Agenda
Park Springs Elementary School
5800 Northwest 66th Terrace, Coral Springs, Florida 33067
School Advisory Council – General Meeting
Tuesday, May 28th, 2024, at 2:00 p.m.
1.
Call to Order/Welcome
2.
SAC Committee Composition and Membership
3.
SAC By Laws
4.
Principal’s Update
a.
Accountability Funds
b.
Budget Presentation
c.
SESSIR
d.
Safety and Security
5.
School Improvement Plan (SIP)
a.
Review Goals
6.
New SAC Chair- vote
7.
Upcoming Events
8.
Open Discussion
Park Springs 2023-2024 SAC Meetings
Tuesday, September 5th at 2:00p.m.
Tuesday, October 10th at 2:00p.m.
Tuesday, November 14th at 2:00 p.m.
Tuesday, December 5th at 2:00 p.m.
Tuesday, January 9th at 2:00 p.m.
Tuesday, February 6th at 2:00 p.m.
Tuesday, March 5th at 2:00 p.m.
Tuesday, April 9th at 2:00 p.m.
Tuesday, May 28th at 2:00 p.m.
TEAMS MEETING: Meeting ID: 223 983 259 435 Passcode: brhw4v

Minutes

Park Springs Elementary School

5800 Northwest 66^th Terrace, Coral Springs, Florida 33067

School Advisory Council - General Meeting

Tuesday, February 2, 2020 at 2:00 p.m.

 

In Attendance: Victoria Greene, Meghan Gavagni, Katherine Policastro, Denise Hanson, Wilnar Julmiste, Jodi Douma, Donna Scott, Lori Hughes, Monica Shannon, Nolan Vander Haagen, Oriana Garcia, , Nancy Kenney, Nicole Tufo, Diana Brown, Latrisha Paul, Cindy Martin, Rebecca Cimaglia, Leandra Jimenez, Marvy Moncda, Angela Perry, Nichole Kelly, Michael Arauz, Deborah Trejo

 

Absent:  Katherine Soli, Karen Evans, Shawn Maharaj, Vannesa Rodriguez

 

1.Call to Order/Welcome/Quorum status

A meeting of the Park Springs Elementary School Advisory Council was held via TEAMS on Tuesday, February 2, 2021.  

Meghan Gavagni called the meeting to order at 2:02p.m.

This is a general meeting for informational purposes only.

2.Review of Minutes for January 2021 – approval pending in-person quorum

3.Reports

a.Principal’s Report

• School updates- Ms. Hanson welcomes everyone and begins with communication regarding our January reopening. We are currently at 57% of our student’s back face to face. We had an informal virtual coffee chat. We will be hosting another one in a month or so. We appreciate the support as we have transitioned again based on the district and governor’s guidance. We will be starting ELO camps in February to target students in grades 3-5 as well as ELL camp. Teachers will be communicating instructional decisions based on the new batch of data collected from AP2 on iReady. Mrs. Policastro spoke about communication regarding Covid cases. For example, when they say PSE has had 16 cases since October, many of those cases are eLearning students and have never been on campus. Any time there is a positive case on campus we communicate that to the community. Elearning does not impact us on a school safety level. All the students that we have sent home, we have yet to have any come up positive. It is still cold and flu season we are thankful that the students were sending home are not covid cases. We have only quarantined two classes since October.
• Ask Bria- this is a county wide service for homework help. We have limited homework. However intermediate is adding minimal amounts of homework based on our data. However, this is not extensive and should not be overwhelming for families. Ask BRIA is a great resource if needed.
• Safety and Security updates- Severe weather awareness week and practice a tornado drill this week. Fire safety is also in the curriculum we are covering.
• SMART Program Update- None at this time.

 

b.School Resource Officer Safety Report - Officer Hannah Rincon

• Coming up on the 3^rd the MSD tragedy. A report from the US Dept of Justice- thorough report on averted school violence attacks. May 2020 there were 236 cases. Our school remains focused on school safety. The main takeaways positive outcomes were related to interventions: having a full time SRO on campus which is now a law in Florida; See something say something program; Quickly identifying individuals that do not belong;
• Threats are usually from the outside - domestic, community, and not always students. We look at all the different factors that are brought into the school community. It is helpful that every child has one adult that they can confide in. Staff members that they trusted and loved helpful in identifying in the pre attack stages. This staff is invested and does a great job. Our school has much if this in place. Evidence of school shotting contagion effect. There was an incident at Westglades last week. Don’t be surprised or alarmed by that we work to mitigate and investigate those. Proud of the staff they do a phenomenal job.

1. Equity Liaison/Reading Coach Report

• Equity updates- Equity progress report was submitted and approved earlier today. No revisions were needed by the District. On the rubric we scored the highest possible points on each area. Kudos to PSE. We just had an equity meeting, and it was awesome. We more than doubled the size of participants which was a great accomplishment. We are working on understanding what students need and there is a lot of work to be done in ensuring that all of our students have an equitable education and what does all learners look like. Ms. Hanson went over all the areas on the rubric.
• Question: Does equity team encompass different learning styles? Ms. Scott responded and stated that when we look at equity and look at the plan, we address student learning and achievement of goals, the four mandates, and culturally responsive teaching. We implemented SEL morning meeting and now it is part of the classroom routine. The last piece is positive behavior and the school climate, and we write goals on each one and it is also in the School Improvement Plan. We address what we are doing and how we are achieving it.
• Policastro - We have evolved over the past 11 years. The staff has done a nice job of evolving. It is about every student getting what they need not everyone receiving the same thing. We are all a part of it, and we work through it to support all of our students.
• Julmiste asked does it address special training for teachers on understanding culture of the students? It could be based on how different cultures handle something. Could be as simple as interacting with pets. Mrs. Policastro- that is the most important work that we are doing. It comes down to understanding and showing value to cultures that are different than your own. If you look up social justice and get into what that means to children. Awareness and understanding is the first layer. We have to own that piece first and then drilling in to share the beauty of diversity in the community we are in. On the spot training – we are embedded other cultures in lesson planning. Lesson today in fifth was about the civil rights. The conversation was rich on what that means and what it is like now. We had a large group participate in courageous conversations about race- being vulnerable and understanding systemic racism that is institutionalized in our schools. We talk, read, and watch videos on it each meeting. Celebrating differences with our children.
• Extended Learning Opportunities - Academic Camps- Ms. Scott and Ms. Greene have been diligently working on grants and lists for ELO. We are awaiting approval on those funds.
• Question on Academic camps: What is the criteria? Ms. Greene, Ms. Scott, and the teachers look at the data from the students. We are looking at diagnostic 2 and looking based on need. They may have done well, however teacher has other data. Students that are right there or struggling in an area. An invitation does not mean they are failing. It is anyone to support to help close that gap. We always have a waiting list and it is targeted to third through fifth grades.

 

d.School Counselor Report

• MSD Commemoration on February 12^th – We are participating- no regular schoolwork. We decided as a school to split the day into parts- peer relationships and learn about each other and make it a cohesive family like environments. Another area is empathy and have the children role play and some empathy readers theater out to the classrooms. Self-care- teach the students more about how to cope when they are feeling certain ways. Multiple ways to practice – journaling coloring, breathing, yoga and help them identify what works for them. Compassion focus on community thank you. Work on building positivity around school – decorate with chalk
• BSA 5^th grade Science dates – February 9-10 Broward’s mock version of FSA.
• FSA dates- The 3^rd graders will take reading on April 6,7. The 4/5 will do writing the 7^th and math in May dates are forthcoming.

e.ESE-Autism Coach Report

• We were able to welcome many of our students with special needs. We are so excited to have them back. Our ASD classes are moving towards a more traditional hands-on approach to school.

4. Presentation - Denise Hanson, Intern Principal: iReady Diagnostic #2 Data

• We have 67% proficiency in the area of reading. Our scores are inflated in Kindergarten. As parents, please make sure the students get on weekly and complete their assignments to fill in the gaps. It is critical that they log on their minutes.
• We have 47% proficiency in math, keeping in mind they did not finish the IFC last year, so they are now our weaker areas. Some spiral review will happen. Some of our struggling learners have returned and are doing much better. Not many discrepancies based on race and in the areas of ELL and ESE in reading we see a slight discrepancy there

5.Old Business

Work is being done on the website to get it all up to date.

6.New Business

No new business at this time.

7.Upcoming Events

• Book fair starts Friday online per Mrs. Jimenez.
• PTO events include Chill’n on 2/3, Anne Maries on 2/16, Huey Magoos on2/23.

8.Public Comments

None at this time.

9.Announcement

• The next SAC/SAF meeting will take place on Tuesday, March 2, 2021 via Teams.

10. Adjourn

• Meghan Gavagni motioned to adjourn the meeting at 2:54 p.m..
• Scott seconded the motion.

 

Submitted by Victoria Greene, SAC Secretary, and Meghan Gavagni, SAC Chair.

Approval Date:  TBD when in-person quorum can be established

   Minutes

Park Springs Elementary School

5800 Northwest 66^th Terrace, Coral Springs, Florida 33067

School Advisory Council - General Meeting Tuesday, January 5, 2021 at 2:00 p.m.

 

In Attendance: Meghan Gavagni, Katherine Policastro, Denise Hanson, Wilnar Julmiste, Jodi Douma, Donna Scott, Lori Hughes, Monica Shannon, Nolan Vander Haagen, Oriana Garcia, , Nancy Kenney, Katherine Soli, Nicole Tufo, Diana Brown, Latrisha Paul, Cindy Martin, Rebecca Cimaglia, Leandra Jimenez, Marvy Moncda, Angela Perry

 

Absent:  Victoria Greene, Karen Evans, Shawn Maharaj, Vannesa Rodriguez, Nichole Kelly

 

1. Call to Order/Welcome

• A meeting of the Park Springs Elementary School Advisory Council was held via TEAMS on Tuesday, January 5, 2021.
• Meghan Gavagni called the meeting to order at 2:03p.m.
• Welcome back, Happy New Year, and notification of recording
• Meghan Gavagni shared that SAC requires in-person quorum for motions and votes that come to the floor. We cannot approve or vote. If we need to vote, then will have a plan of action to contact voting members ahead of time to allow everyone an opportunity to attend in-person and vote.

 

1. Review of Minutes for December 2020 – approval pending in-person quorum
2. Reports
   1. Principal’s Report – Mrs. Policastro
      1. School reopening and eLearning updates- Mrs. Policastro shared that January 13^th will start the third quarter.

