HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-10-20-Harrington-minHarrington Elementary School Site Council — Meeting Minutes
2015 -2016 Academic Year
Meeting Date /Time:
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
7:30 -8:30 am
Location:
Harrington School, Room 170
(15t floor conference room)
Secretary:
Rucha Londhe
In Attendance (Council Members):
]Elaine Mead, Principal ❑ Michelle Motta Dardeno, Parent Rep.
X Mona Potter, Community Rep X Rucha Londhe, Parent Rep.
. Jennifer Roney, Parent Rep. !Mai Yang, Parent Rep.
_t Elizabeth Class, Faculty Rep. it Jean Kelley, Faculty Rep.
L.4 Vanessa Wilson, Faculty Rep. XI Michelle Wright, Faculty Rep.
Invited /Ad Hoc:
Documents /Exhibits Distributed:
Agenda; September Minutes; Current LPS Homework Policy; October meeting agenda
Standing Agenda Items
Minutes
1. Approval of outstanding
minutes
• September minutes approved
2. Review + status of
outstanding action items
• Elaine Ashton sends weekly updates on School Building
Projects. Julie Fuhrer is the Site Council representative to the
redistricting committee. Anybody who is on the Harrington
Hawks list -serve should get the email. E. Mead will forward
these emails to Harrington faculty.
• J. Roney found out about PTA grant money for Site Council.
There is a total amount of $1500 available for this academic
year.
Agenda Topics Discussed
3. Organizational Items
• No new updates on the School Council Round Table
• E. Mead sent out the dates for the "Let's Chat" events
this year. She will also write about those in her article in
the next edition of the Herald. M. Dardeno is creating a
flyer for the Let's Chat session on Monday Oct 26, 2015.
4. Elementary Homework
Policy
Feedback
• Reviewed the Lexington Public School (LPS) homework
policy
• The Superintendent wants feedback on the policy
• Discrepancies were noticed in the LPS policy and the
policy included in the Elementary Parents Handbook
• Suggested made by site council members:
1. Homework should be assigned as needed up to the
maximum target number of hours each day. Forty -
five minutes is too rigid.
2. The goals for assigning homework should be made
clear to the faculty as well as the parents and
1
Harrington Elementary School Site Council — Meeting Minutes
2015 -2016 Academic Year
4. Elementary Homework
Policy
Feedback
• Reviewed the Lexington Public School (LPS) homework
policy
• The Superintendent wants feedback on the policy
• Discrepancies were noticed in the LPS policy and the
policy included in the Elementary Parents Handbook
• Suggested made by site council members:
1. Homework should be assigned as needed up to the
maximum target number of hours each day. Forty -
five minutes is too rigid.
2. The goals for assigning homework should be made
clear to the faculty as well as the parents and
students. Specific language around these goals in the
policy statement needs to be amended.
3. There are grade -level differences in homework. There
should be age- appropriate expectations for students.
4. Can working on socio - emotional aspects be included
as part of homework?
5. Teachers often look at homework as a means of
encouraging responsible behavior in students
5. Student survey
• Department of Education has a website with sample
student surveys. E. Mead will share with the website with
site council members.
• Topics discussed for our survey:
1. Topics to be covered by the student survey —
students' ratings on connectedness and other pro -
social factors, lunch, and recess.
2. Anonymous survey
3. Should it be administered on survey monkey? —
Teachers will weigh in to decide.
4. Grade levels? 3rd grade and up
5. Survey will be developed in November 2015 and
administered early next year.
6. M. Wright will solicit questions for the survey from
the School Counselor and Assistant Principal.
7. All site council members will generate 2/3
questions /topics and send them to R. Londhe by Oct
30, 2015.
8. Site Council members will review a rough draft
created by R. Londhe during the next meeting on Nov
17, 2015.
6. Future Topics
• Finalizing the student survey.
2