Pennekamp School Site Council Minutes

April 8, 2013

The meeting was called to order at 3:05 p.m. by Chairperson, Sheliza Esmail. Members present

were Debbie Mabry, Debbie Snook, Sheliza Esmail, Gail Goldstein, Dr. Brett Levine, HeidiNelson, Sandra Rumble, Andrea Batavick, Stephanie Mibu and Marcelle Chauvet.

The minutes from the previous meeting were read and approved.

Mrs. Mabry had given results of the Parent Survey to all School Site Council members and

welcomed all to this last meeting of the year.

Debbie Mabry asked how Sandra Rumble's class achieved a 100% response on the Parent

Survey from her class. Stephanie Mibu, the parent in charge of communications for Sandra's

class, said that she sent out reminders via email to all of the parents in that class encouraging

all parents to participate and also told them about getting ice cream if they reached 75%.

Stephanie thought that a reminder from the classroom worked better than just seeing a blurb

in the Dragon Flash and that it showed in the results. Marcelle said they were 402 families at

Pennekamp. Mrs. Mabry also mentioned that there were quite a few parents who skipped

questions. Dr. Levine remarked that the online survey was user friendly and he hoped that the

results would be published and that teachers would be acknowledged. Sheliza said that

Writer's Workshop has gotten a very positive response. There were also many comments

regarding PE. Sandra Rumble said that as far as homework goes, the fifth grade expectations

are known to the fourth grade teachers and they try to plan homework assignments with that

in mind. She said that is necessary to prepare students for the coming grades. Stephanie

pointed out that the only dissatisfied responses in the double digits was for Computer Lab.

Debbie Mabry said that it is difficult to have hands on learning when you only have a short time

in Computer Lab every week. There were also very good comments regarding the VAPA

program and Andrea Batavick mentioned that she really liked the mime program for the first

grade students. She said it brought many of her students "out of their shells". Stephani Mibu

asked where the money came from for the ice cream since School Site Council no longer has a

budget. Mrs. Mabry said that PTA paid for the ice cream.

Dr. Levine said he would like a better description of School Site Council to go out to parents

who may have no idea what it is and what it does. He said that it seems like School Site

Council's only purpose is to put out the Parent Survey. He would like the meetings to be as

productive as possible even though there are no funds. Debbie Mabry said that even though

there is no money involved, having a School Site Council is mandated by the state. She also said

that one of the biggest functions of School Site Council is to develop a school plan that is

presented to the School Board for approval. Dr. Levine wanted to know why we could not

create our own standards. Mrs. Mabry replied that content standards are delivered to us by

the state and those are the ones we have to implement. Dr. Levine said that we should strive

to be better than the state standards. He was disappointed that MBUSD does not have a

language immersion program such as the ones they have in Culver City. Debbie Mabry said that

all teachers at Pennekamp go above and beyond the state standards. Debbie Mabry said that

in the next couple of years the state is going to switch over to Common Core Standards and

these are also far beyond the standards that are currently in place. Andrea Batavick says the

new standards are very rich. They concentrate more on written response and analysis and not

multiple choice questions.

Sheliza wanted to know about voting for new members would go. Mrs. Mabry said that there is

an election and a blurb will go out about School Site Council.

Board member, Ida VanderPoorte, then spoke about the state budget. She said that the budget

is still unknown. She also said that there is usually a May revise. The formula that was

suggested by Governor Brown has been put off for this year. The suggestion is that the new

formula should go through a policy committee to make sure that everyone gets adequate

funding. Ida says the state needs to make sure that we are made whole before they take

another 20% of our funds. She also said that is does not seem fair that because of Prop. 30

more money is being generated by more affluent districts but we are not reaping the benefits.

She also said that the Ipad program is on hold for the time being in order to keep teachers.

Some members asked about the PE program and Ida replied that elementary PE costs

$500,000.00 per year. So the choice is between keeping class sizes lower or having PE. Ida said

she would like to present a scenario to the community as to what the schools would look like

without the fundraising efforts of the Manhattan Beach Education Foundation. Class sizes

would increase to 35 to 1. There has to be 2 million dollars in cuts for this year, 1.5 million for

next year and 1 million for the year after that in order for the district to balance the budget.

She said no major changes are coming our way. But in spite of all this, we are still doing great.

She mentioned that class sizes will increase to 26 to 1 in third grade this next school year.

