Approval of Minutes Motion by Kim Pigg, seconded by Laura Jorgenson, motion passes. Minutes are approved.
Principal’s Report – Denise. Denise gave a review of the first quarter. Comments from students and staff on the Fall Carnival were positively excellent. The 1st fall theatrical production Strictly Ballroom was a huge success. A group of teachers have been taking a credit class through UAA focusing on the transition to a 6-8 middle school. First half of the session reflected on the philosophy. Advisories will be 6-12 not 6-8. Grades 9-12 went to the college fair while 7-8 learned about the 7 methods of highly effective teens. For Socratic Seminars, Polaris has a partnership with Clark Middle School. Clark will come and observe our seminars.
Copies of the school goals were distributed. Handout includes both the three goals and the action plan to meet these goals. Polaris received a legislative grant for $16,000. A large portion has been used to purchase new math texts for Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1 and Algebra 2. Remainder of the grant will be used for the third science classroom. Kitte’ is going to send a thank you to the legislature from Parent Forum.
Elementary Report – Carol Bartholomew. Thanks to Parent Forum for the money for the tubs used to store books in the bookroom. Parent volunteers are labeling the tubs. More volunteers are welcome. See Judy and Carol. Terry Patka, the district reading specialist, was at Coffee and Conversation. AAEYC (Anchorage Association for the Education of Young Children) meeting in January usually has classes geared for parents.
Secondary Report – Siri Khalsa
Marion organized a college visit for all students in grades 9-12. Half the students went to UAA, the other half visited APU. Feedback from the students was good. Secondary students have registered for intensives. Registration for next semester is at the end of intensives. The schedule will probably be available before Christmas break. The registration process will be similar to last time and will take a whole day.
Op Group Report – Genny Boots and Kitte’ Miller
There are 3 mural proposals. Denise and Christina have approved these proposals. Sketches/designs are displayed outside the gym, the SPED office and DECA and comments are being solicited from the Polaris community. Christina will address Op Group on how to make appropriate comments about the design (not the artist).
Daniel is putting together a committee to identify and address problems at Polaris.
Financial Report – Kim Pigg
There is a change in the format of the financial report. Numbers shown are net.
The auction netted $15,366.10. Total income is $32,006.74.
Finance committee met and has proposed two changes to the budget.
- $2500 to go to Technology. In part this will go to purchase digital cameras for the elementary family groups to use.
- $2535 from Polaris Now Income to go to theater upgrades
Ongoing fundraisers:
- At Partycraft, mention Polaris when you check out and 5% of all purchases will go to the school. Office Depot has a similar arrangement.
- Escrip brought in about $75 in September and $167 in October.
Motion was made by Jeff Friedman to accept the proposed budget revision and seconded by Jim Hasbrouck. A vote was taken and the motion passed.
Vision committee meets Dec. 12 at 11:30 in the conference room. There is lunch on Thursday 11/30 at 11:30 at the Moose’s Tooth for all interested in extra discussion on community service and its effect on Polaris.
Volunteer Report – Kitte’ Miller
- Still need a co-chair.
- Spaghetti Dinner will be February 2, 2007. In addition to dinner, there will be a Sock Hop and dance lessons with Jack Klauschie.
- Looking for an editor for the newsletter. Kim Pigg has been doing this on her own.
Old Business
Auction and Recruitment – Jeff Block
Jeff Block coordinated the Fall Auction this year. He is looking for people who want to plan and coordinate the fall auction and volunteers who would like to be groomed to take on more responsibility. Jeff handed out a chart recapping the 2006 Auction, breaking out the items auctioned by category, value and price paid for them during the auction. There were a few items left at the end of the auction. Jeff proposed that we give the 3 $15 Arctic Roadrunner certificates to the custodians who cleaned up after the carnival and auction. The $40 Party World gift certificate will go to the Prom Committee. To help with parking for next year’s fall carnival, it was suggested that nearby businesses be contacted and asked about using their parking lots that evening. Jeff will coordinate the Fall Auction again next year working with Laura Jorgenson. He’s looking for volunteers to be groomed to take over the coordination of this event.
College Goal Sunday is February 11, 2007. This event, targeted to juniors and seniors in Alaska, is intended to help families complete federal financial aid applications. It’s in its third year in Alaska. There are 17 sites statewide. The three in Anchorage are at Polaris, East High, and West High. Laura Jorgenson is looking for volunteers to help with set-up, greeting participants, take down and some paperwork.
Meeting adjourned at 8:20 pm.