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Home My WebLink About2022-10-04-CLARKE-minPUBLIC MEETING NOTICE ________________________________________________________________________ Jonas Clarke Middle School School Site Council Meeting October 4, 2022 3:00 PM Room 221, Jonas Clarke Middle School 17 Stedman Road Lexington, MA 02421 In Attendance : Dane Despres, Principal; Jill Clark,Teacher; Jon Roy, Teacher; Meghan Olsson, Teacher; Julie Connard, Teacher; Sarah Carter, Parent; Yu Wie, Parent; Rucha Londhe, Parent; Xia Zheng, Parent; Elisabeth Moeller, Parent. Agenda I.Call to Order, Welcome, & Public Comment a.Introductions of Site Council Members i.Group members introduced themselves, their role at the school and what interested them in joining the group. ii.Despres: Opened dialogue to see if anyone had questions about norms or protocols. b.Review of Site Council mission i.Make recommendations for the overall improvement of the school. 1.Despres displayed “our mission” as a visual on the front screen, outlining the mission in depth. ii.Recommendations appear in the form of a plan, the Two-Year Innovation Plan Improvement Plan (SIP). II.Setting a Regular Meeting Time & Selection of a Parent Co-Chair a.Role/duty: Help facilitate the meeting, ability to lead the meeting and assist in planning the agenda with the principal. i.Despres - any parent interested in being a co-chair? 1.Rucha Londhe volunteered - will be co-facilitating. b.Principal - suggest picking dates/times in advance - can be before or after school. Mornings would be 7-8AM. c.Parent feedback - mornings would be preferable. d.Teacher feedback - would prefer the afternoon due to morning routine with children. Another suggested morning, keeping options open for afternoon clubs. e.Principal - sounds like mornings would be better for the group. The first Tuesday of each month from 7-8AM. Would need to find an alternative in January. i.Next Meeting: November 1st from 7-8AM (find a classroom) ii.December 6th from 7-8AM (find a classroom) iii.January - pending III.Staff, Parent/Guardian, & Principal Notes a.Parent Notes i.Parent - we do a sped coffee each year. Why not a 504 coffee? It would be great to have more communication. 1.Despres will chat with the counseling director to discuss a 504 “coffee” idea - maybe something we could do district wide. ii.Parent - there is no technology rule at school - how is that going? 1.Teacher - much better than last year. It is very specific - no tech during the day. Kids are not using it in school. 2.Despres - use of technology in prior years = dysregulation in students. We decided to be more consistent with rules. iii.Parent - question about standards based grading system. How does it affect our 8th grade kids, as they prepare for HS and private schools? It looks like most kids are “meeting” iv.Parent - Are we not preparing the kids for HS? There is still a great deal of confusion. v.Parent - SBG feels like a jump - extreme. Perhaps you make it more of a progression from letter grades to SBG. 1.Despres - this will be a major conversation for this group. There are parts of the innovation plan that will answer some of these questions. I am currently working with PTO to have a night dedicated to grading - information giving and feedback taking. 2.Teacher - my kids are able to work on a skill that they will master in HS. Using SBG gives them multiple opportunities to try and work on the skill again and again, before they get to the HS. On the other hand, there are kids that are meeting/mastering much earlier - it’s up to the teacher to differentiate and allow the child to continue. 3.Teacher - HS classes are “leveled” at the HS, not here. 4.Teacher - as an 8th grade teacher, we have to work with the kids to identify the appropriate level in HS. Every “meeting” is not the same - it comes down the various components and skills - who can take on the higher challenge? 5.Parent - is that clear to the kids? 6.Teacher - we discuss the “challenges” within each assignment and task, which helps the kids and teachers identify what level would be a good match. 7.Teacher - the clarity around what an A, B, C, D actually is. It can be different for each person. Change can take a great deal of time. 8.Teacher - on tests and quizzes - I give them the “points'' and the “meetings/progressings.” That might create some confusion for kids. Due to the notes and comments provided, kids are reading and thinking more about their work. They subsequently come to WIN blocks to retake and revise work to fully meet the mark. 9.Teacher - in our Student Success Team, we would look at student work, but would see VERY different grades attached to each document - very confusing. SBG comments help get things in alignment and consistent for all viewing the item. 10.Despres - how we “rate” kids is in our history and is something visible in the HS level. When we fill out recommendation forms, the teacher ratings have an impact. It is very different from what we experienced in schools. vi.Parent - my child is enjoying her experience vii.Teacher - same experience - much better when compared to last year. viii.Teacher - more community building this year. ix.Parent - parent teacher conferences - will they be in person as well? 1.Despres - yes, but option for virtual. b.Staff Notes (see above) c.Principal Notes (see above) IV.Reviewing Clarke’s ‘22-’24 Innovation Plan Despres reviewed the four goals from the LPS Strategic Plan 1.Addressing and narrowing equity gaps 2.Redefine success 3.Cultivate student agency 4.Innovate for sustainable change ●Despres: When reviewing the innovation plan, pay attention to the Process Benchmarks - where we track progress for each objective. In a two years plan, we can adjust as we go - directing energy into the area we see fit. ●Despres: in our next meeting, we’ll walk through the benchmarks together. V.Adjournment Next Meeting: November 1st from 7-8AM (find a classroom)