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Home My WebLink About2021-02-09-CLARKE-min ,)S MOR141 PCO p0 PUBLIC MEETING NOTICE 4 9w p APRIL NTH LFxINGI Jonas Clarke Middle School School Site Council Meeting February 9, 2021 3:00 PM Zoom Meeting, Jonas Clarke Middle School 17 Stedman Road Lexington, MA 02421 Meeting Zoom link: a:21-9 7.'.221 8 922207234?lp..Ac.:::::::Li.!Ill.q M...........�b ..................... W 1( rzz 0.2. Attendance: Dane Despres, Principal; Mary Barry-Ng, Assistant Principal; Jonathan Wettstone,Assistant Principal; Michelle Wright,Nurse; Sarah Fattal, Teacher; Dana Silverberg, Psychologist; Natallya Paquette, Teacher; Emily Sayre, Parent; Melanie Tanionos, Parent; Kimberly Hensle Lowrance, Parent; Hongmei Zhang, Parent. Agenda Attendance: I. Call to Order, Welcome, & Public Comment a. Welcome Sarah Fattal - taking over for Amanda's absence from the committee. Parents chimed in to say hello. b. Next Meeting: Tuesday, 3/9 @ 3 p.m. 11. Approve Minutes from January 14, 2021 Meeting a. Motion to approve- second -vote - approved. 111. Parent/Guardian Notes a. Parent- asking for a status update on staffing - could/should we be doing more to support? i. Teacher- flexibility is key and we appreciate the parental support. ii. Admin - keep supporting the need to keep cameras on. It makes a big difference. iii. Parent- can we get that message out via email and newsletter? iv. Principal - agreed - can send out via email before we return after break. Communicating the importance. v. Admin - completed a few observations and seeing 90% cameras on. vi. Principal -when momentum is broken - hard to get out of that rut. Best way- more face time with people, more consistency. vii. Parent- referenced NPR - student missed hallway experience - even being knocked around - missed it. b. Parent- can you talk about the testing (saliva). We forgot the 2nd time - already ate breakfast. (see notes below- principal) c. Parent- noticed several positive students in school. Have they all recovered? i. Principal - Clarke has been lucky. Saliva testing has shown us that numbers are looking good - 100% negative so far. There has been zero in-school transmission - something to be proud of. ii. Teacher- my child is in a different district and it's completely different- in a negative way. IV. Staff Notes a. Teacher- '/2 way through the school year. Staff have expressed interest/concern about developing a schedule for next year. The "waterfall" effect of not seeing kids each day- very different experience from prior years. b. Teacher- difficult to find time to meet with kids who need help. If they miss a few days - real struggle. They need to miss another subject, in favor of another. i. Principal - speaks to the value of WIN block and how it bridged the gap. c. Teacher- developing Blue Week Social Sessions- social offerings for the remote week. We're interested to see how students respond. Kids have also reported - we like the async blocks and not having to do work. i. Parent- asked my own kids as to why they have NOT embraced WIN. They are inundated by the volume of emails, making it hard to sign up for WIN -just another thing to do. Interested to see if WIN will be multi-week sessions? ii. Principal - it's also on Friday, before the HR check in. These will be opt in sessions added to the student's schedule and will repeat each week. iii. Teacher- 6th graders have no idea what to do with their email - so many unread. We plan to work with them to navigate their emails - prioritize, sort and see what is important. iv. Parent- they know how to make folders, but if they keep up with it- that's another story. v. Principal - even the messages they are getting from Google Classroom - it can be a lot. vi. Teacher- one of the WIN blocks will be around organization - including turning off classroom notifications. Unsubscribe. vii. Parent- do our practices as a parent apply directly to the kids? Do they need separate systems? Different world - did not grow up with paper agenda books. viii. Teacher- more on the teacher to post/track/remind with due dates. If not correct- gets messy. V. Principal's Notes: a. Surveillance Testing Update i. Cohort A- increase in testing (60%). For staffing - 70% for those in the building. Still waiting on Cohort B results, but fear lower numbers. Ideally, we need to be above 70% for the students. ii. Promotional campaign will be pushed out soon - awareness campaign in the last two testing weeks after break. iii. Nurse Added - we don't say if it is a staff or student. Low numbers across the district. iv. Principal - share with community- we're doing the right thing. b. Snow/ Parking Lot Thoughts i. Traffic pattern getting tight during drop-off and pick-up. Snow has reduced road width, creating pinch-points where two way traffic is needed. c. Clarke Connection Weekly i. New- video announcement (under 5 min) - create more of a connection to happenings at school or with staff. The second part- announcements document, which we'll be sending out via email. Fairly low readership - maybe due to students not reading emails. We're now looking to post to Google Classroom and including student voice. ii. Teacher- suggest playing in homerooms to create more conversation. d. Blue Week Additions i. Will be rolled out soon - shout out to counseling staff, who will be hosting blue week, opt in sessions added to the schedule. e. PTO meeting tonight VI. Brainstorming Priorities for a New School Improvement Plan a. Goal 1: Improve Academic Achievement for All Students i. Scheduling ii. RTI iii. Equitable Grading iv. SBG - develop a better understanding of SBG for the students (how, why assessed). b. Goal 2: Improve Social/Emotional Supports for All Students i. School Culture/BARK/SEL: 1. Restorative Justice/Circles - include more holistically within our school community. Perhaps a dedicated 3 year plan to develop ii. DEI: iii. Breaks and recess options moving forward - continue with mask breaks and the feeling it creates. 1. Encourage them to bring snow pants/boots - get outside even in winter. 2. Even for the staff-walking outside makes your day completely different. It also allows for more student-teacher interactions - ones that wouldn't happen in the classroom. iv. Social & Emotional Curriculum - something more structured and integrated into the community. Not just a monthly BARK lesson, but something more woven into the day. v. Transitions from RLA to traditional next year- not having that experience of physically being with other, nor in the building. 1. School avoidance concerns connected to this transition - if we all go back to school - this will be a big change for kids. 2. Screening to address this concern? a. Looks at risk factors - this work being done right now - stay tuned. We have students that have really struggled. Conversely - we've also had kids find a great deal of success. b. Identifying needs in advance will be key- mental health and interventions that can help. c. Goal 3: School Safety i. We've had some ALICE training - any other goals for the school? ii. With more classes going outside - how can we ensure a safe outdoor learning environment? 1. Communication tool for staff? 2. Could assign specific areas for each team/group for more consistency. If a child arrives late - know where to go. If a parent comes to pick up - know where to find the team. iii. d. Other... i. Are there items to keep from the current set-up? 1. Zoom meetings and the flexibility it provides. ii. Principal - I will be meeting this week with the district to identify areas that we may need to include in this plan. VII. Adjourn a. Move to adjourn the meeting b. Next meeting is March 9th at 3PM 19-'20 SIP: htt s://docs° oo leocom/document/d61 kI FmKa XK2f9ZQ rtf8QHNOF Lwl5XSiWZ-AMsfod s/edit?usa=sharing,