She shared that the parent survey was completed December 21, 2020 and that support staff are looking at the data and models to implement changes for next week. We will have some hybrid, face to face and 100 percent online. Mrs. Policastro will have more information by Friday. Some teachers will be moved to either face to face, or online teaching. Administration will call parents if there is a need to move students. Per the Governor’s order, students who are not making academic progress should be encouraged to participate in face to face learning. Parents of struggling students will receive a letter explaining that student learning is fragile and will encourage parents to allow their children to learn in a face to face environment.  Parents of struggling students will also receive an opt-out form if they choose to keep their child eLearning.  Parents can reverse their decision at any time.

1. Mrs. Policastro shared that Park Springs will receive Covid Care Act funding to support student learning. The funding amount is not yet known and the programs, camps, or tutoring services are not yet established. She will share information with our parents and community as soon as the funding and plans are determined.

• Mrs. Policastro shared that the service “AskBria” is also receiving Covid Care Act funding and push out from the District. AskBria offers homework assistance for all students and is available via their Canvas application Monday-Thursday from 3:00 - 8:00 p.m.

1. Mrs. Policastro shared that the District continues to prepare for the FSA for the 3-5^th grade students. However, the District is pushing to withhold accountability measures, such as school grades and staff evaluations tied to the results.
2. Safety and Security updates- Ms. Hanson shared information regarding the FortiyFL application.  This app is a suspicious activity reporting tool that allows you to instantly relay information to appropriate law enforcement agencies and school officials. You may download it to your phone.
3. SMART Program Update- We are on hold right now due to the pandemic and there have been no updates.

1. Equity Liaison Report - Donna Scott
   1. The Martin Luther King, Jr. art projects have been submitted. We are waiting from city of Coral Springs to hear updates.
   2. Donna Scott shared that the Equity team continues to meet each month and has been focusing on culturally responsive leadership actions and building action steps.
2. School Counselor Report – Mrs. Nicole Tufo
   1. Third through Fifth grade students took a Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) survey. 92% of students participated.
   2. The January SEL focus is growth mindset and February will be coping strategies.

• The Cogat test was completed, however, we are waiting on Advance Academics to let us know how and when to release the information

12. The fifth grade science BSA will be scheduled for two specific days between February 1 - 12. The dates are to be determined.
13. The Diagnostic 2 for iReady will be completed by the end of January. Teachers will inform parents of when their children will be taking this diagnostic and parents must allow students to compete this independently, for Kindergarten through fifth grade.
14. The 2021/22 School Choice application window is open through February 8, 2021.

1. ESE-Autism Coach Report - Nolan VanderHaagen and Mrs. Meghan Gavagni
   1. Mr. VanderHaagen shared that the ESE teachers are meeting every week with district personnel to discuss virtual learning and social distancing strategies.
   2. Mrs. Gavagni shared information regarding the ESE Advisory Council and their general meeting taking place on January 7^th that will present information on parent-teacher communication and relationship building. Also shared, was information regarding the Autism Committee of the ESE Advisory Council.

• Mrs. Gavagni shared that the 20-21 CARD Conference is scheduled for January 15^th -17^, 2021. The Friday seminars are free for parents and teachers.  The weekend seminars are fee based.  Mrs. Diana Brown asked whether this information was hared with the general education teachers.  Ms. Denise Hanson stated that she has already instructed Ms. Victoria Greene to share the CARD Conference information with all staff members.

3. Old Business:
   1. SAC meeting and voting requirements were reviewed.
   2. SAC member survey suggested that the majority of members are not ready to return to campus
   3. SAC committee member expectations were reviewed.
   4. Website plan – Mrs. Gavagni stated that she is now certified to update the website. Anyone with suggestions should contact Mrs. Gavagni.
4. New Business:
   1. Policastro stated that we would wait for using any accountability funds for FSA camps due to the Covid Cares Act funding currently being determined for Park Springs. We will share all of the details about funding and district approval in January.
5. Upcoming Events
   2021. Early Release Day on Tuesday 1/12/2021.
   2022. Third quarter will start on January 1/13/2021.
6. Announcements
   1. Policastro stated that PSE had a positive case on campus. No evidence of spread detected at PSE. No more than 5 cases since returning to campus. It is important to follow protocol.
   2. The next SAC/SAF meeting will take place on Tuesday, February 2, 2021 via Teams.
7. Meghan Gavagni motioned to adjourn the meeting at 2:34 p.m..  Ms. Scott seconded the motion.

 

Submitted by Nolan VanderHaagen, SAC member, and Meghan Gavagni, SAC Chair.

Approval Date:  TBD when in-person quorum can be established

Minutes

Park Springs Elementary School

5800 Northwest 66th Terrace, Coral Springs, Florida 33067

School Advisory Council - General Meeting Tuesday, December 1, 2020 at 2:00 p.m.

 

In Attendance: Meghan Gavagni, Victoria Greene, Katherine Policastro, Denise Hanson, Angela Perry, Jodi Douma, Donna Scott, Leandra Jimenez, Lori Hughes, Monica Shannon, Nolan Vanderhaagan, Rebecca Cimaglia, Nancy Kenney, Vannesa Rodriguez, Katherine Soli, Nicole Tufo, Diana Brown, Latrisha Paul, Wilnar Julmiste

 

Absent:  Karen Evans, Nichole Kelley, Marvy Moncada, Cindy Martin, Shawn Maharaj, Hannah Rincon, Oriana Garcia,

 

1. Call to Order/Welcome

• A meeting of the Park Springs Elementary School Advisory Council was held via TEAMS on Tuesday, December 1, 2020.
• Meghan Gavagni called the meeting to order at 2:00p.m.
• Welcome back and notification of recording
• Meghan Gavagni shares SAC updates from office of service quality. We require quorum for motions and votes that come to the floor. We cannot approve or vote. Meghan Gavagni shares Sunshine Law and Roberts Rules of Order.

 

1. Review of Minutes for November 2020 – approval pending in-person quorum
2. Reports
   1. Principal’s Report
      1. School reopening and eLearning updates- Mrs. Policastro encourages everyone to take a minute for themselves this holiday season. At this time there is no specific information regarding school changes in January. The governor has approved an option to continue eLearning in January without hampering funding. We are unsure of any changes with survey and information and she will deliver that information as it comes.

-Lori Hughes asks if there is anything said about students that are struggling? The language will need to be interpreted.

School Board adopted a new policy for cameras to be on. Please encourage the students to put them on and there are backgrounds available for those that are concerned.

Mrs. Kenney asks about having a situation where we needed the camera off. What is the plan for turning them off for a little bit? That is okay to turn it off and school staff will be flexible and understanding.

Lori Hughes comments on the teacher’s survey and there was prevalence of non-engagement especially in middle and high.

Can we expect more information? As soon as we get anything, we will communicate it to the community

Can it be suggested to have the student sit against a wall? It can be a suggestion.

1. Student enrollment- Our enrollment is 877 and has stayed very stable. We are starting to pick up Pre-k students as the district has begun assessing students again. Students are doing well with hand sanitizer and wearing masks. We are confident with our procedures.

• PTO technology purchase- Very thankful. We just received a very generous donation. We asked for many technology purchases including 20 new document cameras as ours were very old.

10. Safety and Security updates- We don’t not have any updates at this point. We were supposed to have a visit from our school Board member, but it was on the Hurricane Day. She will be coming December 10. PTO is in the process of adding additional door shades for those that do not have.
11. SMART Program Update- We are on hold right now due to the pandemic. We have the plans for music room and art room when it resumes.

1. Equity Liaison Report- District created a resource in Canvas for information for the read at home plan for each grade level. The link is in the chat. This is open to all public.
   1. Dr. MLK event. We always participate and we are pleased that it will continue virtually. The entry deadline is December 11^th at 5:00. We will be submitting all entries virtually to the city. Third quarter begins January 11.
   2. Next week is an exciting week at PSE. It is inclusive Schools Week. One of our parents Mrs. Froling is an author. She has middle school students and is a PSE parent. She will be recording a reading for us as well as other authors and our Cadre director.
2. School Counselor Report
   1. CogAT testing- we will be administering those face to face. It will be delivered online.

Will there be a session for those that are at home learning right now? We do not have the information for the spring yet.

Will ESE students participate? Yes, all of the students in the testing grade will be taking it unless they opt out.

1. Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) focus- December – college and career development and goal setting. We will be doing some activities and in January we will work on growth mindset and February will be mindfulness

• Forest Glen visit- they did a visit virtually a couple weeks ago. If any parents have questions, please reach out to Mrs. Tufo. The reassignment window has opened up for anyone interested in schools not in their zone. Reassignment window is open for PSE next year too. Now is definitely the time to fill out the application

1. ESE-Autism Coach Report- Very proud of all our students with ASD. Their resiliency is amazing.

30. The Broward ESE Advisory Council is a wealth of info for all students with disabilities. The website is in the chat. There is a meeting tomorrow night at 6:30.
31. The Autism committee is a subcommittee. They are very active and informative. The link is in the chat.

• Pre k teachers will have child study to look at our students matriculating to Kindergarten.

1. November 29,2020 is the 45^th anniversary of IDEA.
2. Old Business:
   1. SAC meeting and voting requirements- if you have any stakeholders interested in SAC have them reach out to Mrs. Gavagni. We will be able to adjust our members once we meet on campus.
   2. SAC committee composition discussed and request made for additional parents to join the committee.
3. Presentation: iReady Diagnostic window #2 – Our teachers have used the data to predict pathways and plan. The 2^nd diagnostic will be taken in January. We are going to look at on campus assessment for 5^th The data is important since we do not have FSA data for last year. We have been progress monitoring our students every week
4. New Business:
   1. Survey of in-person/virtual preference of SAC Committee Members- whether you are willing to come on campus or not for future SAC meetings.
   2. Accountability Funds- Mrs. Policastro shared about using funds for FSA camps. We are looking to do something along those lines, but we are looking at virtual FSA camp in the spring for our grades 3-5 students. We will share all of the details about funding and district approval in January.
5. Upcoming Events
   1. Ed-Talk – December 5^th from 9 a.m. to noon
   2. Inclusive Schools Week – December 7-11^th
6. Public Comments – Nancy Kenny expressed that it would be difficult to attend in-person meetings, and asked that a notice go out about dates that may involve voting.
7. Announcement: The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 5, at 2:00 p.m. via TEAMS and TBD in-person/on-campus.
8. Meghan Gavagni motions to adjourn 2:53. Mrs. Kenney seconds

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 5, at 2:00 p.m. via TEAMS and TBD in-person/on-campus.

Mrs. Gavagni motioned to adjourn the meeting at 2:53 p.m.

Motion seconded by Nancy Kenney

Submitted by Victoria Greene and Meghan Gavagni, SAC Chair.

Approval Date:  TBD when in-person quorum can be established

Minutes

Park Springs Elementary School

5800 Northwest 66th Terrace, Coral Springs, Florida 33067

School Advisory Council - General Meeting Tuesday, November 10, 2020 at 2:00 p.m.

