1. Coffee Agenda April 5, 2013 Welcome Communication Why the self-contained structure? Parent feedback What are the next steps?

2. Communication Received feedback from fifth grade parents in the fall Met with fourth and fifth grade teachers Communicated change to staff Posted the change on the blog Hard copy correspondence was sent home Feedback, suggestions, ideas

3. Why the Self-contained Structure Common Core Georgia Performance Standards (CCGPS) need to be integrated across subject areas, specifically in writing. Teachers need flexibility to adjust their schedules in order to integrate the CCGPS skills and content across the curriculum. A stronger bond will form between the teacher and student A streamlined approach of communicating with teachers and parents will emerge.

4. What are you excited about? What are you concerned about? Consistency in homework expectations Is my child going to be ready for middle school? Balance of instruction What do the other schools in our cluster do? One teacher can get to know my child better. More person-oriented than subject- oriented. If the teacher doesn’t enjoy teaching the subject, is the quality of teaching going to drop?

5. What are you excited about? What are you concerned about? The Common Core implementation. Additional pressure on the teachers. Integrating the subject areas. NCTM recommends departmentalized in 4 th and 5 th grades. Teacher collaboration across the grade level team. Communication to share resources among the grade level may be difficult. Teacher buy-in Long-term substitutes would teach all subjects

6. What are you excited about? What are you concerned about? Teacher-student compatibility Achievement scores Math scores have dropped in 4 th and 5 th grade Stakeholder buy-in Experience in trailers-confined space and noise.

7. What are you excited about? What are you concerned about? My student won’t have the experience of multiple teachers. No break from the actual space of the classroom. Having another transition Cluster meetings for teachers/schools to support one another.