Great Academics for Pearland

(formerly Gifted Advocacy for Pearland)

Building a Bridge to Excellence!

GAP - Meeting Minutes

Meeting  Date: 10/26/04

Meeting Location: ESC Annex -- Conf. Room D

General Membership Meeting -- Called to order at 7:00 PM by Suzy Roberts, President.

In attendance: Suzy Roberts, Ellen Shohet, Jeff Jeffress, Joe Oster, and Susan Spates.  Additionally, we had eighteen parents/teachers in attendance.

?         Suzy had some opening remarks welcoming everyone to the 2^nd GAP meeting and introduced the Board by name and title:

?         Suzy Roberts, President

?         Jeff Jeffress, Vice President

?         Dr. Richard Steins, Treasurer

?         Ellen Shohet, Publicity & Communications

?         Joe Oster, Secretary

Suzy also introduced  Susan Spates, PISD.

?         Suzy highlighted activities by Jeff Jeffress to create a new Website for GAP.   The address is www.Pearlandgifted.org.  A new slogan for the group was identified and voted on.  Motion - Accept new Slogan as “Building a Bridge to Excellence”.  Motion seconded and past by show of hands.  Also adopted were the new logo (Bridge with the letters GAP) and a business card with essential group information that will be used to spread the word to new potential members.  Thanks to Jeff for his hard work.

?         Secretary, Joe Oster, presented the minutes from the 9/28/04 meeting and made a motion to have them accepted.  Motion seconded by Jeff Jeffress and past by a unanimous vote.

?         Went around room for attendee introduction.  Fourteen campuses represented:

?         In keeping with the commitment from the last meeting, Suzy gave an introductory  talk on the subject -- What is Gifted & Talented.

?         Statistically speaking, the population of Gifted and Talented students should equal 3%-5% of the student population.  PISD presently has 3.4% identified and believes it is under identifying in select groups, especially in the low economic and minority groups.

?         PISD makes the determination based on  General Intellectual Ability.

?         Suzy provided some anecdotal examples to illustrate GT traits.

?         It is common for GT children to work at multiple levels in different areas.

?         Suzy also talked on the subject -- What does PISD do for the GT?

?         Kinder - Nominating/testing.

?         1^st-4^th  - GT program in mixed classes.   0-10 GT children in a class, more than 10 GT may get split into multiple classes.  Balance of students in class are Average and above.  Instruction based on Differentiation (discussed more below).

?         5^th -- Honors. Open Enrollment/Self Selection.  Students must maintain grades.

?         6^th -- Pre-AP. Math will be the first program rolled out.  Must maintain grades.

?         7^th-8^th -- Pre-AP.  Also include FPS (Future Problem Solvers).

?         9^th -- Only Pre-AP, No FPS.

?         10^th -- A few AP classes and rest Pre-AP.

?         11^th-12^th -- AP/Academic Decathlon.

?         Nominating periods should officially be obtained from the PISD Website to ensure completeness and correctness with latest policy.   Kinder is screened in October and need to be identified to start receiving differentiated instruction by March.  All other grades are open nomination and tested according to PISD published schedules (see PISD website). All students in 2nd grade take the COGAT in Feb.  All students in 4^th grade take the COGAT in Nov.

?         How does PISD provide “differentiation”?

?         Must be a minimum of ten (10) children, if ten exist in a campus/grade level.

?         For ‘04-‘05, balance of class will be filled with average and above students.

?         Largely teacher dependent -- identified children will be given more challenging work and work that requires more in-depth thinking.

?         FPS - Future Problem Solvers- After school club for 5^th & 6^th graders.  Teaches them how to think creatively. Not available in 7^th.

?         A question was put to the group -- “Where are your kids headed? What do you want the district to do?”

?         Discussion followed.  Issue tabled to follow School Board report. See section on Manifesto below.

?         Brenda Bishop, School Board Liaison, provided an update on issues discussed at last PISD Board meeting.

?         New PISD rating of Recognized.

?         Workshop to consider eliminating Latin in the high school.

?         Motion from Faye Watson  -- Does GAP wish to endorse a position to the School Board that recommends keeping Latin?  Seconded by Jeff & Ellen.

?         Discussion on merits and benefits of Latin for medical and engineering fields.  Why is t being considered to drop Latin?  What is the potential trade-off? 

?         Vote: 12 in favor, no opposition, people who abstained were not counted.

?         Suzy will prepare a letter of recommendation, of behalf of GAP, to the School Board.

?         Manifesto  --

?         What do we want to tell PISD that we want for our children?

?         Academically rigorous curriculum starting at Kindergarten.

?         Broaden areas of GT identification.

?         Multi-year plan

?         Create excitement and enthusiasm for GT students so that they love school as much as they love learning/

?         Teacher training

?         Standardized programs across the district.

?         PISD needs to be able to “compete for Medical Community” to get them to move here.  That requires advanced curriculum.

?         Any child with the innate ability should be given the skills and educations necessary to get into top private colleges.

?         Counselor Training -- Need to change the mentality toward the “gifted population”.  Too often, the counselors encourage middle of the road goals that do not adequately motivate/challenge the gifted.

?         Any child who is willing and innately capable should be prepared with the education necessary to gain entry to a top university.

?         Mimi classes offered to 6^th graders to give them a sneak peek at the options available in 7^th & 8^th grades.  Should be ~1 week to provide sufficient basis for making an informed decision.

?         GAP promotes an academically rigorous program for any innately capable student who enthusiastically attends school for the love of learning with the purpose of preparing students to matriculate to the college/university of their choice.

?         Reminder -- GAP Membership Drive -- The success of GAP will be based on achieving critical mass so that the collective voice is recognized by PISD.  With that in mind, we encourage everyone to join and to reach out to parents of other gifted children so that GAP can achieve the critical mass it needs to effect policy changes.  The membership fee is $10.00 annually.

?         Meetings will be held on the 4^th Tuesday of each month, with some exceptions around holidays.  The GAP schedule for 2004-2005 was defined as:  Nov. 30^th, Jan. 25^th, Feb. 22^nd, Mar. 29^th, Apr 26^th, & May 24^th. Please make a note on your calendars and plan to join us… and bring a new friend each time to help achieve critical mass.

Meeting was adjourned by Suzy Roberts, President.

Outstanding Action Items and/or initiatives from past minutes/meetings:   - This is intended to be a rolling log of tasks so that  good ideas and actions are not lost over time.

?         Suzy noted that each Officer should create and keep a notebook to document their activities in GAP and to pass on to future officers for continuity.  Notebook should contain the following standard items -- copy of GAP By-Laws, Current GAP member list, Info on TAGT, Schedule of planned meeting dates and upcoming functions.  In addition it should contain all notes and correspondence necessary to provide continuity of GAP as an organization.

?         Joe to work on a reimbursement voucher that can be used to document reasons for disbursing GAP monies.

?         Note - Joe to update mission statement on GAP sign-in sheet.

?         Secretary will work to flesh out the “gifted package” by the next meeting.  Currently in outline form.

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Last modified: 10/27/04