Middle States Annual Review Meeting

April 28, 2011

Present:           Terri King, Jerri Parlow, Stephanie Woit, Tom O'Hara, Clarissa Sakowicz,

Bob Callan, Sandy Pasola, Stephanie Barnes, Katie Gaal

1.    Ms. King welcomed those present to the annual review meeting regarding Middle States Accreditation for Growth.  Part of this welcome included introducing the following two members:  Stephanie Barnes, and Katie Gaal a current junior and sophomore respectively. 

Ms. King explained the importance of having students on the Middle States Steering Committee.

2.       With regards to moving forward in the accreditation for growth process, Ms. King shared the following information:

·         The school must notify MSA prior to making any substantive changes to the objectives for which the school received accreditation.

·         The school should develop and maintain an annual review process for each of the years that the school is accredited.  Modifications to the action plans should be made as required to keep the AFG plan meaningful and effective.  These adjustments do not need to be sent to MSA unless requested.

·         At the beginning of the third year in the accreditation term, the school will submit a Mid-Term Report in which the school provides evidence of implementing its Plan for Growth and Improvement and of progress being made toward achieving its objectives. The Report will be reviewed by the Middle States staff, which will determine whether an on-site visit must be conducted to examine any areas of concern.

3.    Reporting the information for objective #1 was Ms. King.  Objective #1:  By the year 2017, the students at Point Pleasant Beach School District will demonstrate an increase in the proficiency in 21^st century skills which include creativity, collaboration, information fluency, problem solving ability, digital citizenship, and technology concepts.  She shared the following information that had been given to her by Ms. Wilcox and Mrs. Mosca: 

Elementary School:  The technology staff, as well as every classroom teacher, has been working toward the Middle States Objective #1 goals for technology.  Mr. Ruddy, Antrim's Instructional Media Coordinator, has offered numerous trainings throughout the school year.  The classes included Website Maintenance and Content Creation, PowerPoint Intensives, and Web 2.0 Applications in the Classroom.  Antrim School held its annual Technology, Science, & Art Expo in March and there were technology projects displayed from Grades K-8 throughout the school.  We are also continuing to improve the 1-1 Laptop Initiative with students in Grades 6-8.  Epson Smartboard Projectors are being utilized throughout the building.  Our school was also named an Apple Distinguished School and there will be additional training provided free of charge to the staff.  Our school is truly becoming a 21st learning environment.

High School:

            1.  Laptop initiative, acquisition of laptops (May/June 2010-ongoing)
 1:1 - incomplete - funding not secured
 Alternative:  four carts of 25 MacBook laptops each were purchased and set up for  student use in the      High School by Fall 2010
 High School building structure was updated & made fully wireless by Fall 2010
 High School faculty were each assigned individual MacBook laptops in September 2010

2.  Revision of Code of Conduct policy (June/July 2010)
 High School Administration and a committee of teachers met in June 2010. 
 Revisions were made and implemented in Fall 2010. 
 Professional development documentation was provided to committee members.

3.  Laptop initiative, On-Site Professional Development provided by Apple (July 2010)
 High School teachers attended Apple professional development training during first day in-service in September 2010. 
 A select group of High School teachers received two full days of in-house Apple training in February 2011, and the remaining High School teachers attended one full day of in-house Apple training in April 2011. 
 Workshop feedback from teachers was very positive.

4. Dissemination to all faculty of professional journal articles focusing on 21st century learning (September 2010-ongoing)
 Ongoing at present
Administration continues to review teacher lesson plans on a weekly basis, and   demonstration of implementation of technology in the classroom is noted.

5. Laptop initiative; Distribution of laptops (November 2010)
 Incomplete - funding for 1:1 laptop initiative was not secured.  However, 100 laptops were purchased and are available for student use in the High School.  Additionally, teachers were each assigned a laptop for individual use.  Demonstration of teacher use of laptops in their respective classrooms is widespread. 

Provide in-house professional development to all faculty in using technology to enhance student learning (November 2010-2012)
Teachers trained during February 2011 in-house Apple workshop were assigned by Administration to share knowledge with their respective departments during both the 2nd and 3rd Monday of each month, as coordinated by department chairpersons.

4.    Mr. O'Hara provided an update for objective #2:  Objective #2 – By the year 2017, G. Harold Antrim Elementary School students will demonstrate improved positive peer relation, diminished undesirable social behaviors, and increased involvement in community service.

Update:

Teachers and staff have been incorporating a character education theme in each class each month.  Peer Leaders and students have been interacting with younger students through the “book buddies” program.  Pro Social behavior has been incorporated through the use of bulletin boards and other displays throughout the school.  A school and community committee is presently being developed to create a School Safety Committee which aligns with the new state mandate due to the new School Bullying Law which goes into effect in September 2011.

Committee will look to incorporate new guidelines into

                                    Establish a program focusing on Bullying, Bystanders and interventions

Student Code of Conduct

                                    Teacher and Staff Reporting Procedures

                                    Public Incident Reporting Forms

                                    Establish a positive behavior reward program

Funding has recently become available to incorporate a community service coordinator which will begin the process of implementing service activities into the 6 – 8 grades.

5.    Mrs. Sakowicz provided an update for objective #3:  By the year 2017 - in alignment with NJCCCS 2.3 - Point Pleasant Beach High School students will demonstrate an awareness of the negative consequences of substance abuse.

·         Hired a full time SAC(substance abuse coordinator), Beth McGuire

o    Organized Steering Committee to address student issues especially alcohol and drug issues.

o    Social Norms Project dealing with bullying and substance abuse

§  Reality Based Alcohol and Drugs Education Program

§  Parent meeting

§  Surveys

§  Marketing campaign

o    Educated teachers on how to report someone if suspected of being under the influence.

o    Meeting with students that have drug and alcohol issues.

·         Peer Leadership Program has been revamped (ongoing process into next year)

o    Peer Leaders are put through and interview and selection process

o    Peer Leaders being held to a certain standard, if not they are removed

o    Students need to feel comfortable talking to younger students

o    Next year Training for peer leaders on drugs and alcohol and how to present it to incoming freshmen

·         Student focus group (through steering committee), social norm project

o    Identifying issues

o    Identifying depth of problem

o    Suggestions for solutions

·         Health Texts and Materials are current and align with Core Curriculum Content Standards

o    Health has moved mostly Web based information and websites

o    Discovery Channel

o    Web has more current information that texts

·         The Truth about Drugs Prevention Program: The truth about drugs

o    Able to get program and materials for free

·         Student Health Awareness Center-Centra State, Freehold

·         Prevention First

·         Ocean Medical Center Program

o    Next year to use PE student fund to pay for presentations (addiction, drugs, alcohol, & driving under the influence)

6.    Ms. King indicated that she hoped to have the action team members work together at the beginning of the 2011-12 school year to review and revise if necessary the action plans that are currently in place for each of the three Middle States objectives.

7.    Those in attendance were thanked for their participation in this evening’s meeting and she informed them that she will notify them of the next Middle States meeting.