Site Council Meeting
Presented at February 8, 2010 Meeting
Prepared by: Lisa Leathers-Cox, Kiva K-8 Task Force Facilitator
(Please note: Kiva grade level teacher comments are in gray. Blue colored commentary is provided by the Kiva K-8 Task Force Committee)
Kindergarten
Scared of big kids around the little kids (during lunch, recess, etc.)
Logistics can be easily worked out; work on fostering a positive learning environment where the older kids read to the younger kids; mentor kids in various areas; etc.
Would be similar to how Kiva is now. The 6th graders are mostly separated from the Kindergartners.
Additionally teachers should be able to help with keeping them in their designated areas just as they do not from the sixth grade wing. Mentoring should be a priority.
Second Grade
Teachers say that the parents of children who went on to Mohave are thrilled with the self contained gifted classes.
The self-contained gifted classes contain a tiny, tiny percentage of the Mohave student body. My child is a high-achieving student but not gifted. When I started investigating Mohave I was told that my daughter was not entitled to those services. The majority of Kiva students and Mohave students are not eligible for the smaller, more personalized, and more academically challenging learning environment that a gifted program provides. I chose a charter school where every child is given the benefit of smaller classes and high academic standards. The beauty of having a K-8 option at Kiva is parents can choose to send their child to Mohave if they are eligible for and want to take advantage of the self-contained gifted program, or they can choose Kiva which would provide a smaller more personal environment. Choice is good.
Teachers commented that they also recommend students for the Mohave pre-Algebra clusters and humanities program.
Assume the gifted classes could be easily designed/duplicated for K-8 Kiva.
Why bring 7-8th grade to Kiva? Why not shove them on to high school and make it 8-12th grade?
Third Grade
Two teachers were neutral about K-8; Two teachers were opposed
Why fix what’s not broken at Kiva?
Nothing is broken at Kiva – give a choice of schools.
Nothing is broken as Kiva, and so expanding this working program to promote fluidity and growth in the education seems a benefit. Those who prefer an age based middle school will have that option to leave.
Concerned about losing specialized programs that Middle Schools offer
We could give the kids real life experiences by teaming up with off site business like restaurants; construction companies. We could partner with the churches on both sides of Kiva to utilize their gymnasium for basketball, etc.
The specialized programs within the district need not be affected. How Kiva develops what it will offer in the upper grades is yet to be determined. Perhaps we consider complementing what is out there already. We don't intend to duplicate existing programs but rather to offer additional opportunities.
Space
New buildings will be needed; portable facilities could be used and phased in/out as needed.
Money
A bond will be needed or funding can come from the community.
Empathize with the community school desire, but our model is desirable as is.
Mohave is an excelling school, so why can’t it meet the needs for our Kiva kids?
This is an excellent question and one that the administration from both schools should begin researching—perhaps utilizing parent focus groups?
Students make the transition to middle school--these are necessary developmental transitions.
Many Kiva teachers have kids at Mohave
Loyalty within the complex; redundant to have a middle school and a K-8.
The goal is to give parents choices. There is stiff competition between private, charter and public schools at this time.
The K-8 Task Force fully supports the idea of a “strong Mohave.” The Task Force feels that a K-8 option would strengthen the Complex rather than weaken it. We can look at the Arcadia Complex as an example of a successful model for an Elementary, a K-8, a Middle School and a High School co-existing successfully. The Task Force has gathered a large amount of factual and anecdotal information regarding attrition of students at Kiva. The majority of these students leave Kiva and the Saguaro Complex because they are looking for another option for Middle School. They typically end up at Charter or Private Schools and do not come back to SUSD for High School. The combination of a K-8 option at Kiva, the language immersion program at Pueblo, an excelling Middle School and the new Science and Math Academy at Saguaro could make the Saguaro Complex incredibly strong. The Task Force does not feel that a K-8 and a Middle School within the same complex is redundant because they meet different needs and offer two very different products.
1/3 of students are open enrolled—what will happen to them?
Kiva survives on Open enrollment. There would still have to be Open Enrollment in order to keep the school full.
Fourth Grade
The teachers don’t have enough concrete information as to why Mohave is so bad.
The effort of the K-8 Task Force is not meant as an indictment of Mohave. Rather, it is an effort to offer parents more choices for 7th and 8th grade.
Not sure where this stigma is coming from as Mohave has never been known as being “bad” as it reverts back to “giving parents a choice” and “giving options to ponder.
There is a family interest in uninterrupted fluidity in elementary school until high school that the Task Force feels compelled to address by the K-8 option.
Fifth Grade
Teachers would rather see lower class sizes than see a K-8. (Would like interactive specialists, etc.). This would prove most beneficial for all kids at Kiva.
What is the current class size at Mohave both 7th and 8th grade classes? Also, what are the class sizes of the electives offered at Mohave such as the Spanish classes and other elective classes?
Additional Comments:
We need to bridge what Mohave is missing and what Kiva needs to do to in order to bridge that gap.
We need the right kind of teacher to be able to do block scheduling—does not work for everyone.
Need not the right teacher – it needs to be a team of diverse teachers. They are the experts in the area of scheduling. They can provide their perspectives on the good, bad, and the indifferent of scheduling. This is in relation to content/length/actual class offering(s).
Sixth Grade
Parents have a more positive attitude toward Mohave after their child attends the school and is exposed to the electives, PowerHouses, etc.
Would we have more needy students if the more independent students do choose a middle school option?
Will it change the teacher status as highly qualified teachers (6th grade teacher concern).
Yes, 7th and 8th grade teachers must hold a Highly Qualified Certificate for EACH subject taught; Highly Qualified Certificates are obtained by the teacher passing a content knowledge test via AZ Education Proficiency Association (AEPA). AEPA Tests are given multiple times per year. Performance objectives to be mastered by teachers appears on the AEPA website. Cost for each AEPA test is $105.00 and will be reimbursed by the district when passed.
We might have more needy kids, but that does not change from the current risk.
Would electives be comparable to that of middle school?
Re electives: "They would be whatever we develop them into."
Would we have more than 80 students? What happens to our student base?
Re numbers: Unknown.
How will the kids transition from K-8 to High School?
Re transition: no differently than they do in middle school. Upper grades at any school prepare kids for the next level.
Safety issues of 7-8th graders around kindergarteners in the cafeteria.
Solution is within the lunch schedule. Separate times older from the younger kids as done today at Kiva with the sixth graders.
