Indian Hills Middle School Community Council
Agenda: September 5, 2023
4:00 pm – Warrior room
Voting Members: Karlie Aardema, Annette Alley, Katie Atkinson, Jason Dyer, Shelly Karren, Alan Layton, Merinda Cutler, Mindy Cupello, Joanne Schmid, Susan Leete
Non-voting Members
PTSA President – Lisa Kendrick
Draft Agenda:
1. Welcome and introductions:
a. Shelly shared that she is happy at Indian Hills and happy to get to stay in the Alta feeder community.
2. Elections:
a. We will table voting for chair and vice chair because we do not have enough voting members here.
3. PTSA info:
a. We have not officially met yet. We are meeting tomorrow morning. Membership is a concern because it was not on the registration this year.
i. Put a QR code outside the classrooms during PTC.
b. We are going to have the student board do service projects as part of being on the board this year.
i. Shelly mentioned collaborating with NJHS because they will be doing service projects as well.
ii. 30 students showed interest at Back to School Night
c. Parent/teacher conference dinner for in person night
i. Snack cart as well
4. Counseling Center Update:
a. Coping kits were funded by SCC and 15 teachers have taken advantage of these kits.
b. Counselors have gone into a lot of classes to introduce themselves and remind students of the purpose of the student center.
c. Counselors will be in 6th grade classrooms this week to teach about how to make friends and keep friends.
d. Counselors will teach lessons later this month about stress and coping skills. These lessons will be taught in math classrooms.
e. Each counselor is checking in with students who are new to the school to make sure they are adjusting to being in middle school and this school specifically.
f. Counselors have been going into the English Language Development class to make sure that those students know how to access supports available. They are doing a walking field trip this week to show them all the things in the office.
i. Katie asked how many languages we have in our school. We will find out that information.
g. Our social worker is starting to gather names for 6th grade transition groups
h. Reminder about extracurriculars after school
5. Meeting format: zoom or in person?
a. Zoom is easier for scheduling, but we can do either way.
b. We will need to meet in person next month to do our voting
6. Parent/teacher conferences
a. Parents love the remote day.
b. We would love appointments on the in person day.
c. Could we have teachers in one central location?
d. Be clear with messaging about the purpose of PTCs.
7. SCC district training dates: Sept 7th, Sept 12th, Sept 27th
Adjournment – Katie adjourned, Mindy seconded.
Next meeting will be October 3rd at 4pm in the Warrior Room.
