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Home My WebLink About2020-11-10-CLARKE-min MO ,N O �7 PUBLIC MEETING NOTICE APAI 19T" Jonas Clarke Middle School School Site Council Meeting November 10, 2020 3:00 PM Zoom Meeting, Jonas Clarke Middle School 17 Stedman Road Lexington, MA 02421 Meeting Zoom link: hit s://lexinatonma-ora.zoom.us/i/ 6 131123762pw ®Z 1 UvttvV TZV p cl FDTmjs UT09 Agenda Attendance: Amanda Arnst, Kimberly Hensle Lowrance, Hongmei Zhang, Emily Sayre, Nataliya Paquette, Stephanie Swiszcz, Dana Silverberg, Melanie Tanionos, Michelle Wright, Dane Despres Non-Members: Mary Barry-Ng, Jon Wettstone I. Welcome/Introductions, Call to Order a. Principal - we have a few members here for the first time. The group then went around the grid, introducing themselves to others in the group. We thank all for their efforts to make this committee work. II. Approve Minutes from October 9, 2020 Meeting: tt s:H ocs.google.c m/document/d/1-uHnPVVyv9 el57lxOPg5VVdTwp7QHm3t5 xTQ10 T Y/edit?usg=sharing a. Principal - asked for members to review minutes from October, followed by a motion to accept and approve the minutes from October. Minutes have been accepted. b. Principal - let's set a meeting for December. i. Tuesday, December 8th at 3PM III. Principal's Notes a. 1st Positive Case at Clarke - 1st in the District. We walked through protocols, identified close contacts/exposures (extended periods of time throughout the day), and subsequently placed students and staff on quarantine. Thankfully- zero transmission to other students or staff. We shared lessons learned with the district and staff. One of those learned lessons - all staff keeping a "contact" log, tracking interactions with fellow staff and students. Due to our week on/off, we were able to greatly reduce the number of students/staff in close contact. b. Actions being taken within the school to combat the spread - we are stepping up our efforts to keep kids 6' apart at lunch and mask breaks. We're also looking deeper into weather related decisions/norms - when do we go outdoors and when do we stay in (rain, cold). c. Election related anxiety- with the help of the Diversity Equity and Inclusion committee, we were able to create curriculum and language to work with students around the topic. d. Flu Shot- this is a requirement this year and needs to be on everyone's agenda. Big success at the most recent town sponsored event. i. Parent- do we need to document the flu shot? Nurse responded - yes - please send the document to the health office. ii. Parent- what happens if they don't get the flu shot? Nurse responded - they can be excluded from school, even if they are remote. iii. Teacher- is the flu shot mandatory for staff? Nurse - no. iv. Parent- what are the compliance numbers? Nurse - we have a good number already and another month to go. e. Current Challenges? It began with acclimating to the new normal - week in, week out, etc. It has now shifted to re-inventing every calendar event/activity due to the pandemic. How do we see all of our classes, working around the holidays to make things equitable. f. Surveys - I've sent out a family survey and a staff survey, looking for feedback and what we can do to stay on top of things. g. Standards Based Grades - something new for all of us, except for the kids/families coming out of elementary. What's new- a different set for each class. What can I clarify? i. Instead of letter grades or Pass/Fail, we have developed standards connected to each class. This would develop a better way to track student learning and provide more specific feedback. This would also more directly inform interventions needed. ii. End of the trimester- priority standards (learning goals) will be listed for each course. If that standard was covered - codes will be entered. If not covered = NA. Comment boxes will house student skills in a narrative. iii. Parent- it sounds fairly similar to the elementary model, which we are comfortable with. How are teachers making the adjustment? I thought the explanation was helpful on parent night. iv. Principal - there are some drawbacks, as kids can be motivated by the letter grade (something different or real). v. Parent- we assume we'll have a better grasp on this after the first round. vi. Parent- do students get to see what goes into the report card? Transparency? 1. Principal - when we hand out a homework assignment or being a topic, we should be literally listing the standard, giving scores on how well they are reaching the goal. Progression towards mastery with continual communication. IV. Staff Notes a. Lunches - teacher asked question about lunches - do we have to go outside? Do we have the option to stay inside? Is there a place for teachers to sit? i. Principal suggested that we use common sense. If it's possible - go outside. He went on to discuss ways staff have been creative to find seating. b. Teacher- time is a concern for grading, providing feedback and reaching out to families. This was confirmed with another staff member, citing a lack of time during the school day, time to update families on important happenings in the classroom. c. Health Office - it is a whole new world for us in the health office. We recommend families access the online absence forms. V. Parent/Guardian Notes a. Conferences - it appears that all 4 teachers are grouped together- logic? Conversely, Spanish and other teachers are working individually for the same length of time. Acknowledging how long it might take if time was extended. i. Principal - tradition does play a role in the decision. Since the team teachers work together and meet together daily, they are geared towards that combined conversation with the family. We see a well rounded conversation, as the teachers bring forth observations from each of the classrooms. ii. Parent- virtual conferencing seems to be the way of the future. Love the way we can meet with teachers, not having to leave our home. iii. Parent- come into the meeting with specific questions, leaving the small talk for another time. 10 minutes goes quickly. b. What can we do to help with the concerns brought forth by the staff members here? What else can we do? Do we need to communicate with the community? i. Principal - heading into conferences, we're running into a Friday afternoon conflict (11:30 dismissal), which reduced the overall number of conferences available. We've advised teams to prioritize and find ways to communicate with families, answer questions and be heard. Challenge is to be flexible when necessary. If we can give feedback in other ways, we might be able to meet a wide variety of needs, not just the traditional conference model. c. Are there topics/items/common threads that can be addressed by the PTO/community? i. Homeroom (afternoon) attendance is a challenge - confusion around what time the afternoon homeroom starts (virtually present). This is a zoom call to check-in, take attendance, and see if they have any questions. Despite our efforts to share out- students struggle to attend consistently. ii. Getting back to teacher concerns about times - would "office hours" be a viable solution to meeting that need? 1. Parent- acknowledged the challenge to attend, needing layers of alarms/reminders to log into classes. There is a PTO meeting tonight, where we can reiterate. 2. Parent- thanked Ms. Barry, reminding their student to attend the afternoon homeroom. Being in school - things were much easier. Being in "remote" - the level of commitment and organization increases. The dynamic changes all of us and can affect our children emotionally - feeling bad about missing assignments or classes. This seems to be a common variable with other peers. a. Principal - will speak with the counseling staff, possibly hosting a parent night to look deeper into how this is affecting students emotionally, mentally, organizationally. We need to think about how we are reaching out to students - how are we meeting their needs when in remote. We need to encourage a growth mindset, not a fixed mindset. b. Ms. Barry - our WIN block is a great opportunity to get organized and make connections - developing better habits. c. Parent- when we found the list of missing homework, it took us another week just to catch up. Earlier notification would be great. d. Ms. Barry - with the Google Classroom tools, we assume children are accessing their work and know what they have not yet turned in. Best advice - obtain your child's username and password, giving you access all documents and work. e. Parent- acknowledged the need to have full access and setting up a homework check each day, before the child gets free time. VI. Adjourn a. Parent- motion to end the meeting - second. b. All voted to end the meeting. 19-'20 SIP: httr)s:Hdocs.aooale.com/document/d/l FmKa XK2f9Z q Lw1 XSi -A s o s/edit?us =sharing