NORTH CANYON HIGH SCHOOL 1700 EAST UNION HILLS ROAD • PHOENIX, ARIZONA 85024 • 602.449.5000
Paradise Valley Unified School District NCHS School Council April 22, 2013 The Vision of North Canyon High School is to create an environment that fosters a belief in the importance of lifelong learning. To this end, students, staff, and community will collaborate and communicate on the best means of creating a respectful environment that encourages student achievement. Meeting called to order at 2:30 pm in the NCHS Administrative Conference Room. The following School Council members were in attendance: Elaine Jacobs, Principal Michael Bernardino, Teacher Jean Davis, Teacher Jennifer Swanson, Parent Ann Bergersen, Parent Becky McHolland, UPC Member Absent: Brett Goshert, Sharla Cook, and Naman Shah Graduation: An email was sent out to the staff asking their opinion on moving the venue for graduation to Grand Canyon University. Valid points such as the acoustics would be better, the venue is air cooled, GCU has huge screens that would allow parents to see their students graduate, the cost and the work involved would be considerably lower (just to name a few). They were also asked to comment on a Tuesday (before 9th ~ 11th grade finals) or a Saturday night (after classes are finished) graduation. 27 staff members answered the email. Below is the breakdown… 4 staff members want it to stay at NCHS. 15 staff members felt the Tuesday before school being out worked best. 2 staff members wanted the Wednesday before school being out. 6 staff members thought Saturday after school is out would be best. There will be no “all night grad party” again this year, but we will be hosting a very nice breakfast for the graduates. There will be no live stream during graduation. Jake Flesner will film and upload to a private youtube. Ms. Jacobs will do a dialer to tell parents how to view it. School Council Rubric: All School Council members were asked to fill out a School Council Rubric and they will be turned into District Office.
Paradise Valley Unified School District No. 69
School Council Minutes ~ Page 2 4-22-13 UPC Update: The District is discussing a new grading policy in the second semester of next year. The calculations will change so that a student that is failing will be able to be pulled up. Details are still being worked out. With Foothills and Village Vista closing the district is discussing what the best use of these buildings would be. Foothills may be turned into an online facility. Village Vista will probably be sold, as the land is so valuable. Property values could be as high as $3$6 million. Staff Appreciation Awards will be going to Dennis Bush, Sally Henzel, Mike Martin and Michelle Stewart. School Resource Officers (SROs) The grant is funded by a State grant. Craig Lahlum was mentioned as writing the most proficient of the grants! Intervention: Conversations are taking place on alerting parents every 3 weeks with a half sheet of paper as a progress report. We have so many parents without email. Teachers could possibly give extra points for those students that return them signed. It would be nice if we found out the best way to contact parents. We will discuss this further at the next meeting. Student Report: No student report. Naman Shah was not at the meeting. Parent Concerns: Are Michelle Stewart and the S3 Grant here next year? The grant ends in 2014, but we are hoping to have the data to have it extended. Funding will be reduced, but we will still have Calvin Terrill continue with his work for the next 2 years.
Next School Counsel Meeting Monday, May 13, 2013
