April 28th, 2009
Attendees:
Dr. Helminski
Mr. Gannon
Kari Kling
Jodi Heidbreder
Liz Matthews
Enrollment
Dr. Helminski recommended we speak with District Staff to determine enrollment projections. They have historical data and models to predict enrollment.
Curriculum Model
- Based on current trends, 90% of students go on to Mohave and we have had between 100 – 105 children enrolled in 6th grade for 11 of the past 12 years. Dr. H. feels that most of the 6th grade families would be inclined to remain for 7th and 8th grade because he feels they would like the Kiva family culture but strongly recommends a survey to 5th and 6th grade families to determine enrollment intent once the K-8 program is defined in more detail.
- The thought is that the biggest enrollment consideration will be whether families want traditional middle school curriculum and community or a K-8 curriculum and community.
- When Aztec added 6th grade, they did not have enough enrollment to implement. The hunch is that many of the families wanted the middle school environment.
- When Cheyenne added grades 7 & 8, almost all of the families continued on. Dr. Helminski agreed to reach out to the principal, Dr. Duff, to determine contacts that we could speak to about their transition.
- Copper Ridge is a K-8 due to the facilities; it is a traditional middle school but shares a campus with the elementary school.
Curriculum Model
- Dr. H. suggested that a K-8 curriculum would be a better fit for the Kiva community due to facility limitations versus a middle school sharing the campus. The 7th and 8th grades could be structured similarly to our current 6th grade.
- Dr. H. recommends we begin researching traditional schools which tend to have a better handle on K-8 curriculum
- Block scheduling is recommended and a teaching model with the following delivery methods: - - Differentiated instruction
- Cooperative learning
- Thematic instruction -
i.e. Social studies to include career exploration
- Language Immersion
- Leadership Skills / Leader’s Club –
older kids are school helpers - Dr. H. recommended someone from the sub-committee speak with District Staff to determine opportunities and explore “out of the box” ideas for electives such as shop, home economics, etc.
Facilities & Staffing - would not necessarily need to be available immediately
- In addition to 4 classrooms for each additional grade level (8 total) (assuming around 100 students), additional facilities should include:
- Science lab
- Mobile computer lab
- Add higher reading level books for Library
- Physical education or multi-purpose room
- Classrooms should be a little larger than the
current 6th grade classrooms
- Rotation of existing facilities for Music, Art,
Computer Lab, Library, etc. could have an impact
on specials schedule but Dr. Helminski believes
this is workable. - If a model is developed with a similar structure to our existing 6th grade, then we would need a highly qualified teacher for each of the subjects (i.e. Math, language arts, science and social studies). Moreover, it would mean that our 6th grade teachers would need to be highly qualified. Dr. Helminski can investigate further but currently the thought is that only one is.
- The sub-group should determine if and how we could provide funding/assistance for existing teachers to get the necessary highly qualified certifications.
- Dr. Helminski recommended that the subcommittee speak with District Staff to determine highly qualified requirements.
