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Serving
Children and the Community Since 1922
2009
- 2010 Calendar · All About Randall · Assemblies &
Themes · Background
Check Form · Birthday Treats · Calendar · Conferences ·
Counselor Corner · Field
Trip Permission Slip · Food in Schools · Forms and Fees · Forms
to Download/Print · |
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Site Council To
facilitate the "working together spirit", we have a "Site
Council". Our Site Council
consists of staff and community members that look at possible changes in
procedures at Randall
that will directly benefit our students. Information about site council initiatives will be
published in our monthly school newsletter under the heading "On Site At
Randall....". Members
are: Sue
Grimyser, Julie LaPaz, Jeff Chin (Carroll Representative), Michelle Sheldon, Renae Booth, Mindy Steighner, Jessica Lukas, Jenny
McDonell, Linda Kieck, Yvonne Jimenez-Mehring, Kris Lombardi, MichelleTroedel, and Bonnie Schlais Our
first change (initiated in 1995-96) was in the area of parent/teacher
conferences. We now have
September Teacher Listening Conferences at Randall because it was widely
supported by both parents and staff on numerous surveys. The idea has spread
to other schools and has resulted in changes in Board Policy and to the
planning of the district calendar. Now such conference format changes can take place in
any schools with parent and staff support. The
focus of these “Listening”conferences is to learn from the parent(s) about
the child. The focus of these
conferences will be to gather information that will help the teacher know the
child better.
November and February
will have the opportunity to be scheduled for a conference with their child's
homeroom teacher. Our philosophy is communicating in a parent/teacher
conference format is an on-going process and should be done whenever the need
arises. Parents should never
wait for the calendar dates of “Parent Teacher Conferences” if there is a
question or concern. Please note
that teachers will not wait either. New
and Continuing Site Council Initiatives: Through our Site Council, we offered
an after school "help" or "tutoring" program" to
primary students who are referred by their teachers for
reading/language/writing assistance. The program is called SSA (Strengthening Student
Achievement). We will start again in late September and will continue until
the end of November. The program
will have a second semester session beginning in early February. The tutors will be Carroll College education
students. We will be working
with Mrs. Roseanne Donovan, instructor at Carroll, to secure these willing
students. The sessions will be
held on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays from 3:30 - 4:15 p.m. in our media
center. Some students may
receive this tutoring before school or during the school day. Each eligible student will come
for 2 of the 3 days each week. During
the last few years, we researched and studied having a Randall Site Summer
School. We had our third
site summer school this year during the first two weeks of August. We have 80 plus students enrolled compared
to 40 students for our first year. About
7 years ago, we did the WEAC Great Schools Vision Meetings. About 100 community members were
invited to attend. Visions were
discussed of what would make us even a more effective community school. One of those visions is being
implemented again this coming school year by our Site Council. The plan is in its seventh year and
allows teachers time on seven different Fridays throughout the year to
collaborate. Our school day will
begin at 8:30 a.m. instead of 8:35 a.m. with dismissal at the usual 3:25
p.m. By adding this extra 6
minutes each day, we will save or "bank" two hours of time each
month that can be used for staff development. This will give our staff the opportunity to
collaborate as they will have a block of two hours to meet together. To gain this time, our students will
be dismissed at 1:25 p.m. on one Friday each month beginning in September. In
planning for this increased staff development time, our Site Council studied
the research and discussed various plans for over a year. Some of this research said: Keys
to Effective Teams: "Collaboration
embedded in routine practices" and "Time for collaboration built in
school day and school calendar".
Also, we found "School staff teams that pursue specific and
measurable performance goals" increases effectiveness. Bob Eaker and
Richard DuFour say: "Effective elementary school
staff development increases administrators' and teachers' understanding of
how to provide school environments and instruction that are responsive to the
developmental needs of children in grades pre-kindergarten through
six". Effective school
staff development "provides adequate time during the work day for staff
members to learn and work together to accomplish the school's mission/goals. Dismissal
time on these 7 Fridays is: 1:25
p.m. September
11th October
9th December
11th January
15th February
5th March
12th May
7th. During
the early dismissal times, we will be offering special enrichment activities for
students so as to not inconvenience our parents with our early dismissals on
the seven Friday afternoons.
These activities are on a first come – first serve basis with
registration on August 13th and 18th (at “Forms and
Fees”) and throughout the school year.
The activities for this year include Waukesha Park Recreation crafts
and games, YMCA, and the Carroll University Chemistry Club Mrs.
Holly Podlewski,
Randall parent, will again be our leader/director for coordinating the Friday afternoon activities. Mrs. Podlewski will be sending
out the information as to students registered for each of the seven Fridays
and will be the liaison between school, parents and the public agency. We
also have a formal partnership with Carroll University. Through this partnership, Carroll
Professors and their students help our students directly through our SSA and
Math Club programs. Again,
the Randall Site Council is out there ready to put ideas to work! |
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