Philippa Schuyler Middle School for the Gifted and Talented
School Leadership Team Meeting
March 18, 2021
4-6pm
Agenda
4:00 – 4:05
Welcome and review Zoom meeting protocols
The chat feature is disabled for all except our interpreters
When chat is enabled Simone Gibson is our chat manager
Please raise your hand for comments
Meeting is being recorded
As a courtesy to an orderly and welcoming SLT meeting all SLT members and visitors attending on a telephone will identify themselves by stating their name and affiliation
Phone Numbers
(US)+1 601-688-3548
PIN: 675 312 020#
4:05 – 4:10
Review of Minutes from 2/11/21 meeting
4:10 – 4:45
Principal school update
PTA Update
Title I PAC update
Questions & Answers
4:45 – 5:15 PM
School- Wide Questionnaire Creation
5:15 – 5:45 PM
Review of questionnaire responses
5:45 – 6:00 PM
Questions and Answers
Voting Members – Attendance
Ms. Vergara (Present)
Ms. Wigdorsky (Present)
Ms. Hutchinson ()
Ms. Baldino (Present)
Ms. Slaughter (Present)
Mr. Adoniz (Present)
Ms. S. Gibson ()
Ms. J Rivera (Present)
Ms. Gomez (Present)
Ms. Colon ()
Ms. Richards (Present)
Ms. Illery (Present)
Ms. Morales ()
Ms. Singletary ()
Non Voting – Attendees
Leybe Diaz – Interpreter
Raymond Velez
Ms. Goulbourne
Ms. Xu
4:09PM approval of the previous meeting minutes.
4:12PM – Welcome from the principal
Currently the building is in a 10 day closure. We were notified of one classroom closure March 8th. Starting March 12th we have been placed into a 10-day closure. The first day that in person learning will begin on Monday March 22, 2021. This will be our first building closure for the current school year.
Every evening families will receive notice in their nyc schools account about confirmed COVID cases in the school. Families get notified when there is random testing on the school site the day of the test. Medrite has been doing the on site testing for 2 months now.
When there is a building closure we revert to remote learning for the duration of the closure.
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Ms. Slaughter- Are we informed if any positive cases led to other confirmed cases?
Ms. Wigdorsky – We can be notified by self reporting from families or staff or by on site testing.
Ms. Richards – Should there be a suggestion that parents and families should get tested before returning to the building?
Ms. Wigdorsky – to have students in person and staff they must provide the consent forms and the health screening questions. Recommendations can be made for students, families and staff to be tested but it’s not a mandate. We have to continue to advocate for getting tested often and follow CDC guidelines. Interesting to see how citywide testing will commence once H.S. open on Monday.
Ms. Baldino – The teachers union originally asked if there were positive cases confirmed in a building, that before students return that they get tested. This was denied as a mandate but the result was the 20 percent random testing weekly.
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Report Cards will be available in the nyc schools account on Monday April 5th, 2021
Second marking period ended March 5th, 2021
The third marking period began March 8th. This year we have 3 marking periods because of the late start to the current school year.
Parent teacher Conferences were held remotely on March 11th in two sessions, from 1:15- 3:15 and 4:30 – 7:00pm. If you did not get a chance to reach out to teachers. You can set up a meeting with teachers during outreach time from 2:00PM – 2:20PM
Letters are going out from Doe central on attendance for students that have 90 percent or less of attendance for the school year. Please communicate with teachers and the school about any excused absences.
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Ms. Slaughter: – Questions about students that are marked present but do not attend any of the classes?
Ms. Wigdorksy: Teachers are to notify grade level AP and grade level counselors. We have an attendance team that meets weekly and formulates action plans.
Ms. Baldino: For these students, How do teachers grade a student that shows 95 percent attendance?
Ms. Wigdorsky : Children will not fail. They will receive a grade of NX. We can not automatically give a student an NX if they do not attend. If they do not attend, are they submitting assignments? If we have a student we can get back on track, students will have an opportunity to make up coursework.
Ms. Richards: Teacher may put the student absent even if they answered the daily attendance question. Students may be showing up but just watching the screen and not participating with the work.
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After School and Clubs
NY Junior Tennis league will start in person. We will start tuesday March 23rd. There will be a small in person cohort. From 2:00pm to 5:30pm They will follow all health and safety protocols. Eventually, they will bring in more students. During spring break, the program will be fully remote.
We have a number of remote afterschool programs currently happening.
Title 3 Program if your child receives ESL service. Every Tuesdays and Wednesdays 3- 4:30pm
We have Math and ELA enrichment and support Wednesdays and Thursdays. Reach out to your child’s math and ELA teachers for information and to see if there are spots left.
Remote chess club 3:00 – 4:30 on Thursdays. Students will practice online fully remote on chesskids.com
Honor societies for (5th and 6th ; 7th and 8th): 90 and above with no score below 75 in any subject.
