HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-09-23-DIAMOND-min Diamond School Council Meeting Minutes 9/23/21
Members in attendance: Chhandomay Mandal, Ye Tong, Rachel Harrington, Stephanie Burroughs, Remy Coombs,
Katina Lawdis (Absent:Char/es Mosquera,Tayyaba Salman)
RECEIVED
A. Approval of Minutes May 26, 2021 2021 01
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TOWN CLERK
B. Updates LEXINGTON MA
Staff
A. Student issues of self-regulation, academic stamina, have been raised this year. Mindfulness theme
for staff to work on with students.
B. Mask protocols and social distancing are being addressed regularly.
C.
Parents
A. So far, it appears that students are doing well. Some students have expressed concerns on getting
from class to class with only five minutes, but seems to have improved.
B. Perhaps open discussion about being outside for lunches even when the weather gets cold. Parent
concerns around getting jackets or how to help students who may not be comfortable out in the cold.
C. A seventh grade parent shared that the initial concerns of parents and students coming back in after a
different year last year. Cafe lines seem to be improving.
D. Another topic for open discussion? "How to ensure parents are going to add value and contribute to
school council".
E. Back to school night was a positive experience for parents.
Principal
A. Some concerns we have seen to start the year- social distancing and horse-play at lunch; difficulty in
transitions in the hallways. Changes continue to be made. For example, just switched to have all
lunches out back by grade, instead of specific areas by teams. We will also look to shift some duties
so we have more supervision at lunch.
B. Held an optional staff meeting to remind staff that their presence in halls and at lunch really help
reinforce students' "Diamond Drummer' expectations. Next step will be to hold individual team
meetings to review general school expectations, specifically around structures.
C. Review of the Role of School Council
a. Reviewed document outline School Council Q&A that was previously shared. "Consultant
board to advise principal on budget, school improvement plan, and at HS level works on
Handbook". We have included review of initiatives which typically are in the School
Improvement Plan. Examples are review of schedules and standards based grading. For
Lexington, the budget is at the district level and allocates funds to departments, but not a
building specific budget other than staffing needs, some professional development; and
general expenses/supplies. Requests for capital spending go through the district level.
Requests that are made to the district will be discussed at these meetings.
b. 2019-2020 we had a school improvement plan. Because of the shutdown and pandemic, last
year schools were asked to focus on the district's strategic plan by the superintendent. This
year, Dr. Hackett has asked each school to develop Innovation Plans. In April, each school will
participate in an Innovation Fair where students can demonstrate how we participated in
reaching our district's strategic plan goals.
D. Innovation Plan Format
a. Reviewed outline for the Innovation Plan. Four District Strategic Objectives that are then
broken down to Aligned School Strategic Objectives and Initiatives.
b. Next Steps: Members will be given editing access to the outline. Each member should write
down some ideas on how we put some of these ideas "in practice" at our school. When we
next meet, we will use this document for moving forward.
c. Q &A/ Input
i. What does Student Agency mean? "Students can participate in decisions and their
voices are heard".
ii. How much will we be narrowing down on these lofty goals? "We plan to be discrete and
concrete as we work on this. More specific will be better to follow and measure. The
same initiative can be in more than one objective."
iii. This approach is inspiring. A focus on equity and social/emotional learning will be
beneficial for our students.
C. Open Discussion
a. Items will be discussed at the next meeting
i. Lunch outside when it is cold
ii. Parent contributions to School Council
D. Meeting Adjourned 7:43 AM
E. Next Meeting October 21, 2021