HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-01-25-CLARKE-minPUBLIC MEETING NOTICE
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Jonas Clarke Middle School
School Site Council Meeting
January 25, 2022
3:00 PM
Virtual Meeting, Jonas Clarke Middle School
17 Stedman Road Lexington, MA 02421
Google Meet link:
Video call link:https://meet.google.com/qbh-rjoh-qkv
Or dial: (US) +1 563-562-6453 PIN: 891 292 919#
Agenda
1.Call to Order, Welcome, & Public Comment
2.Review & Approve Last Meeting’s Minutes
December 21, 2021 minutes
Meghan Olsson motion to approve. Emily Sayre seconded the motion.
Approved unanimously with those present.
3.Parent, Staff, and Admin Reports: 15-minute limit
Parent check-in:
i.Xia Zheng: Question about the health classes. I heard from
other parents that some of the topics are not appropriate. Is
there an opt out option?
ii.Admin: Some of the topics we believe you can opt out of.
However the district feels strongly about the health education
program/classes.
iii.Admin: Suggest reaching out to Julie Fenn (district health
coordinator).
iv.M. Alexander: Remembers that the teachers send out an
overview of the topics that will be covered. As a parent I did go
over the topics with my children so they would have an idea
about what would be discussed.
v.Admin: Email is sent to the parents approximately two weeks
prior to the start of the class.
vi.M. Alexander: How is it going with the (therapy) dog?
vii.Admin: We have had one visit with the dog - sort of a practice
run with staff. We currently have three separate dogs lined up
for Clarke. One that will be used with students in the counseling
suite, one outside during mask breaks, and last but not least
one that will come in during specific WIN blocks.
viii.M. Alexander: Update on substitutes?
ix.Admin: After the break a few classroom teachers are out - and
many students out. We have seen the numbers of students
(absent due to Covid) drop. Yesterday was the first day in a
week or so that we had to run a large study hall in the
auditorium. Human Resources has helped obtain more
substitutes and there have been more subs available.
x.M. Alexander: Thank you for the survey regarding conference
preferences.
xi.E. Sayre: Share that students are thrilled about the
theater/show coming up this weekend.
xii.E. Sayre: Question about course selections/requests and
recommendations for students and parents. In particular, do
parents get the information?
xiii.Admin: Yes - information coming out from LHS for incoming 9th
graders in next few weeks. For 6th and 7th grade - Program of
Studies updated in March and information soon to follow.
Staff check-in:
xiv.D. Silverberg: Staff very excited about the therapy dog(s).
xv.J. Clark: I think staff are used to what is going on now. They are
pretty much “in the groove”.
xvi.M. Alexander: Shared when she used to work in NYC - the
owner brought dogs to work and eventually other people
brought their dogs. It really changed the atmosphere.
xvii.M. Olsson: Agrees with J. Clark and said staff do feel supported
by administration as well as the PTO. If anything, teachers are
stressed with their own family and living life with covid.
Administrative check-in:
xviii.Overall things are going very well. The relationships built this
year with students and staff have helped us meet the needs of
many.
4.Discussing Clarke’s School Improvement Plan 2021-2022: “Innovation Plan”
(See notes/slideshow)
a.Focus on Goal 3:Cultivating Student Agency
Cultivate student agency and a sense of self-efficacy by ensuring that all our PK-12
students’educational experiences place them at the center of their learning;consistently
revisit our curriculum, instruction, assessment, and professional learning practices…
5.(1) to ensure relevancy and student voice;
6.(2) to teach students to set their own meaningful goals;
7.(3) to value productive struggle as they work toward them; and
8.(4) to reflect and monitor their progress toward attaining those goals.
b. What have we been doing to Cultivate Student Agency?
●Continue to revise and develop curricula that provide students with opportunities for
“voice and choice.”
●Introduced standards-based assessment to help students better understand their own
strengths and areas for growth; this also assists teachers in effectively differentiating for
studentsʼ unique needs.
