School Improvement Council (SIC)
SIC
SIC is a broad-based community advisory group comprised of parents, teachers, and community members established in every school. This advisory group works with the principal to cultivate a positive school environment supporting student success.
2024-2025 MEETING DATES
- August 20, 2024 at 2:30 PM
- September 10, 2024 at 2:30 PM
- October 21, 2024 at 2:45 PM
- November 19, 2024 at 2:30 PM
- December 17, 2024 at 8 AM
- January 28, 2025 at 2:45 PM
- February 25, 2025 at 2:45 PM
- April 1, 2025 at 2:45 PM
- April 29, 2025 at 2:45 PM
SIC Meeting Agendas & Minutes (2024 - 2025)
- August 20, 2024
- September 10, 2024
- October 21, 2024
- November 19, 2024
- December 17, 2024
- January 28, 2025
- February 25, 2025
- April 1 , 2025
- April 29, 2025
August 20, 2024
September 10, 2024
Agenda
Minutes
SIC Minutes for September 10, 2024
· Meeting was called to order
· Attendees went around the room to introduce themselves; some attendees were online
· Purpose of SIC was discussed
· Our new mission and vision were shared with attendees; the new mission and vision were created last year after many meetings with all shareholders and final versions were voted on by all shareholders
· Discussed 5 year School Improvement plan; the full plan is published on the state website with the school report card
o Discussed each of the performance goals
o No questions from the attendees
· Discussed the current year’s Title I plan
o Approximately $145,359 allocated
§ Strategy I – approximately $111,881
· covers interventions
· 2 hourly reading interventionists
· 1 hourly math interventionist
· .5 math interventionist (available half of each full day for math intervention and half of each full day for Special Education)
§ Strategy 2 – approximately $33,000
· covers instruction
· Materials for classrooms and instruction, books, site licenses, etc.
§ Strategy 5 – approximately $17,750
· Covers Professional Development for teachers
· Covers cost of substitute teachers to provide coverage for classrooms so that teachers can participate in discussion of data
· Covers conferences (professional development)
§ Strategy 7 - approximately $3,339.61
· Covers parent events and parent involvement
· Principal Updates
o New Playground has been completed!
§ Soft opening on Thursday
§ Ribbon cutting with some district employees soon
o PTA can earn “School of Excellence” award
§ Will be sending out a survey to staff to get feedback
§ Will attempt to earn this award this school year
o School beautification progress from last year’s SIC goals was discussed
§ New mural in front entrance hallway by nurse/lobby has been completed
§ Plans to add our new mission and vision to hallways by the cafeteria entrance in the near future
§ New trophy cases in the front office
§ Other plans to beautify the front lobby
· Our next meeting will be on October 8, 2024 at 8:00am.
o We will be offering SIC at different times in order to reach more families/to open SIC up to more stakeholders
· Attendees took a photograph to commemorate this first meeting in front of the new mural
October 21, 2024
Agenda
Minutes
School Improvement Council for Dr. Eugene Sires Elementary School
Minutes Taken on October 8, 2024 at 2:45 meeting in the media center
Attendees: Amanda Hess, Crystie Stewart, Jaylyn Irving, Jennifer Bates, Leanne Fuller, Kara Greer, Jalisha Lunnon, Jennifer Robinson, Lisa Craven, Kori Brown
Attendees were welcomed to the SIC meeting by Kori Brown and provided with an agenda.
Good things were shared by the group.
Hess and Lunnon were appointed to the SIC as parent members.
The roles of the SIC officers were discussed. Officers were elected as follows:
SIC Chair: Amanda Hess
SIC Vice Chair: Leanne Fuller
SIC Secretary: Crystie Stewart
A motion was made to approve changing future meeting times to 2:45 to allow more parents and teachers to attend. (Previous plans had included having some meetings at 2:45 and some at 8:00am). The motion was passed. Future SIC meetings will occur at 2:45.
Our SIC group did not currently have adopted bylaws. A copy of the potential bylaws was shared with each person present. The bylaws were discussed. No changes were suggested. A motion was made to adopt the bylaws. The motion passed and the bylaws were adopted as written.
The school principal, Jennifer Bates, was asked to share Principal Updates.
· Our school has received its most recent report card rating online. We received a rating of Good.
· Our school has received a “Rising Star” Award due to our school’s Health and Wellness committee. This will be presented at a future school board meeting.
· Our school’s art teachers collaborated to apply for an art grant. Their grant was approved for $10,000.
· Katie’s Crops will be partnering with our school on the upcoming Day of Caring. They will help our school to set up planter boxes in the courtyard in the area in front of the goats. Katie’s Crops will provide seeds that grow well in our area for us to plant. These might include snow peas, tomatoes, and another vegetable. We can then donate some of the harvest to a local food bank. Another planter in that area can be prepared to help encourage bees to visit to help with pollination. The story behind Katie’s Crops is also included in the reading curriculum for some of our upper grade levels. Some of those students will be involved in helping with the care of the garden to provide a deeper connection to the learning.