Marcelle asked if MBEF could extend the appeal next year in order to have more families

contribute. Ida replied that contributions are accepted all year long. She said that the Wine

Auction is one of the biggest fundraisers for MBEF. Last year over $770,000 was raised in this

event alone. Ida also said that only 30% of the Ipads were purchased by the district. The rest

were purchased by parents or leased. She is hoping that more students will have them next

year so the district's responsibility will be even less. The district is also rewriting policy about

using Ipads in the classroom at the high school. Heidi Nelson mentioned the MBEF

Endowment. Ida said the endowment is currently at 9.6 million and as soon as it hits 10 million

monies will be distributed to the schools. Ida also said that according to the state, class sizes

increase first for 3rd grade, then Kdg, 1st and 2nd in that order.

Stephanie Mibu gave a report on what PTA has been doing. We just had the Science Fair and

Science Night, Literacy Month, the Pennekamp Open. All funds generated by the Open are

given to the MBEF. There is a General PTA meeting coming up on April 23rd and Mother and

Son Fun Night is on May 10th. The PTA Executive Board meets next week to discuss plans for

next year.

Debbie Mabry brought up the Common Core Standards that California will be adopting in a

couple of years. She said that 3rd grade is part of a pilot program to try these new standards in

Language Arts. The test will take place around the same time as standardized testing. These

tests are taken online and will be done in the computer lab. We won't receive any results but

will gain a good perspective of the process. She said the Common Core Standards are truly

based on student ability. She was also proud that our Dragons read over 300,000 minutes last

month.

Mrs. Mabry closed the meeting by saying that SSC meetings are meaningful and thanked

everyone for serving. She also said that survey results will be published after she has had an

opportunity to discuss the results with staff.

Sheliza Esmail adjourned the meeting at 4:05 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Deborah Snook

Recording Secretary

Pennekamp School Site Council

Debbie Mabry

rom:rent:To:Subject:

Pennekamp Elementary School <catheytimgraves@gmai\.com>Sunday, April 28, 2013 12:00 PMDebbie MabrySchool Site Council Survey Results

PennekampElementarySchool School Survey Results

Dear Pennekamp Parents and Guardians,

Our School Site Council (SSC) is an elected group of five parent members and five staff members who agree toCouncil's primary responsibility is to develop Pennekamp's Single Plan for

8 H W°r,kS Cl°Sely Wkh the PennekamP staff on our continual process of school

" 'h (not ln a. „«„„, „ 5tandaralie<1

instruction across grade level teams. Overall, parents' responses were extremely positive and very supportive.

We are fortunate to have two wonderful organizations, PTA and MBEF, which support education atPennekamp. Our SSC queried parent satisfaction with these two organizations. Responses indicated that thegreater majority of parents understand the roles of these groups and are extremely satisfied/satisfied with thesupported programs. Parents comments on PTA programs, included ""They do an amazing job for our children","Appreciate the new support for literacy", and "Very impressed with Writers Workshop and our support of suppliesfor the program". MBEF comments such as, "Really like the writing program, so great for kids", "MBEF does a greatjob", and "Love hearing my daughter share her day in science lab" were repeated throughout the survey. Surveycomments regarding the understanding of the role and evaluation of these two organizations were shared withPTA or MBEF for their review.

I reviewed all comments in the survey that were specifically addressed to me and I am very appreciative ofyour support. Your honest and thoughtful remarks were very kind, supportive, and focused my attention on areasthat require improvement across our campus. I received positive comments on the grade-level format change ofthe PRIDE assemblies and the facility improvements, recognition for our literacy celebration, prioritizingimproved safety, and my support and connected relationships with students. My ongoing goal is to be moreeffective with students, teachers, and parents and to implement strategies that yield better studentoutcomes. Pennekamp School is an amazing learning environment, however, as with all things in life, we cancontinue to improve our learning environment.

The School Site Council will continue to conduct a parent survey each year in order to better serve andcommunicate with our school community. We look forward to ending this year with great success and planningfor an exciting new 2013-2014 school year. I welcome any comments or suggestions you may have for the SchoolSite Council.

We have three parent positions available for the 2013-2014 school year. The parents elected to serve on SSCmust commit to a two-year term. If you are interested in discussing this role or are interested in joining SSC,please email me at dmabrv@mbusd.org by May 1st.

Sincerely,

Debbie MabryPrincipal

Pennekamp School Site Council2012-2013

2012-2013 SSC MembersStaff - Andrea Batavick, Joyce Margolin, Sandra Rumble and Debbie SnookParents - Marcelle Chauvet, Sheliza Esmail, Gail Goldstein, Dr. Brett Levine, and Heidi Nelson

Pennekamp Elementary School I (310)798-6223cathevtimgraves@gmail.com I 110 South Rowell AvenueManhattan Beach, CA 90266

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Pennekamp School Site Council Minutes

February4 ; 2013

The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Sheliza Esmail at 3:03 p.m.

