Granada Hills Charter High School Curriculum and Instruction Standing Committee Meeting Thursday, April 24th, 2014

3:30 pm ~ A6

Minutes In Attendance: English: Elisa Ragus Science: Helen L Kennedy Social Studies: Susan Hollenbaugh World Languages: Brandon Zaslow Math: Michael Nuttall VAPA: Jeff McCandless Physical Education: Out of Classroom: Kevin Sweeney Special Education: Paul Marchand Administrator: Dilmit Singh Classified: Maria Ferriter Classified: Marie Mancini

Parent: Anita Naganand Parent: Student: Ramina Pizarro Guests: David Bensinger Lisa Chung Judie Baumwirt Eljohn Dela Cruz Shravani Reddy

I. Open Session: Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 3:30 pm and the flag salute led by Ms. Ragus. a. Council of Councils Update: b. Operations: The PSAT testing bell schedule – the proposal passed to allow faculty time for lunch and to return testing material. CAHSEE schedule was removed from the voting for now. c. Student Services: Voted on the proposal to augment the current parking space lottery by designating approximately 10 spaces per semester, for distribution through the Development Office via a silent auction or a donation towards annual fund raising. – did not pass. Campus cleanup campaign was going well. d. Board Meeting Update: April 7 th meeting postponed. 11. Motion to approve minutes: called Brandon Zaslow and seconded by Susan Hollenbaugh. III. Procedural: a. Staff Development: Common Core at implementation stage – all departments are on board, looking at Critical Thinking as a tool for achieving goals. Additional training in/implementation of Common Core and Critical Thinking strategies will take place at opening of school.

b. Intervention: Nothing new. According to counselor Kevin Sweeney this year in programming, students are given a summer school form with all information listed to direct them to sign themselves up on a specific day. - 12th graders register June 2, - 11th graders June 3rd, - 10th grader June 4th, They will enroll at that time, then start summer school the following week. This will avoid students saying they forgot, did not know, or changed their minds.

c. Testing – On 7th of April 92% completed the test, April 8th, 95% completion of the NWEA testing for 9th and 10th graders. April 9th, after some computer issues, all 11th graders were able to access and complete the Smarter Balance Field Test. Students who were absent or unable to finish because of technical difficulties were provided time before and after spring break to complete their tests. Next year, from what we know presently, 11th grade testing will take four days. 10th grade will take CAHSEE and CST Science. Feedback from Teachers and students: from surveys and focus group of 11th graders 1. Do a practice run for teachers and students 2. Teachers to be able to practice login and accessing the test; students to be comfortable with interacting with the test (highlighting, using the mouse, etc.) 3. Training for teachers to login into different components of the test. 4. Review proctoring assignments to spread responsibilities equitably 5. Student reported that the format for the math component presented problems for them. 6. IPads were hard on the eyes; students preferred laptops. d. Technology: Replace student computers with Laptops. 400-500 computers, longer battery life (6 hours). e. Scheduling – Counting of the faculty vote will take place in the cafeteria lunch time on the 25th April, 2014. If approved Zero period will start 7:25. The priorities for assigning zero period will be; 1) Accommodate all athletes; provide afternoon period to work on homework. 2) Provide opportunities for students who are credit deficient to take 7 periods. 3) Open access to additional classes, electives, extracurricular activities

for students in an Academic Program with restricted classes or who want to go beyond A-G minimum requirements. 4) Courses offered will depend on staffing and student need. IV. Old Business and Action Items: a. A.P. Capstone A.P. Capstone Program – We are completing the steps for an application so we can send teachers to training and explore the addition of required classes in the A.P. Capstone program in 11th and 12th grade. b. The SAS diploma certification (Howelman):

The proposal “Should we continue keeping the eligibility criteria for SAS permit application, but not for maintaining enrollment status at GHCHS or eligibility for a separate diploma”. The designation on the diploma was only advertised in the brochure made available to the current seniors (2014) when they enrolled as SAS students as freshmen. The information about the sticker on the diploma and the requirements to maintain enrollment have not been distributed nor enforced since that year. Rational to Eliminate: Our Academic Programs and offerings have grown since the inception of the “SAS Diploma”. All of our programs offer GHCHS student a multitude of options for insignias, recognition, and diplomas such as: AP CAPSTONE -

This diploma option will virtually mirror the SAS diploma requirements The diploma is issued by the College Board The award will be noted on the transcript.

IB DIPLOMA -

This program allows students to earn an additional diploma recognized throughout the world. The IB program issues the diploma. The award will be noted on the transcript.

SEAL OF BI-LITERACY -

This program recognizes students who are bi-literate We submit the names of eligible students to the state of CA Insignias are sent to us for the diploma This award will be noted on the transcript.

GOLDEN STATE DIPLOMA/INSIGNIA -

This program recognizes students who attain a specific set of scores on the CST’s or new Smarter Balance. Insignias are sent to us for the diploma This award is noted on the transcript.

AP Commendations - National, State and Local.

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These awards are noted on the transcripts.

In addition, approximately 400 students each year qualify for the Gold Seal for a GPA of 3.6 and above or a Silver Seal for a GPA of 3.00 to 3.59. Voted on the proposal not to continue diploma stickers after this year. In Favor: 9; Opposed: 2 (Mike Nuttall and Brandon Zaslow).

c. Naviance College and Career Program (Lisa Chung). Existing program, Kuder costs $3,635 per year, per student; Naviance costs $8,825 per year including Edoc (a program to manage and send transcripts and recommendations). The new program is compatible with Eschool and able to track students beyond high school. Voted to switch to Naviance; in favor 12 – unanimously approved. d. Computer Science Class: The math department would like to expand course offerings in computer science beyond the current 9th grade local option. Most students do not have room in their program for electives in 10th grade, but with the possibility of expanded zero period, students could continue in computer science in the 10th grade. The class would be open also to juniors and seniors. (This is not the same as the current AP Computer Science class and consists of a different kind of language and application). We have the teacher and class room, dependent on bell schedule. Not a new course just an expansion.

V.

Action item Presentation and Committee Discussion: Review of Local Option and possible expansions: We continue to expand our Local Option 9th grade classes that replaced life skills based. The Academic Programs offer options relevant to the thematic/academic goals of the program. Some offerings that are being considered are CTE (Career Technology Education) classes, A.P Psychology (opening up to all grade levels). Development of CAD classes and CTE integration into academic programs: We are exploring more connections with industry groups and Community Colleges through CTE programs. One such opportunity available to us is to integrate CAD (computer assisted design) technology into our Advanced Construction program. Should this integration be successful, the technology could be expanded to other programs on campus, like our Robotics program. Career Tech Education – Pathway grants. Judie Baumwirt is exploring additional partnerships and career pathways that will benefit our students by providing certificates, internships and mentors in 21st century careers.

Our goal is to integrate classes/content we already teach with the industry/community college resources/pathways. Expansion of co-teaching classes (special education and general education): The Special Education Department is pursuing an expansion of coteaching to Algebra 11, Geometry and Social Studies. Co-teaching classes enable us to meet the 75% inclusion requirement in general education. Math Department expressed concern that they will lose the team-taught Algebra 1 classes. V. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 4:45pm. The next meeting will be held on May 15th, 2014.