· PTA funds helped build our new playground. This helped many classrooms have a new playground to go to rather than the courtyard. We can also expand this playground in the future by enlarging the fence.
· The YMCA donated $250 to our school library for helping to publicize their local triathalon.
· Our Social Committee has worked together to put up a scarecrow on the square in downtown Summerville. This committee is also planning events for the teachers to participate in to foster a sense of community at our school.
· There will be an autism walk in the spring.
· Double Good Popcorn donated popcorn to our faculty and staff last year. They had a photograph contest. We submitted a photograph of our faculty enjoying the popcorn and won $150 for our school.
· The PTA is hosting a Winterfest event in December.
· The local park will be opening this school year. (This park shares borders with our school.)
· All of these things are helping to get Sires Elementary “seen” in the community. We would like to continue to gather other ideas to help Sires Elementary be known by the community.
· We loved our recent rating of “Good” on the school report card. We would love to continue to grow and improve. One area of improvement is our School Climate survey. Some of the students rated our school climate low. We believe this may be due to some of the students not understanding the specifically worded questions. We think it may help to teach some of the vocabulary that will be on the survey in advance so that students will be more familiar with what each question means when they take the survey this year.
· 5 of our students got perfect scores on SC Ready last year. These studens will be recognized at the upcoming Awards ceremony. One student moved, but is returning to receive their award.
· Attendees were given the chance to ask questions or add comments. No questions were asked or comments made.
· The meeting was adjourned.
· Our next meeting will be on November 19, 2024 at 2:45pm.
November 19, 2024
Agenda
Minutes
SIC Minutes for November 19, 2024
Persons Present: Amanda Hess, Jaylyn Irving, Crystie Stewart, Kori Brown, Jennifer Bates, Leanne Fuller, Kara Greer, Jalisha Lunnon, Rachele Henderson
Persons joining virtually: Ariel, Omega Felder, Annelise Gruppi, Dana Green, Brooke’s Iphone, Andrea Lister, Cara, Ogrodon, Shannon
Welcome by Administration
Good Things: It was a good day in second grade!
Review Data from Annual South Carolina School Report Card and Celebrations:
· New Vision Shared
· New Mission Statement Shared
· New Playground (paid for by PTA and school funds)
o Pictures from the ribbon cutting were shared
· YMCS gave prize of $250 for the media center for having so many Sires members at the triathalon
· Health and Wellness earned the Rising Star Award – the committee is working to earn first place this year
· Art Mural completed by art teachers this summer – donated time
· Art teachers also won art grants
o Boeing Award
o 2024 Arts Enhancement Program Grant
· Data for the Report Card is pulled from 2022, 2023, and 2024
o 2022: Average
o 2023: Good
o 2024: Good
· SC Ready ELA 2024 – compared to district and state, Sires had higher percentage (celebration!)
o Data was then broken down by 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades and shared
· SC Ready Math 2024 – compared to district and state, Sires once again had higher percentage
o Data was then broken down by 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades and shared
· Student progress on SC Ready – our score was higher than DD2 and the state average
· MAT and AVT were explained to members present
· Data for the SC Ready subgroups was broken down and shared
· Compared to 15 schools in the district, Sires was tied for 6th place (our overall data from SC Ready)
· Fall MAP data was shared
o Broken down by Grades 1 through 5, and by ELA and Math
· Math is an area we are focusing on; Sires’ current goal
· Sires strengths include ELA and our PTA volunteers
o Other strengths from our testing data was shared
· Areas of Growth were also shared
· Capturing Kids Heart committee was discussed
o We have asked DD2 for another school wide training as we have new faculty and staff at Sires
· The Sires Action Plan was shared
· Our SIC has grown this year – celebration!
· Principal Updates
o Monday, December 2 will be special education staff appreciation
o Wear Red for Ed that day
o Veterans Day was a success
o The Blood Drive went well
o The Angel Tree is up
o All K-2 staff are continuing their LETRS training
Our next meeting will be on December 17 at 2:45pm
December 17, 2024
Agenda
Minutes
SIC Minutes for December 17, 2024
Members Present:
Welcome by Administration
Good Things:
· Sires Garden has seeds starting to sprout!
· Admin team and faculty was able to celebrate everyone nominated for Teacher of the Year
· Singing Stingrays field trip went well
Minutes from previous meeting were read. No additions or corrections were made.
The floor was opened to brainstorm ideas to improve Sires Elementary:
· Winterfest PTA event went well.
· Time to begin planning the PTA Fun Run event
· Courtyard has the gardens, which are sprouting!
