Parent Advisory Committee

September, 2008 Dear Arcadia Family, Thank you so much for your help in getting our year off to a great start!  As the Title I Program Facilitator at Arcadia, I have enjoyed getting to know many of the students and parents.  Because I live in the community, I have had the opportunity to meet many of you already.  However, I want to do all I can to include your voices in our school. Last year a group of staff members and parents went through the process of developing a Schoolwide Title I Plan.  An important piece of that plan is the development of a Parent Advisory Committee (PAC). This is how the PAC would work.  It would meet monthly for a specified amount of time, probably ninety minutes.  The first sixty minutes of that time would be spent gathering input on an idea or a project.  The last thirty minutes would be open for parents to bring questions, comments, and concerns. Parent representation is what makes a PAC work and we are asking you to consider getting involved by being a part of our meetings.  Committee members need to be available monthly, beginning in November, and be willing to have their phone numbers and e-mail addresses published so other parents may contact them with questions and comments. If you are interested in participating in the PAC, please contact me at 464-5730 or balld@deerpark.wednet.edu for more information. I am looking forward to working with you! Sincerely,   Diane Ball

Arcadia PAC Meeting
Nov. 5, 2008
Minutes

Attendance: Diane Ball, Trip Goodall, Jodi Root, Gina Keller, Jay Lindh,
Lyla Rapeljai, Heather Boswell, Cheryl Whittle, Julie Price, Tammy Woodard, Roger Plough

1. Introductions

 

2. Diane explained how PAC came to be and explained that the format would be forty-five minutes to discuss Arcadia issues and forty-five minutes for parent concerns/questions/comments. Staff issues are off-limits.  Our purposes are to gather parent feedback in an advisory capacity and build communication between Arcadia and the community.

3. Parents gave feedback on ways to improve open house and increase attendance.  These ideas will be shared with staff and hopefully some can be incorporated next fall.

 

4. Trip Goodall, Director of Special Projects, presented our building plan for Title I.  He asked that parents review it and come back with feedback at our December meeting.

5. During the parent question/comment portion of the meeting, there was a great deal of discussion of schoolwide Title I and what that means.

 

       It was suggested that a sheet of Arcadia acronyms be distributed to parents prior to fall conferences to help facilitate communication and understanding.   Many parents come away confused and want to understand better.  They don't feel comfortable asking questions. 
       
        Roger shared that he felt using peer partners in math was a great strategy that benefited both the high student and the struggling student.  He wondered if it used elsewhere in the building.

        There was discussion regarding the after school program bus and how the situation could be resolved.

6. For next time, parents are asked to come with an area of interest, review the building plan, and to give feedback on conferences, particularly the acronym sheet.

 

Next meeting is December 3rd at 6:00 p.m. in Mrs. Ball's room (Portable 701) 

Childcare will be provided!