GT PAC Parent Rep Meeting Minutes
Monday, October 28, 2019
6:30 - 7:30
Parent Rep/Specialist Meeting Info Results & Collaboration
Our Elementary, Intermediate and Middle school reps shared services from their campuses. These will be compiled and added to at the next meeting. This helps lay the foundation for requesting the same services across like campuses.
Board Reports
GT Services Chair - Mike Coyne (absent)
No report at this time.
Parental Support Chair - Steffanie Steelhammer
Steffanie has been compiling resources to share! Keep an eye on our FB page/group for upcoming book reviews and blog snippets. Also, if you’re not aware of Hoagies Gifted Education page, it’s a wealth of information. Start with the Parents tab: hoagiesgifted.org
Communications Chair - Sara Valline
The first round of TAGT (Texas Association for the Gifted & Talented) log-in emails will be coming directly to you soon. All rep emails we had as of last week have been submitted. Be sure to update your profile when you log in.
Please forward your school GT newsletter to mansfiledgtpac@gmai.com. These will be posted on our website: http://mansfieldgtpac.ch2v.com. Feel free to see what other schools are doing and share with your specialist who often don’t know what other schools are doing.
Let’s grow our Facebook parent group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/misdgtparents/! This is for all MISD parents/guardians of identified GT students. Ask a question of this community, share favorite books/articles, make field trip suggestions or just start a conversation. We want this to be a safe and inviting place to share ideas and ask other parents for advice.
Vice President - Melissa Allen
With the new community meetings offered by the School Board, we’re looking to request a GT community meeting either in the Spring or Fall of 2020. To see how the process works, we’ll be attending the Community Meeting on November 13 at 6:00pm in Summit High School’s Performing Arts Center (west side of campus). We’d love to have you join us!
Learn about MISD Community & Town Hall Meeting here: https://www.mansfieldisd.org/news-events/newsroom/news-content/~board/district-news/post/community-meetings-with-the-misd-school-board
Advanced Academics Report
Mrs. Teresa Francis, Advanced Academics Coordinator
Differentiated Learning Plans (DLP) are rolling out in grades 4, 6, 8 and 12. These include academic plus social/emotional goals to be completed by the teacher, student and parent. Next year, the roll out will be to more grade levels.
Independent Studies are rolling out in all grades. Each campus has worked out when in their school day that students have time to work on these studies. Teresa meets with TEA via Zoom every two weeks to learn more details about the state’s expectation. Any details gathered at this point will be rolled out next year (unless required by TEA now). Final presentations (first round of judging) will be around February 3rd to coincide with the campus Open House.
At this time, MISD is in compliance with all that is required by TEA!
The Associate Superintendent of Business & Finance has announced her retirement as of January 1, 2020. It’s possible that AA will have to provide an accounting of every dollar spent with her replacement so, if you hear from your Specialist that they have to give a reason for where the GT money was spent, know this is the reason. We’ll know more when the new Associate Superintendent is selected.
Mrs. Brigette Cardenas, K-6 Instructional Coach
Brigette’s first round of campus visits covered instructional plans for differentiation and helping the specialists implement the Independent Studies. Many campuses are using their WIN time as this is already built into their schedule. Next round of visits will be class observations.
Mrs. Melanie Beckett, 7-12 Instructional Coach
Melanie has been talking at the high school level about AP scores/results. Middle school support has surrounded creative solutions to the question of “when” for the Independent Studies.
President - Kendra Hopkins
As a parent group, we should support the efforts in our schools and by our Advanced Academics team to ensure the best learning environment for our students. We’ve been asked to support the roll-out of the Independent Studies in our grade levels. This is now part of the state plan for GT. These studies provide our students an opportunity to connect their interest with a challenge. It gives them an outlet to use their gifts and talents! In addition, it helps MISD evaluate the GT program.
As part of the Independent Studies, we will be reaching out to the community to find individuals who are willing to meet with GT students, review/hear the presentation and offer advice/ask leading questions to spark other thoughts. Details to come! In the meantime, take a few minutes with your family/friends and brainstorm who you know who work in different fields or who are passionate about different topics.
We’re looking to have an event in March ~ either a speaker or a simple outing for our GT families! Any ideas are welcome and helpful.
Frontier High is transitioning to Frontier STEM High beginning with the 2020-21 school year. The application process will be discussed at the next School Board Meeting.
Watch past and live School Board meetings, view past agendas, view upcoming agendas (Friday before the meeting) and find the schedule here: https://www.mansfieldisd.org/about-misd/school-board/board-meetings
Gifted Advocacy Presentation
Tabled, due to time constraints, for a future meeting.
Future Meeting Dates
6:30-7:30pm
R.L. Anderson Complex
Dec 9, Feb 3, Apr 27