· The outdoor classroom space could be made more cosmetic/beautified
· Align our SIC with school events, such as hosting a table at the awards ceremonies or at Facts and Fees/Registration
· We could add a possible mural to the media center
· We could bring back the Robotics team
· Our Social Committee is working to get the name of Sires Elementary out there and seen by the community. They added a tree to the Trees on the Square in downtown Summerville
· Suggestion to get our mascot Salty the Sting Ray out there, make him more known in the community
· We could add décor to the front lobby/foyer to help beautify the area
· An Autism Walk
· Habitat for Humanity – we could participate in a women’s build event
· Suggestion to post information about events in the car rider line, or use the sign in the front of the school; could put posters on the fence by the car rider line
· Continue posting about events on Parent Square and encourage parents to download the app
Principal Updates:
· Science data from the field test was at or above both the state and district scores
· The DD2 science interventionist will work with our 4th grade team to keep that momentum going
· Sires Elementary common assessments are going well. The District gave us an affirmation for doing a good job.
Our next meeting will be on January 28, 2025 at 2:45pm
January 28, 2025
Agenda
Minutes
SIC Minutes for January 28, 2025
Welcome by Administration
Good Things were shared by members present:
· Made it through the storm!
· 2nd grade swimming lessons are going well
· The 1st grade event is coming up
School of Excellence Award was discussed by PTA
· Discussed creating an action plan
· Explained what a School of Excellence is (an award and recognition for Sires)
· Survey went out to parents and share holders to get feedback about our school’s community
· Survey had about 50 responses
· Today’s goal is to use the data from those responses to create our action plan
· Focus Area will be Family Engagement, concentrate on Health, Safety, Well Being
· Standard 3 – Student Success; We will team up to aid student success
· Can increase communication to families re: data, MAP, standards, report cards, etc.
· We have increased from 5 to 11 business partners this year, our goal is 15
· We will list our business partners in the yearbook
· Our business partners are currently listed on our school website
· They may be features in a school newsletter in the future (which would replace the current Sunday message)
· Suggestion: Make a banner to display on the fence by the car rider line that features our business partners
· A model of a School of Excellence goal was shared to show the different pieces involved
· An invitation was made to all present to join the School of Excellence team
· Suggestion: When we have school events for parents we can include a QR code so parents can give feedback right away (to increase our feedback from our community)
· School of Excellence team will take the plan, decide how to achieve the goal, and will take the necessary steps
· Parent Square is used for communication – we could invite a district representative who is knowledgeable about Parent Square to come and talk to parents about the app and the features it has, or to make a screencast video about features such as the calendar that could be shared
Our next meeting will be February 25, 2025 at 2:45 pm
February 25, 2025
Agenda
Minutes
School Improvement Council Minutes for February 25, 2025
Welcome and Good Things
· Moms to Moms event, increased participation
· Star Performer will be celebrated on Thursday
· Second Grade Parent Event
Reviewed SIC Report to Parents (Brochure)
· Members present made suggestions of things to add, things to delete, and other suggestions to update the brochure for the current year
· Also suggested to add a new section displaying the Business Partners
· All suggestions were noted by Kori Brown who will present a draft of the edited brochure at the April 1 SIC meeting
School of Excellence Update
· Reviewd highlights of what was shared at our previous meeting
· Admin met with the PTA to follow up on the goals and to simplify the main focus
· It was shared how the PTA had been working to support the main goal, such as collaborating on the new Mom event, the Dad events, increasing our business partners, spirit nights, etc.
· PTA shared that Dr. Sires’ granddaughter joined our PTA as a community member
· PTA shared that they have been looking at other school’s excellence plans to make sure we are giving ourselves credit for what we are already doing
· Discussed how parent square can translate and how the district has interpreters that are available when needed
· PTA wants to get involved in helping to grow our outdoor classroom and butterfly gardens and crops gardens
· The next goal is to finish writing everything up and to share the finished product at our meeting on April 29
Principal Updates:
· The new playground retains water. The district is going to add some drainage to help with this during spring break.
· The district also looked at the back playground to see what can be done to help with drainage there.
· A group of teachers and administrators went to the National Math Conference
· They will present what they learned to the faculty soon; the team came back motivated and energized and excited about math
· Title I has not yet had any changes to the budget; Sires is using the money we have for the current year well on math interventions, parent events, professional development (such as the math conference)
· We have not been given a budget for next year, but that is normal at this point of the school year
· PTA Fundraiser is coming up soon: Fun Run
· Book Fair is going on now
· District Job Fair two weeks ago; our staff seems to be steady at the moment
· District Observations/Visit occurred as the Math Conference team was leaving for the airport.
o It went well. The district celebrated Sires.
o The district saw 100% of what they wanted to see, such as use of math manipulatives (Math manipulatives were purchased by Title I this year and provided for all classrooms)
o The district also saw DLE (digital learning environment) – Sires was the second leading elementary school for observations and DLE and Sires is above the district average
o Admin celebrated by gifting teachers a week of jeans
Principal also shared MAP data with the district and showed our growth as well as how we are planning to increase our future growth
Questions:
o When is the day of caring?
o It has already occurred this year – we worked on our school gardens.
o Fire fighter crew is looking to volunteer at our next day of caring
o Other suggestions were made as to how the crew could volunteer in the meantime
Our next meeting will occur on April 1, 2025 at 2:45pm