 

In Attendance: Meghan Gavagni, Victoria Greene, Katherine Policastro, Denise Hanson, Angela Perry, Jodi Douma, Cindy Martin, Donna Scott, Hannah Rincon, Latrisha Paul, Leandra Jimenez, Lori Hughes, Monica Shannon, Nolan Vanderhaagan, Oriana Garcia, Rebecca Cimaglia, Nancy Kenney, Shawn Maharaj, Vannesa Rodriguez, Wilnar Julmiste

 

 

Absent:  Katherine Soli, Nicole Tufo, Diana Brown, Karen Evans, Nichole Kelley, Marvy Moncada

 

1. Call to Order/Welcome

• A meeting of the Park Springs Elementary School Advisory Council was held via TEAMS on Tuesday, November 10, 2020.
• Meghan Gavagni called the meeting to order at 2:03 p.m. Victoria Greene seconds

 

2. Approval of Minutes for October 2020

• Corrections requested include: N/A
• Meghan Gavagni motioned to approve the minutes.
• Donna Scott seconded the motion.

 

3. SAC Committee Staff and SAC/SAF Website

• Meghan Gavagni stated the staff and parents involved on the SAC and SAF committee. There was a concern regarding the confusion with the website. A plan of action was created to support micro tech and keep the website updated. Ms. Gavagni will get certified to assist with managing the website.

4. Community Resource Guide

• Meghan Gavagni shared the guide. The guide was sent out to families. Teachers are welcome to share with families.

 

5. Principal’s Updates by Katie Policastro
6. Announcements

• We fared well with the storm other than branches and debris. Our parking lot held up.
• We continue to navigate all eLearning challenges
• We are closed Thanksgiving week
• We have not had any communication yet regarding what January is going to look like. There is a push from Governor Desantis to open fully and we will get more information soon. We will communicate it to staff and the community as soon as we get that information.

1. School reopening and eLearning updates –We have worked hard to streamline procedures so that we are able to support each other and our families.
2. Student enrollment- 337 students on campus
3. Safety and Security Updates- not addressed at the meeting
4. SMART program update – no updates at this time

 

6. iReady Diagnostic Results and plan for curriculum/monitoring
   • Denise Hanson stated in reviewing the data, some of our kindergarten data was inflated throughout the district. Many parents have never experienced it so it was elevated because of support. We are aligned with the district, but we have more strengths in reading than math. Our race and gender data are comparable, and we do not have a large discrepancy. Our students with disabilities and students who speak other languages is our area of focus. Diagnostic 2 is in January and we will look at each student’s growth. We have a contest from November- December. Every student who achieves the goal will get a treat.

 

7. School Improvement Plan (SIP)
8. Equity updates

• Donna Scott shared we will have our next equity meeting on Thursday. We are looking to make a group with students. We were pleased to see lots of growth for our students of color. We have imagine learning for our English Language Learner students

1. Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) updates

• Meghan Gavagni shared for Nicole Tufo. She shared the mindfulness toolkit and anti-bullying flyer for this month. It focuses on kindness empathy, and strategies. We will focus on college and career readiness next month. CogAT has been pushed back to December. Starting the end of this week, students in grades 3-5 will participate in SEL survey. Information was sent out last week. Forest Glen will be visiting with 5^th grade students on November 20^th and December 14^th they will come visit us.

1. ESE updates

• Victoria Greene shared we are working on meeting the needs of all students at home and face to face. Our Autism Special Program teachers are working hard on flexibility and helping make the technology piece as easy as possible for our students.

8. Upcoming Events

• Anti-Bullying Week – 11/9-11/13
• PTO Chill N’ Night – Report Card Day – 11/12
• CogAT Testing for Grade 3 – during the week of 11/16
• Ed-Talk – 12/5 from 9:00 a.m. to noon.
• Inclusive Schools Week – 12/7-12/11

9. Public Comments

 

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 1, at 2:00 p.m. via TEAMS.

Mrs. Gavagni motioned to adjourn the meeting at 2:32 p.m.

Motion seconded by Jodi Douma

Submitted by Victoria Greene and Meghan Gavagni, SAC Chair.

Approval Date:  TBD when in-person quorum can be established

Minutes

Park Springs Elementary School

5800 Northwest 66th Terrace, Coral Springs, Florida 33067

School Advisory Council - General Meeting Tuesday, October 6, 2020 at 2:00 p.m.

 

In Attendance: Angela Perry, Jodi Douma, Hannah Rincon, Katie Policastro, Meghan Gavagni, Nolan Vander Haagen, Janean Baumel, Nichole Kelly, Leandra Jimenez, Nicole Tufo, Oriana Garcia, Diana Brown, Rebecca Cimaglia, Nancy Kenney, Sandylee McLeaod, Shawn Maharaj, Wilnar Julmiste, Lori Hughes, Marvy Moncada, Monica Shannon, Donna Scott, Katie Soli

 

Absent:  Karen Evans, Vannesa Rodriguez, Cindy Martin, Victoria Greene, Latrisha Paul

 

1. Call to Order/Welcome

• A meeting of the Park Springs Elementary School Advisory Council was held via TEAMS on Tuesday, October 6, 2020. Meghan Gavagni called the meeting to order at 2:00p.m.. Nolan Vander Haagen served as the substitute secretary to record minutes.
• Cindy Martin was acknowledged for her years of support as the PSE SAF Chair.

 

2. Approval of Minutes for September 2020

• Diana Brown requested the correction of a grammatical error and clarification on PPE distribution.
• Meghan Gavagni motioned to approve the minutes.
• Monica Shannon seconded the motion.

 

3. SAC Committee Staff and Parent/Community Slates

• The staff and parent slates were shared and reviewed.
• Meghan Gavagni stated that more parent involvement would be preferred and she opened the floor for additional nominations. No nominations were made.
• Slate Google Forms will be e-mailed to staff and parents prior to the next SAC meeting for voting to approve/not approve the slates.
• Approval of the slates will be conducted at the end of the meeting when quorum can be established.

 

4. Principal’s Updates by Katie Policastro
5. Announcements

• Friday students will return for on campus eLearning.
• PSE Teacher of the Year is Sarah Callahan – Fourth Grade teacher
• PSE School Related Employee of the Year is Angela Perry – Office Manager
• Elementary School Counselor of the Year is Nicole Tufo

1. School reopening and eLearning updates
2. Phased Reopening Plan

• Principal Katie Policastro reported on the Family Orientation via TEAMS to take place on the evening of 10/6/2020. The session will be recorded and sent out to PSE families. The orientation will review the updated handbook.
• The new handbook has been sent out to families and it covers all of these procedures. Parents should call the front office if they did not receive the handbook via e-mail.
• Katie Policastro reported on the many changes made to meet the safety guidelines, including: social-distancing labels, movement plans, arrival-dismissal procedures, cafeteria procedures, sanitizing and cleaning plans, start times, face covering signage, plexi glass structures and updated protocols.
• Students at home will continue eLearning. Teachers who have applied for an ADA to work from home are waiting on their approval/denial. Students who are eLearning on campus will be supervised by another teacher if their own teacher is working remotely. She asked parents for patience with our teachers over the next few days.
• Aftercare has approximately seventy students enrolled at this time.

1. Updated Calendar

• Katie Policastro reviewed the upcoming full and early release days.
• Policies and Procedures
• Katie Policastro stated that the procedure changes are outlined in the new handbook and will be shared with families via the Family Orientation.

1. Student Enrollment

• Katie Policastro stated that enrollment is at 878 students, and this count is approximately 130 students lower than expected. The decrease is a result of students moving out of county, moving out of state, or opting for homeschool.
• The lower enrollment will most likely impact staffing, but she is working with her supervisor to manage the budget and staffing.

1. Safety and Security Updates

• Katie Policastro reported that PSE will continue to have our SROs Officer Rincon and Officer Nick, and two campus monitors as PSE re-opens.
• Safety procedures will continue to be practiced, including ID badges, single point of entry, and class doors locked at all times.
• Safety drills will be conducted following social distancing guidelines, and not put any staff or student in an unsafe situation.

1. SMART Program Update

• Katie Policastro reported that the SMART Program plans have been placed on hold due to Covid-19 Pandemic. The PSE plans are currently in the review stage.

 

• 2021-2022 School Calendar Options and survey
• Meghan Gavagni reported that the District has three new calendars options for 2020 -2021 school. A District survey will be sent out soon.

 

• School Improvement Plan (SIP)

1. Equity updates

• Donna Scott shared that staff members are excited to have some students returning face to face, and that staff is confident in their ability to teach students in person and online.
• The SIP contains an Equity Plan that contains three areas of focus, including academic, behavioral, and culturally responsive teaching. We will continue to provide lessons that align with mandates throughout the year. Once the Equity Plan is reviewed by the District, we will make any necessary adjustments to ensure that we are working towards those goals.

1. Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) updates

• Nicole Tufo reported that SEL is going well at PSE. This month’s focus is on acceptance, and the non-judgmental toleration of people who are different from you. Teachers have been given many resources, including read alouds, lesson plans and resources. She is also starting and SEL Leadership Team at PSE to assist in SEL data analysis and problem solving.
• Nicole Tufo also shared that her Canvas Course contains many resources for students and families to access.  She welcomed any suggestions and additional resources. 
• The SIP contains a Social and Emotional Learning Plan that has been submitted for review by the District.

1. ESE updates

• Donna Scott shared that through the Equity Leadership Team, we are also addressing disability awareness, inclusion initiatives and the diversity of learners.
• The flyer for Disability Awareness event was shared.

 

• Upcoming Events
• Leandra Jimenez shared information on the upcoming PTO Book Fair
• Meghan Gavagni shared the next SAC/SAF meeting will be Nov. 10th
• Diana Brown requested that the flyers and event details be shared with families earlier, giving families adequate time to plan to attend events.

 

• Approval of SAC Slates
• Meghan Gavagni established quorum by having a majority of SAC members in attendance at the end of the meeting. Meghan Gavagni motioned for the approval of the Staff and Parent SAC Slates.  No one rejected the motion. 
• The slates were approved and will be shared with their respective members for a vote via Google Forms.

 

• Open Discussion
• No information or concerns provided from the floor.

 

 

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 10, at 2:00 p.m. via TEAMS.

Mrs. Gavagni motioned to adjourn the meeting at 2:42 p.m.

Motion seconded by Wilnar Julmiste.

Submitted by Nolan Vander Haagen and Meghan Gavagni, SAC Chair.

