HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-09-16-Hastings-minMinutes
Meeting
Site Council — Maria Hastings Elementary
Date
Monday, September 16, 2013
Time
7:45 am — 8:30 am
Library, Maria Hastings Elementary, 7 Crosby Road,
Location
Lexington, MA
Louise Lipsitz, Dan Strollo, Miranda Clarke, Sheila
Attending
Kaspik, Debbie Krasnow, Patty McLaughlin, Lisa Clough,
Jane Kalinski, Anne Knight
1. Welcome and introductions
Louise provided an overview of the history and purpose
of school site councils.
Review of June 3, 2013 minutes —Approved with
clarification of last bullet point.
Class size in 5 t " grade. Louise is working with 5 t " grade
team and the professionals in building to ensure quality
Agenda
instruction. Classes are at 25 students each. (Qualify
for large class aids at 26 or 27 but we're not looking for
more bodies in the classrooms.)
Mid -year report cards moved this year to the end of
January. IEP progress reports will be prior to that.
Monitoring what is happening in Grade 4 around
behavior concerns that came to our attention last
spring. Goal is to host a Parent - Teacher voluntary book
group in late fall.
2. Site Councils training, September 17th: Purpose of
Councils — at 8:00 by Donna Hooper at Central Office
3. Hastings School Improvement Plan -- Goes before the
School Committee to be reviewed annually but
implementation steps often run more than a year. The
SIP has been approved.
Points discussed:
• Two all school writing assessments. Discussed
how such assessment differs from MCAS.
• Improvement with Technology — some teachers
need updated laptops, some of them are 5 -6
years old. However, elementary teachers
received laptops prior to high school. Tom Platti
and Marianne McKenna have received hundred
of pieces of technology for the district this fall.
• Town wide committee to conduct an in -depth
study to consider the return foreign language to
the elementary. Nothing would be implemented
this year or next.
• MA was the only state in the nation that was
cited for not meeting federal requirements for
teaching ELL students. Teachers and
administrators must enroll in state planned
classes to learn strategies; 45 hours of course
work before re- certification. Robin Dowling
Grant, our ELL coordinator is a trainer. Each year
some sort of accountability is placed on the
shoulders of the educators.
• This is our last year of MCAS in its current form.
Some schools are piloting the PARCC test, which
will be coordinated with Common Core standards
— will be done electronically.
• State mandated new evaluation system for
teachers, principals, and superintendent. It is
much more authentic than the old system (which
limited the evaluator's ability to offer feedback
outside of a one -time observation). Very
positive, but the implementation of the system is
onerous.
• Perennial issue of pick -up. Dan shared 2 points —
many people do not know name of Crosby Rd;
and issue of folks just driving down road (very
fast) not connected to pick up. Also noted that
getting out of cars is primarily done by
grandparents who may not be English speaking;
post on website and could be translated in order
to better communicate. Could make a stop line
— do not block intersection (so not blocking the
buses). Check with Judy Crocker and Pat
Goddard. Could promote a "walk- pool" or
"walking school bus" to reduce the number of
cars.
4. Facility - next steps -- Louise presented the
binder from the Ad Hoc committee (available in the
office). In January we plan to be ready with statement
of interest. We are at top of list thanks to work done
by this site council in making the case of equity
between what we have and what is deemed
appropriate by the state. Police and Fire are also at top
of list.
Meeting adjourned