Members present were Debbie Mabry, Debbie Snook, Gail Goldstein, Stephanie

Mibu, Heidi Nelson, Sandra Rumble, Andrea Batavick, Mariel Waller, Dr. Brett

Levine and Ida VanderPoorte.

The minutes from the Dec. 10th meeting were read and approved with no

changes.

Debbie Mabry passed out a draft copy of the School Site Survey for all members

and asked for any suggestions. Mrs. Mabry said that on page 2 she added seasons

(spring, fall, winter) before different events to help parents remember those

events when filling out the survey. Heidi Nelson asked about separating

fundraising questions from other things. Debbie Mabry said that it might seem

overwhelming to parents if the fundraising items are all lumped together. Dr.

Levine wanted to know about asking parents which, if any, fundraiser did they

participate in and to please add comments after question number 5. He would

like to add a question asking parents for input on ways to increase participation in

these fundraising efforts. He would also like to add the wording 'sponsored by

PTA or MBEF . He also asked for feedback about why parents did or did not

donate. Gail Goldstein said the most people would not put down why they did

not donate. Debbie Snook said that asking parents that question could make

them uncomfortable and they may be unlikely to answer. Mrs. Mabry asked how

we can improve our campaigns might be a good question to ask. Dr. Levine

suggested moving teaching questions to the front of the survey and fundraising

questions to the back. It was suggested that 75% be the amount of participation

classrooms need to get free ice cream. Gail also suggested that stickers be given

to all students to remind them to tell their parents to complete the survey. Gail

also volunteered to make up and print the stickers. Debbie Mabry said the survey

will go live the first two weeks of March (March 4-15). Sandra Rumble mentioned

that she would like a section for overall quality of certain programs (student

performance, reading, writing, math, language) to be included in the survey. Mrs.

Mabry will edit the survey and email the new one to all SSC members.

Next, Mariel Waller spoke about participating in the Alliance for a Healthier

Generation project. This program is designed to help combat obesity in school

age children. There are 3 levels that a school can reach (gold, silver or bronze) by

having certain things in place at the school site. Right now, all of MBUSD is at or

almost at the Bronze level, with the programs that are currently in place. Mariel

said she would like to see an active wellness policy for students and employees

and if this request could be put on the agenda for the next SSC meeting in April.

She would like to know what kinds of things could be implemented as far as staff

wellness goes. Mariel would like to try for the silver level next year. Debbie

Mabry said that all of the schools are involved and she said we would see what

can be done next year regarding obtaining the silver level.

School Board member, Ida VanderPoorte, reported on the theft of the IPads from

Pacific School. She believes someone had information as to the location of the

Pads as the thieves knew exactly where to go and what to look for. The police are

still investigating. Sadly, some news from Sacramento is not good for the school

district. Governor Brown is changing the way funding is distributed to the school

districts. The passage of Prop. 30 will have more money coming in to state

coffers, however, the bulk of this funding will go to schools who have children

who are ESL students. This is to the detriment of the more affluent school

districts who need funding to make them whole again after the original cuts that

began in 2004. Ida said there is a board workshop on February 18th that will

include discussion about changing that formula. Right now LAUSD gets about

$12,000 per student while MBUSD gets about $8,000 per student. This gap will

only increase with the new formula.

PTA co-president, Stephanie Mibu reported on goings with PTA. She said the

Parent Party is this Saturday, Feb. 9th at The Lakes in El Segundo. She said all staff

are invited and she hopes all will be able to attend. Stephanie also said that there

will be a speaker at the PTA general meeting which will take place on Feb. 26th in

Ithe Pennekamp Cafeteria. The speaker, Carolyn Seaton, will be talking about the

change to the Common Core Standards system. The entire country will be

changing over to this standards system. Next school year (2014) will be the last

year students will be taking the STAR tests. Debbie Mabry said that there will be

a shift in instruction. Common Core requires more critical thinking skills. She also

said that many states that have tried the new test have found that their scores

have gone way down. Debbie said that this is what will probably happen here as

well. Stephanie said she was pleased with the amount of 4th grade students who

have chosen to participate in the Science Fair. Sandra Ruble said the 4th grade

students are very excited about the fair. More than 50% of the students in 4th

grade have decided to participate. Andrea Batavick did mention that there was a

problem last year getting her desks returned to the correct locations in her class

after Science Night. She suggested putting a strip of tape on the floor to indicate

the correct places. Stephanie said that Science Night will take place on March 7th

this year.

Debbie Mabry said the biggest issue to discuss at our next meeting will be the

School Site Survey results.

