PALSS meeting 4/17 Recap Karina and I began the meeting by giving an update about the Journalism Club.

Craig Macho, editor of the Ripon Record is extremely excited and eager to assist the high school with the formation of this club. Jenna Valponi, Ripon High teacher, has graciously agreed to be the advisor. We have every confidence it will be up and running by the beginning of next school year. The club will write feature articles in the Ripon Record highlighting student and teacher accomplishments at the high school. Karina told the PALSS group that PFCs were unable to pay for stipends for Science and Math Olympiad because it is a union negotiable item. There is a stipend available in the contract for up to 3 advisors per site to do Academic Pentathlon at the elementary sites. There was discussion about getting this program started at all sites. Currently, Weston is the only school with an Academic Pentathlon. Dr. Johnson did say that we could establish a foundation to help fund academic and extracurricular programs. Currently at the high school, some of the clubs and sports have their own individual booster club. There is not a Parent Faculty Club at Ripon High that benefits the school as a whole. A parent asked if the district would consider starting a junior high in Ripon. Many parents at the meeting were in agreement that singleton classes are not beneficial for kids, particularly at the junior high. Dr. Johnson is not in favor of a junior high in Ripon. She cited her past experience with large amounts of discipline issues at junior highs in other districts she has worked. Parents expressed the desire to see more collaboration and more academic offerings at the junior high. Mr. Morrow told the parents that he would like to see a Pre-AP program started in 6-8th grades, as well as incorporating a Pre-AP program at the high school to replace the honors program. The parents were very supportive of this idea. PALSS would like to see this Pre-AP program get board approved and established by the 2013-2014 school year. One parent heard that Manteca Unified was going to offer a Pre-IB program starting at the junior high. I called Manteca Unified this morning and confirmed that they are in the planning stages of offering Pre-IB and an IB program at the junior high and high school level. Dr. Johnson and Mr. Morrow shared the mission and vision of the district and Ripon High. They told the PALSS group that vision statements are ideal scenarios in a school setting. Some areas of the vision the district is currently meeting. The district vision mentions state-of-the-art facilities that exemplify pride of ownership. Dr. Johnson joked that we have the best maintained 1980s portables in the state. Pride of ownership is definitely present. As far as state-of-the-art facilities, the board is looking to add a bond measure on the November ballot to modernize and rebuild Ripon schools. Currently, the tax rate is $46.50 per $100,000 of value. The district is deciding whether to ask residents to support a bond that would increase the tax rate by $12.50. She emphasized that the money collected does not go to the state but stays in Ripon.

The other issue that was brought up by the group was the need for increasing college awareness starting in elementary school through high school. Ideas that were mentioned include hosting a community wide College Night, having students wear their favorite college logo to school for spirit days, and making the PSAT available to 8th grade students. Due to time constraints we tabled getting input on the survey for the next meeting tentatively planned for the first week in June. We thank you for your continued support of PALSS and look forward to working in partnership with the community and school district in order to provide the highest quality of education for our children. Sincerely, Jen Brogan and Karina Ilardi