Here are the meeting notes as a Word file:  SWCC Schools Committee Feb 24 2016.doc

SW Common Council Education Committee

Wednesday February 24, 2016, 6:30 to 8:00pm

Arnett Branch Library

Minutes Posted on: www.LocationSW.org/group/sw-education-forum

Next Meeting: Wednesday, March 23, 2016, 6:30 pm at the Arnett Library, 310 Arnett Blvd.

Meeting Convened at 6:35 pm

February Attendance:

John Boutet         SWCC Education Committee Chair, 19WCA 2^nd VP, 328-4271, CET Sch 44, jboutet@frontiernet.net

Marian Boutet      19th Ward Resident, 328-4271, mlb65@cornell.edu

John Laing           19WCA School Committee Chair, School 16 Volunteer, 235-5236, CET Sch 44, jlaing1@rochester.rr.com

Jennifer Lenio       Rochester Public Libraries (South District), 428-8272, jlenio@libraryweb.org

Lee Loomis           Rochester Engineering Society, School 10 volunteer coordinator

Bill Nichthauser    19th Ward Resident, School 44 Volunteer, 235-0851, inky389@frontiernet.net

Agenda:

1.  Introductions

2.  School 10 – Lee handed out a packet of activities taking place at School 10.– Free dental hygiene clinic at MCC 2/27; Genesee Valley Little League teams, registration Jan 1 to March 19etc.; Storytelling Festival at St. John Fisher See, March 2^nd; There will be cooking classes at School 10. There will be 6 classes starting March 17^th.

School 10 building is full. Central office gave them and extra 2^nd grade this year. There now are no extra classrooms where tutors can meet with students. They move around to rooms that temporarily not in use such as art of band rooms. They now have a full time librarian. Building 37 which School 10 is in was built in 1916.

3.  School 16 - Any new developments – Nothing more to report. We still have not heard from Matt Laniak about the start of planning for the renovation. It would be very desirable to start having teachers from both 16 and 44 to start attending these meetings since as plans now stand neighborhood students at 44 are slatted for transitioning to 16 when the renovations of 16 are completed. - John Laing

4.  School 29 - Blocks in Bloom program on Kenwood Avenue: Master gardeners working with the Cornell Cooperative and the city will help participants on the chosen blocks to plan and plant front yard flower gardens. We contacted School 29 to see if they would be interested in participating since 29 is at the intersection of Kenwood and Kirkland Road. They are participating in our 1^st planning meeting tomorrow. We need 6 home participating and a “block captain” to have the project start. Some neighbors we talked to would like to see the empty lot kitty-corner across the Kenwood/Kirkland intersection from 29 be used as a neighborhood garden. Ask Mary Ann Brody at St Stevens about SWEM participation at former Grow Green greenhouse. If the School 29 participation in this program goes well we might try something similar at other schools. As far as performance goes School 29 has gone from being rated a “priority school” to a school in “good standing” a one step jump up. See: Change in Accountability Status and Struggling School Status in RCSD

5.  School 44 - Update on school efforts: School had its CET (Community Engagement Team) meeting last night. The good news is that School 44 has come out of receivership and has gone from “priority school” to a school in “good standing”, a two step jump.. A lot of unknowns concerning the next 2-3 years. It is still slated for closing upon the re-opening of School 16. Much uncertainty among the staff. It now has 3yr old Pre-K and 4yr old Pre-K. We are talking about trying to get more support services in the school and have it become a community school. We heard from Jenn Beideman about grant money available for schools focused on wellness, exercise, nutrition. John B passed that information to the CET at School 44.

Beverly Usher is collecting tires, for adding to the playground. She needs paint for the tires. 

She has been working with AQE/Metro Justice trying to get money owed the school by the state and has been promoting the adoption of the new code of conduct to stop the school-to-prison pipeline.

6.  Short Distance Busing lobbying effort – Cynthia Elliott strongly supports it. I talked to her at a joint School Board/City Council. Dan Lowengard and Linda Cimusz also strongly supported having short distance busing to neighborhood schools. Need cooperation from Albany. Need more data from Central Office, and they may have some recent hard information coming from the District doing short distance busing at their own expense to receivership schools. That data will reinforce the projections shown in: RCSD: Neighborhood Schools Implementation Plan - February 2015

7.   Library news – Jennifer reported Arnett is down one librarian at the moment. One new full-time position has been created.

New program in April, and May funded with money from Senator Ranzenhofer. The “Every Child Ready to Read!” program targets young families with children ages 0-5. Series of 5 sessions teaching parents techniques to read with their children to prepare them for kindergarten.

  Dates and locations:

    Wheatley Branch Library: Wednesdays, April 6, 13, 20, 27 and May 4, 5:30-7 pm, call 428-8212

    Arnett Branch Library: Saturdays, April 9, 16, 23, 30 and May 7, 11 am – 12:30 pm, call 428-8214

Food provided and a raffle. Maximum of 50 people including parents and kids. See Arnett Early Reading Programs! flier.

8.  Walk-in Items – Spelling bee includes 5 schools: 10, 16, 19, 29 and 44. Finals will be at the U of R on April 9^th. Ranzenhofer will probably attend. K-6 schools should field finalists for grades 3-6 and K-8 schools field teams for 3-8.

John is looking for someone to run the Spelling Bee next year. It would be great if they can attend this year's Spelling Bee so they appreciate the excitement the kids bring to the event.

Meeting adjourned at 7:20pm

Minutes by Marian and John Boutet