The School Planning Team (SPT) determines the needs of our school through staff and parent feedback. The team then develops an action plan for meeting these needs. Development and execution of the plan may require working with other committees, or new ones may need to be formed. The team is responsible for managing the plan and ensuring the goals are met. The team consists of staff and parent representatives. Members serve for a two year term and meet the second Tuesday of each month at 6:00 pm. There is a public session from 6:00 -6:15 pm.
Examples of SPT issues that originated at Parent Forum meetings:
- Improving acoustics in the gym.
- Improving the parking flow at dismissal.
- Clearing off the stage.
- Recruitment and PR
- Rethinking Extended Day
- Getting a better communication system between main building and annex.
An example of how a problem is identified, acted upon, and solved:
- Parents attending a Parent Forum meeting voiced concern about the traffic flow through the parking lot, particularly at dismissal time.
- The SPT reps attending the Parent Forum meeting brought the issue to the SPT.
- The Site Committee, an off-shoot of the SPT consisting of recruited SBS staff and parents, set to work to come up with a proposal to solve the traffic flow problem.
- The proposal was brought to SPT for approval.
- The proposal, which involved obtaining permission to use the Rectory driveway, was then brought to Side by Side's landlord (also a board member) for approval.
- Our landlord rejected the proposal due to safety considerations and offered an alterative involving use of the NEON parking lot, located across from us on Henry Street.
- The Site Committee reworked the plan to include the NEON parking lot.
- The final plan was implemented in May 2005.
Parents who are unable to attend the Parent Forum meetings can share ideas and voice concerns directly with the SPT Parent representatives.
Your Parent SPT reps are:
Staff representatives are:
To volunteer for any of the following committees, e-mail or call any of the SPT Representatives above.
The current standing committees are:
- Site Committee - This committee is responsible for issues and activities involving Side by Side's physical plant. The committee ensures that our facilities are safe, clean and in good working order. The group also actively seeks ways to improve and expand the facilities on behalf of our school.
- Fundraising/Public Relations Committee - This committee focuses on raising money through periodic fundraising activities to meet specific needs in our school, i.e. field trips, enrichment programs. These fundraising efforts may have relatively modest results in terms of dollars, but also meaningful results in building community relationships. It will also focus on communications between SbS and the media and public through press releases, other publications and outreach.
- Social/Hospitality Committee - The goal of this committee is to coordinate a variety of social events throughout the year such as Family Bingo Night and Chili Cook Off to enable Side by Side families to spend time together, to get to know one another, and build deeper, more meaningful community bonds.