Approval Date: 11/10/2020

In Attendance:  Katherine Policastro, Victoria Greene, Meghan Gavagni, Katie Soli, Nolan Vander Haagen, Nicole Tufo, Jodi Douma, Lori Hughes, Denise Hanson, Deborah Trejo, Hannah Rincon, Cindy Martin, Stephanie Jarkow, Nichole Kelly, Diana Brown, Shawn maharaj, Donna Scott, Monica Blaise-Shannon, Leandra Jimenez, Wilnar Julmiste, Brian (Nancy) Kenney, Marvy Moncada, Rebecca Cimaglia, Angela Perry

Absent:  Lissette Lewis, Alexis Ingraham, Neil Schwartzman

 

1. Call to Order/Welcome

Meghan Gavagni motioned to call the meeting to order at 2:04 p.m.

Mr. Maharaj seconded the motion.

Mrs. Gavagni introduced herself and reviewed reminders of virtual expectations (mute, chat box, hand raise). She stated that SAC will address questions periodically throughout the presentation, and also thanked parents and staff for supporting our students this school year.  A brief overview of SAC and the School Improvement Plan (SIP) was provided.  Attendance was taken via oral roll call and enough SAC Committee members were present to make quorum.

2. Approval of Minutes for March 2020

Minutes were provide via a QR code for attendees to review. Mrs. Gavagni motioned for the approval of the March 2020 minutes. Mrs. Julmiste seconded the motion.

 

 

3. Principal Updates

Mrs. Policastro welcomed all returning and new families. She explained that the SAC is a great way to be involved, and thanked everyone for joining us after a long day of work and elearning.  She thanked parents for their patience and grace, and praised teachers for their amazing efforts during this uncertain time.  She also acknowledged the students for their determination and resiliency.

School theme for 2020-2021 - The adventure begins here!  We have embraced our theme this school year and know that this is a learning adventure. We will continue as changes come and go these next few weeks and months.

E-Learning updates

Mrs. Policastro stated that she is proud of where we are.  Some schedule changes for pre-k through 1^st grade were made, because our youngest learners needed more breaks and a limitation on screen time. The superintendent and school board received same feedback from teachers and families. However, we did not need to change much, because we have been working on meeting the needs of our students since day one. PSE will continue to make adjustments to meet the needs of all of our learners. We are still in the midst of supporting tech issues and things that arise. Mondays seem to be most difficult. For the most part, we are working through them every day. Our office and clerical have done a great job with that. The virtual call center has been suspended and all tech questions are coming to us at the school level.

Safety and Security updates

Mrs. Policastro reported that there are no new concerns because at this time, we are not on campus. The superintendent was clear that we are looking at numbers as to if and when if it will be safe to bring the students back on campus. We will be receiving 150 decals that will help to label for hand washing and physical distancing as well as a nursing staff on campus, and making sure we have PPE on campus. As soon as information arises about a reopening plan, she will share it with the community. We will have plans and procedures aligned to keep us safe and healthy.

Budget updates

Mrs. Policastro stated that the district is facing an astronomical budget deficit. We are currently down in enrollment when projections were made in January, we were not aware of the issues that have been placed upon us. We had many students leave PSE and the area for family reasons, FLVS, Broward virtual, and some students moved to home school. We are awaiting guidance from the district as to what that will look like for us. We have everything we need but need to be judicious as to how those materials are being distributed. Thank you PTO for iReady toolbox purchase.

SMART Program Update - We are on hold for everything under the SMART program at this time.

Questions – Mrs. Kenney asked whether PTO can look at funding the speakers in the back area during the interim. Our PTO was so gracious to fund external speakers for us. We realized there was a quiet spot in the back zone. Mrs. Policastro stated that she would follow up on this question.

4. SAC Committee Composition and Membership

The members of the SAC Committee are voting members, yet anyone is able to attend the SAC meetings.  We need to follow the ByLaws and make sure that the majority of voting members are not employed by BCPS. Mrs. Gavagni shared that the sign-up sheet was in a Google Forms link.  The proposed staff and parent slates would be compiled at the next SAC meeting in October.

5. SAC By Laws

Mrs. Gavagni shared the SAC By Laws via QR code and motioned to take a vote to ratify the By Laws.  Mrs. Policastro seconds the motion.

An oral vote was taken and all members approved the By Laws.

6. School Improvement Plan (SIP)

Equity Updates - Ms. Scott – This summer many of our teachers participated in the Courageous Conversations About Race Course. Then administration and Donna met with teachers to have a great conversation about what equity should look like at PSE. We are looking at developing an equity team at the school. This year one of the things we are looking at is within our monthly staff meetings we embed activities that tie back to equity. We created a document for teachers to streamline equity implementation plan. We house different activities and books that tie back to the monthly mandates.

Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Updates- Mrs. Tufo – The teachers are guided with SEL competencies and monthly activities that include read alouds, videos, social stories and lesson plans.

ESE updates – Ms. Greene – The ESE department is working hard to distribute materials and make eLearning equitable for all of our students with disabilities.

7. Upcoming Events

 iReady Diagnostic Parent Night.

8. Open Discussion

Mrs. Policastro introduced Ms. Hanson and congratulated her for becoming an intern principal.

The floor was opened for questions.  There were no questions asked.

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 6th at 2:00 p.m. via a Microsoft Teams Meeting.

Meghan Gavagni motioned to adjourn the meeting at 2:50 p.m.

Motion seconded by Angela Perry.

Submitted by Victoria Greene, SAC Secretary; and Meghan Gavagni, SAC Chair

Approval date:

 

Upcoming Park Springs 2020-2021 SAC Meetings

Tuesday, October 6^th at 2:00 p.m.

Tuesday, November 10^th at 2:00 p.m.

Tuesday, December 1^st at 2:00 p.m.

Tuesday, January 5^th at 2:00 p.m. 

Tuesday, February 2^nd at 2:00 p.m.

Tuesday, March 2^nd at 2:00 p.m.

Tuesday, April 6^th at 2:00 p.m.

Tuesday, May 4^th at 2:00 p.m.

 

Upcoming North Area Advisory Council (NAAC) Meetings

Thursday, October 22^nd at 6:30 p.m. (virtual or in-person TBD)

Attendance:

In Attendance:  Lori Hughes, Katherine Policastro, Jodi Douma, Meghan Gavagni, Victoria Greene, Leandra Jimenez, Nancy Kenney, Janine Kyger, Lissette Lewis, Neil Schwartzman, Donna Scott, Katie Soli, Cindy Martin, Marvy Moncada, Nicole Tufo, Rebecca Cimaglia, Jessica Withecombe, Shawn Maharaj, Faith Skolnik, Melinda Exantus

Absent: Alexis Ingraham, Wilnar Julmiste

 

1. Call to Order/Welcome

A meeting of the Park Springs Elementary School Advisory Council was held in the media center on Tuesday, March 3, 2020.  Meghan Gavagni called the meeting to order at 2:04 p.m..

2. Approval of Minutes for February 2020

• Change Kindergarten round up date from April 10^th to April 16^th
• Number 5 – bullet 6 the term “pushing”
• Meghan Gavagni motioned to approve minutes with suggested changes;
• Neil Schwartzman seconded the motion.

3. Principal’s Update
4. Budget timeline

• SAC is very important in the process of approving the school budget. Tomorrow is the beginning of the process with Ms. Perry, Ms. Trejo, Ms. Hanson, and Ms. Greene. Mrs. Jimenez will provide numbers for ELL students. Ms. Trejo and Ms. Green provide the ESE projections, including how many students come into Pre-k and ESE, including the special program. We will also project enrollment for next year with no extra funding.
• The reassignments granted will be notified on Friday. We opened up 60 seats for reassignments up to this point in time, which is little less than usual. We currently have over 100 students on the list for reassignment. Once the first round of reassignments claim their seats, we will have a better judgement of how many students we will have. We usually do not observe a decrease in the number of students, based on our years previous.
• We do not know of any huge changes happening until the budget is completed. In April or May we will present the budget to the SAC.

1. Safety Update

• Yesterday we participated in our code red drill. It was a little different because the district was here to evaluate our procedures so it took a little longer than usual. Detective Davenport and Officer Hannah watched from start to finish, and we completed it during the height of lunch to observe a drill during the busiest time of day. We also pulled the fire alarm during this drill, and Mrs. Policastro watched the entire drill on the surveillance cameras.
• The safe team was debriefed following the drill. It was shared that we had many strengths. The entire campus was completely shut down within 30 seconds, with the exception of the cafeteria. There was a bottleneck of students entering only one of the two cafeteria doors. Students and staff need to use both doors to kitchen in the lunchroom. The other strength was staff “with-it-ness” as we had staff members demonstrate good situational awareness by hiding students under stairwells and pulling classes that were transitioning into the nearest classrooms.  One area of growth in the cafeteria is for the amount of students in there and how to safely move them into their safe spaces. Our next few drills will be during this time so we can fine-tune the procedures.  Another weakness was having ten substitutes on campus who may not be familiar with our procedures, even though they receive a substitute safety folder. Mrs. Policastro expressed that the concern of substitute preparedness is an ongoing discussion with the staffing department. Mrs. Gavagni reported that her paraprofessional pulled others into her classroom very quickly.
• Schwartzman asked if anyone looked at the psyche of the student with all of this going on constantly. How is affecting our special needs kids? When do we say enough is enough? Mrs. Policastro replied that she had read an article about that concern. There has been an ongoing discussion on whether code red drills have to be conducted the same frequency as fire drills. Until changes are made through legislation, we cannot reduce the frequency of our code red drills.
• Martin stated that at North Area Advisory meeting, they raised the same question of how the drills create anxiety. A question brought forth was could parents be notified of code red drills ahead of time so there would be an opt out option. The district’s position per the Chief Safety Officer was that an opt-out of drills would potentially put lives at risk, because students would not know what to do if there was an emergency situation.
• Hughes stated that for years, the school has had fire drills and everyone became complacent. When we had a real fire in the cafeteria, and had to make emergency plans for all times of the day.
• Policastro spoke to PTO about the speakers on the back side of building 80 not working, because no one heard the code announcements in that location. Mrs. Policastro put a work order in, but we also talked to PTO about putting that in priority list. Mr. Schwartzman asked who determined where the speakers would be located.  Mrs. Policastro stated that the District determines the best locations of the speakers.

1. E.S.T. timeline

• Governor Ron DeSantis directed that by January 1, 2020, the Commissioner of Education shall comprehensively review Florida’s Kindergarten through grade twelve academic standards and provide recommended revisions to the governor.
• The next steps include State Board of Education adoption of B.E.S.T. Standards for ELA and Math, State Board of Education adoption of revised course descriptions and course code directory, provide B.E.S.T. professional development, alignment of Instructional Materials, and alignment of assessments.
• Teachers will start to be trained next school year. All components will be in place for the 2022-2023 school year.
• Martin asked how different the new standards are. Ms. Hughes replied that some standards have the exact same wording. Mrs. Policastro stated that math is a little bit different but ELA is not so different. Mrs. Gavagni stated that they added civics for high school. Mrs. Policastro cautioned that we do not know enough yet to speak on the standards yet, but her anticipation is this summer to next year, the staff will be learning the BEST Standards.

