The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About2015-06-15-LHS-min Lexington High School 251 Waltham Street Lexington, Massachusetts 02421 Laura Lasa 781- 861-2320, x 1002 Principal lasa@sch.ci.lexington.ma.us FAX: 781-861-2440 To: The Lexington High School Council From: Laura J Lasa Re: Minutes of June 15, 2015 Meeting LHS School Site Council Meeting met on June 15, 2015, from 6:15-7:45 PM in the LHS Library Media Center. Present: Laura Lasa, Liz Moughty Curtin, Nancy Shepard, Suzanne Lau, Paul Breitenfield, Kristin Tissera, Ann Redmon, Walter Richardson, Katherine Manning, Kim Effron and Dave Winninger and Eileen Jay. Visitors: New LHS School Council Members for 2015-2016, Sharon Kendall and Elise Rowley (parents) and Alex Mclauglin (Class of 2018). Absent: Polly Kienle, Nanying Bian, Elise Santiago. I.Announcements from Council members A.Report on the recent Site Council Roundtable meeting Meeting of the SBSC Roundtable on May 20, 2015 continued the discussion on organization, leadership and planning of the SBSC Roundtable meetings for next year. The responsibility of the Roundtable leadership will be distributed by task to share the load. Monthly sessions will focus on allowing more time for discussion with the goal of supporting the School Councils at all nine schools in the District. B.Other announcements/questions Senior class activities, especially the All Night Graduation Party (ANGP), had difficulty recruiting enough volunteers to support the senior class events. For the ANGP, the importance of the event in keeping students safe while celebrating graduation needs to be emphasized more with parents of earlier grades (who are needed as volunteers). Plan to re-visit this topic in January 2016. LHS graduation ceremony was well-organized and fun. II.Welcome New Members and Thank Out-going Members A.The LHS School Council welcomed new members for 2015-2016: Parent representatives Sharon Kendall and Elise Rowley, and Student representative for Class of 2018, Alex Mclaughlin. School Council thanked out-going members, Kim Effron and Nanying Bian (parents) and Paul Breitenfield (Class of 2015) for their contribution and thoughtful service over many years on School Council. Suzanne Lau was nominated to continue as the parent Co-Chair of the School Council for 2015-2016. B.Discussed the 3-year term length for the elected Parent members for LHS School Council and the requirement to have a current student at the school. The priority of School Council is to have members who can contribute thoughtfully to the wide-range of topics addressed by the Council. Currently, the elections for parent representatives have been solidly contested with well-qualified candidates. While not everyone who wishes to be on School Council can participate, there are other opportunities to contribute at LHS (PTSA, ANGP etc.). The Council decided to maintain the current system with discretion to allow candidates with 2-year eligibility to participate in the election if there is a shortage of candidates in that election. III.Athletes and the MIAA rules A.This topic was requested as a result of discussions at SHAC (Student Health Advisory Council) and SADD (Students against Destructive Decisions) on how to support student athletes and coaches regarding healthy choices for athletes. Current MIAA league rules prohibit any alcohol and chemical use during the school year and are applied to all student-athletes. Enforcement of MIAA rules at LHS is based on factual information obtained by the school, typically via law enforcement. B.SHAC and SADD would like to explore ways to promote safe events with all faculty leaders and advisors for sports, clubs and activities at LHS around festive dates (e.g., Halloween). Student-athlete captains and leaders of clubs and academic teams are also key to reach the general student population - to encourage participation in these events and reinforce the practice of positive behaviors. The school would like to partner with the parent community in these efforts. IV.Resiliency and Communication skills, continued from May meeting A.Continued a group discussion primarily focused on communication and advocacy skills that will be promoted to help students navigate the high school. Thoughts from the members: Both verbal and written communication skills are critical. The individual personality of the student, confidence in the subject, nature of the topic and the relationship with the teacher will affect which mode of communication is preferred. Both modes of communications should be encouraged to allow students to take the appropriate steps to help themselves. Students need to be taught and to practice these skills Ã e.g. teacher can model an appropriate email asking a question or model questions asking specifically for help, clarification etc. Appropriate occasions to ask questions need to be taught Ãin class, between class, after school, how to interrupt etc. Students need to be encouraged to ask questions and often discover other students have the same question. Specific grade-level skills are hard to define because each student develops individually and the difficulty associated with asking for help depends on the particular help needed, the subject and the teacher. Need to promote resilience in students to face their anxiety and manage the situation. Teachers assume students already have certain skills that they may or may not have. The grade level targets will foster faculty discussion in 2015-2016. Skills should be emphasized every year to help students who develop at different times or need reminders. The manner of a teacherÈs response to a studentÈs question is very important. A positive experience is very important for students who have difficulty asking for help. Expectations for a response by a teacher should be clarified: e.g. when students send email in the evening, they may not get a reply until the next day or in class. V.Approval of the May 11, 2015 meeting minutes VI.Adjournment 7:48 pm District Improvement Plan 2014-2015 1.Improve Academic Performance for All Students 2.Improve Social and Emotional Program Support for All Students 3.Improve Safety for All Students and Staff 4.Improve the DistrictÈs Capacity to Respond to Enrollment Increases