HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-02-17-DIAMOND-min Diamond School Council Meeting Minutes RECEIVED
February 17, 2022
2022 22Mair,M9 arn
Members in attendance: Jennifer Turner, Chhandomay Mandal, Brooke Harvey, Joyce Dvorak, Ye Tong, Rachel
Harrington, Remy Coombs, Stephanie Burroughs, (Liz Sharp, non-voting member) TOWN CI..ERK
LE IN `rON MA
A. Approval of Minutes from 1/20/22 meeting
B. Updates
Principal
A. Omicron seems to have passed - significant decline in absences. WE are offering all students and
staff to do weekly at-home testing. We still do weekly pool testing, so many testing twice a week.
B. Shared with students and parents that as of March 1 we will be going back to the cafe full use.
Regular seating, not 3 feet apart. We are asking students to put masks up between bites. When the
weather permits we will have outdoor lunch. We have also offered a small group space for students
not feeling safe in the cafe.
C. In the process of scheduling two days in March for RJ training. 22 staff will be attending. Then, a
program grant will be written to extend the training for two more years.
Parents
A. Question from parent: Learning loss/learning gaps - is there any coordination with high school.
Anything that students are missing that will leave them less prepared for the rigors of LHS.
Dr. Turner reports that we are seeing the loss of"soft skills", like executive function social skills, etc.
but all students have experienced the same„ so there is no specific loss. We have shifted some of our
policies to address these concerns. For example, we updated our cell phone policy to help students;
we have asked teachers to have solid open and closing routines,
Dr. Burroughs responded that the department heads K-12 have been meeting regularly to discuss
priorities and account for prerequisite skills.A lot of spiraling curriculum has been built in across all
disciplines. All grade level teachers are in contact with pervious grade levels. We don't anticipate that
we will be all caught up in just one year; it is a multi-year process. Lot of reflection on the curriculum
has been going on to help with these decisions ("trim the fat")
In the special ed dept. there has been a lot of pivoting to meet the needs of students who have gaps
due to special education needs. Transitions between each grade level are prioritized knowing there
are a lot of needs from many students.
Staff
A. No updates/questions
Innovation Plan Review
• Draft document edited during the meeting.
• Discussion around Equity Gaps and why we are focusing on this objective. Examples in our systems
like discipline, grading, and schedules.
• Further discussion around the statement"to challenge the experiences of those in the center and
ratify the realities of those in the margins". This came from the district level and was meant to be
inclusive, not exclusionary.
• Who is the audience for this document?
w Suggestion: Make sure vve are questioning and tweaking initiatives twensure they are achieving their
intended purpose wfmeeting the goals and objectives outlined above.
Question onthe scheduling differences between Diamond and Clarke
w Discussed scheduling differences
o Clarke has all o|aooeo meeting every day and Diamond has o|aooeo meeting 5 out of for
on-team classes
o Clarke has shorter periods and anextra block each day
w Jen: Major difference between Diamond and Clarke was opaoe, which made iteasier for Diamond to
implement agreater change h» the schedule than itdid for Clarke
C. Meeting Adjourned
D. Next Meeting March 17. 2022