IV. Principal Update:
The school’s website is increasingly becoming an effective means of communicating with parents. Usage of the website continues to rise, from 108,000 hits in November to 166,000 hits in January, to 177,000 hits in February. The rubric for the science fair and the principal’s letter to parents are the most recent postings.
The school takes bullying very seriously. The school will hold anti-bullying assemblies, with grade-appropriate material, for the younger and older children. The school will also have a “bullying box” where children can anonymously alert teachers of bullying behavior so the school can more quickly address problems.
The school continues to work to beautify the interior of the school. A flat screen monitor has been added to the rotunda and a 77” Smart Board with arm has been added to the media center. The exterior of the school will be “under construction” over the next few months. Emergency repair work is needed on the gutters on the back side of the building near the kindergarten exit where snow has pulled down the gutters. The contract for installing the new playground has been awarded and will begin once the weather warms up.
Saturday test prep ahead of the State English Language Arts and Math tests will begin shortly. The class sizes will be small – 10 to 12 students per class. Enrollment seems to be up a bit.
The school is preparing for the Quality Review, which will take place March 22 and 23.
Ballroom dancing will be back. The school is paying for 4th grade (because the competition takes place in 4th grade) and the P.A. has agreed to pay for ballroom dancing in the 5th grade.
The school is pleased to announce that it raised $500 for the American Red Cross for Haiti Relief efforts.
Upcoming dates: 1) The next SWEET program will begin Friday, April 9th, 2) TV turnoff week begins April 19th, 3) the Art Fair will be held April 21st, and 4) the Earth Day recycling assemblies and family game night will both be held April 22nd.
VI.
Parent Association Update
The Father/Daughter dance was a great success with over 100 girls is attendance. The Mother/Son dance will be coming up March 20th. Teachers are welcome to attend as well.
The P.A. is planning an “Earth Day” event on Saturday, April 24th. The school will pre-sell spring flowers for pick-up on the day and hold a “Bee” market, which will include the sale of earth-friendly products.
The P.A. is also updating itself ahead of the Quality Review, with beautiful new bulletin boards. The website has an updated letter from the P.A. president and improved links to activities in the school.
The P.A. is very pleased with the Parents as Art Partners grant, which will be focused on second and third graders.
VI. Quality Review
The principal requested that SLT members involved in getting feedback from parents on last year’s Learning Environment Survey write a description of the data they collected and how the school plans to address some of the issues based on this feedback by parents. Also, add that parents will be helping to encourage parents to fill out this year’s survey at the Parent/Teacher Conference.
VII. Upcoming C-30 for new Assistant Principal
The principal has received the resumes and is ready to move forward with the Level I interview after the Quality Review. Two possible date were given: Thursday, April 8th and Monday, April 12th. Participants will meet at 3:30 and candidate interviews will begin at 5:00. Participants will include 1 CSA representative, 2 UFT representatives, 1 school support organization leader, 4-7 parents, 1 DC-30 representative, and the principal.
VIII. Homework Policy Discussion
An informal survey of parents found that the time taken to complete homework exceeds school policy in many grades. Current homework policy has been developed by teachers in those grades.
