Hall Middle School

Hall & District Committees

Hall Committees

Lead Team

Purpose: Hall lead team is a team representing each grade level, specialists and support staff that discusses school-wide procedures, policies and programs with an eye towards continuing improvement. We meet twice a month to work collaboratively to make decisions and identify topics that need to return to the staff for further discussion.

Site Council

Purpose: Site Council is comprised of elected representatives from each of the components of the school community. Students, parents, teachers, classified staff and administration are all represented. Other students through the Student Council elections elect student representatives. Other parents at the first PTA meeting of the year elect parent representatives. Other teachers elect teachers.

Site Council performs a variety of functions, including the following:

* Allocate School and Library Improvement Block Grant money

* Approve Single Plan for Student Achievement and included budgets

* Discuss/approve school-wide policy issues/changes

* Draft, distribute, tabulate and evaluate the Site Council Student andParent Surveys

* Identify goals based on survey data and evaluate progress towards those goals

Master Schedule

Purpose: The purpose of the Master Schedule Committee is to identify priorities for a bell schedule and investigate options and possibilities. The group will then share its findings with the staff and larger learning community for discussion and possible action.

Hall Technology

Purpose: The goal of the Hall Middle School Technology Committee is to support the use of technology to improve teaching, learning, communication, and school management. The committee meets monthly and provides recommendations on technology integration, hardware acquisition and staff development at Hall.

Math Adoption

Purpose: The Math Adoption Committee is investigating curriculum for possible adoption. The group will share information from curriculum reviews and pilot opportunities.

District Level Committees

Roundtable Group

This group meets monthly at the district office. The group's membership is comprised of teachers, classified staff, union representation and administration. The purpose of this group is to openly and proactively discuss districtwide issues, collaborate to propose solutions, make recommendations and serve in an advisory capacity to the superintendent on matters of budget, climate and the implementation of districtwide goals and objectives. Please be sure to check with your site rep or principal if you are interested in the agendas or discussions.

District Technology Committee

The technology committee meets monthly at the district office and discusses districtwide technology issues. The group reviews the Technology Plan and makes recommendations regarding its implementation. Members of this group include site technology teachers, the district technology coordinator, principals, the librarian, and the superintendent. Please check with Kim Murray or the district website for dates and times of these meetings. Site technology reps can answer questions or bring issues to the table from staff.

Larkspur School District Board of Trustees

Trustees meet monthly in the library at Hall Middle School and set policy and direction for the district. If you are interested in the agendas and topics of discussion or the meeting minutes, you can always find these posted on our website under Board of Trustees. Board meeting highlights will also be posted on our website shortly after the board meetings. Staff will receive an e-mail reminder.

Facilities Master Plan Committee

The facilities committee was appointed by the superintendent in October 2007 and meets bi-weekly to undertake the task of developing and recommending a 5-10 year Facilities Master Plan. The seven member Committee of parents and staff was created to oversee the Facilities Master Planning process, review future housing needs and property agreements, and develop a Facilities Master Plan that can be recommended to the Board of Trustees in June of 2008. Meeting summaries are provided on this website.

District Advisory Council (DAC)

The purpose of the DAC is to provide input and recommendations to district staff regarding the planning and implementation of district categorical programs and curriculum. When necessary, DAC will review legal requirements of state and federal programs and help ensure compliance. DAC is comprised of members of the School Site Councils, PTA's, CMLSF, site certificated and classified staff, and district and site administration. DAC ensures a variety of diverse perspectives through outreach and communication with constituent groups. DAC meets quarterly in the Community Room. DAC will assign focus groups annually or bi-annually to study issues related to categorical programs or curriculum. These groups may be formed at the request of the superintendent, principals or staff. Focus groups will make recommendations to DAC and/or site administration as they pertain to compliance or program quality. Recommendations that involve budget revisions will follow site and district program and budget development processes.

Focus groups are open to interested staff and parents and have DAC representatives. The following focus groups are currently meeting monthly or bi-monthly: GATE, Academic Support, Health and Safety, and Foreign Language. The chairs of these committees are generally principals or district staff and occasionally a parent member of DAC. For information on the meeting times please check with your site principal or Mary Anne in the district office.

DAC Focus Groups

The purpose of DAC focus groups is to describe and understand current programs according to CDE standards, develop a set of essential questions, study and research best practices and make recommendations to the DAC for continuous improvement in the focus area.

Foreign Language

Purpose: To research educational programs/curriculum in foreign language and determine the feasibility of extending foreign language to the elementary grades

GATE

Purpose: To serve as an advisory to the GATE program as required in GATE plan, review and make recommendations on the implementation of GATE services in the district.

Academic Support

Purpose: To review and make recommendations on the provision of academic support services to students who are ELL and/or students who are not proficient in grade level standards.

Health and Safety

The Health and Safety focus group meets monthly at Hall Middle and seeks to monitor and improve District practices in the following subcategories: Education/Prevention, Emergency/Disaster Preparedness and Facilities.