Site Council Update

Noticias de la Escuela – April 2004

During the month of April, Site Council held elections for 2005-2007 members. There were (11) parents who completed the self-nomination form. The ballots are being tabulated and the new members will be announced at the April 28th meeting. SC would like to thank the exceptional group of parent volunteers who stepped forward to be nominated and also to those households who cast their ballot. ¡Muchas gracias!

Our Jr. High Site Council Liaison gave an update reporting discussion on varied school start times in the district, retention ideas for 6th graders moving into the middle school and noted that a parent (who has a child at PSI in the 5th gr. and a middle school age child in the 7th gr.) is serving as their SC Chair.

We also had a detailed facility update from Principal Swanson that addressed new space being created for the expanding upper grades as well as re-designed space for the instrumental music groups; additional custodial hours recently allocated to PSI ; forthcoming bathroom and exterior renovations due to bond monies now available thanks to the generosity of the St. Louis Park community during the November elections. She also announced that all schools budget packages are to be funded at 100% for the next school year, and touched on the recruiting goals at PSI for next year. Also noted was that PSI can again look forward to hosting 10 Amity Teaching Assistant in September!

At this meeting, SC was also able to voice concerns and offer ideas directly to our school board liaison, Rolf Peterson, about optimal custodial support and revenue options in our multi-purpose building.

Milissa Hoffman gave a presentation on a Spanish Language Assessment (SOPA/ COPE) being administered at PSI for the first time. This was a pilot Spanish oral proficiency assessment conducted in February with 20 students each from second and fifth grade. Eighth grade students at the Junior High were also assessed. This assessment has been developed by the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL). Teachers from six metro area immersion schools, as well as four PSI staff members, have been trained by CAL trainers to administer this assessment. The rating scale is based on the American Council on Teaching of Foreign Language (ACTFL) Proficiency Guidelines.

Principal Bob Laney has been invited to speak at the top of our April meeting on the Extended Spanish Language Program at the Sr. High and a representative from the Jr. High has been invited to speak on the same topic at our May meeting. The PSI community is welcome to attend these presentations.

The minutes from our March 31 meeting are available in the SC Notebook located in the school office.

Our next scheduled meetings are April 28th and May 26th at 4pm in the Media Center.

Rachel Richardson
Site Council Chair
rrichardson8@mn.rr.com