PLC Meeting 4/6/16

Curriculum Committee Update

K-6  teachers on the committee have been hard at work conducting the first of our curriculum pilots called "Journeys" and "Collections."  Heather and Jenna have been visiting many of the pilot classrooms and have loved seeing the materials in use, and hearing how it is going in the classrooms. Pilot Teachers recently received training on a new set of materials called "Benchmark", and will start their pilot the week of 4/11/16.  

iPad Pilot

While we were looking forward to an iPad pilot for TK through 1st grade, we will be postponing the iPad pilot so that we can have time to continue research, gather a list of interested teachers, and begin a pilot during next school year.

Report Card Update

Report cards and their formatting will continue to be worked on as we move forward in the implementation of the Common Core Standards.  Report cards have been reviewed, and will be cleaned up for the 16/17 school year, but will not change to Common Core Standards until the Report Card Committee can work to collaboratively make the needed adjustments.  The work on the new report cards will begin during the 2016 school year, and will be fully developed for the 17/18 school year.

Compass-Hybridge

Many of you know that Compass Learning is slowly transitioning into a new product called Hybridge.  Jenna presented some of the major changes that people may see in the new product, and how it works.  PLC members discussed the differences, and more information and training will come to the sites as this change continues to roll forward.

Music Program Update

The LUSD Music Program will be undergoing some major changes as we move forward into the next school year.  Along with the addition of new staff, during the 16/17 school year, all 5th grade students will receive music instruction in 4 smaller groups with all 4 elementary school music teachers teaching specific groups:  brass, woodwinds, percussion, and Choir/General Music.  The new program has been billed as the "Traveling Troubadour" approach.  

In addition to the information about the music program, the PLC team discussed the work that is being done to bring some consistency to music teacher expectations in regards to homework, parent communication, instrument inventory, instrument purchase and rental, etc.  It is the intention that the music teachers work in collaboration with teachers, and site and district administration to develop and establish common expectations across the district that help students to become excited about their participation in the music program.  

GATE

More work has been done with the GATE committee to determine the appropriate referral process, testing and portfolio requirements to be qualified for GATE.  Current plans detail the opportunity during the 4th grade to be referred for GATE during this school year.  PLC discussions revolved around the timeline for 4th grade referrals during this school year.  A decision was made to bring this information to the next Admin Forum meeting for further discussion. More information will be reported in the next PLC meeting.

Grant Writing Committee

The new grant writing committee has been established in the district, and will be headed up by Assistant Superintendent Dr. Gill.  A survey was sent out and over 40 people filled out the survey and indicated their interest to serve on the committee.  The grant writing committee will have its first meeting on May 2nd at 6:30 P.M.  The first meeting of this committee will be determining the scope of the work that will be done, and determining sub committees that will be developed to focus on grant writing in specific areas of need.