HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-02-28-CLARKE-minOVS MopNi
O 1775 he
(� 0
Qry - SD
Jonas Clarke Middle School
3 a
v APRILI9'
`FxI N 17 Stedman Road ❖ Lexington, Massachusetts 02421
Anna W. Monaco, Principal Office: (781) 861 -2450
Jennifer E. Turner, Assistant Principal Fax: (781)674 -2043
Jonathan R. Wettstone, Assistant Principal
School Site Council Meeting
Thursday, February 28, 2013
In Attendance: Anna Monaco, Principal; Kristen Rangel, Teacher; Tessa Riley, Guidance Counselor;
Suzanne Cherenson, Parent; Sandra Mayo, Parent; Lorelle Yee, Parent; Elizabeth O'Neil, Parent;
Jonathan Schechner, Teacher; Krystal Bavin, Teacher; Jonathan Wettstone, Assistant Principal; Jennifer
Turner, Assistant Principal.
I. Meeting minutes:
i. January 2013 - minutes approved
II. Questions / Concerns
• Parent - buses are late in the morning.
o Mrs. Monaco mentioned communicating again with the transportation department to get
the small number of buses to school on time. While they don't miss class time, it is a
disruption to the start of the school day. We typically hold homeroom. They added
another bus because there was an increase in enrollment and they lowered the fee. It is a
problem we are aware of and will continue to work on with the transportation office.
• Parent - Collaborative to Reduce Student Stress went before the school committee the other
night.
o Mrs. Monaco saw the materials from the presentation - thought it would be good to review
the articles that were attached as a group to see if there was anything to consider for SIP
plan next year.
III. FY 14 Budget Update
• Mrs. Monaco stated, the budget was approved by school committee, but has to go before town
meeting before it will become official.
• Hiring Process - Because school committee approved we have been able to start posting - 1.0
math intervention and .3 engineering to help with our large 8th grade class - difficult position to fill.
• Mrs. Monaco mentioned starting to look at creating teams for 2013 -2014 school year, looking for
staff to fill the various spots, especially on the 8th grade mini team.
IV. Other school updates
• Mrs. Monaco shows the draft of the mid year goal updates and Mr. Wettstone discusses each
goal with the council - begins with the data team process and provides an update regarding this
year's progress - child study process - reviews the number of referrals and the interventions that
were put into place
• Parent asks who they should contact with a question about math intervention class or a referral to
child study
• Mr. Wettstone recommends contacting the math teacher
• Mrs. Monaco provides further information about the math intervention course
• Mr. Wettstone continues by explaining that math intervention data is being gathered - Reviews
instructional technology report from the Instructional Technology Specialist.
• Parent asks if the flipped classroom model is being implemented in all classes
o Mrs. Monaco explains that it is only be piloted in a few classes
• Parent asks which classes
o Mrs. Monaco explains it has been mostly in the 8th grade and provides a few examples -
reviews the benefits including the ability for students to collaborate in class, receive
intervention or enrichment, ask questions, etc. and reduced stress around homework
• Parent asks if it is a home -grown effort or if it came from a model
o Mrs. Monaco explains it comes from a lot of research based programs - specifically
discusses flipped classroom and blended learning
• Mr. Wettstone moves on to goal #2 — pro - social goal - we continued with Rachel's Challenge -
explains Chain Links and Linked In club, Peer Leaders, Conduct referrals in fighting, bullying and
harassment have dropped by 90 %, other leadership opportunities have increased as well. He
goes on to review the school climate survey that the site council is implementing this spring.
Resiliency work is mentioned.
• Mrs. Monaco - outlines the timeline for the SIP for the remainder of the school year including the
fact that in April and May we will be working on drafting next year's plan
V. Survey Question Review
• Mrs. Monaco passes out the survey questions - asks council to review
Begins with the parent survey - asks for thoughts
• Parent says one of the biggest issues with kids are things like google plus and texting - she feels
it is in there in terms of social /emotional development but I'll be interested in seeing how parents
respond to that
• Parent suggests we add a question about whether or not a student has a google plus account,
etc.
• Mrs. Monaco asks the council to think about what information we looking to get through this
survey
• Parent suggested modifying the TeacherWeb question, further defining the resource.
• Parent asked to think about an open forum for parent comments.
Moving to the student survey...
• Parent pointed out there is nothing about electronic communication.
• Teacher suggested adding "social media," along with examples.
• Teacher suggested remove the "decline to say" under the gender label.
• Question of when to implement the survey with the students.
• Monaco stated - survey will need to run the implementation past Dr. Ash, as the district is looking
to implement a similar survey for the entire district.
• Monaco stated - need to create a cover letter /piece, introducing the survey, which could be the
opening paragraph of the parent survey.
VI. Next meeting: March 28, 2013