Glossary of Hillcrest organizations

Discipline Committee — Hillcrest School does not have a Discipline Committee. At this time, there are no plans to establish a Discipline Committee.

Parent Teacher Association (PTA) — The PTA's fundamental goal is to positively impact the lives of all children. The Hillcrest PTA does that in three primary ways, including but not limited to: (1) raising money through various fund-raisers, such as the Auction, Walkathon, Donation Letter, Scrip, etc., to provide for school needs (e.g., classroom support, after school programs, art/music/other enrichment, etc.) that are not funded by district, state or federal funds; (2) providing programs to parents and children that are educational, informative and entertaining; and (3) communicating news, activities and information to parents and children through various means including the website, e-mail and the Yellow Pages. For more information on the PTA, please contact Sarah Holliman (outgoing PTA President) at 595-3575 or Becky Johnson (incoming PTA President) at 655-7677.

Positive School Climate Team (PSCT) — The Oakland Unified School District mandated that every school have a PSCT. Schools are free to structure their PSCT as appropriate to their site needs. The general purpose of a PSCT is to recommend policies and activities designed to ensure a safe, fair, and equitable educational environment for all members of the school community. The Hillcrest School Site Council (SSC, see below) is currently serving as the temporary PSCT.

School Site Council (SSC) — Every Oakland Unified School District school has an SSC, an elected body of parents and teachers representing the Hillcrest community. (Parents are elected by the parents, teachers by the teachers.) The SSC meets monthly, generally on the first Tuesday of the month, at 4 pm at the school. The SSC is generally charged with advising the Principal on programs, activities and expenditures at the school. In particular, the SSC is responsible for reviewing and approving the Single Plan for Student Achievement as well as monitoring progress toward achieving that plan and recommending revisions as appropriate. For more information on the SSC, please contact Beth Sirull at 601-5570.

Second Step — Second Step is a violence prevention curriculum developed by Committee for Children; see www.cfchildren.org for more information about the organization. For Kindergarten, Second Step is program that uses hands-on, activity-based lessons to captivate young learners. Taught for 30 minutes once or twice a week, children gain language and communication skills while learning to identify feelings, solve problems, and get along with others. The grades 1-2 program uses videos and photo-lesson cards to spark discussion and enrich students’ learning of important social and emotional skills. Through role-plays, children learn how to respond empathically to others and practice skill steps for calming down, reducing anger and solving problems.

Steps to Respect — Steps to Respect is a bullying prevention program for grades 3-5, also developed by Committee for Children; see www.cfchildren.org for more information about the organization. Children learn friendship skills and how to recognize, refuse and report bullying through videos, classroom discussions, skill practice, and children’s novels. Through role-plays, children learn how to respond empathically to others and practice friendship skills.