2018-10-10-ESTABROOK-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Estabrook School Council Meeting Wednesday, October 10, 2018 MINUTES Members Present: Amy Burk, Steve Chang, Joyce Dvorak, Christina Gavin, Amy Klotz, Chhandomay Mandal, and Rick Rogers Introductions Members introduced themselves and shared their hopes and dreams for Estabrook. These included:  Provide students what they need and offer a robust social and academic education.  Make students hungry for what’s next and prepared for what’s next. Light a fire of interest.  Well rounded education – inclusive of all areas. MCAS scores improve.  Children be happy. Improve Math MCAS. See math as process.  Agree we want children to be happy. Help reduce stress/anxiety when get to HS.  Build on what’s here.  Keep work moving forward and prepare for sustainable long-term leadership. Purpose & Responsibilities of School Councils Rick shared a historical perspective on school councils which began following the passage of the Massachusetts Education Reform act in 1993. He described how he thinks about the purpose of school council:  Focus on the “big picture” of the school community: What kind of school do we want to be and how do we get there?  Assist the principal and assistant principal in the development of the annual School Improvement Plan.  Strengthen home-school connections. He also provided an excerpt from the Massachusetts regulations on school councils, describing the vision and legal responsibilities of school councils. The complete state guidance can be found at: http://www.doe.mass.edu/lawsregs/advisory/schoolcouncils/default.html He reminded members that School Councils were subject to the open meeting law. Members will receive more information about open meeting law and a sign-off form from the Lexington’s Town Clerk office. Nomination of Co-Chair On a motion by Amy Burk, seconded by Steve Chang, the council unanimously elected Joyce Dvorak to serve as School Council Co-Chair. The principal serves as the other Co-Chair by statute. Updates Rick gave a brief update on the opening of school, which overall went smoothly. He noted that because he and Christina were both new to the school, there was a learning curve around operational and procedural items. After the opening two weeks, they have been able to turn their attention to educational priorities. Rick has held individual meetings with nearly all members of the professional staff and half of the support staff. Using 1