Church Street Elementary School School Governance Council Meeting “Off to A Good Start” October 19, 2015

“Schools, families and communities all contribute to student success, and the best results come when all three work together as equal partners.” CSDE Position Statement on School-Family-Community Partnerships School-Family-Community Partnerships

The Research Says… Higher test scores Higher school morale Less suspensions/expulsions Higher graduation rate Better reputation in the community Higher sense of belonging for all families

Purpose of School Governance Councils The intent of Councils is to enable parents, school staff, students (where appropriate) and community leaders to work together to improve student achievement in the state’s schools. School Governance Councils serve in an advisory capacity to assist the school administration.

School Governance Council Advisory Areas: School/student achievement Budget objectives Interview committees Program and operational changes/policy Parent policy and compact Parents Surveys

Councils Do NOT: Manage the School Supervise staff Enter into contracts Discuss individual parent/student issues Determining eligibility for admission Determine class allocations/student assignments

Our First Meeting Congrats on being elected Establish Norms Think about a facilitator/co-facilitators Qualities of Community member Keeping in mind the following: Who are our students? What are their greatest needs?

Let’s Begin with our Strengths Please work with each other to identify the strengths of your school

Determining Needs/Coming to Consensus Discuss areas of possible need What common needs have been identified? Narrow those down to no more than 2

Setting Priorities Where are we? Where are we? Where do we want to go? Where do we want to go? How will we get there? How will we get there? How will we know when we get there? How will we know when we get there?

Build The Success Together Determine strategies to address the selected goal(s) Share how each stakeholder can contribute to achieving the goal What people/resources might we need to achieve these goals and get help as a council Develop a timeline and a process for measuring the effectiveness of your plan Celebrate all successes

Following Meetings Review norms and council purpose Community member discussion/election Review of identified goals Continued discussion of strategies to accomplish goals set by council. Brainstorm/Plan possible actions. Advisory Only Review and Establish By-Laws School Compact Plan agenda for the next meeting Remind members of the meeting date(s)