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Anna W. Monaco, Principal Office: (781) 861 -2450
Jennifer E. Turner, Assistant Principal Fax: (781)674 -2043
Jonathan R. Wettstone, Assistant Principal
Jonas Clarke Middle School
School Site Council Meeting Minutes
October 3, 2013
3:15PM — Main Office Conference Room
Meeting Notes:
In Attendance: Anna Monaco, Principal; Jennifer Turner, Assistant Principal; Polly Kienle, Parent; Sandra Mayo,
Parent; Jonathan Schechner, Teacher; Kelly Manor, Teacher; Tessa Riley, Assistant Director of Guidance
I. Introductions around the table - forms for town hall are circulating
II. Time provided to review the minutes from the last meeting
A. Minutes approved
III. Administration: reviews the slide show from last year which outlines the charge of a site council - highlights
the frequently asked questions portion - discusses the survey that was completed last year - explains that the raw
data from the student survey is available, but the data has not yet been disaggregated - reminds the council that
concerns from the community should be raised here to be discussed so that our school improvement plan goals are
relevant and important
Parent: Has Clarke consistently had a site council?
Administration: Yes we have always had a site council - we are shifting from meetings where administration
reports on what is happening to a true advisory board
Parent: Shares that at the site council training they were encouraged to collaborate with JCSA and METCO - she
attends a coffee with parents of 8th graders and reported that the other 9 mothers at the coffee did not know about
the site council
Administration: Reminds council that we worked last year on being more public and transparent and those efforts
will continue this year - admin discussed the school improvement plan at back to school night, also recommends
that one JCSA coffee include the site council members
Parent: raises a concern about MCAS being phased out - asks about the PARCC pilot
Administration: explains that we are still learning about the test and are waiting for more information about the
pilot - also discusses the new teacher evaluation system - segues into our school improvement plan
IV. Council reviews the school improvement plan
Administration: Shares that we are starting the new evaluation system and while it is overwhelming because it is
new, it will allow for greater and more frequent conversations about teaching and learning between teachers and
supervisors.
Teacher: Reports that the conversations are not just between administration and teacher but teacher to teacher as
well
Administration: In addition, integrating technology effectively is always on our radar
Parent: asks if they will be able to continue that trajectory when they leave Clarke and go to the HS
Administration: Yes - they are increasing their technology use - implementation is not always progressive K
through 12 - it is more spread out
Teacher: Reports that it's always a work in progress - helps with differentiation
Administration: It is a tool to help us appropriately challenge various learners as well as engage all students.
Guidance: Explains the new protocol for I/E block - explains how intervention works and that all other adults in the
building are teaching enrichment - gives examples of enrichment lessons: salsa dancing, analysis of public
apologies, Linked In, etc.
Administration: Asks for teachers' input
Teacher: Went very smoothly, our team pulled about 22 kids for intervention and we were able to work with them
for a solid 49 minutes
Teacher: It was very helpful to be able to sit down with students with no interruptions
Parent: Reported that her child enjoyed it - it was structured but relaxing
Administration: Continues to review goal #1 on school improvement plan, briefly discusses content teams, district
goals, and the work on school climate, built around collaboration, communication, and trust - Begins to review goal
#2 - discusses Rachel's Challenge and the focus on the positive that it provides through specific, powerful language
Guidance: calls Rachel's Challenge a framework for conversations - it grounds their thinking
Administration: Improving communication will always be a goal - we can always get better
Parent: Raises a question about lunch accounts - receives emails about not having enough money in the account
but they have never used the account - wanted to be taken off the email listing
Administration: Will look into the email issue
Parent: Are facilities goals part of this plan?
Administration: We don't have one at this time
Administration: Briefly discusses the enrollment - we will be ok for the next few years but in about 10 years we
are projected to have a very large group - we are lucky to be able to add staff each year - but eventually space will
be an issue
Administration: We will probably have a D.C. parent information meeting on October 23 d (speaking of the large
8 th grade class this year)
Administration: Another big area of focus is developing our student -to- student Mandarin exchange program — a
group of Clarke teachers went to China this summer - important for the experience of students, but also to build and
promote Chinese culture at our school. 30% of our school population is Asian / Indian - want it to be inclusive - it's
going to the school committee November 5th - we are hoping students from China will come here in February - if
we go in April it will be about 12 days over April Vacation.
VI. Additional goals or topics?
Parent: asks about recess time
Administration: 6th grade teams are committed to that (informally)
Teacher: We could try it with our team as well.
Administration: We recognize the two sides of this issue - research supports that many kids benefit from recess,
but on the flip side there is so much curriculum to cover. Lots of teachers implement brain gym to give their mind
some activity. Will follow up with team leaders to discuss further.
Parent: Communication between school and home - perception of what's going on - sometimes people don't look
to see what's going on - how can we trigger them to see what's going on?
Administration: We are open to different ideas of how to tackle that.
V. Questions/ Comments/ Future Topics
Goals for next meeting - review of student survey results, report on how Rachel's Challenge goes. Date TBD.