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Home My WebLink About2022-02-07-LHS-min RECEIVED LEXINGTON 022 27 Apii, 4A8 Ipuin � J C 10 J�I//�,, 0TOWN CLERK LEXINGTON MA Andrew Stephens, Ed.D. (781) 861-2320, ext. 69103 Principal astephens@lexingtonma.org Twitter: ,@,LexingtonHSMa Minutes for the LHS School Site Council remote meeting on February 7, 2022 from 6:00-7:30 PM on Zoom. Present: Andrew Stephens, Karen Griffiths, Suzanne Lau, Walter Richardson, Sam Offsey, KC Zheng, Kate Riley, Samuel Simon, Lyn Ling Yang,Alix Fox, Christina Lin, Jen Roney 1. Approval of the January, 2022 Draft meeting minutes 2. School Innovation Plan Discussion a. Split into two groups to discuss and record the distillations of main themes that have come up through various groups for each question. 3. Updates & discussion: a. COVID/Health and related Q &A i. Individual tests have come in, have been distributed to teachers and some of the students who signed up. Working on ways to increase clarity/reminders for students on the schedule and organization around picking up the tests. ii. Question about the timing of taking antigen tests vs. pooled testing; we'll see how it pans out or what decisions are made. iii. Dr. Hackett's letter seemed to indicate that there won't be an official distancing policy; Andrew is going to get clarity at admin team meeting on Wednesday. b. Course Selection & Program of Studies i. Second virtual curriculum night was successful. Andrew hopes people were able to get their questions answered, had positive experiences. Hasn't gotten any negative feedback on it. ii. Chart at end of this doc shows courses that have been added to POS, hoping to address equity of access and other things. Will offer concurrent enrollment(with MCC) next year for the Film and Society class, and opening math and social studies senior electives to anyone (open enrollment). They're working on expanding things beyond AP, and looking for ways to broaden the student experience. Andrew says these are tectonic changes that are really exciting. iii. Question about how we can break out the sequential nature of arts/visual arts, maybe have more variation on the first level classes, more entry points. c. Student Events -Proms, Graduation etc. i. Planning on having proms. Junior at Burlington Marriott, senior at Gillette. Will be beholden to size requirements, will see if there are any other requirements (prob not a limitation at Gillette; possibility to Marriott, maybe limited to just classmates, but will have to see.) Lexington High School 1 251 Waltham Street I Lexington,MA 102421 ii. Graduation will be at Tsongas, and the goal is to have ONE ceremony. They're looking at having it earlier on that Sunday, maybe l lam. 4. Traditions in the pandemic/post pandemic world a. Getting the band back together to look at ANGP: maybe in the field house, or maybe spaced out. There are lots of parents who haven't done it before, so they'll need support from parents with experience.. b. There will be no sophomore cruise. Question about if this is an opportunity to think about something else (since it wasn't always that popular); maybe there can be ideas for another thing for them to do, such as a barbecue. c. Question about the possibility of brainstorming social opportunities for underclassmen: bbq, field day, etc?Andrew says it's a question of availability and bandwidth. Thinking about it but no promises. d. Step up day for 8th graders is the week after graduation, working on logistics for that. Asking about a half day for that. 5. Last Day for Seniors : a. They usually shoot for the Friday the week before graduation (which would be May 27th), but not sure yet. The week leading up to graduation is various senior activities (BBQ, pick up cap and gown, yearbooks, etc). 6. Schedule & Lunches update: a. Having discussions with LEA reps to see if they're amenable moving to a schedule with shorter advisory period, 3 I blocks, 3 lunches. Target date of about March 1 right now(in conjunction with nurses, to see if that's a realistic date). Considering whether it's better to wait a little longer, for nicer weather and the ability to eat lunch outside; we'll see. 7. Budget Update: a. had asked for FTE connected to projected enrollment increase and another campus monitor; those were not moved forward. 8. Curriculum night questions (asked/answered after the meeting was adjourned): a. Why aren't there AP English classes? i. The English dept feels they offer a rigorous curriculum,AP is much stricter, not necessarily beneficial for the kids or the experience. There are also more electives available for the students that can be more interest-based. b. Concurrent enrollment: i. Dr. Stephens hopes to expand those offerings over the next several years, in addition to more things like internships, etc. c. Kids can take test to accelerate in math; can they do the same thing for English or History? i. No. The Math dept has very strict processes for that, and it's not necessarily the best thing for lots of kids. d. Now that there are African American and Asian American history classes, will it be hard for the students to fit them into their schedules? i. There's a 4 year requirement for history, social studies, math, English. Those classes will likely be senior electives; maybe a junior can do it, but it will be harder for freshmen and sophomores. Seniors have more room in their schedules (only 26 credits mandated). e. Public speaking and Debate: public speaking is included in art, but debate isn't... why? i. Debate covers a social studies requirement, public speaking is performing arts; it teaches you the basics of rhetoric, is open to everyone, and you don't need to go to tournaments or anything like that. f. Are the live sections of curriculum night recorded? i. No. Parents can look at the videos and presentations, then can ask the dept head or teachers if they have any questions. g. Some parents in different grades are complaining that there is one teacher who unfairly assigns grades. i. We can't talk about individual teachers in Site Council meetings. If there's an individual issue, the person whose child is affected should start with the teacher, then if there's a larger question that comes with that, you talk with the department head next. Meeting adjourned at 7:40. English Language Arts •Concurrent enrollment in Film and Society (now named Film and Literature) Mathematics • Four math courses newly opened to all 12th graders, including AP Statistics. •Two Python courses with different starting points: for beginners and for those with some coding experience. Performing Arts *Adding Foundations of Drama 2 •Combining Playwriting and Directing •Jazz 1 is now Intro to Jazz Performance - and is only a SEMESTER long now to allow more elective opportunities for students Science • Rebrand of AP1 Physics to Honors Physics (concurrent Enrollment) •Keep Concurrent Enrollment for Astronomy •New Course both semesters o Science of Water o Science Research Methods Social Studies • New courses: African American History and Asian American History. Both open to all students grades 9-12 and can be taken for Honors or CP credit •Our four AP senior electives are now open-access to all 12th graders, thus all social studies courses open to 12th graders are open access. World Language • Beginning Spanish A (CP) to replace Spanish 1 CP2. For 2023-2024 Beginning Spanish B (CP) to replace Spanish 2 CP2. Allows students to take 2 years of the Beginning Spanish sequence and then move to Spanish 2 CP and then Spanish 3 CP. A 4 year program if students want. Visual Arts •Game design class - could become a dual credit class (Math & Visual Art)