1. School theme for 2020-2021

• We are still taking input on the school theme ideas.
• Suggestions have been:
  1. Possibilities are endless when unity exists
  2. Where there is unity there is always victory
  3. PSE, where you become the best version of yourself
  4. Around the World in 180 Days
  5. Learners Today, Leaders Tomorrow
  6. The Future Begins Here
  7. Play, Learn and Grow...Together
  8. Believe, Achieve, and Succeed at PSE
• Administration will meet with the Team Leaders on March 13 to present the suggestions and receive feedback.
• Schwartzman suggested the theme “Todays Learners are Tomorrow’s Leaders.”

1. Testing Calendar

• Tufo reviewed the FSA testing dates for third through fifth grades.
• She stated that the parent letters will be coming home soon.

 

 

4. School Improvement Plan (SIP)
5. Equity Updates

• Scott went to an equity meeting recently with positive feedback. The district offers courses that address all four mandates that the teachers must teach, and you get a stipend for $200 to spend on books. The courses are at Lauderdale Manors. She is working to get one or two where we offer it at PSE for our local teachers.

1. Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Updates

• In January, we had a book on determination IVY the dog with wheelchair. The author sent a video with a dog in it. February is problem solving and coping. Mrs. Callahan did the Anti test anxiety society video read aloud, and it should be coming out soon.
• March’s SEL theme is teamwork and good sportsmanship. The book to be shared is “If winning isn’t everything why do I hate to lose?”
• The district created a curriculum on human trafficking and vaping. They are scripted lessons and they are not an opt out program. The teachers will be trained and it has yet to be rolled out for presentation to students. The BCSB website links for the human trafficking curriculum and information were provided to all attendees.

1. ESE Updates

• Autism in Flight will be May 13 and it is an experience for students with autism who are in the fourth and fifth grades.

1. 2020-21 SAC Committee Composition Discussion

• Soli’s status as a business partner on the SAC Team needs to be updated to “teacher” and Mrs. Shannon’s status needs to be updated to “resigned.”
• The SAC Team voted on, and approved these updates unanimously with a vote of eighteen YES votes and zero NO votes.
• The SAC Team Composition will be updated and uploaded into our SIP.

1. SAC By Laws Discussion and Vote

• Gavagni shared that best practice for the SAC Team was to elect SAC Team members into office at the end of the school year. This would involve the update of our By Laws in March, the proposed slates being voted on in April, and elections in May. 
• Any changes to SAC committee membership can be made via the SAC Team voting to update the composition. Mrs. Gavagni motioned to vote on revising the By Laws to a May election of officers; Mr. Schwartzman seconded the motion.
• The SAC Team voted on this revision unanimously with a vote of eighteen YES votes and zero NO votes.

 

 

 

1. School-wide Positive Behavior Plan

• It is time for us to create our school wide positive behavior plan for the next school year. We received some feedback from the District regarding last year’s plan and it contained a few suggestions.
• We had some suggestions to reflect character traits, not observable behaviors, in our PAWS acronym. We will change the PAWS message to Participate safely, Act kindly, Work responsibly, and Show respect.
• Hughes asked if the school came up with the behavior plan, or the district. Mrs. Gavagni and Mrs. Policastro stated that the school creates the plan and the district provides feedback and approval. Mrs. Policastro shared that our focus is the consistent implementation of Tier 1 strategies, including classroom behavior management.
• Kenney stated that when she has worked at the PAW Store, she noticed that some students have four to twenty paw bucks across classes. Is there discussion to update what teachers use since some seem to use it and other teachers do not? Mrs. Policastro shared that besides the ones who use the PAW Bucks program, she is hesitant to make it the only behavior plan used.

1. FACE Time –Family and Community Engagement Information Sessions

• The Staff and Parent surveys provided the following topics as top priorities:  SEL strategies, best practices in parent-teacher communication, MTSS/RTI, promotion criteria, and the BEST standards.
• April 9^th will be the first session. This is an early release day.
• Gavagni applied for a grant to fund resources for parents. Resources are to be placed in the media center.

1. PAWS for Applause Parade

• The parade will be held on Tuesday, May 26 from 8:30-9:30 a.m.. Students and staff will follow the typical parade route, with community members placed around the car loop.  Students will be encouraged to wear apparel with positive messages.

5. Upcoming Events:
6. AdvancED/Cogniva Survey (March 2^nd – April 4^th) for parents, staff and students 3-5. Parents will receive an email blast and slips home. 
   1. Field Days will be today, and Wednesday and Thursday of this week.
   2. Kindergarten Round-up is April 16 at 6:00 p.m.
   3. 5^th Grade Moving Up Events

• 5/21 – Staff vs. Students Kickball Game
• 5/26 – PAWS for Applause Parade
• 5/27 – Yearbook/Shirt Signing
• 5/28 – Bowling Field Trip
• 5/29 – EOY Dance Party
• 6/1 – Moving Up Ceremony at 9:00 a.m.

 

6. Open Discussion

• Hughes shared that the School Board and Broward Teachers Union Impasse Hearing would be on March 10 at 5:00 p.m. at Plantation High School.

 

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 7, at 2:00 p.m. in the Park Springs Elementary media center. Due to Covid-19 school closures, the next SAC meeting was held on 9/1/2020.

Mrs. Gavagni motioned to adjourn the meeting at 2:58 p.m.

Motion seconded by Victoria Greene.

Submitted by Victoria Greene, SAC Secretary, and Meghan Gavagni, SAC Chair.

Approval Date: 09/01/2020

 

Attendance: 

In Attendance:  Jodi Douma, Meghan Gavagni, Victoria Greene, Alexis Ingraham, Wilnar Julmiste, Nancy Kenney, Lissette Lewis, Shawn Maharaj, Neil Schwartzman, Donna Scott, Hannah Rincon, Cindy Martin, Marvy Moncada, Marla Robles, Denise Hanson, Diana Brown, Lianne Balzanti, Merling Buchanan

Absent: Leandra Jimenez, Janine Kyger, Katie Soli, Rebecca Cimaglia, Lori Hughes, Katherine Policastro, Angela Perry, Monica Shannon, Nicole Tufo, Jessica Withecombe

 

1. Call to Order/Welcome

• A meeting of the Park Springs Elementary School Advisory Council was held in the cafeteria on Wednesday, February 12, 2020.
• Meghan Gavagni called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m.

 

2. Approval of Minutes for January 2020

• A motion to approve the minutes was made by Meghan Gavagni. It was seconded by Mr. Neil Schwartzman. 
• Corrections include removal of an extra period after p.m. after the motion to adjourn the meeting, and the accurate use of lower-uppercase letters in iReady.

 

3. Budget Timeline

• Hanson spoke about the projections for next year.
• We have 167 fifth graders are leaving and 149 kindergarten coming in. We have seen more kindergarteners in the neighborhood.
• We would like to keep our numbers about the same, so we are looking at our potential reassignments. We are currently approving 65 reassignments with the possibility of more openings after the first round.

 

4. AdvancED Survey

• The survey is requested from students, parents and staff and is expected next month. We give a PAW buck to those students who filled it out. 
• Administration reads and analyzes it. The school adjusts practices and procedures as a result of this survey. 

 

5. BAS/IReady results

• We have the results and begun data chats utilizing the data.
• At data chats, all teachers speak with our team and we look at each individual student. The goal is to collaborate with our teachers and create a plan for each student’s success. 
• Third grade is up from 62% on grade level to 85% on grade level. Fourth grade is up from 49% on grade level to 64% on grade level. 
• In math, third grade is up from 20% on grade level to 59% on grade level. Fourth grade improved from 40% on grade level to 64% on grade level. Fifth grade improved from 47% on grade level to 60% on grade level. 
• We expect it to have gains on the FSA this year. The BSA scores were strong as well.  Some students had strong scores on one assessment and not the other.  When the scores provide different predictions, we look at both scores and plan for that student.  We also adjusted our IFCs to help students improve their skills. We have started our camps instructional camps to assist students.
• Hanson and Mrs. Policastro and Mrs. Scott are going into classrooms to work with students. They are also running camps to help students improve.  We are monitoring k-2 for proficiency as well.
• Our teachers are in a nice teaching groove right now. We are proud of the work they have done. 

 

6. Field Trip Safety

• Traditionally we have gone to Disney as a fifth-grade field trip and our staff supervises the trip. We have a one to 10 ratio of staff to students.   
• Although they are not on invited on the trip, it is a public place and some parents have been coming to the park. This year, 35 parents came to the park.  Additionally, there were many parents at the rest area.
• This produced some safety concerns. For example, there was a man that was a parent of one of the students and another who was not.  Both were in the rest area near the students.  This was complicated as several parents approached the students in the rest stop.  Not all the chaperones know all of the parents.  One parent approached a group of students and the chaperone did not know this parent.
• Some other things that happened were parents asking to call teachers and stopping groups to ask where they can find their child. One student was missing a hat.  Pictures were posted on Facebook by parents.  Parents were asking to take their child and their child’s friend to the bathroom, or for ice cream.
• Some concerns from the school are that the additional interruptions pull staff attention from supervising the students. Some students do not have media releases and their pictures cannot be published. Some students have food allergies that parents are not aware of.  As a chaperone, we would buy ice cream for the entire group or none of the students.  Parents did not adhere to this, thus creating some inequity in the groups.
• Parents asked why we do not take parent chaperones. The district requires out of county field trips to have a higher security level.  Therefore, only staff supervises these field trips.  This allows administration to address any concerns with their hired employees and that same level of expectation and accountability cannot be enforced with parent chaperones, or parent drop in attendees.
• Hanson & Mrs. Policastro go on these out of county trips in case there are issues. This year Ms. Hanson attended the Disney field trip. In the past, she has spent the entire trip in the clinic with sick students and will be flexible and attentive to student needs on all long distance trips.  We also use buddy teachers for those students who do not wish to ride something.  One teacher takes the group on while the other teacher stays with students who do not wish to ride.
• Parents discussed concerns about the students being easily identifiable. We do ask students to wear the same shirts.  Unfortunately, this year was very cold and students were wearing sweatshirts and coats over their school shirts.  Parents suggested wearing the school lanyards.  There was some concern about strangers knowing student names by reading them on the lanyards.  The suggestion was to wear a lanyard that says Park Springs.  This may not be possible at a theme park with rides.
• Hanson expressed that the field trip is a fifth-grade trip, not a parent child field trip. We don’t mind if parents are uncomfortable sending their child and do not allow them on the field trip.  For those parents who do send their students, this is a time for them to have supervised independence.   If there is a medical concern, we have trained staff on the field trip with us. 
• For student safety, each chaperone has copies of the student permission forms and all pertinent information. The classroom teacher has the entire class information.  Hanson has the information for all students on the trip and Mrs. Odum keeps a copy of the information here at the school. 
• We discussed the logistics of this field trip and if it should continue. The example of Legoland and a previous overnight trip were discussed.  Should the field trip be more local?  Should we ask about parent interest? 
• Some barriers to this type of trip are the affordability of the trip and asking staff to supervise outside of their regular hours without extra compensation.
• These concerns and questions will also be addressed in a parent-teacher organization meeting.

