HiCap Parents Council Meeting
via Zoom
May 6, 2021
12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
1. Amity Updates on Monthly reading & discussion
a. Council: gifted kids feel different from average kids, girls tune themselves to tackle this situation to make friends with average students much better than boys.
b. Council: gifted kids have a harder time making friends since they talk like adults.
c. Austina: it is a hard time for parents to accept an offer to move their kids to EAP. Gifted kids have to work so hard on making new friends.
d. Amity: we need to include heterogeneous groups to prepare them to be better socialized while allowing them to be themselves. Being smart sometimes hinders this process. Girls often conform in order to fit in.
e. Council: Being smart also means being sensitive. This is a side effect on social development.
f. Austina: Many gifted kids struggle with social skills. The goal is to help gifted kids make friends without having to lose their own identities.
g. Council: Gifted kids need to know who they are before they go to college. It can be harder for them to know who they are.
2. Amity Updates on Testing
a. Amity: Grade 4 – grade 7 are completed.
b. Amity: Grade 1 – grade 3 are in progress.
c. Amity: Three batches of letters to notify parents.
3. Amity Updates on Transition of single-qualified students to classrooms
a. Amity: As we return to hybrid and in person instruction, we are hoping our Edgenuity students continue to excel in their classrooms. We are hoping their transition back to class goes smoothly. It will serve as a nice test for next year when students are in the classroom full time.
b. Amity: Some schools continue to serve their single qualified math students by giving them math acceleration in their EAP classrooms if they host an EAP program. This should continue next year as long as we do not reach overload in our EAP classrooms.
4. Amity Updates on Dyslexia screening starts next fall
a. Amity: are people aware of the screening process coming this fall under state law that will be implemented in this coming year?
b. Amity: initial screener, looking for initial thoughts about students, who may or may not show reading issues or concerns at a young age.
5. Amity Updates on on the advanced math course option discussion and next steps for a HS Common Course Catalog
a. Amity: we are talking about the catalog. The meeting might not happen until June.
a. Council: Dr. Raid mentions a 100% remote option for next year. What would we want to continue to use or make sure we don’t use with future remote learning?
b. Amity: I have no answer today.
c. Council: I am curious about the planning of teachers relating to EAP sites.
d. Amity: It depends on numbers.
e. Angie: I have no answer either. We can ask Megan.
f. Council: Canyon Creek, shuffle teachers in EAP classroom, remote students can watch.
g. Council: I am sad it does not work some time, shut down. I don't know why it has to shut down.
h. Council: async days are difficult at home for hybrid model. Any suggestion for this situation?
i. Amity: ask a neighbor or older sibling for help.
7. COUNCIL UPDATES on achievements
a. Austina: celebrate for progress on high school catalog for this year.
b. 15 years of HiCap council.
8. Parents only Meeting - Treasurer’s report on fundraising & donations
a. Lauren: we have about $400 more in matching donations.
b. Austina: we got one PTA response in the amount of $50.
9. Parents only Meeting - Elections for next year
a. Jasmine: May 16 - May 26, nominate for election, waiting for 4th grade finish testing.
b. Council: June 10th, 7:00pm, transition meeting.
10. Parents only Meeting – Summer events planning
a. Council: location brainstorming for where to host potential events;, school campuses, local parks.
b. Council: how many families might attend? Maybe 20 per EAP site. Will there be a mask mandate still in place? Will these events need to be “unofficial”?
11. Parents only Meeting – Questions
a. Council: my oldest son in high school. Is there anything for older kids like a gifted support group?
b. Austina: In the past, we have tried things like a buddy program, connecting families together, etc. While parent support groups have worked, the ones we’ve done for kids haven’t tended to work very well. The few options that have been successful are things like a ropes climbing course, climbing wall, etc.
