Curriculum Council Minutes 05/15/2025

2024-2025 Ida Curriculum Council Minutes 

Thursday, May 15, 2025 8:15-10:15 a.m.  

Middle School Library

Staff and Community Representatives Present: 

*Elementary School: Christina Fitzgerald

*Elementary Parent Representative: 

*Middle School: Anne Capling, Audrey Hamm, Amy LaVigne-Benore, Jen Butz

*Middle School Parent Representative: 

*High School: Meg Alexander, Randy Daniels

*High School Parent Representative: Amy Strimpel

*Administrators: Lucy Becker, Chuck Fuller, Allison Georgic, Mitchell Graves

*Board Member: Jamie Hunter

*Chairperson: Sarah Ash

 Ida Curriculum Council Minutes for May 15, 2025   

1.  District  

• Summer learning program (K-8^th grade) will be offered in person three days per week beginning in mid-June. The Middle School program will focus on core areas that students did not do well in.
• Jean Foster hosts monthly brainstorm meetings to network with PE/Health teachers. Please contact Jean Foster from the ISD for the virtual meeting link if you are interested. The next meeting is May 21^st at 3pm.

2.  K-12 Communications: High School Topics 

• Leadership update was shared by Meg Alexander. Students are currently wrapping up their initiatives from this year. The Mental Health Day held at the beginning of May received positive feedback, and students are already brainstorming ways to improve it in the future. To close out the year, they are helping with spring sports and senior special events, while teachers are in the process of reviewing applications for next year. 
• Curriculum/Assessment Changes/Needs and/or Updates 
  1. Algebra 2C proposal was reviewed and discussed. This would be an additional resource added to the Algebra 2C course for seniors that includes financial literacy and meets the financial literacy standards. A vote was taken and the proposal passed with 14 people in favor and 0 rejections. The resource will be purchased and implemented into the course for the 2025-2026 school year.
  2. The scope and sequence for the kinesiology course was reviewed. This semester long course, approved during the February meeting, was shared with the group by the teacher who plans to teach the course during the 2025-2026 school year. 
• Counselor Update – Scheduling and individual student meetings have been ongoing. CTE visits are also underway, with students visiting programs at other schools and hosting students from outside schools in our own CTE programs. In addition, several special events are coming up, including Honors Night, Senior Sunset, Decision Day, the senior picnic, and baccalaureate.  

3.   K-12 Communications: Middle School Topics 

• Curriculum/Assessment Changes/Needs and/or Updates 
  1. Leadership course proposal was reviewed and discussed. This course would be an option for eighth grade students and align with the existing high school leadership courses. The group discussed modifying the original prerequisite, shifting from a GPA requirement to an application process, similar to the high school. A vote was taken, and the proposal passed with 14 in favor and 0 rejections. The course will be offered when it can be incorporated into the master schedule.
  2. Math and You proposal was reviewed and discussed. The math department has experienced success with the current pilot of Big Ideas and is recommending a fall adoption. As Big Ideas transitions to its newest edition under the title Math and You, the department would like to proceed with adopting this updated text. Two purchasing options were provided and the six year adoption was identified as the preferred choice. A vote was taken, and the proposal passed with 14 in favor and 0 rejections.
  3. Novel request for Restart by Gordon Korman for 5^th grade was reviewed and discussed. This book would supplement the current novels used in ELA classes. The proposal passed with all in favor. 35 copies of the book will be purchased for the 2025-2026 school year.  
• HIV and AIDS instruction was presented on May 5^th for 6^th grade and will be on May 29^th for 8^th grade students.
• Counselor Update – The counselors took eighth grade students on a college tour at Monroe County Community College. Many special events have recently taken place and will continue in the coming weeks. These include field day, the PRIDE winner celebration, 4^th grade tours, the awards breakfast, scheduling, the Washington D.C. trip, a Mud Hens field trip, and various other grade level field trips. 

4.  K-12 Communications: Elementary School Topics 

• Curriculum/Assessment Changes/Needs and/or Updates
  1. Wonders literacy program proposal was reviewed and discussed. Several teachers piloted the program during the second semester, and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Additionally, a staff survey showed unanimous support for moving forward with Wonders as the program of choice. Various contract options were considered, and due to the available grant funding, the seven year contract was recommended.  A vote was taken, and the proposal passed unanimously.
• HIV instruction for 4^th grade will be presented on May 23^rd 
• Counselor Update – none given; however, Ms. Young expressed interest in exploring additional resources to support classroom presentations. A committee may be formed in the fall to review potential materials. 
• Mr. Graves shared various updates about the elementary school. Testing is wrapping up, the 4^th grade will be hosting their mini society store on Friday, May 16^th, and many grade levels and students will be taking field trips and walking trips to various locations over the next few weeks.

5.  Parent Group Report 

• Parent Group update was shared by Amy Strimpel. Many events have been taking place with a major one being teacher appreciation week. At the high school some parents will be helping with the senior sunset. Feedback was shared about the senior seminar presentations that have been ongoing, and the High School Quiz Bowl team competed on March 7^th, and they took 3^rd place in the county.

6.  Upcoming Student Events 

• Monroe County Authors’ Program was held in April, Audrey Brasher took 2rd place in the informational writing category.  Audrey’s class also won a Zoom call with an author which they really enjoyed.  

7. Assessment Updates 

• Spring 2025 testing window closes on Friday, May 16^th. Preliminary results are coming back for M-Step and students are able to access their PSAT and SAT scores through their College Board account.
• NWEA and STAR testing is ongoing and will be wrapping up later this month for kindergarten-8^th grade.
• Spring 2026 testing calendar has been released. It is very similar to the calendar for this year.

8. Professional Development Opportunities 

• If you have any PD ideas for 2025-2026 school year, please share them with Sarah Ash. Feedback and suggestions provided on PD surveys are reviewed as potential topics of interest. Discussions are ongoing about increasing collaboration with other districts across the county, as well as offering teachers more choices whenever possible.  
• Summer Book Study: 7 Mighty Moves. Virtual meeting dates July 7^th, 14^th, 21^st, 28^th. Register through Wisdomwhere.
• Michigan School Vocal Music Association Summer Conference – July 23^rd-24^th in Lansing
• TeacherCon 2025 – July 28^th - August 1^st in Bay City
• SHAPE Annual Conference – November 6^th-7^th in Lansing
• Always available: EduPaths and Michigan Virtual online professional learning. https://www.edupaths.org. www.michiganvirtual.org.  Free, self-paced courses, SCECHs are available for most courses

9. Future Meetings

• Meeting schedule day/time for the 2025-2026 school year will be developed and sent out in August.

Adjournment 10:15