●WIN
●HIring committees
●Reassessment opportunities (as much as they want) - Identifying need for reassessment
●7th & 8th grade math selection / 9th grade WL selection - more choice
●Student Self-Advocacy
●Admin: Two staff meetings from now our GSA will be presenting to the staff and identifying
ways that staff can be more supportive of their students.
●Next Steps: How do we innovate?What developments and adjustments can we make to
continue the progress?
○Student goal-setting?
D. Silverberg: Is there a way for students to create goals for themselves as well? It would be
meaningful and have some accountability.
J. Clark: We have been discussing an advisory model. Students are more likely to advocate and
talk to adults when they have a good relationship with them. I know LHS has an advisory model.
It would be helpful to have a group of 10-12 students that I could work with in 6th, 7th, and 8th
grade. It would be good to have an advisory - another trusted adult that is not your teacher or
counselor, that you (as a student) could go to and help you to problem solve.
D. Despres: Importance of developing restorative justice techniques. Restorative implies you are
trying to “return” to something. In order to build circle culture and using advisory to foster and
practice these circle communities.
M. Olsson: Important to think of “setting goals” - that they donʼt always have to be academic. In
fact social/emotional goals are just as important, if not more.
D. Despres: First years teaching, I worked at a school that had student-led parent-teacher
conferences. The advisory played a large role in helping to goal set and track their progress.
J. Clark: Having an advisory in place to set goals, check in on goals would be great.
E. Sayre: Happy to hear about student-led conferences and the idea that this is a possibility for the
middle school to have students participate.
A. Brower: commented about parents having a way to track student progress.
M. Alexander : Checking in on the team website and asking your own child to login to their Google
Classroom and show parent/guardian their work and progress.
D. Despres: Amelia made a great point about bringing in parent/guardian into the discussion of
goals and progress.
E. Sayre: A number of her sonʼs teachers use rubrics and have the students sign off on
understanding and using the rubric to meet the standards.
D. Silverberg: In Special Education, by 8th grade, we really want students with IEPs to understand
why they are in Special Education and how they learn and goals they have for themselves.
M. Olsson: It is important for teachers to be aware of this as well. We need to make space if we
want to make that happen.
J. Clark: Sometimes having those conversations help students to really understand why some
assignments are difficult for them or why other assignments are easier for them.
D. Despres: Thank you. My goal in the initial dra is to include as many of these suggestions as
possible.
Focus on Goal 4:Innovating for Sustainable Change
Refine and improve our school-and district-wide practices,systems,and structures
related to managing innovation and promoting lasting change.
We will develop clear decision-making structures and communication methods to prevent
initiative overload and enable us to more consistently scale-up promising practices.
Innovating for Sustainable Change (reflection and key points)
1.A major challenge over the last two years; with the pandemic came an increase in need for
change as well as frequency of change. A major source of staff burnout; also the rate and
nature of changes were overwhelming for many families.
2.Add that to the call for substantial change in education to dismantle systemic racism and
other systems of bias.
3.Add that to the other ideas/changes listed in our Innovation Plan notes!
4.Next Steps: How do we innovate?What steps can we take, processes can we develop,
and/or norms can we establish in order to make sure innovation occurs in a manner that is
sustainable and supportive of all members of the Clarke community? (current and new
initiatives)
M. Olsson: One thing I think you are already doing is reaching out to all stakeholders. Google
Forms and surveys help to inform you and ensure you are going in the right direction.
E. Sayre: How thorough you are in defining your objective. Additionally the time commitment and
the budget - knowing how all three of these factors will play out. This will help you to know what is
possible.
D. Silverberg: Readiness of change for staff, students, and parents. Pace/steps in rolling out the
change.
M. Olsson: agreed gradual change
X. Zheng: clarity on the direction of the change
M. Olsson: Stopping to celebrate the successes. It motivates people to continue to want to do
more.
E. Sayre: Look at end product and backward plan.
9.Selecting Next Meeting Time & Adjournment
a.Monday, February 28, 2022. 3pm-4pm