Recap of 9/18/07 Meeting

Tom Ferenc asked for help with the Yearbook Club. We need an advisor. A suggestion was made to contact the Rotary Club for assistance. The former advisor, Melissa Palmer, will be out for part of the year on maternity leave but is willing to work with someone and will provide the action plan. Parents of seniors are encouraged to brainstorm. The job would entail selling ad space and working with the existing computer program. Pam Nelligan was suggested as a contact for photography, as she is doing school photos this year.
---Side-note: We are in debt to the publisher from last year’s book and have approx 50 yearbooks leftover. The possibility of having the senior table sell them for half-price at this weekend’s Sale on the Green was put forth.

Linda Waite went over the Climate Study from 2005. She explained the history of the project and some of the findings. At this point, most line items that were suggested solutions have been adopted and the current administration is looking to the future and working on the larger goals of building trust among staff and increasing student expectations. Some of the things currently being implemented as a result of this study are the Virtual High School (VHS), High Schools on the Move (link on GM Parents website) and a 30-hour course for staff from the National School Reform called “Critical Friends”.

Tom outlined some of the steps he has taken since coming to GM. His goals are to improve student learning…to become a professional learning community interdependent with teaching…and to emphasize the social/emotional aspect of learning. He has made an effort to be visible in the school at all hours, learning the names of many students, and visiting the classrooms on an informal basis.

A discussion about the Anti-Bullying program ensued. Tom considers this part of social/emotional learning. He explained that part of the impetus for our adopting a program comes from a legal settlement that was made with some GM parents but that it should have been implemented in any case. He is now in the process of investigating different options for programs to follow and will set up an exploratory committee when he is further along that road before he makes any final decisions. Several parents emphasized that the program must be pervasive and especially involve the staff, as well as contain common sense.

Several other topics that were briefly discussed were the Middle School, more communication to parents regarding programs such as VHS and guidance issues, individual learning plans for each student at GM, the email list for GM and the need for more school spirit.

Making Life Good for Your Kids' Teachers

I found this helpful and appropriate blog entry when scanning parenting websites. This is not composed by one of the GM Parents but embodies many of the sentiments we have discussed. Please check it out:


http://moxie.blogs.com/askmoxie/2007/08/making-life-goo.html

Reception a Success

Thanks to all the parents, teachers, students, community members and school administrators who attended the back to school reception at Green Mountain Union High School on the first day of classes.

It was a “warm” reception, and not just because of the hot weather on that first day of school. We parents were able to meet new district superintendent Joan Paustian, new principal Tom Ferenc, and associate principal Geoff Lawrence, plus many teachers, including several of the high school’s department chairpeople.

Tasty baked goods sweetened the event, including Baba a Louis’s famous bars and a coconut-topped cake baked by future Green Mountain student Andrew Dent that was almost too beautiful to eat. (But it was only almost too beautiful. We ate it, and it was delicious.)

Thanks also go to Lisai’s Market, Jiffy Mart and Ray Gould’s Market which provided the drinks, and to The Message for printing an announcement about the reception for the community.

It was wonderful to see so many people willing to celebrate the first day of a new school year with us. Thank you!