HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-04-11-LHS-min RECEIVED
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LEXINGTON MA
Andrew Stephens, Ed.D. (781) 861-2320, ext. 69103
Principal astephens@lexingtonma.org
Twitter: PLexingtonHSMa
Minutes for the LHS School Site Council Meeting on April 11, 2022 from 6:00-7:30 PM.
Present: Andrew Stephens, Daren Griffiths, Liz Curtin, Jen Loney, Suzanne Lau, I .C. Zheng,Alix Fox,
Date Filey
1. Approval of the March, 2022 draft meeting minutes
2. Note that people are eligible to apply for 2 open seats on the LHS site council starting in the
2022-23 school year. This process is run by the LHS PTO.
3. School Innovation Plan Discussion
a. Innovation Plan Draft to date —Andrew has made some format changes for the first two
goals to more easily see how they tie into the district strategic plan.
b. Much of tonight's discussion centered around Andrew's presentation to the School
Committee about examining graduation requirements.
i. Concern from some parents that more flexible graduation requirements will mean
a loss of rigor. First of all, this is the beginning of a discussion, and much
feedback will be gathered. We can have both flexibility and rigor at the same
time, so if we can do that, why wouldn't we engage in that investigation... school
works for most kids, but why not try to make sure it works for all kids?
ii. Discussion that we're talking about following the MassCore standards, which are
recommended by the state for college readiness, and are much higher than the
baseline state graduation requirements.
iii. Much of the flexibility that we're talking about having (electives, internships, etc)
requires this flexibility in graduation requirements to even get started.
iv. Potential alternate pathways allow for more areas of opportunity to access, and we
need to make sure to look at equity of access. Andrew says that's partly why the
timeline is so long; the CIT is going to be really important in terms of helping to
drive that, as well as engaging kids. Alternate pathways will give kids some
agency in figuring out how to get more agency, which is cool.
V. Specifically in the context of science, if you only let juniors and seniors take APs,
that allows students to take an intro level science course first and then choose to
take the AP class in that subject.
vi. Comment that concurrent enrollment classes allow kids to decide their second
semester if they want college credits, so they can choose based on where they're
going to college.
vii. Much discussion about science requirements, sequencing, electives, etc., as well
as the difference in credits/time between science classes and other classes.
Lexington High School 1 251 Waltham Street I Lexington,MA. 1 02421
viii. Question about the possibility that if fewer science classes are required, some kids
who are harder to schedule (who need services, e.g.) might lose access to some
classes if it's too hard to schedule them, since they're not"required".
Overwhelming agreement from teachers/admin that the SPED department and
admin are very mindful of the needs of their students, and a lot of work goes into
making sure the kids have what they need. They run as many classes as they need
to make sure there are enough for the students.
ix. Changing the science sequence/requirements to allow for more electives would
open up the possibility of having the same subjects, but with a different focus, to
mesh more with what individual students are interested in.
X. Would asking what the *goal* of graduation requirements is be a useful lens
through which to look at some of these questions/issues/ideas?
xi. Comment that we need to be concerned with what's appropriate for high school.
People are in favor of rigor so they exercise their rigor muscles, so they're strong
when they get to college... but muscles can be overworked, so more rigor isn't
necessarily better. Need to shift the community understanding of what's good and
what's necessary.
4. Updates & discussion:
a. Transition to new schedule: feels like it went as smoothly as it could. Major culture shift:
3 lunches in 1 period, and not a single kid was sitting on the floor in the hallway.
Teachers like the more even class periods
b. Exam Schedule & upcoming events - exam schedule has been put out
c. Question about the Physics curriculum, as it relates to concurrent enrollment-basically,
kids can take AP physics, or they can take concurrent enrollment either for college credit,
or as an honors physics class. Some might need reassurance that it's not a lower level.
d. COVID/Health: probably 50% of kids still wearing masks. Great transition in terms of
people still being kind to each other
e. Budget Update - almost able to nail down FTES for next year. Upcoming years might be
a challenge in terms of getting more money as the town is trying to save as much money
as possible for the capital project. High school numbers are not going down for the next
several years; there's a dip in 4th/5th grade numbers, which might be due to the
pandemic.
meeting adjourned at 7:30