Meeting+Minutes

** August 24, 2010 **
 * Leadership Committee Meeting **

Present: Judd Eidson, Rebecca DePriest, Georgiana Depriest, Eric Decker, Susan Herbert, Gary Pendergraft, Karina Huffman **// Where we’ve been: //** Input from stakeholders (including written student statements, meetings with community members/Chamber of Commerce, Student Council, administrators, teachers) was assessed and condensed into a written vision statement over the summer. The resulting statement was condensed into the following, single-sentence vision statement, which was approved by administration as the new SHS Vision Statement: **// At Seneca High School, our vision is to promote student success through high expectations and dedication to continuous improvement. //**   An email (attached) was sent to all SHS staff to present the vision statement and encourage its publication on high school signage, including classroom documents, such as teacher course syllabi. Examples of such documents distributed during the SHS Open House Night to students and parents are also attached. **// Where we’re going/What we discussed today: //**  § Committee members will begin writing the SAR (Self-Assessment Report) for the upcoming NCA CASI site review (October 17-19, 2010). Last year, faculty teams worked to put together evidence of each standard and quality indicator. This evidence will be used to write the SAR (AdvancED Accreditation Standards are attached).  § Also discussed were NCA Accreditation visit procedures and how SHS demonstrates evidence of the standards in everyday operations.  § Susan Herbert team reviewed the wiki created for this committee at http://www.wikispaces.com/ (see printout attached) and available resources for committee work on the site.  § The team discussed their role in promoting high standards for teachers at SHS, including dress code, uniform enforcement of rules by teachers, and the possibility of using “Jeans Friday” as a fundraiser for student scholarships or another cause. Teachers will be reminded that the school logo can be embroidered on any shirt to go with jeans on Fridays.  § The team brainstormed about further promotion of the SHS Vision.  § The team plans to meet formally sometime during September, but will continue book study (//6 Strategies + 1 Attitude)// with focus questions (found on committee Wiki page) and work towards writing the SAR for upcoming NCA CASI site visit in the meantime, with frequent informal communication between committee members.
 * The next step for this committee is to publicize the new SHS Vision to all stakeholders who were involved in its creation.
 * Stakeholders will continue to become familiar with the SHS Vision as it is published frequently and SHS continues to demonstrate evidence of operating within the vision.
 * IDEA: “Reaching Ever Higher” as a more condensed version of the vision to share with students!
 * There is a bit of budget room to create posters, banners, etc. with the SHS Vision printed on them.
 * What should we, as teachers, be doing to show that we have high expectations of students? What do we already do? What elements of continuous improvement are in place? How is that seen in the school?
 *  Adherence to classwork deadlines – instructors expect students to complete work within reasonable time frames and adhere to the SHS late work policy in grading.
 *  25 books (or equivalent) per year, per student, per High Schools That Work 5-year plan
 *  Display high-quality student work and use clear scoring rubrics to demonstrate the level of student effort required to make an “A”
 *  Recognizing students through “Student of the Week” program
 *  Staff continues to study and implement Robert Marzano’s Instructional Strategies through frequent in-services and keeps quarterly evidence of use of each of the strategies in their classrooms on file.