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Home My WebLink About2021-04-12-LHS-min 1"'. ^`' LEXINGTON NI GN' S C N,,,,10 :::; Andrew Stephens, Ed.D. (781) 861-2320, ext. 69103 Principal astephens@lexingtonma.org LHS Site Council April 12th, 2021 Via Zoom Present: Andrew Stephens, Cathy Swan, Suzanne Lau, Walter Richardson, Karen Griffiths, Lyn Yang, Sam Offsey, Erin Barrett, Khoi Li, Sam Simon, Liz Curtin, Jen Roney, Kate Riley, Angela Chang, Nancy Shepard, and Julie Liu Approved March Minutes Updates *MCAS -we have been working on this since January but it keeps changing -Board of Ed will most likely drop formal competency determination for juniors (YOG 2022) in Math and ELA -there are scholarships that are based on MCAS -juniors who wish to be considered for those will be able to take MCAS -predict a chunk of juniors will do this -Dates are May 4th and 5th for ELA and May 11th and 12th for Math -10th graders and whatever juniors want to take it will be in school -will still follow hybrid/cohort schedule for these weeks -rest of school will be asynchronous during testing hours -will need 60-70 classrooms to spread test takers out -will need most teachers to proctor -only kids testing will be in school -will have to do some scheduling flopping those weeks to make sure we don't miss same blocks each day -must provide RLA students space to come in -there is not a remote option -students can opt out for spring test but would have to take it during retakes in the fall -test will be taken on laptop which each student has *Scheduling Update -moving along in the process -finalizing sections and FTE allotments -we did not get FTE increase this year -we have enrollment increase -some classes will be bigger -not in danger zone yet of overcrowding *NEASC Accreditation Visit -Day 1 -team of 8 teachers and admin -student based meetings -focused on priority areas and progress -conducted class visits -going well -experienced a few zoom link issues -receiving feedback on what is going well and suggestions of what we could be doing better *New LHS -we have not heard from MSBA -will probably respond to us this summer -we resubmitted our request in January 2020 -pandemic has upended the schedule -have no idea what they will say *Return to School -high schools will be mandated to return at some point -our process is pretty layered -much discussion between the Central Office, the LEA, the ALA, PAC (Principal's Advisory Council) and Leadership Team to identify the foundational assumptions and constraints for the full return to school -must have Friday early dismissal of 12:00 to maintain extra planning time for hyflex model -regular 8:30-3:10 school day Monday - Thursday -compatibility with existing Al=H4 schedules for students and teachers -all 8 letter blocks will meet during every week -necessary for continuity of special education services -at least 3 lunch periods to allow for 6 feet of distanced seating -preference toward week-to-week consistency and against complicated multi- week cycles -not expecting the schedule we choose for May-June of this year to continue for next year -mid-May return is a reasonable assumption -Cohorts will collapse -students will have the choice to remain remote -survey indicates that 20-30% will remain remote -1500-1700 students will return -only 4 week schedule -we are not wed to it -faculty wants to know what the schedule will be asap so they can plan and prepare -2 options are better than current schedule -kids need to be able to take the classes they are currently taking -Option 1 -short block day -jams all blocks into 4.5 block schedule -length of classes would be 45 minutes -lunch would be3 sections spread out over 3 periods and would be 30 min. -mixed grade levels -multiple lunch stations spread out around campus -pre-ordered and grab n go options -kids assigned to big spaces -hopefully outside -field house, gym, IDLC -Option 2 -4.5 long block option -2 week rotation to get through Al-H4 -extension of what we are currently doing -all letter blocks meet in a 2 day period -everyone is meeting with all of their classes a couple of times a week -Special Ed students will have 1 meeting per week with resource room -this is not happening now -in order to make Friday work, the C-D-G-H block would be cut in half during the week and made up on Friday -Short block and Long block options are very close to state standard of time on learning -we are historically short on time on learning pre-pandemic -this will have to be addressed next year -whatever we do this year will be a trial run for next year with only about half of the students -Concerns -we need to make sure we are not just doing content -need to work on community building and SEL -is 10 min passing time enough? -re-route kids -some will have to go outside -90 minutes is hard to sit in same chair -will have to change the way we teach -math works better in shorter blocks -teach a concept and then it needs to incubate -can't do 2 lessons in a 90 min class -different classes lend themselves to either the long or short blocks -PLC (professional learning community) has made work harder not easier -last month of school is not to be used to cram in content that was missed during pandemic -Site council broke into groups to discuss 2 options -one group gravitated towards long blocks -most similar to what we are currently doing -only 4 classes per day which reduces homework -not exposed to everyone everyday so reduces exposure -if we do long blocks we must give breaks and mask breaks -other group favored short blocks -science double block would be 200 minutes- too long -prefer frequency and shorter blocks -able to reach struggling students because they see them every day -short blocks allow you to teach one objective -There is a lot to consider -trying to decide on best worst scenario -content and pedagogy -safety -social and emotional issues -no I block for rest of year -with 3 ft. spacing, we feel we can have classes in the classroom they are normally -will have another conversation with BOH and take into consideration pedagogy and social emotional issues -will decide what is best for kids -hope to announce schedule choice by end of this week to give people time to adjust and plan *Graduation Updates -there will be a virtual graduation ceremony with speeches and each student will get a slide -Tsongas Arena is the first choice of students -will be a diploma conferral with 1-2 guests -will probably do 4 sections by dean -arena has built in safety system -easy parking Meeting adjourned