Members Meeting September 2009

23 September, 2009 Membership Meeting

Agenda
Approval of minutes
Opening remarks by the President of the Board and Head of School
Report of Committee Chairs
Report of the Treasurer
Report of Fund Raising Committee
Discussion

GAIS STRUCTURE (Non-Profit Corporation) Membership (Elects Board) Board of Directors (Strategic, Operational, Policy, Long-Term Management) School Management, Teachers, Staff (Pedagogical Leadership, Daily Management)

Membership: Who Are They/We? What is their role in GAIS?
Elects Board
3 Annual Member Meetings:
(1) Sept: Intro to new members, operations update
(2) Feb: Board Elections, operations update
(3) May: Operations update
Parents/Families:
International Families Both Parents German Both Parents American

GAIS Board of Directors: Who Are They/We? (Parents!)
Terms ending Feb. 2011
Andreas Wendker
Markus Hasselblatt (Vice President)
Allison Marakovic (Treasurer)
Robert Rogenmoser
Terms ending Feb. 2010
Jon Kessler (President)
Laura Vaughan (Secretary)
Indra Pachtner
Mike Pederson

Board Standing Committees
Education – Mike Pederson, Chair
Facility – Robert Rogenmoser, Chair
Finance – Allison Marakovic, Chair
Fundraising – Indra Pachtner, Chair
Marketing – Laura Vaughan, Chair
Policies – Markus Hasselblatt, Chair
Personnel Committee – Andreas Wendker, Chair

GAIS Pedagogical Leadership Team Heike Schmalstieg-Preschool Director, Maike Silver-PYP Coordinator, Hans Peter Metzger – Head of School, Dominic Liechti – Director of Academic Programs

Enrollment 189 217 241 280 284

226 of 284 re-enrolled Equals 80% retention Student Retention Stable Enrollment 280 grows to 284

GAIS Objectives for 2009-10
GAIS Website as Communication Tool
Clear Channels of Communication
Culture of Respect through PSE/HSE
Successful PYP Evaluation Visit
Implementation of New Curriculum
Alignment of Assessment and Curriculum
Promote Middle School Program

Objective: Utilize the website for more effective school wide communication

Action
Promote login section of website
Post curriculum, parent letters, homework
Centralized posting of information about activities, workshops, trips etc
Train admin staff and teaching staff
Promote greater visibility for marketing

Objective: Create a clear delineation of roles, responsibilities and channels of communication

Action
Clearly define the administrative structure & responsibilities and disseminate this information
Establish a culture of effective and supportive teamwork
Work with parent rep organization and support the role of the class rep
Promote participation at Board Meeting Open Sessions
Encourage positive and effective parent teacher connection through clear communication
Engage the students through the SMV

Primary Years Programme School Year 2009/10

Culture of Respect
Lead PYP Evaluation Process
PYP Goals :

Culture of Respect
Establish a more clearly defined school culture through the implementation of the PSE standards

Culture Workshop
Shared beliefs of what a school culture should look like
Created common goals
Established strategies of how to promote the philosophy, goals and structure of our school

School wide focus on Learner Profile to promote International mindedness

Classroom agreements focused around attitudes

Shared duties

Community building activities (Buddy System, Peace Day, collaborate planning, sharing of ideas…)

Focus in Info Mail and on Website
PYP News by Maike Silver
Culture of Respect
As you might know by now, one of our goals for this school year is to promote a culture of respect. To support this goal all teachers will place a special value on promoting the attributes of the learner profile.
…

Evaluation Visit 1-2 March, 2010
Report send in November 2009
2-3 members on visiting Team in March
Interview Head of School, PYP Coordinator, Grade level teams, students, parents
Observe classrooms, teachers, students
Exit Interview
Final Report

Curriculum
General
Visible on the Internet (registered user)
Content standards based curriculum
Combined GAIS International Curriculum
Every teacher has a binder with the curriculum
Red string, Curriculum is a guideline-> Flexibility is allowed , teacher could change content between units-> would be communicated
Objective I: Implementation of new curriculum and establish an effective process for accountability

Action Ongoing: Curriculum development Planning Planning Planning Written curriculum Assessed curriculum Taught curriculum

Accountability Class Level Planning Taught Curriculum Assessed Curriculum Written curriculum Check Director of Academics Teacher Individual instruments Evaluating Admin Planning PYP Coordinator Observations Teachers Middle School Elementary School

