Windsor Middle School
Gate Advisory Council

Minutes From 2/12/03 Meeting

* Meeting was called to order at 3:30 by Bryan St.Amant. The minutes were read silently; Katherine Sterling moved to accept, Catherine Serpa seconded, all approved.

* Public Comment:

Gate Website - Catherine Sterling announced the beginnings of a GATE website for WMS that is linked to her own school website. The GATE website will feature student work, announcements about teacher training, and GAC information.

Superintendent's Advisory Council - Bryan attended a meeting of the Superintendent's Advisory Council. He was the only GATE representative on the council for the entire district.

* Old Business:

Catherine Serpa reported to the committee on a conference she attended (that GAC funded) called "How to Better Meet the Needs of Your Gifted and Highly Capable Students" presented by Kay Law. She provided a list of resource for GATE parents (which included books, national organizations, curriculum, and websites). Catherine felt that the top 3 things of value for teachers from the conference were: 1. how to compact curriculum, 2. the use of primary sources, and 3. the use of Bloom's taxonomy when designing curriculum. The top 3 things of value for parents from the conference were: 1. the national organizations, 2. the importance of providing a mentor for children, and 3. the value of parents encouraging their children to take responsibility for their own actions and academic progress.

Report on parent night at SCOE - Deb Olcott attended the parent night and reported that there were 30-40 parents at the meeting. The definition of "gifted" was read aloud and discussed. There was also encouragement to get students to be autonomous learners. Another topic discussed was the experiences schools were having with clusters.

Parent/student surveys by Dan Cutler - Dan received some responses to the first drafts he sent out and had made another draft. He asked the committee to look at his second draft and respond to him by 2-28. There were both student and parent surveys. In both surveys, measurements for results were discussed.

Sub-committee updates - Deb Olcott couldn't be chair of the cluster committee, so Todd volunteered to be chair.
The committee set a timeline for goals for each sub-committee:
* By March, there should be a rough draft for the differentiated learning plan which includes basic guidelines.
* By March, the student and parent surveys should be complete.
* By May, plans for the DLP should be done. The committee will then provide recommendations and amendments for a final draft. It should then be submitted to GATE parents for review.

Meeting Adjourned at 5:15