concerns:
   1. There is no Social Emotional learning happening so far this year due to some issues with the updates made to secondary curriculum.
   2. Social Emotional Learning is mandatory as it is part of state curriculum.
   3. The board is reviewing our options.
      1. Some SCC members, as well as Corrie, encourage the community to support the use of the Second Step curriculum for the remainder of the 2021-22 school year. Changing curriculum now will put more of a burden (more trainings) on teachers and will also be a huge financial commitment when we already have paid for a program.
   4. There is a huge need for parents to educate themselves. Elementary students don’t have access to the online Second Step resources which was where the problem was.
   5. Corrie has all the materials in the office if anyone would like to look over them.
   6. Parents can opt their child out of participating in lessons related to Social/Emotional Learning. Please contact the office/Corrie for more information.
   7. Katie Park taught Second Step lessons last year and is more than willing to answer questions anyone would like to discuss with her
10. Adjourn- Abby