Grade Level Head of Depart. Planning Taught Curriculum Assessed Curriculum Written curriculum Middle School Elementary School Accountability School Level Surveys Student, Parents ISA OECD (PISA) Framework DSD I Zfa, Kultusminister Konferenz SAT10 USA Grade 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 Grade 6, 7, 8 Grade 6, 7, 8 PYP Evaluation International

Curriculum
Objective II: Create a consistency of assessment practices and their alignment with the curriculum Formative: Process oriented, foster oriented, individual learning gains (pre-assessments, self evaluation, goal agreements, experiments, homework, oral participation, draft essays, short test, vocabulary, dictate, process of a product…) Summative: Compiled learning objectives with the students (Portfolio, end of chapter test or products, open book, student led conferences) Form

Action Step I
Workshop about assessments
Identify formative and summative assessments, add to curriculum
Pilot automatic grading system
Changing final report card in middle school

Action Step II

2. Middle School Objective III: Promote the Middle School Program and facilitate the transition form the Elementary to the Middle School and the transition to the High Schools

New Structure, strategy and culture
Attend Workshop Transition PYP-Middle School (MYP)
Application MYP Nov 10
Implementation already the IB Language and approaches to learning
Info Session for Grade 4 and 5
Head of Department for consistency in English, German, Math
Visiting Local High School (Deans, Director of Admissions), Middle and MYP Schools
Creating an overview
Tracking students (Interview, visiting the freshman's)
Action

$205 Net from Operations $3,191 Total Expenses $174 G&A $52 Marketing & PR $33 Fundraising Expense $151 School Expenses $474 Facilities $2,307 People Expenses: $3,396 Total Revenues $106 Rental Income/Other $136 Fundraising $3,154 Tuition Revenues: 08/09 Preliminary Results

Financial Trends Budget Budget Preliminary Preliminary

$46 $205 Net from Operations $3,351 $3,191 Total Expenses $159 $174 G&A $18 $52 Marketing & PR $34 $33 Fundraising Expense $160 $151 School Expenses $496 $474 Facilities $2,484 $2,307 People Expenses: $3,396 $3,396 Total Revenues $72 $106 Rental Income/Other $117 $136 Fundraising $3,207 $3,154 Tuition Revenues: 09/10 Budget 08/09 Preliminary Results

2009/10 Fund Raising Plan
Auction Party – November 21st
Annual Giving – December to March
On-line Auction – Item of the month

GAIS Campus Lease
Our landlord is the Menlo Park School Dist.
Lease ends after 2010/11 school year
MPSD must say by Jan 1 if it will renew
MPSD leadership wants to renew
Is doing a study now to assess own need
We are working on alternatives

MPSD Enrollment Elementary School Growth

GAIS Site a Bad Option for MPSD
Because of GAIS, MPSD enrollment is 100+ students lower than it would be if we were not in Menlo Park
60 – 75 current GAIS students in MPSD
15 – 25 younger siblings
3 – 5 students per year move to Menlo Park for GAIS.
Those homes would otherwise have MPSD students.
Limited to 300 students/day
Parking and transportation issues
GAIS pays > $400k / year to MPSD

Possible Outcomes
Full 5 year renewal
Temporary sharing with MPSD
Less than 5 year renewal
New campus
How to get there
Administrative cost control
Enrollment
Filling preschool (approx. additional $125k income)
Re-enrolling undecided families
Fundraising
Crucial for keeping tuition low
Other options

What Can You Do Right Now
CONTINUE TO BE GOOD NEIGHBORS
- No speeding
- No parking violations

OUR BOARD MARKETING COMMITTEE WILL BE REQUESTING OUTREACH TO MPSD AND THE CITY OF MENLO PARK FROM:
- GAIS Families living in MPSD
- GAIS Families who have moved into a home in MPSD in the last five years
- Families in the Willows neighborhood
WE WILL ENGAGE WILLOWS NEIGHBORS WHO WILL NOT WANT A LARGE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN THEIR BACKYARD

Thank you for your participation

http://www.germanamericanschool.org	24
http://www.gais.org	3
http://www.slideshare.net	2

Members Meeting September 2009

by GAIS on Sep 30, 2009

Accessibility

Categories

Upload Details

Usage Rights

3 Embeds 29

Statistics

Members Meeting September 2009 Presentation Transcript