Unity club – GSA alliance club. Celebration of everyone’s identity regardless of how they identify. Mindfulness practices will be incorporated. Create a virtual toolbox of mindfulness strategies.
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Students are not in session the week of March 29th and schools will reopen on April 5th.
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State testing
NYS requested a waiver from the federal government. We know it’s important to have an understanding of students’ skills, but this year has been unprecedented. As of March 18th, NYS is still waiting for a response in the waiver. If a waiver isn’t given, we have to administer state exams. We have to follow a certain timeline. The state has released a timeline for possible dates for the state tests. We are waiting on the department of education on how this situation will be handled. If state tests are administered, they will be used for formative assessment only. State tests can not be used for HS and middle school admissions.
Ms. Slaughter: Was there anything about how remote students take the exam?
Ms. W: The state released tentative guidance. The test must be administered at the school. The students even if they were fully remote, if the family wants them to take the test then they can go into the building. The test will not be a requirement.
Ms Richards: Ny and another state was another state that waiver out.
Ms.W: Test prep is embedded in the curriculum. Iready is aligned to the tests. The tests will only be multiple choice.
Ms. Baldino: What happens if we schedule the tests and we get a building closure? Should we plan alternate days?
Ms. W: Some things we may not have control over but we do have a testing window. If the building is closed, no one is expected to take an exam on that day. Maybe the waiver will be granted?
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Highlights that March is women’s history month. Teacher’s are sharing many resources with students on women’s accomplishments in society throughout history.
Principal Wigdorsky welcomes Meisha Porter.
End of principals report.
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Questions to add to the Questionnaire:
(To send out to parents to be discussed at SLT and what type of activities they would like to happen in the school community.)
Ms. Wigdorsky:
We want input from parents on SLT to plan for.
We want to know what activities to offer families.
Baldino: Town Halls are during the students’ lunch periods.
Wigdorsky: 8th grade is to prepare the 8th grader for end of the year senior activities. 6th grade and 7th grade activities are done during homeroom.
Vergara: We want to know what the students want for socialization.
Baldino: It’s not a good time of the year to take the time for socialization into academic time during classes, since students are not all fully in the building 5 times a week.
Vergara: Can this be done during homeroom?
Ms. W: Town Halls can be instructional or for fun.
What activities would you be interested in participating in during homeroom?
Is there a club that you would like to have?
Would you like a monthly kahoot?
What would be a fun activity to do during a social time?
If we did Kahoot Fridays, what topics would you like to use?
What grade level are you in?
Topics on Ms. Vergara’s survey.
Nearpod
Ms W: We do have a schoolwide license for nearpod. Nearpod is a digital tool that teachers can use in their classroom to engage students. Ms. Cummings was at the meeting with Ms. Wigdorsky, nearpod reps offered to do a PD with the teachers. Ms. Cummings and Mr. McCormack will collaborate together to use a nearpod and facilitate a training video or a PD.
Create a tool box or a drive with a master links /info list for teachers to have access to it.
We have a Myonreader site license. Some teachers will need training and some teachers have the training for these tools.
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Ideas for capital requests projects to submit to Councilman Reynosos office by 4/2/21.
Ms. Wigdorsky will ask and asks the team if there is a need for the school. Agreement from the team about a library upgrade for the student.
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Can we get students workbooks to supplement the online learning?
Checking in with students, some students prefer pencil and paper, some students prefer digital tools for educational purposes. We need to replenish our classroom libraries for our students. We may not have full funding this school year for workbooks and what equity of resources look like for students coming in person and students that are remote.
Ms. Richards: Technology resources are great but there is no interaction between student and family members and the resource. It’s more of a one on one experience.
This week we received resources from brooklyn north for test prep resources.
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What family game nights can we create?
Painting and craft nights for families. (Ms.Vergara)
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Parent Workshops
(Ms. Rivera) PTA meetings all have workshops. There have been wreath making and iready workshops in the past. PTA can create it but they need a heads up on what workshops to create.
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PTA president’s report
5:45: PM
CC election candidate forum. There are 3 parents running. They are allowed to campaign with certain instructions. Every family is eligible to vote in this election and families are encouraged to create their schools.net account.
Apple and Google Classroom did updates at the same time and there have been glitches in the online media.
Teachers and families should connect with students and let them know to perform the proper updates if they are using an apple device. Ipads and wifi are having technical issues due to the overload of students in remote on the doe wifi.
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Title 1 PAC
We met at a team to vote for the PAC funds to be used for family STEAM night. Family steam night will take place on Earth Day April 22, 2021. Left over money will be allocated to helping students with study skills at home.
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Motion to end at 5:53 by Ms Vergara and Ms. Rivera.