| GRADE & # of children represented |
SCHOOL POLICY |
ACTUAL TIME SPENT ON HOMEWORK -- the AVERAGE, ACTUAL amount of time these children spend daily |
% OF CHILDREN EXCEEDING school policy time |
| K 10 |
20 minutes (not including reading); w/reading
Total: 40 minutes |
Mostly 15 and 30 minutes per day. No weekend homework, but some vacation assignments |
10% |
| 1st Gr 35 |
20 minutes (not including reading); w/reading
Total: 40 minutes |
Between 45 minutes to 1 ½ hrs per day. In addition, most families use weekends to complete a weekly assignment due on Mondays because it is too much to add to the daily load. |
100% |
| 2nd Gr 26 |
30 minutes (not including reading); w/reading
Total: 50 minutes |
Between 1 and 2 hours per day PLUS periodic weekend assignments. |
100% |
| 3rd Gr – 34 |
45 minutes (not including reading); w/reading
Total: 1 ¼ hours |
Between 1 ¼ - 3 hours per day PLUS weekend assignments and periodic special projects. |
95% |
| 4th Gr 11 |
45 minutes (not including reading); w/reading
Total: 1 Ό hours |
Mostly about 1 Ό hrs per day, with additional periodic weekend projects and monthly reports. |
9% |
| 5th Gr 20 |
60 minutes (not including reading); w/reading
Total: 1 ½ hours |
Mostly 2 ½ hrs per day, with numerous projects taking up many weekend hours. |
90% |
| 6th Gr - 15 |
60 minutes (not including reading); w/reading
Total: 1 ½ hours |
Mostly 2 and 3 hrs per day, with regular weekend projects taking up many hours |
87% |
The N.E.A. and National P.T.A. urge no more than 20 minutes per day be spent on total homework (including reading) in grades K-2 and 30 to 50 minutes per day in grades 3-6, well below current homework policy at P.S.101.
Some noted that parents should inform teachers if the homework is taking too long, although others noted that when such comments were made to the classroom teachers, they were ignored or teachers refused to make accommodations for children taking longer to complete homework. In addition, this issue seems to be a broad, grade-wide problem, with 90% or more of the children in some grades exceeding the school policy for time spent on homework. If a parent makes the decision to send a child to bed before homework is done, the child is sometimes punished for incomplete homework.
There was a question as to whether teachers are aware of how long it is taking students to complete the homework. Also, it was stressed that teachers have an important role coordinating homeroom, math, and cluster assignment deadlines. One member noted that a few months ago homework policy in fourth grade came up because there were so many cluster projects due at the same time as homeroom assignments, and once the teachers were fully cognizant of the importance of their role as coordinators, the problem ended. The informal survey found that it currently takes 4th graders about the same amount of time to complete homework as the teachers expect in their policy.
It was generally agreed that some homework is good, as a review of what is taught in the classroom – although some noted that not all homework is review and that parents are often expected to teach (an unfair burden for less-educated, non-English speaking, or working parents and their children). One important aspect of homework is that it helps inform parents about what children are learning in the classroom – without the homework, parents might not feel that they know what is happening in the classroom.
It was generally agreed that 2-3 hours of homework per night (as appears to be happening in 5th and 6th grades) is too much.
The D.O.E. is putting pressure on the teachers to perform as measured by state tests. In addition, the balanced literacy program takes up a lot of homework time (nearly 1 hour for reading and the response). Consequently there is a disconnect between N.E.A. recommendations and the school’s homework policy.
The principal said she would pass on SLT concerns on homework policy to the teachers to increase awareness. She will pass along any feedback back to the SLT at the next meeting.
Members agreed to continue the discussion on homework at the next SLT meeting.
IX. Housekeeping
The next SLT meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 13th, with another meeting scheduled for either April 20th or April 27th.
X. Library Committee
The P.A. has found two co-chairs to assist with the pilot program to help teachers level classroom libraries. Several parents have expressed interest in joining the committee.
XI. Non-Fiction in the Classroom Committee
Work on this committee is on hold pending the return of Jason Westerlund who is currently on jury duty.
XII. School-Parent Collaboration
258 planners have been ordered for next year. The planners are expected to teach organizational skills and improve parent/teacher communication. The P.A. is gifting wall charts using the planner format to assist teachers. The publisher is also in the process of creating a wall chart that can be used on the smart board – the committee will follow-up on this. To be a truly effective tool, the supply lists for grades 2-6 must include this specific planner. Parents are also working to find parent volunteers to help encourage parents to fill out the Learning Environment Survey that will go out at the Parent/Teacher Conference. Volunteers will be stationed at the door and in the hallways. There will be pizza and ice cream parties for the classes that return the most surveys.
XIII. Adjournment
Meeting was adjourned at 4:15 PM.
Minutes submitted by: Nancy J. Northrop
