Dr. Victoria Pettis
Summer Cohort 2006
EOCS 7450
|
Standard III. A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by ensuring management of the organization operations, and resources for a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment. |
|
Description of
the Activity |
Explanation
of the Activity |
|
Attend two or more meetings in your school of the shared
governance council/leadership team/executive group. (5-10 hours) |
I volunteered to be a teacher representative for the CMS School Council, which met for one hour on the following Wednesdays: 9/6/06, 11/1/06, 2/7/07, and 4/4/07. All meetings were open to all members of the school and local community. Over the course of four meetings, we discussed a myriad of topics, including the following: MAP testing, Character Education initiatives, Black History Month planning, family engagement activities, school improvement planning, etc. (See
email about the 9/6/06 School Council agenda.) |
|
Obtain permission from your principal and assume
responsibility for an activity that involves teachers and students or school
personnel and the community, e.g., a tea for teachers, an awards program,
pre-kindergarten registration, (school) open house. |
I volunteered for the third year in a row to facilitate and coordinate our school-wide Black History Month activities. As facilitator, this meant I worked with a committee of teachers to bring to fruition three school-wide activities for Black History Month: 1) Assembly; 2) Speakers Day; and 3) Literary Fair. My job also meant working with students and people from the community. (See example of Black History Month Assembly program.) |
|
Talk with your principal
about how school budgets are developed within your district and
how dollars are distributed within the school. In other words, (1) find out how is it determined how district
funds are allocated to a school in your district and, in turn, (2) how
they are distributed within your school.
|
I interviewed my principal about how the school budget process works and how money is distributed within the school. (See excerpt of interview.) |
From: Ben Kerwin
Sent: Tuesday, September 05, 2006 7:37 PM
To: CMS All
Cc: H****, E****; V****, S****; D***,
B***
Subject: FW: Instructional Council/School Council meeting - Wednesday,
9/6, 4 - 5 p.m.
9/5/06
Dear
CMS Families and Staff:
Reminder: We will be holding our first School Council/Instructional
Council meeting for the year tomorrow, Wednesday, September 6th,
from 4-5 p.m., in the CMS media center.
Welcome to our new School Council teacher reps: Victoria Pettis and
C**** H***. (Victoria and C****: You will need to attend the ½-day district
School Council training on Saturday, October 14th. See me if
you have any questions).
This
is our School Council team for the year:
Our state-mandated School Council meets with the
Instructional Council (made up of representatives from each grade level, plus
special education, gifted, and connection) four times per year. This year, the
School Council will meet with the Instructional Council on September 6th,
November 1st, February 7th, and April 4th.
On those dates, including this coming Wednesday, the following School Council
members will meet:
·
B *** K****, Principal
·
W**** R*****, Assistant Principal
·
S**** D****, Instructional Lead Teacher
·
J*** W****, Special Education Team Leader
·
J**** T*****, School Counselor
·
D**** H****, Parent
·
D*** G****, Parent
·
N**** P****,
Business/Community Representative
·
H*** W***/J**** M****, Business Community Representatives
·
C**** H***** Teacher
·
Victoria Pettis Teacher
We have also updated our agenda slightly for tomorrow:
- Studio 2-B B**** W**** and
Studio 2-B community representatives
- School Improvement Planning
CRCT data, Proficiency Level charts, Grade-Level Action Plans, individual
teacher GTEP goal-setting
- Measures of Academic Progress
(MAP) testing and data analysis
- Family Engagement Activities
for 2006-2007
- September 9th CMS
Bike Club Kickoff and Family Cookout, 10 a.m. 2 p.m.
- September 11th 8th
grade Family Engagement Night, 6 p.m.
- October 16th 6th
grade Family Engagement Night, 6 p.m. Family Banquet
- November 13th
Family Literacy, CMS Book Fair, 6 p.m.
- February 12th 7th
grade Family Engagement Night, 6 p.m.
- April 9th Family
Engagement Evening of the Arts, 6 p.m.
All
Instructional Council and School Council meetings are open to all members of
the school and local community.
Black History Month Celebration 
C***** Middle School
February
9, 2007
2:30 P.M.
Mistress of Ceremony
.
Mrs. *******
Prelude
..
..
..
Mr. *****
Opening remarks
.
..
..
....Mr. ********
Occasion
..
.
B*** W***
Musical
Selection
.Mr. J***** K***
To Be Young, Gifted, and
Black (Weldon J. Irvine, Jr.)
.
..
R*** C*****
The Song of the Smoke (W.E.B. Dubois)
.
C*** D*****
Song
.
Mrs.
K*** W****
We Wear the Mask (Paul
Laurence Dunbar)
.
. O*****
V*****
Who Can Be Born Black (Mari
Evans)
.......
.K***** D*****
Musical Selection
.
. CMS Black History Choir
We Real Cool (Gwendolyn
Brooks)
.
. S**** C*****
Booker T. and W.E.B (Dudley
Randall)
T***** B******
And Still I Rise (Maya
Angelou)
..
..H*** M****
Dance Presentation
...
CMS Black History Dance Choir
Mother to Son (Langston
Hughes)
.
..E**** R*****
The Creation (James Weldon
Johnson).....
C*** W****
Musical Selection
. C**** Middle School Black History Choir
Introduction of the guest
speaker
..
..
.. D***** T****
Guest speaker
.
Mrs.
T**** T***
Closing Remarks
..
..Dr. *** **
Heres an excerpt from my interview with my
principal on how school budgets work:
I learned some valuable lessons
about the school level budgeting process as a result of interviewing my
principal.
The most important lesson was how the entire budget process worked.
According to Mansher, he usually gets
the budget for the next school year in late April or early May. At that
time, he does what he calls call an off the top budget request process with
the entire staff.
I ask staff to identify ongoing, programmatic, specific needs for
which we will have to set aside funds for the next year. These amounts,
when approved by me, are taken off the top of the budget allotment, so we
know we will have the funds to spend the next year. Through this process,
I also receive specific requests from money-intensive programs such as art,
band, and orchestra. In addition, I work with the bookkeeper to put aside
funds we know we will need each year for copies, paper, classroom supplies, and
office supplies. All of these requests do not leave as much discretionary
or reserve funds as we used to have when the budget was relatively more
generous, but we look at what is left and then decide how much we can put in
each teachers individual account to spend. In the past few years, this
has been $50/person, plus copies and paper. This process, from the time I
receive the budget from the district, takes around two weeks, Mansher
explained