E. H. Sutherland Elementary School

10015 S. Leavitt Avenue
Chicago, IL 60643

773-535-2580
773-535-2621 fax

Catherine Gannon
Principal

Maureen Elwood
Assistant Principal

Ms. Annie Malone, Counselor/Case Mgr

Ms. Jeanmarie Ford, School Clerk

Click here for the 2008/09 Sutherland Parent Handbook in pdf format.

Click here for
Matrix of School Wide Expectations.

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Visitors since
9/1/04

LSC Minutes - 10/10/06

Sutherland Elementary Local School Council
Meeting Minutes
October 10, 2006
Sutherland Library

1. The meeting began at 7:00 p.m.
2. Roll was taken; present members were Bill Cahill, Catherine Gannon, Reggie O’Connor, Susan Poole, Cathy Shepherd, Donna Somerville, John Somerville, Aronzo Traylor, and Charlie Zarzecki (through phone conferencing).
3. Members moved to Room 114 for Executive Session to discuss Community Representative. (Session is on tape)
4. Return from Executive Session-During the Executive Session it was decided to appoint Michael Barnum as our new Community Representative pending an official vote to follow.
5. Election of New Community Representative- An official vote of all present members was taken and Michael Barnum was unanimously appointed as our new Community Representative.
6. Minutes from the September 12, 2006 meeting were read and approved.
7. Principal’s Report- Ms. Gannon distributed a copy of items to be discussed in her report.

   a. The electricians are here working on the auditorium lights.

   b. Volunteers- Reading Buddies will meet on October 17th @12:30.  PBS support team volunteers will meet on October 18th @9:30.  Volunteer forms will be signed by all and sent to the board for screening.  Math buddies will be called for a meeting in about a month.

   c. Cell tower- nothing new to report from Verizon or Cingular. Verizon has not started work yet.

   d. Thirty-six computers were delivered last week for grades K-3.  They should be set up this week.  Due to a delay by the Board we will have to wait for our server.

    e. DIBELS and Learning First results are in.  Meetings have begun with teachers to discuss individual students and teaching strategies.

   f. After School Counts letters will go home on Wednesday for the first round of students to participate beginning October 18th.  Students were selected based on test scores.

   g. The AMPS office visited on September 26th to discuss streamlining procedures to eliminate wait time and complexities while dealing with the board.

   h. The PBS program has been successful.  The first school wide rewards day was a success.

8. Public Comment

a. Larry Hansen spoke.  He is concerned about the large class size in the   seventh grade class of which his son is a part.  He asked the LSC if there was anything the school could do to address this issue.  Ron responded by saying the CPS looks at the school as a whole and right now there is an average of 29 students per class among all the grades so there is nothing they will do about this problem. Ms. Gannon said that 8 to 11 children are taking Math and English with other special help teachers. Ms. Gannon said she is working with the AMPS office for a creative solution to the problem.

b. Jim Sencion also spoke about his concerns regarding the children’s safety       particularly at the intersections of 100th and Hamilton and 100th and Hoyne.  Donna said the PTA is working on a plan to reduce the amount of parents driving to school and increase the amount of parent volunteers patrolling intersections.   The PTA will meet with the LSC Buildings and Grounds committee and Sue Cody who is in charge of crossing guards to see if they could determine any more solutions.

9. Delegate Reports

a. PPLC (Curriculum)-Reggie O’Connor said there is nothing new to report.

b. PTA-Looking into purchasing benches outside for the playground.

c. Buildings and Grounds- Signage for playground is in and needs to be installed.  Many parents are complaining about the way the metal gates in the back of the school open in rather than out.  Ms. Gannon said that as long as the gates are outside the school they can open in either direction and right now a locking gate is more important than the direction the door opens.  Donna will add to Susan’s building and grounds description.

d. School Climate- Ron and Ms. Gannon met with coaches.  Sue Cody will be the coordinator of the coaches.  Background checks will be done on all coaches. Ms. Gannon and Ron will meet on October 18th to pull together volunteers for PBS.

10. New Business

a. Donna will be the PTA committee chairperson which acts as a liason between the PTA and the LSC.  A SIPAAA chairperson is not needed until next year. A Principal Evaluation chairperson will be appointed later in the year.

11. Old Business

a. Cathy Shepherd is looking into a Sunday afternoon in November at the Beverly Art Center for a reception to meet Ms. Gannon. 

b. LSC web page- Reggie would like to see a disclaimer on the web page to prevent people from leaving emails regarding specific personnel and/or student issues that need to be addressed only by Ms. Gannon and the respective teachers.  We should also include this disclaimer when publicizing the email address in the newsletter.

12. Next LSC meeting will be November 14, 2006 at 4:00 p.m.
13. The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m.