August 27, 2025 – Minutes

Ridgecrest Elementary School Community Council

Monthly Meeting Agenda

Wednesday, August 27, 2025-  4:00pm- Library

1. Call to Order and Introductions:

• • Call to order:  4:05pm
  • Present:  Sara Allen, Anna Whiteley, Chris Hettich, Taylor Sicard, Carrie Christensen, Sammy Fan, Fengmin Li, Natalee Thomas, Matt Holton, Dallin Toews, Jessica Warther

                    Phone: Bill Fox

2. Elections of New Members and discussion of terms for returning members

• • Collect roster Information: Verified correct information to be posted on website
  • Schedule of meeting dates for year
    1. Wednesdays @ 4:00 pm in the Library

■  September 17

■  October 22

■  November 19

■  December 17 (if needed)

■  January 28

■  February 18 (longer)

■  March 25

■  April 29

■  May 20 (if needed)

3. Election of Chair, Vice Chair, Appoint Secretary

• Chair: Anna Whiteley,  Nominate Carrie, 2nd Chris Vote: Unanimous
• Vice Chair: Chris, Nominated Carrie, 2nd Anna, Vote: Unanimous
• Secretary: Taylor Sicard, Nominated Taylor, 2nd Carrie, Vote: Unanimous

4. Review Rules of Order and Procedures

• See on the website for details
• Attendance: Please attend in person. Call in if not able or let us know if won’t be able to attend either way.
• Terms are 2 years. If needed you can resign early.

5. District Training Information

• See below for details, All members should attend one session
• Please report back to Chair when you have attended

6. Review End-of-Year Data and Previous Years Plan and Current Years Plan

1. • End of Year Data: 
     1. Reading Data: 
        1. Composite: Started higher last year and things are going up and doing great
        2. Break outs looking at upward trend, especially low income
        3. 60% Goal for typical or higher growth – ours is 67%
           1. All of ours are moving up and closing the gaps between sub groups.
           2. Ridgecrest is moving up as a school inside district rankings, especially with all groups seeing improvement as a school
     2. Math Data: 80% Proficient is the major goal
        1. Hit 80% at the end of the year.
           1. We are seeing growth in most groups. ELL is a concern with plateau
           2. Pathways: Hitting 74% Making great strides.
           3. The sub groups are tighter and trending up

Difference between math and reading can be due to curriculum and changes.

1. ST Math program – feel like it is helping them to move kids in the right direction. Able to individualize to the kids. No language in the program makes it equal for all language capabilities.
2. Change coming to the Math curriculum watch for that.
3. Change in the testing for KIDS MComp MCap:
   1. They test on fluency and ability to do well
   2. Rise in 3rd, 4th, 5th grades is harder and is the accountability 
   3. Can’t preview the test structure to them to help them be familiar when testing. There is some concern from staff that it will make things harder for the students.

1. Rise testing:
   The test scores are hand scored so we are waiting for the scores. Will be in about Oct
   1. Our school is doing well in the Math 
   2. Science 4th and 5th doing well
   3. Acadience data is putting us towards the top of the district

• Behavior and Office referrals
  1. Behavior and attendance watching the connections and needed for help
  2. Office referrals : Yearly our trend is going down. Way to go.

Monthly : Trending up in May at the end of the year

Daily: trending up on Wednesday. Trending up around lunch time.

Life and family situations that may help to attach to these behaviors, are there things that we can do to help them. Are there services that we can find to help them?

Food bags for families, clothing closet at the district, 

supports in the building: Counselor, Psychologist, Behavior aids

Attendance is one of the big ones attached to most of our kids not performing well.

• Attendance: Primary goals to help kids be in school

Last year 5th grad was a struggle

• Chronic Absentism: Struggle starts in social, academics 
•  increased with transitional housing and decreased for all other groups declined as the year went on. 
• 2nd and 3rd term increase due to illness
• 4th term due to trips

2 or few absences per quarter = on track for good attendance.

• MLs: Our schools ML’s are trending to do better than the district for most of the grades. 

Our ML’s are working hard and making great progress and are starting to exit the program.

• TSSP and LandTrust

Last yr $83k & $117K 

• Land Trust: Break down on the spread sheet to show how it was all spent
• TSSP: Bulk of $ goes to staff and equipment (mostly for stem this year)

Aids and Ms Tera (half her salary)

Stem Grant from the state was more this year than expected for ST Math.

Maintain Staff and Teacher planning time as a grade level team with Subs to cover classes 3x a year.

Final count for students will come in next week a/nd give us the final totals in the $ allotted for the plans

7. Additional school climate updates or principal report 

Enrollment is going down: District down 2k students = down $4mil

Feeling the pinch at our school. 

• Higher kinder enrolled: solution: Reading teacher is being moved into help Kinder. 
  • The district won’t fund another kinder teacher. Thought of a split for 1st and 2nd, but there is a major need for those to stay split by grade. Kinder teachers will share Ms Mackin during her time in the school during the day.
• Propose: Use some of our funds for Aids in each kinder classroom during the day especially when Ms. Mackin isn’t in the school
• 2nd Behavior aid not hired yet to see if we need to use those funds for aids to help elsewhere or possibly a teacher.
• How does the fundraising at the school help: School gets about 10k a year. Used for assembly, field trips, student needs.

Teacher planning as a team 3x a year. Teachers take a day to plan as a team.

• Grant update: Chris Lane Sidewalks – Matt Holton is a Member of Cottonwood Heights City Counsel- this is a Counsel priority for him. He is going to keep applying for the grant for  sidewalks – It is an Annual grant
• Did get the Crosswalk signs put in at 1700 E & 7200 S on all corners. Our crossing guard is very happy and thankful
• Boundary Changes and Consolidation: We aren’t on the list. But may have some rezoning and absorbing of kids to our school next year. School Board meeting on Tuesday 9/2 the district will make their proposal. After that it is a 90 day commentary period. Superintendent is hoping to have decisions made by the end of December so they can move forward with changes in the 26-27 School Year. Asked all the PTA and SCC to help bring the community together with the changes coming and help make it a good transition for everyone.

Next meeting Wednesday, September 17 at 4pm.

Adjourned at 5:10 pm.  Motioned: Carrie Seconded: Chris

The SCC Trainings for the 2025-26 school year will be:

• Sept. 9 (Tues):        9 a.m. or 6 p.m.
• October 1(Wed):  9 a.m. or 6 p.m.
• October 2(Thurs):  10 a.m. or 6 p.m.

All members are expected to attend one session; the principal and chair are required to attend. 

*All of the above trainings will be in the Canyons Center at the District office, 9361 S. 300 East, Sandy