Debbie welcomed all for coming and the meeting was adjourned at 4:03 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Deborah Snook/Recording Secretary

Pennekamp School Site Council

Pennekamp School Site Council Minutes

December 10, 2012

The meeting was called to order at 3:09 pm. Members in attendance were Debbie Mabry, DebbieSnook, Andrea Batavick, Sandra Rumble, Stephanie Mibu, Ida VanderPoorte, Joyce Margolin, GailGoldstein, Heidi Nelson, and Dr. Brett Levine. Members absent were Sheliza Esmail and MarcelleChauvet.

The minutes from the previous meeting were read and there were no additions or corrections. Theywere approved as read. There were no public comments at this time.

Debbie M. mentioned that on Wednesday, Dec. 12* , the School Board will approve Pennekamp'sComprhensive School Plan at the regularly scheduled meeting at the district office.

New business included a review of CSPSA goals. The first grade use of Writer's Workshop has increasedliteracy and analysis. In grade 4 students are comparing texts and using venn diagrams.

Sandra Rumble said that the students are excited about the program and are wanting to write all of thetime. She said the students feel as if they finally have a voice and are expressing their feelings and aretaking ownership of what they write. Debbie M. said that collaboration across the grade levels has beengreat.

Debbie Mabry passed out a summary of strengths and weaknesses at Pennekamp and how parents canhelp their own child/ren at home in order to help achieve fluency, comprehension and literary analysis.She said it is important for parents to set aside 15 minutes per night to read aloud and discuss what hasbeen read in order to get the author's message. She wants the focus to be on literacy and criticalthinking. Heidi Nelson asked if there was a Book Club for first grade students. Debbie M. said there wasnot but that Barbara Siegemund-Broka, our librarian, has incorporated theme, author's thought, etc.,into the discussion of the stories she reads to the classes that visit the library. This is done to providecontinuing support of the Writer's Workshop program being implemented in the classroom and wethank Barbara for doing this.

Mrs. Mabry then mentioned the revamp of the SSC Parent Survey and asked for suggestions on how togarner more participation. She asked what parents would need as feedback. Parent member, GailGoldstein, suggested that the survey be a part of the students' homework packet. That way studentsare more likely to bug their parents about taking the survey if they know they won't get credit for theirhomework without its completion. Dr. Levine also suggested that reminders go out in the classroomnewsletter and perhaps have the room parent send out an email or two as well.

Stephanie Mibu said the the MBEF campaign is milder than it has been in the past. It was mentionedthat Pennkemp is far behind other sites in terms of participation. Stephanie said we are looking forstronger participation. Gail Goldstein said that the whole MBEF fundraising campaign can be veryintimidating. She said that many parents cannot afford to give the amount asked for and it makes themfeel uncomfortable. So uncomfortable, that sometimes they do not give at all. Dr. Levine said that itwas important to remind parents that any donation, however small, makes a difference. He said thatmaybe posters should be placed around reminding parents that MBEF funds pay for our librarian,

computer lab tech, reading teacher, science lab teacher, etc. Then maybe more people would donate ifthey could put a face on their donations. He said that perhaps then parents will see what even a $50donation can do. It was also mentioned to maybe stagger communication times so as not to inundateparents all at the same time with similar messages. Sometimes the messages get lost.

Ida VanderPoorte spoke about some good news from the district. The good news is that Prop. 30passed and so we will not have to face mid-year cuts. This does not mean we will get more funding,however. She said that there may be some minor budget cuts possible in January of 2013. Funding willremain flat for the next 2 years or so. The state may not be flush in terms of funding until perhaps theyear 2020.

Ida said that the Ipad program was well received at the middle school. Having students use the Ipadsreduces the number of notebooks they must carry. They can access work by using the Ebackpack app.instead of a notebook. She said we will know more about the success of the program at the end of theschool year. The program is still a work in progress. The 5th grade teams will be meeting soon forEbackpack training. Ida also said that special education costs are more than were expected this year.She asked that everyone check out the MCHS website for a list of events taking place at this time of theyear. There are many performances taking place that are outstanding. The board will be meeting inJanuary to start planning the budget for the 2013-14 school year. MBEF donations play a critical part inthis process as they account for 10% of the district's budget.

Stephanie Mibu said that the PTA's fundraising efforts so far have all met their targets. There is anotherDragon Dinner at Fresh Bros, this coming week. She also said the new computers have been orderedand should be coming soon. Ipads (24) and a cart have also been purchased for grade 2 to share.Stephanie said we have also reached our target for PTA participation. She said the carnival night wasvery successful and much was learned from this effort which wiil help in planning this event next year.