 

7. School Improvement Plan (SIP)
   1. Equity

• Our first equity plan came back with a thumbs up from the district. Scott will be attending another meeting to learn what they expect next.

 

1. Social – Emotional Learning (SEL) Updates

• Updates will be provided by Mrs. Tufo at the next meeting.

 

1. ESE Updates

• Autism Resource Fair Night was a success and we thank Ms. Greene for her hard work and effort to create this wonderful event. Many resources were provided and our staff was great about coming out and supporting the parents.

 

8. Parent Data Presentation and Tunnel of Hope Planning

• We were looking at parent engagement meetings followed by a celebration. In order to do this, we looked at both activities separately.
• In order to choose topics for the parent engagement meetings, everyone received a survey. Both staff and parents were able to pick the most important five topics for presentation.
• Those who attend in person will have coffee. Parents who are unable to attend in person, will be able to view either a webcast or podcast of the sessions.  The goal is to have one session per quarter.
• The Tunnel of Hope will include the entire community. Tufo suggested that we do not want to increase test anxiety, so we will incorporate it at the end of the year, after testing.  It will be a part of the moving up events for fifth graders.
• We discussed having the Tunnel of Hope at the beginning of the year as well. Hanson preferred an end of the year parade.  This was a consensus from the group as there were many activities at the beginning of the year already.
• Schwartzman asked about the need for approved volunteer status. Since we will be using the parade route, no parents or volunteers will be allowed on campus, so no one must be approved.   The parents and community will stand outside the school and cheer the students on.
• Students will create signs and be encouraged to wear positive message shirts. All thoughts and feedback are important, so let us know if you hear anything. 
• A team of future leaders is organizing the events and will report back to the SAC Team as planning progresses.

 

9. Upcoming Events:

• iReady Parent Training 2/12/20
• Soli hosted an open house 2/12/20
• Book Fair 2/12/20
• Friday, Feb 14 will be a day of service and love and every grade level has been planning and working on special projects.
• We know the community has been impacted by the MSD tragedy, so we are available for any needs that parents or the community have.

 

10. Open Discussion

• The floor was opened for discussion or questions, with none brought forth.

 

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 3^rd at 2:00 p.m. in the Park Springs Elementary media center.

Meghan Gavagni motioned to adjourn the meeting at 5:36 p.m..

Motion seconded by Donna Scott.

Submitted by Marla Robles, Fifth Grade Teacher; Victoria Greene, SAC Secretary; and Meghan Gavagni, SAC Chair

Approval date: 03/03/2020

Attendance: 

In Attendance:  Jodi Douma, Meghan Gavagni, Victoria Greene, Alexis Ingraham, Leandra Jimenez, Wilnar Julmiste, Nancy Kenney, Janine Kyger, Lissette Lewis, Shawn Maharaj, Donna Scott, Katie Soli, Rebecca Cimaglia, Lori Hughes, Katherine Policastro, Hannah Rincon, Cindy Martin, Marvy Moncada, Angela Perry, Monica Shannon, Nicole Tufo, Jessica Withecombe

Absent: Neil Schwartzman

 

1. Call to Order/Welcome

A meeting of the Park Springs Elementary School Advisory Council was held in the media center on Tuesday, January 7, 2020.  Meghan Gavagni called the meeting to order at 2:02 p.m.

 

2. Approval of Minutes for December 2019

A motion to approve the minutes was made by Meghan Gavagni.  It was seconded by Monica Shannon and Janine Kyger.

 

3. A+ Ballot Results

• The ballot was presented to the staff for a vote on December 10, 2019.
• The majority vote 59.81% was in favor of option A while 37.38% voted for Option B and 2.8% voted for none of the above.
• The funds were distributed to the staff according to option A.

 

4. SCEP K-2 Playground Update

• Impact testing occurred for the playground today. It passed this first test. 
• One more approval is necessary, and it will be completed soon.
• Hanson has been instrumental in this endeavor.  She has worked very hard on this.
• We are very pleased with the school enhancement timeline.
• We have allowed them to work at night and over the break to complete this task quickly.
• We put in a request to have other remaining equipment repainted and touched up.
• The office furniture will be the final phase of the school enhancement project and we will determine if we have funds available for these purchases after the playground project is completed.

 

5. Aftercare Assessment Results

• We received one of our two assessments on December 3, 2019.
• The overall rating was good. We received only satisfactory and exemplary ratings.
• The engagement was exemplary.
• The satisfactory score was in record keeping, but this could simply be a result of hiring a new person. In the future, aftercare will keep all of the records in the same place.

 

6. BSA Testing

• We are starting our first round of testing this week.
• BSA stands for Broward Standards Assessment.
• All students in third, fourth and fifth grade will be assessed.
• These assessments will be given in two 80-minute sessions to mirror the FSA.
• The BSA assessment is given on the computer to expedite results.
• The results will be available this month. Teachers will be able to share the information from the BSA and diagnostic with parents after all of the tests are complete.
• These assessments give us a good picture of where the student is performing now. There is a lot of time left to teach, so it allows teachers to spend time instructing students on the things that will help them the most. 
• Tufo sent out schedule a testing schedule to parents before break. If you still need a testing schedule, reach out to your child’s teacher.

 

7. School Improvement Plan (SIP)
   1. Equity Updates

• Each grade level submitted their projects for the MLK art and literary contest. Fifth grade was recognized for their submission.  Since all fifth graders cannot be on stage, representatives will be chosen to accept the award for the class.
• The bulletin boards Mrs. Novell did at the beginning of the year received an honorable mention.

1. Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Updates

• The coaches attended SEL training provided by the district. We have been doing an excellent job as a school connecting the SEL to all subjects.
• The district will be offering both face-to-face and online courses for teachers. These courses include books to help teachers teach the mandates and include other resources, such as materials to teach about Flag Day.  Donna Scott will provide the staff with more information for the online course offered via LABS.
• Tufo will be reading a new book called “Ivy, the Very Determined Dog.” Mrs. Gavagni and Mrs. Douma completed the bulletin board for inclusion and kindness, located in the cafeteria hallway.

 

8. Upcoming Events:
   1. PSE - ESE Parent Engagement Fair

• The PSE parent engagement fair will be an autism fair. It will be held on January 29, 2020 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.  It will include information about autism, BCBAs, community resources, make and takes for the parents and many other resources.

 

1. Transition & Deferment Roundtables

• This is discussion for secondary and post-secondary parents discussing the options for special needs students. It is an opportunity for parents to explain what they and their students want from the high school as well as learn about resources and options available to these students after high school.  The flyer titled “14 Now What?” provides more information and was provided.

 

1. iReady Parent Training - February 12^th

• Our iReady representative, Katie Knitowski, will provide information to our parents about this program. She will discuss the importance of utilizing this at home, the reports available to parents and tips and tricks to make using this program even easier.  This is also the date of our next SAC meeting, the Book Fair family night and our evening PTO meeting. 

 

9. Open Discussion

• On Monday, January 6, 2020, staff participated in professional development. Teachers, paraprofessionals and after care attended a CHAMPS training.  This is a Tier 1 behavior management system.  Greene presented for the BCBA regarding autism.  This training included what is autism, ADHD and the signs of both.  This training provided insight into student behaviors and the different aspects of behavior management when working with these students.  A different approach to managing the behaviors of students with autism was provided.
• Katie Policastro and Denise Hanson met with all grade 3 – 5 teachers and provided them with tools to dissect the student data provided by the IReady Diagnostic. Teachers will meet for data chats after BSA to discuss the success and needs of students.  There is still a lot of time left in the school year for students to make gains.
• Katie Policastro reminded us that third quarter starts today. This is the most rigorous quarter.  Students often need lots of positive encouragement during this quarter. 
• Katie Policastro is beginning the budget process. She will start making projections in February.  She has already begun to look at numbers and is not expecting any major shifts.  There is a new charter school in Parkland.  She does not expect a huge impact as PSE has not seen a significant impact from charter schools in many years.  However, she does not know the impact this new charter school will have. 
• Katie Policastro reminded us that kindergarten round up will be in a few weeks.

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 12^th at 5:00 p.m. in the Park Springs Elementary cafeteria.

Meghan Gavagni motioned to adjourn the meeting at 2:35 p.m..

Motion seconded by Mrs. Lissette Lewis.

Submitted by Marla Robles, Teacher, Victoria Greene, SAC Secretary and Meghan Gavagni, SAC Chair

Approval date: 02/12/2020

Attendance:

In Attendance:  Lori Hughes, Katherine Policastro, Jodi Douma, Meghan Gavagni, Victoria Greene, Leandra Jimenez, Nancy Kenney, Janine Kyger, Lissette Lewis, Neil Schwartzman, Donna Scott, Katie Soli, Cindy Martin, Marvy Moncada, Angela Perry, Monica Shannon, Nicole Tufo, Marla Robles, Latrisha Paul, Debbie Trejo, Rebecca Cimaglia

Absent: Jessica Withecombe, Alexis Ingraham, Wilnar Julmiste, Shawn Maharaj

 

1. Call to Order/Welcome

A meeting of the Park Springs Elementary School Advisory Council was held in the media center on Tuesday, December 3, 2019.  Meghan Gavagni called the meeting to order at 2:05 p.m..

 

2. Approval of Minutes for November 2019

Motion to approve by Meghan Gavagni; seconded by Janine Kyger.

