Miami Lakes Middle School EESAC Meeting Minutes - Friday, September 14, 2007
The meeting was called to order at 8:00 AM by Darlene Epstein, Chairperson. Present were members: Joaquin Hernandez, Jose Fernandez, Lisa Deyarza, Alberto Tio, Dennis Wilson, Suzy Berrios, Beth Martinez, and Jimmy Robaina. New members included: Michael Berrios (student representative), Tracy Magwood (parent) and Guilda Dominique (parent). Guests: Tracie Pullum (teacher), Lillian Weisberg, (Reading Coach) and Jenilane Pirez (teacher).
1. Approval of Minutes: The minutes of the last meeting on September 6, 2007 were presented and a motion to approve them with typographical corrections was made by Lisa Deyarza / seconded by Beth Martinez. Additionally, the meeting minutes from May 8, 2007, the last meeting of the 2006-07 school year, were approved unanimously
2. Nomination of Secretary: Prior EESAC secretary, Linda Van Leer, retired and a vacancy has resulted on the Board, as well as for a secretary. Suzy Berrios, EESAC alternate member, agreed to become the new secretary for this school year and a member of the Board.
3. Administrative Updates: Mr. Hernandez and Mr. Fernandez provided information regarding the rationale and development of 2007-08 School Improvement Plan (SIP). It is a comprehensive plan to improve student achievement. Mr. Hernandez emphasized not simply re-writing the existing plan from last year, but the need to write goals to guide success. He presented the Organizational Performance Improvement Snapshot (OPIS) report and identified the two weakest areas being addressed in the SIP: Strategic Planning and Process Management.
Mr. Hernandez discussed our school not meeting Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) this past school year. He referred to the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) sub-groups in the School Accountability Report and the need to show improvement within those groups to make AYP. This year MLMS is receiving NCLB student transfers from the Miami Edison feeder pattern north who would otherwise attend lower performing schools. Miami Lakes, Lawn Chiles, and Country Club Middle Schools are all eligible to receive NCLB student transfers. If we do not meet AYP this year (2 years in a row), as a Title I school we will not be eligible to receive these students next year. Mr. Hernandez stated that we are solution focused and over the summer we discovered that there was no correlation between benchmarks and textbooks. Adjustments have been made to make sure that the benchmarks are being addressed properly.
Room 44 is now a Reading Resort that is used by teachers to incorporate differentiated instruction techniques with students. Beth Martinez emphasized the importance of increasing student vocabulary and inquired how this was being done at MI MS. Lillian Weisberg reported on the value of using audio books and infusing books with high interest topics /authors. For example, MLMS has now partnered with Marvel Comics. Ms. Pullum stated that STAR testing identified vocabulary as a weakness during the last school year and that it was addressed immediately by modifying instruction to infuse vocabulary. Lisa Deyarza and Jenilane Pirez, both social studies teachers, worked over the summer to integrate the language arts curriculum with social studies.
Science does not have the benefit of a direct comparison of student scores from one year to the next because after the 8th graders take the test, they move on to high school. Suzy Berrios reported that the Science Dept is addressing this by implementing in-house and interim assessments to gain baseline data.
Common planning is now taking place with an increased frequency in departmental meetings to align and improve instruction.
4. Review of School Improvement Plan: Darlene Epstein presented the SIP with corrections from the Region and asked members to review it for approval. Beth Martinez inquired about what practices or changes were being implemented in the SIP to address identified achievement deficiencies. Each department highlighted strategies being incorporated in the SIP.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 AM.