Debbie M. also mentioned that she and 4 other teachers will be attending a technology conference thiscoming March. They will be using technology to support education. She also said she would have adraft of the SSC Parent Survey at our next meeting in February. She thanked everyone for attending andthe meeting was adjourned at 4:03 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,

Deborah Snook

Recording Secretary

Pennekamp School Site Council

Pennekamp Elementary School Site Council

Octobers, 2012

3:00pm to 4:15pm-Room 10

Minutes

I. Welcome and Introductions: Meeting was called to order at 3:05pm by D.Mabry. Mrs.

Mabry stated the function/role of School Site Council (SSC). In the past, SSC had funds in

which to use for school improvement, however, the state no longer allocates funds for SSC.

SCC meets four times a school year to plan and implement instructional goals for school

improvement. SSC looks at data to decide on curricular goals that will guide instruction.

The members of SSC introduced themselves. Absent: Debbie Snook, and Joyce Margolin.

II. Public comments: none

III. Call to order: minutes from April 16, 2012 SSC meeting were read and approved. The April

16th minutes were amended by Andrea. She asked that the suggestion that students receive

homework pass if parents completed SSC survey be removed from the minutes as she does

not recall nor endorse that idea. Members received: Agenda, Planned Improvement Part II,

Student STAR scores for data comparison, School Plan draft, and SSC bylaws.

IV. Assignment of Roles: Chairperson: Sheliza Esmail and Secretary: Debbie Snook

V. New Business: School Plan for Student Achievement; Draft to be submitted to District in

October. Approval at MBUSD meeting by Board of Trustees on December 19, 2012.

Members looked over STAR scores. Comparisons were made between Math percentages

and ELA percentages (of students at proficient or advanced levels). It was noted that

Pennekamp 3rd graders had a 13% difference between the two subjects. Mrs. Mabry shared

that the 3rd grade team recently used a full planning day to review/assess their instruction

and link to State standards. The 3rd grade team will implement common core literature

books this year to target comprehension/literary analysis. They will continue to look at the

roots of literacy and make goals accordingly. Ideas to increase literacy: parents should be

encouraged to read aloud to child, encourage parents to purchase books from Scholastic

with teacher guidance on book selection, see librarian for suggested titles, incorporate more

core literature books, and encourage the use of audio book on tapes. Mrs. Mabry is

encouraging the staff to make changes and to address areas of instruction that may need

additional focus based on the STAR data. The members noted that the trend of scores is

downward and that Science scores dropped from 2010-11 to 2011-12. Mrs. Mabry met with

Susan Holton, science lab teacher, to discuss ways to change content in lab. Mrs. Mibu

noted that science lab for one 4th grade class was at the end of the day, and the students

appeared tired and lacked focus. It was also noted that it is difficult to cement concepts in

45 minute lab time. The bulk of the teaching rests upon the classroom teachers and day-to-

day instruction. 4th grade will look for ways to encourage participation in Science Fair this

year.

VI. MBUSD Update by Ida Vanderpoorte: Ida reported that 1:1 iPad began at MBMS; some

challenges with the iPads are being worked out; 5th grade at Pennekamp has 1:1 school use

iPads, as well (funded by PTA); Labor Negotiations are settled; MOD for Evaluation

component was agreed upon Oct. 5. Board is happy to bring back Staff Development Oct.

22-speakers and workshops will be offered on common core standards, writing, and

technology. TEDX "Finding Purpose" District offered to provide free ticket s for teachers

that would like to attend Oct. 13. Mrs. Mabry attended last year and found profound idea

and opportunities. The SPARK truck will present at TEDX and then make a stop at

Pennekamp. It will arrive Monday, October 15 to provide 3rd graders with creative hand-on

experiences, enriched with speaking and writing.

VII. Principal Update by Debbie Mabry: TEDX very successful last year and looking forward to

this year's event. Writing Workshop: Debbie has observed amazing progress in writing since

the implementation of Workshop; recently she observed Sandra Rumble's first writing

celebration and Dawn Curry's first buddy writing celebration.

VIM. PTA/DAC Update by M. Behrman: Father Daughter Sock Hop coming soon; Family Portraits

still going on; looking for volunteers to help at TEDX Oct. 13; PTA sponsored Fresh Brother's

Pizza night, so successful, that restaurant gave Pennekamp 20% of total day's receipts! PTA

membership around 80%, but the total donation of money is down. PTA will look into ways

to promote PTA and to increase funds.

IX. Topics for Future Meetings: review SPSA and goals.

X. Adjournment: 4:15 by D. Mabry

Meeting notes respectively submitted by: Sandra Rumble

Future Meeting dates: December 10, 2012, February 4 2014, and April 8, 2013