3. A+ Ballot Ratification

• The proposed ballot has been shared at the last two SAC meetings.
• The SAC team members have not brought any additional proposal suggestions to any SAC Team members or the SAC Chair.
• Neil Schwartzman requested clarification between the two of the three proposals on the ballot. Lori Hughes clarified the differences between Proposal A and Proposal B.
• Quorum was reached in order for the SAC Team members to vote with 16 members present at the time of the vote.
• Motion to move forward with ballot ratification by Meghan Gavagni; Seconded by Victoria Greene.
• Meghan Gavagni called out each SAC Team members name for their yes or no vote. Yes votes = 16;    No votes = 0
• The ballot was ratified and will be presented to the Staff for a vote.
• Meghan Gavagni explained that the ballot must be posted for staff to review for at least three (3) days prior to the staff voting day. Staff has 24 hours before and after the day of voting, if they have a planned or emergency absence on the day of voting. Tuesday, December 10^th will be the target voting day and multiple voting times will be made available to ensure all Staff members have the opportunity to vote.
• A majority vote is required for a proposal to win. If a majority vote on one proposal is reached, then the A+ funding will be processed for distribution.
• Possible bonus payments could reach Non Instructional Staff before break and Instructional Staff could be the check expected on December 27^th. We are trying to do it as soon as possible. It depends on the holidays and payroll processing. Our Office manager, Angela Perry, is attending a session on Thursday to review payroll updates.  The total A+ funds awarded to Park Springs $91,030. Per Katie Policastro, the fringe amount goes into a district reserve.

4. SCEP K-2 Playground Update

• The playground equipment has been approved and will take two weeks to install. Expected delivery is December. We are very pleased with the school enhancement timeline.
• We are hopeful to have a new playground after winter break. We will have another area for K to play in the meantime.

5. Accountability Funding Balance

• Katie Policastro stated that she appreciated that SAC approved the IReady program. She stated that we still have $21,000.
• We are going to ask for another approval – to pay for the afterschool camp. We are asking for $3,000 for our teachers to stay the extra hour. It is an eight (8) week camp.  We are planning for the camps to be provided closer to the FSA.
• Meghan Gavagni motioned for the SAC Team to vote. The results were: Yes =  16;  No = 0.  The request for afterschool camp funding of $3,000. has been approved.

6. AdvanceEd Surveys: Parents and Student Perspectives

• Hanson talked about the staff perspective at the last meeting. Parent perspectives were gathered from only 140 responses who completed the survey. It is only a small portion. The parents feel that the operation of our school runs very safely and effectively, and that we share responsibility for learning with community and parents. The variety of teaching strategies and learning styles, my child is prepared for success in the next year, administration is visible, and that we have high expectations in all learning were noted as PSE strengths by our parent responses. What we took away from the survey, is that the parents and students frequently answered “neutral.” Katie Policastro suggested that PSE might need to explain and communicate with parents and students more often. It is possible that we need to do a better job of connecting what students are learning to what it means in their life. Another neutral response was whether our school uses grants. We can do a better job communicating the grant applications and awards we have received.  The topic of tutoring also received neutral responses.  PSE will continue to promote these surveys to ensure student and parent perspectives are acknowledged.
• For our student surveys, the highest positive response was “my teachers want me to do my best work.” Also high were “teachers care about me” and “we have computers.” A couple low responses were that “my teachers ask my family to come to after school activities” and “my principal and my teachers ask me what I think about school.” We will be discussing these results with our Team Leaders and define action steps.

7. Safety Updates:

• Thanks to PTO, we now have lock down shades in all classrooms.
• PTO was able to help fund 20 additional stop the bleed kits to put one in every classroom. With Officer Hannah’s advice, we purchased cases for the bleed kits to hang on the wall.
• PTO is also continuing their efforts to obtain emergency backpacks.

8. Equity Updates

• Donna Scott reported that last year we had over 20 teachers trained in youth mental health. The initial goal was three teachers.
• The district is providing more training should teachers be interested.
• This week is Inclusive Schools Week. Meghan Gavagni has done an excellent job creating daily video read alouds, and an inclusion and kindness bulletin board. Each day, a video link is sent to the entire staff for the books being read as well as follow up activities. The bulletin board will be done in collaboration with Nicole Tufo, where every student creates a hand print.  Each hand print by every student will state what inclusion means to them, or how it makes them feel. All of the handprints will be made into flowers. The SEL all ties into equity and diversity at PSE. A flyer was handed out for the PSE Inclusive Schools Week plan.
• Grade levels are finishing up MLK projects to submit to the city. The quarterly report due to the district will be electronically uploaded to the district.
• Lori Hughes asked a question on whether the District has added any additional youth mental health trainings. It is now required that everyone goes and it is on Saturdays with only an allowance for 30 people at a time. Nicole Tufo responded that she had heard that the training might become interactive, similar to the anti-bullying trainings. Lori Hughes reported that Broward Teachers Union (BTU) has asked that training classes be added to meet the demand. Donna Scott responded that the District must have qualified people to train on this topic, and that the District is working on this.

9. SEL Updates

• Nicole Tufo reported that the SEL target for December was Kindness. Mrs. Callahan will be a guest reader for kindness. The videos are being shown within classrooms only at this time. However, she may look into getting them shareable via the PSE website so parents can share them at home. Next month’s SEL target is determination.
• Kenney stated that the PTO would welcome video read alouds on their website, because students and parents would love to see more.

10. School Improvement Plan (SIP)
    • Meghan Gavagni stated that the SIP is everything that encompasses our improvement plan. She wanted to get the SAC Team members started on digesting some of the SIP information. The SIP early warning indicators, goals and strategies handout was shared. The goals and strategies typically focus on Lowest Quartile students.
    • Katie Policastro stated that some of the auto-populated data was inaccurate. PSE does not have 35 fifth graders and 23 fourth graders who were retained. The data was auto-populated 9/18/2019 and may reflect students who attended the 2019 Summer School at PSE. Meghan Gavagni stated that she would reach out to our SAC Support Facilitator for clarification and corrective action.

 

11. Advisory Updates:

• ESE: Inclusive Schools Week Dec. 2-6
• ESE Advisory
  • ESE Advisory special guest speaker Hayley Moss has a presentation on December 11, 2019. The ESE Advisory has many events for our ESE students and parents.  Handouts of ESE Advisory events were provided.
• IZone Meeting is December 4, 2019 Coral Springs High School at 5:15 p.m., followed by a Winter Chorus Concert at 6 p.m. Neil Schwartzman reported that the concert was at 7:00 p.m..

12. Upcoming Events:
    • Winterfest at PSE will be Tuesday, December 10^th at 5:00 p.m. (cafeteria). The concert will start at 5:30 p.m..
13. Open Discussion

• Kyger brought up the concern that CSHS had a recent code red. She went to the CSHS SAC meeting, and learned that when police came on scene to CSHS, all keys were missing in master lock box (called a “Knox Box”).
• Katie Policastro stated that we check our Knox Box quarterly. We have keys and a map in there for emergency personnel. What she could share was that the District is looking into increasing the number of keys available in the Knox Box.
• Neil Schwartzman asked where is the Knox Box was located in relation to a camera and if a camera was located in a way to record access of the Knox Box. Katie Policastro stated that it was not under video surveillance. Neil Schwartzman asked whether the Knox Box could be moved so it was watched by camera.  Katie Policastro stated that the Knox box is handled by the police and fire departments, not the school staff. She stated that she could speak to our SROs about the Knox Box placement. At the present time, everything in there is accounted for.
• Nancy Kenney discussed outdoor speakers at a recent CSHS SAC Meeting. No one has yet suggested how to get outdoor speakers at CSHS, or how to pay for them. Katie Policastro expressed her appreciation for our parent involvement in safety initiatives.
• Lori Hughes asked whether there is District wide help for safety measures at all schools versus parents. She asked if there is a PTO that has conversations with the District. No one responded with specific knowledge of any PTO speaking with the District regarding District wide safety measure suggestions.
• Katie Policastro shared that Mrs. Alhadeff, School Board Representative, visited PSE. She was so complimentary of our school, parent group and PTO. She loved our school’s warmth and positivity. She has her own monthly meetings to speak with constituents on a variety of issues.

 

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 7, at 2:00 p.m. in the Park Springs Elementary media center.

Mrs. Gavagni motioned to adjourn the meeting at 2:49 p.m..

Motion seconded by Janine Kyger.

Submitted by Victoria Greene, SAC Secretary, Marla Robles, PSE Teacher, and Meghan Gavagni, SAC Chair.

Approval Date:  01/07/2020

 

Attendance: 

In Attendance: Katherine Policastro, Hannah Rincon, Jodi Douma, Meghan Gavagni, Nolan Vander Haagen, Lori Hughes, Alexis Ingraham, Leandra Jimenez, Nancy Kenney, Janine Kyger, Angela Perry, Neil Schwartzman, Monica Shannon, Katie Soli, Nicole Tufo, Jessica Withecombe, Marvy Moncada, Donna Scott, Diana Brown, Rebecca Cimaglia, Wilnar Julmiste

Absent: Victoria Greene, Monica Shannon, Lissette Lewis, Shawn Maharaj, Cindy Martin

1. Call to Order/Welcome

A meeting of the Park Springs Elementary School Advisory Council was held in the media center on Tuesday, October 1, 2019.  Meghan Gavagni called the meeting to order at 2:05 p.m.. Victoria Greene has assigned Nolan Vander Haagen to record minutes for this meeting.

 

2. Approval of Minutes for May 2019 and September 2019 May minutes

• May 2019 minutes - grammar was corrected for “Safe Haven Reports,” then approved by Janine Kyger.
• September 2019 - grammar was corrected for Strategic Plan sentence, then approved by Nancy Kenny.

 

3. Safety Updates

Nancy Kenney, President, PSE Parent Teacher Organization, reported the following:

• The PTO has purchased code red back packs that will be delivered, and more are on the slate to be ordered. PTO continues to look for items to fill the classroom kits, such as sensory items and quiet materials.
• The PTO is discussing the purchase of additional Stop the Bleed kits.
• The PTO has received a quote for door shades to be used during lockdown procedures. The drop down shades cover the rectangle window on most of the school’s classroom doors. The shades have a pull down feature. The quote was approximately $3,000 for the entire campus. Ms. Lori Hughes provided the PTO with the company contact information. PTO has a meeting with the company on 10/2/19. PTO will have more information for school and parents for the November SAC meeting.

Mrs. Policastro, Principal, reported:

• Chief Fire official from Coral Springs received a tour of the campus and reviewed safety procedures with Mrs. Policastro and Officer Hannah Rincon.
• He had minor recommendations for improvement, such as painting “visitor” parking spots and posting a “visitors must check in at office” sign. Mrs. Policastro stated that she is working on these improvements.
• Overall, he stated that the school is strong in safety aspects.

 

4. Curbsmart Updates

• The new car line dismissal procedure will take effect on October 21^st.
• Parent and staff emails will be sent with procedural information.
• PTO will assist to roll out this new app and procedures.
• A volunteer based “Car Line Team” of staff members met on September 25^th to review the procedures and initiate a plan of action.

