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BRIDGE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SCHOOL-BASED SITE COUNCIL 55 Middleby Road, Lexington, MA 02421 781-861-2510 MAY 24, 2019 MEETING MINUTES APPROVED SEPTEMBER 20, 2019 Attendance: Tiffany Crooker, Kristen Gray, Kimberly Hensle Lowrance,Amy Kvaal, Zeba McGibbon, Sejal Patel, Melanie Tanionos, and Shawn Wood. The Bridge Elementary School School-Based Site Council held its monthly meeting on Friday, May 24, 2019 at the Bridge Elementary School Library. Kristen Gray led the meeting on behalf of Meg Colella. The meeting began at 8:05 AM,with a discussion of the Site Improvement Plan. Members provided feedback on the document, including adding a key to define acronyms, adding parents to the membership list on page one, and adding the successful implementation of a safe walk-to-school program for second and third graders. Kristen defined many of the acronyms for the members and agreed to add the key. The members discussed new screening techniques for students needing extra literacy/language support and how it has been implemented at Bridge. Parents are notified of assessment results as needed. Bridge's results on literacy assessments are evaluated against national norms for planning and assessment purposes. Students are getting assessed in a variety of ways. How does this impact the students' confidence in test taking? Kristen explained it depends on the assessment and age. In another assessments, for example AMES-WEB,which is completed three times a year, a team of Bridge staff and specialists go into the classroom and perform the evaluation,the results of which are only shared with the teachers to inform his/her approach for further supports. MCAS, for example, has inherent stress no matter how hard the teachers and staff tries to minimize. SBC members commented on the approach teachers have taken to address those anxieties. They urged Bridge leadership to inform more parents that no practice is needed for the MCAS. The only thing that would help students in taking the exam is familiarity with computers to take the MCAS,which is now online. Do teachers feel supported with this increased computer use? Kristen said yes, and explained the training they go through and the available resources (including digital coaches). Assessments are used to check-in on students, explained Zeba.An assessment can be as simple as listening to a child count or having them reading aloud, and then it can be as complex as MCAS,which, for some grades, is four to six separate tests.Additionally, a test like AMES-WEB helps teachers make sure students don't fall below benchmarks, and it's integrated in such a way that students don't perceive it as testing. 1