Eliot-Hine Collaboration Team Meeting
December 11, 2012
Attendees: Principal Young, Dorcus Lawrence, Joe Weedon, Suzanne Wells
Recruitment
Eliot-Hine is working to recruit students earlier, and is focusing on attracting 4th and 5th graders.
Currently the student population at Eliot-Hine is 284. There is not a breakout on the number of students from the feeder schools that went to Eliot-Hine this year. Ms. Young is going to reach out to DCPS to get the information on which schools the incoming 6th graders came from.
Ms. Young is working to reach out to all the feeder school principals. She met recently with Ms. Taliaferro-Bunch at Miner.
Joe suggested reaching out to the instructional superintendents to get them to talk with the feeder school principals about the importance of encouraging students to attend their feeder neighborhood schools.
Suzanne suggested talking with Ms. Jennifer Frentress about the need for hiring bilingual teachers to meet the needs of incoming Tyler Spanish Immersion students.
Starting January 15th, and every Tuesday through March 26, Eliot-Hine is going to have tours of the school from 9 a.m. – 10:30 a.m., and from 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. There is also going to be an open house on January 30th from 9 – 10:30 a.m., and 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. A buddy day is planned for February 20th from 9 – 10:30 a.m. for 4th and 5th grade students. We discussed the importance of getting the open house information in school newsletters.
Ms. Young said the school is planning to hold a Winter Arts Festival this year. The date isn’t set yet.
Ms. Young is planning principal office hours in the community. It was suggested she team up with Tommy Wells when he hosts his office hours in the community. Tommy’s next office hours are Thursday, December 20th, at SOVA from 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. It was also suggested Ms. Young attend the feeder school principal’s open meetings with parents.
On January 22, there will be a Ward 6 IB program introduction at Westminster Presbyterian Church in SW.
A living room chat was recently held for prospective 4th grade families. Ms. Young said she would be available either Thursday, January 24th or Tuesday, January 29th for a living room chat with prospective 2nd grade families. Sarah McPhie, a Tyler parent, has volunteered to host a living room chat for prospective 3rd grade families, and she will contact Ms. Young about possible dates.
Other Topics
Eliot-Hine is starting a Saturday Academy that meets 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. The purpose of the Saturday Academy is to assist with DC-CAS preparation and homework help. Volunteers are needed to help with breakfast and tutoring. Joe suggested reaching out to Leadership Washington to recruit volunteers.
Suzanne mentioned that Whitney Minnis, a local soccer coach, is interested in starting a girl’s soccer team at Eliot-Hine. Whitney already has a girl’s team at Jefferson. The goal is to get the players ready so that when they start at Eastern, they will have a strong team.
The Eliot-Hine Radio Club is broadcasting from the inaugural ball at the Wilson Building on January 21, 2013.
The next Eliot-Hine Collaboration Team meeting is January 9.
Action Items:
1. Ms. Young to contact DCPS to get information on where incoming 6th grade students attended 5th grade.
2. Suzanne to share Eliot-Hine open house schedule with the feeder schools.
3. Ms. Young to continue to reach out to feeder school principals.
4. Suzanne will contact Tommy Wells’ office about having Ms. Young attend his December 20th community office hours at SOVA.
5. Suzanne to get back with Ms. Young about the date for the 2nd grade living room chat.
6. Sarah McPhie to contact Ms. Young about a date for the 3rd grade living room chat.
7. Ms. Young to contact Leadership Washington about recruiting volunteers for the Saturday Academy. Joe will provide contact information for Leadership Washington.
8. Ms. Young to discuss with instructional superintendents the need to encourage principals to support their feeder school patterns.
Ward 6 Public School Parents Organization 