 

5. SMART Bond Updates

• Policastro referred to the SMART Bond flyer. The Primary Renovation Scope was reviewed:
• All buildings, except Building 80, will receive a new roof.
• The fire alarms and sprinklers will be updated.
• The air conditioning systems will be updated.
• The school is celebrating its’ 30^th anniversary this school year. The projects addressed via the SMART Bond will help upgrade the needs of a thirty-year-old school campus.
• The music and art rooms will possibly have renovations that begin during the summer of 2020. The music and art room plans have been approved by PSE, and are now in the building review department. Per the SMART Bond flyer that was handed out, these projects may take up to two years to be completed.
• Neil Schwartzman asked if the District budget concerns were going to have an effect on the funding that PSE received for these projects. Mrs. Policastro stated that she is aware of the District funding concerns, and that there had been no new information from the District on any funding changes to the PSE project budgets. She stated that PSE is guided by the SMART Bond “School Spotlight” flyer for the budget.

 

6. SCEP Project for the K-2 playground Update

• Policastro stated that the project is still under review.
• An update should be available at the next SAC meeting.

 

7. Proposed Calendars

• Gavagni shared the proposed calendars via printed handout.
• She directed members to the PTO link that had been posted to take the online survey.
• The survey is open until October 7

 

8. A+ Funding Information and Discussion

• PSE is able to receive A+ funding because the school is an A rated School.
• Gavagni provided a handout on A+ Recognition Statute, Implementation and Questions/Answers.
• Funding is provided by the State of Florida and is financial awards are based on the availability of funds appropriated and the number and size of schools to receive the award. The amount of funding has not been disseminated with principals as of yet.
• The awarded funds must be used for nonrecurring bonuses to faculty and staff, nonrecurring expenditures for educational materials or equipment, or for temporary personnel.
• The voting SAC team must create the ballots for the faculty to vote on. The final ballot used in the last A+ vote in 2017-18 was provided as a sample draft ballot.  Schwartzman requested to know what was on the first draft ballot of that voting year.  Mrs. Cimaglia read off the ballot options from documentation on her laptop.
• Ballots must include the option of “none of the above.”
• Funding decision must be finalized/approved by February 1, 2020. If not finalized by February 1, 2020, then 100% of monies will be equally distributed to all current classroom teachers at the school.
• The first ballot will be discussed, created and ratified by the voting SAC Team at the November 6^th SAC meeting. The ballot development process will continue if a majority vote is not achieved by the staff members voting on the ballot.

 

9. AdvanceED Survey

• This survey comes out in spring for students, staff, and parents.
• Hanson will share the bullet points of the survey at the November SAC meeting.

 

10. Equity Updates

• Donna Scott introduced herself as the Equity Liaison.
• The first Equity Liaison meeting is next week. The liaisons will be looking at three goals that include Student Learning and Achievement, Cultural Awareness Development for all Districts Stakeholders, and Equity in Behavior and Disciplinary Practices. Multicultural Day at PSE will be held on Thursday, October 17^th. Students are invited to dress up to represent their culture and heritage for a Multicultural Parade. Flyers will be sent to families and posted on the PSE website.
• Teachers are required to deliver lessons that tie back to state mandates.
• Classroom Guided library’s will have books that represent diversity.
• Read for the Record Day will be held on November 7^th. The goal is to promote literacy for every Pre-k and Kindergarten student, by inviting a guest reader into Pre-K/K classrooms and giving each of these students a book to keep.  This year’s book is “Thank you OMU” by Oge Mora.  Over 64 countries participate in Read for the Record Day and over 40,000 books will be given to students across Broward County.
• PSE received over $8,000 to purchase best books for boys and Hispanic heritage books via Ms. Scott’s efforts to create a diverse and multicultural library for our students.

 

11. School Improvement Plan (SIP) Goals and Actions

• Gavagni provided an outline handout of the SIP domains and suggested that we review the components and fill them in as the school year progresses.
• Policastro suggested that we discuss SIP components throughout the school year in future meetings, possibly one component per meeting.

12. SAC Slates of Members – Staff and Parents

• Gavagni stated that the SAC Chair and SAC Secretary needed to be nominated by at least one previous SAC member. Mrs. Jodi Douma motioned to nominate Meghan Gavagni as the SAC Chair and Victoria Greene as the SAC Secretary. Mrs. Angela Perry seconded the motion.
• Gavagni shared the handouts on the SAC Composition and Slates (Staff and Parents). Lori Hughes noted that one parent was not listed on the SAC Composition form.  This error was noted and the SAC Composition was corrected.  The SAC Composition of voting SAC members meets racial/demographic requirements within +/- 20 percentage points of the student demographics, with the exception of having - 21% difference between the voting SAC Team member representation who are white (45%) and the percentage of students at PSE who are white (66%).
• Gavagni stated that the parent and staff slates will be disseminated to all students and staff at least seven days before the November 6^th SAC meeting where we will approve the SAC Team members.

 

13. SAC By Laws

• Gavagni provided a copy of the By Laws. She stated that the By Laws could not be approved until we approve the SAC Team on November 6^th.
• The vote to approve the SAC By Laws will take place at the November 6^th SAC Meeting.

 

14. Upcoming Events

• EASE Conference – October 18^th

This conference is for teachers and parents of children with special needs.

• Family Fun with Math Night – November 6^th at Park Springs.

An RSVP form and flyer will be created to advertise to families.

• Multicultural Parade – October 17^th on our early release day.

All students are welcome to participate.

 

15. Open discussion

• Policastro thanked the parents for coming out and making time to attend the SAC meetings.
• The I zone flyer/ information will be out this week. Mr. Vander Haagen is working on the details and will complete it by this Thursday.
• Curbsmart Carline Grouping will be available, but will not be part of the initial roll out procedure.

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 6th at 5:00 p.m. in the Park Springs Elementary cafeteria.

Meghan Gavagni motioned to adjourn the meeting at 2:46 pm.

Motion carried unanimously.

Submitted by Nolan J. Vander Haagen substitute for Victoria Greene, SAC Secretary and Meghan Gavagni, SAC Chair

Approval date: Wednesday, November 6th

Park Springs Elementary School

5800 Northwest 66th Terrace, Coral Springs, Florida 33067

School Advisory Council - General Meeting

Wednesday, September 18th at 2:00 p.m.

Attendance: 

Katherine Policastro, Hannah Rincon, Jodi Douma, Meghan Gavagni, Victoria Greene, Lori Hughes, Alexis Ingraham, Leandra Jimenez, Nancy Kenney, Janine Kyger, Lissette Lewis, Cindy Martin, Angela Perry, Michelle Schwartzman, Monica Shannon, Katie Soli, Nicole Tufo, Faith Skolnik, Shawn Maharaj, Jessica Withecombe, Cheryl Guzman

Absent: Neil Schwartzman, Wilnar Julmiste

1.Call to order:

A meeting of the Park Springs Elementary School Advisory Council was held in the media center on Wednesday, September 18, 2019.  Meghan Gavagni called the meeting to order at 2:01 p.m.. Victoria Greene will record minutes for this meeting.

Minutes

• Approval of the minutes from May and this meeting will take place in October.

2.Welcome and introductions

• Principal introduced new SAC chair, Mrs. Gavagni. Welcome back to all returning SAC members and welcome to new members.
• This is a makeup meeting for September due to the hurricane. All participants introduced themselves.

3. School achievements

• PSE earned a school grade of A for 2018-19.  PSE increased 29 points. Most growth observed in the area of math as well as growth of ELA. The lowest quartile increased 22% points in math.
• PSE hosted a cadre visit last week and cadre members were complimentary of the warm atmosphere, the murals, staff, and families.
• We took first diagnostic assessments for grades 2-5. We are using BAS for literacy and reading levels.
• Teacher PLC’s started 9/16/19  with two teams focusing on social emotional development.

4.Safety updates

• We now have two campus monitors
• PTO purchased the intercom system on walkways and front door buzzer
• cameras have been updated
• PTO is working to fundraise for code red bags and window shades.
• Staff had a refresher for emergency preparedness and stop the bleed procedures on 9/17/19.
• Officer Hannah, Ms. Hanson, Mrs. Policastro completed a state required safety plan, including physical fortifications, personnel, and procedures.
• Waiting for one tour with CSFD on the 25th. Updates and recommendations will be provided at the next meeting.
• Any questions about safety was asked by Mrs. Policastro. It was asked if the fire alarm alerted/is monitored by fire rescue automatically.  Fire alarm in building 80. It is not monitored directly.
• New car line procedure will start at the beginning of the second quarter. – PTO purchased an application called Curbsmart to assist in all students being able to stay inside during dismissal. There will be no need for an inclement weather dismissal.

5.FortifyFL

• This app was shared in the welcome back newsletter and is used to report suspicious activity, with a direct link for law enforcement.
• Staff and families are encouraged to download this app.

6.Strategic Plan

• This is a district plan that will be infused into all of our school improvement plan components, including our vision and mission statements, and within our PLCs. 
• The strategic plan is developed and revised every few years.  The current version will be implemented through 2024. STARS- student focus, teaching excellence, accountability, respect, safety.

7.SMART Bond updates

• PSE has received everything except the K playground. The drawings are being reviewed by Broward for permits.
• Support Staff furniture order will be placed after playground installation with remaining funds.

8.Equity updates

• Ms. Scott will update at next meeting.

9. School Improvement Plan (SIP)

• SIP review and completion for the 2019-20 year are going through all the different stakeholders for the different components.
• The components will be finalized at the next meeting.

10.Membership and SAC Composition

• Appreciation was given to parents and stakeholders for their participation.  The slates will be sent to staff and parents within the next two weeks for approval.
• 51% or more members must be non-district employees, such as parents and community stakeholders.  The demographics of our student population must be reflected in the SAC voting member composition within a -20%+ range per District. 
• There are required positions to be filled and optional meetings held by the District to support the positions. 
• A flyer was provided listing all of the area and District meetings for the 2019-20 school year.

11.SAC By Laws

• The By-Laws will be printed and ratified at the next meeting.

12.SAF (School Advisory Forum) updates

• Mrs. Martin will serve as SAF Chair.
• The first North Area District meeting is 9/19/19 at Monarch HS. 
• They are asking people to vote on 3 calendar options for next school year.
• Agenda for North Area Advisory Meeting was provided.
• Schedule of district advisory group meetings was provided.
• Policastro will send out zone meeting information

12. Open discussion

• No questions or comments were brought forth

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 1st at 2:00 p.m. in the Park Springs Elementary Media Center.

Meghan Gavagni motioned to adjourn the meeting at 2:33 pm.

Motion carried unanimously.

 

Submitted by Victoria Greene, SAC Secretary and Meghan Gavagni, SAC Chair

Approval date: Tuesday, October 1, 2019