Question 1
A-honor roll students should receive a trophy over
respectful bus riders as it should be a much higher honor and recognition. They should be able to come shake the hand of
the admin.
Response to Question 1
We will discontinue providing trophies for respectful bus
riders next year. We will be exploring
other award options (such as ribbons) for next year. In our efforts to keep assemblies to 30
minutes, we did not have all A-honor roll come to the front. (There were over 100 students recognized for
A-Honor Roll per assembly.) This is our
first year to do recognition assemblies and will be sending out a survey to
teachers to determine necessary changes for next year.
Question 2
Assemblies should be for grade level only and once a trimester. It’s too much on teachers, families, and
instruction.
Response to Question 2
The decision was made to conduct the assemblies monthly
because a primary objective was to motivate students. (For example, a student
may become motivated to spend more time on DreamBox based on peer recognitions,
work toward becoming a millionaire, etc.)
The reason for combining grade levels was to limit the number of
assemblies. This is our first year to do
recognition assemblies and will be sending out a survey to teachers to
determine necessary changes for next year.
Question 3
Is it necessary to repeat the pledge and Star Spangled
Banner after doing it in school? The videos are time consuming with the
technical problems each time including the volume.
Response to Question 3
It is important that we model our patriotism at all school
events, because our visitors did not participate during morning announcements.
Question 4
Special ed/inclusion team needs to rotate across the
board. More time and assistance needs to
be given to those collaboration teams for whatever they need to be successful.
Response to Question 4
There are some teachers that prefer/request to be an
inclusion classroom. We give careful
thought and consideration, which includes discussions with teachers, on
placement of students to ensure student success. Schedules were designed so the special
education teachers would have the same planning times as the classroom teachers
they are working with. The teachers with
inclusion classrooms this year were provided with a professional day per
trimester to help with time spent on IEP meetings, etc.
Question 5
There are constant changes here at Paine that are affecting
the unity, foundation, and demeanor for us as a whole. What does the next year and future look like
for us in terms of consistency? We are a
student-focused school, but the teachers have needs too that need to be
addressed to be the best us, and in return to meet the needs of students.
Response to Question 5
We are always learning and trying to improve so we can
provide our students with the best educational experience possible, and our
teachers with a positive work environment.
More information is needed to address this question in more detail.
Question 6
The professional opinions of teachers based on their
experience and knowledge of their students are not being valued in regard to
collaboration of discipline. How do you
plan to address this?
Response to Question 6
We must follow our district code of conduct and our school
procedures for discipline to ensure it is applied consistently and fairly. We had a discussion at one of our faculty
meetings about gathering a team to work on a school-wide behavior expectations
plan. This will be initiated in May.
Question 7
Families are getting high priority over teacher discretion
which is sending a clear message on the support of the teachers. How do you
plan to address this?
Response to Question 7
Our goal is to work together with all stakeholders
(including parents) to ensure we are fostering the learning and growth of our
students. Teacher input is crucial in
all student matters; however, we must also apply policies and practices
school-wide and some decisions are team decisions (such as retention,
etc.). Situations specific to individual
students are resolved on a case by case basis.
Question 8
Thank you for changing the morning announcements by giving
students a minute to quiet down. That
has made a big difference in helping them have self-control and hearing the
announcements. Could the announcement
volume be raised?
Response to Question 8
Yes, we will work on raising the volume on announcements.
Question 9
Teachers would like to go back to no duty lunch and students
get to go play in the courtyard when they are finished eating. Can we make this happen again?
Response to Question 9
The majority of our student discipline issues occur at lunch
and recess, so it is crucial that students are carefully supervised during this
time. Many schools require teachers to
sit with students during this time. We
have a separate lunch table for teachers where they can visit with colleagues,
while also supervising students.
Question 10
Would it be possible to have a monthly Meeting schedule so
that we have consistency and utilize our meeting times efficiently? For example: 1st Monday: Faculty
Meeting, 2nd Monday: Committee Meetings, 3rd & 4th
Mondays: Training. We need more
consistency to help plan ahead, and this would prevent teachers from having to
meet on other afternoons after school.
Response to Question 10
We will try to work on this for next year, factoring in
district collaboration Mondays, etc. There
may be an issue if we have a Monday holiday, or if a meeting or training is
time sensitive (i.e., testing training, data meetings, etc.). We also moved a meeting or two to provide
teachers with time to work on report cards (based on those deadlines). When
these situations occur, we will need to be flexible.
Question 11
What is the point of having committees if they never get an
opportunity to meet?
Response to Question 11
We will work on incorporating committee meetings into the
Monday afternoon schedule for next year.
For example, if we only need a 30 minute faculty meeting, we may have
committee meetings following. There are
some committees that do not require regular meetings (community events, EnRICh,
Read Across America, etc). For time sensitive
initiatives, a committee meeting may need to be called at any time.
Question 12
Please send all email communication before the end of the
school day. I missed wearing my team
colors on Monday due to not receiving the communication. Please plan to give us at least 24-hours-notice
about upcoming events.
Response to Question 12
The majority of faculty information is communicated through
the weekly blog updates. This is
completed by Friday night for the upcoming week.
Question 13
Please avoid scheduling after school meetings, especially if
the meeting is scheduled without a seven day notice. An EnRICh meeting was set with only a four
day notice. We were notified on Monday
and the meeting was set for Thursday.
Response to Question 13
We understand there could be conflicts when it comes to
after school meetings; inability to attend just needs to be communicated and a
colleague can provide any information the following day. We try to give as much notice as possible,
but cannot always schedule meetings seven days in advance.
Question 14
What are we doing about class sizes next year, especially
Kindergarten? If we are supposed to be
comparable to the other elementary schools in our district we are not keeping
our promise to the community.
Response to Question 14
A similar question was presented through TAC in
October. Please reference the response
on the blog.
Question 15
What is being done to address the shortage of subs? Is there a way to plan professional
development and data meetings in such a way that we have enough subs and don’t
have to continually pull teachers to cover gaps?
Response to Question 15
We realize the difficulty in securing a group of subs for
professional learning, so the majority of PD will be offered on Monday
afternoons next year.
Question 16
Most schools in surrounding areas are hiring part-time
interventionists who are specifically trained and familiar with grade level
standards. Why hasn’t Trussville done
this to stay competitive and proactive?
Response to Question 16
Our current master schedule has allowed us to utilize our
specialist teachers for Tier 3 intervention.
They have been trained on our current Tier 3 intervention program, and
additional training will be offered this summer.
