ABC Board Meeting
Mar 23, 2007

Welcome: Meeting called to order at 8:50 a.m. by ABC co-manager Judy Yehuda.

Treasurer’s Report: No changes to the treasurer’s report.

Principal’s Report: Dr. Alatorre is currently working on next year’s school calendar. The first day (a blue day) is Tuesday, Aug. 21, with registration the week before. Winter break is Dec. 24-Jan. 7. Spring break has not been determined. Gala is April 19. The finale is not finalized, but it will probably be June 1, and the last day of school for 2008 is Thursday, June 5.
For registration, the administration is working on ways to streamline the process, to avoid the delays of this past year. Locker assignments—the biggest delay—will be handled differently.
Once this calendar is completed, the goal is to start work earlier on the next year’s and to develop a two-year calendar.

Conservatory Reports:
Visual Arts: Paige Oden, director of Visual Arts, reported, along with her assistant Randy, the ceramics teacher. She’s been director for five years. All the instructors—14 of them—are college-level instructors. Most have been here several years; they are a very cohesive team. The students—227 this year—take a little bit of everything; after 9th grade they start focusing on individual talents. The students do everything college kids do, to some degree.
Many kids in VA have special needs.

The conservatory holds two major shows a year and some other outreach shows, as well as taking field trips. They do a lot of fundraising—they use $400 in supplies each week.

Of special note: This year Italian fashion design company from Milan, Entre Amis, sponsored a contest. They selected 20 designs from the students; they are producing them in Milan and bringing them back in May. They also picked two girls for a summer internship in Italy and hope to do this annually.

Also: Each year the landscaping class paints the Santa Ana mayor’s house.

And: On Mondays they have a portfolio workshop class—preparing a portfolio for college—for 10th-12th graders.
Randy, who also teaches elective classes (open to students not in the VA conservatory), didn’t have a background as an educator; he was a local Santa Ana artist. He sees each class as an experiment—the cookie cutter approach doesn’t work.

The conservatory teachers mentor and support each other.

Developing the conservatory standards is not as difficult for VA as for some conservatories; they are modeled after college curriculum.

Leadership: Charles, a senior in the leadership class (studying piano in Instrumental Music), presented his project—the OCHSA Student Recognition Service (OSRS). The program, set to begin next month, provides incentive and recognition for those working hard who don’t always get acknowledged. The award encourages friendly competition in the areas of academics, character, and the arts. Different levels of the award involve an announcement on Art Attack, a letter, a certificate and a trophy. The program needs funds to move forward; Dr. Alatorre will ask for funds from his budget for the amount needed for this year and will submit a proposal for next year.

Debbie Parrett—OCHSA’s special needs resource person—spoke on how she meets the various needs of the school’s special needs students. She now has eight people in her department; they make accommodations happen to level the playing field for certain students.
She is a great asset for OCHSA—once a need comes to her attention, she implements care teams (teachers working together for individual students). She goes through OCHSA’s student records each year.
She has started an Academic Lab during 0 block in room 208 where students can go for help.

ABC Committee Reports:
Hospitality: Nothing new to report.

Parent Education: Pilar O’Cadiz initiated a discussion on this year’s small turn out for the café walk/parent forum and on ways to increase numbers for next year. Ideas considered included two postcard mailings instead of one, better email blasts, something for kids to do (maybe get leadership involved), transportation issues, day and evening sessions, flyers available at registration and a month before the event, a name change (maybe Parent Input Forum), and more information on the postcard and flyer with a list of the different categories that will be examined.

O Shop: Carol Ward reported that on April 2 the O’Shop will be making a funds disbursement to the conservatories. She also showed some of the items for sale, including the 20th anniversary DVD and the Chad Doreck DVD ($20 each).

Gala and Encore: Cambria Morgan, vice president of development and marketing at OCHSA, commented on the significant and increasing community support for Gala. The Gala gift book, Masterpiece in the Making—was well received, and more copies are expected to be published for the season finale.
She is soliciting feedback on Gala.

The next meeting will be Friday, April 27 at 8:45 a.m. in Room 707.