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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-03-21-CLARKE-minJonas Clarke Middle School School Site Council Meeting March 21, 2017 7:OOAM Main Office, Jonas Clarke Middle School 17 Stedman Road Lexington, MA 02421 Agenda In Attendance: Anna Monaco, Principal; Mary Barry -Ng, Assistant Principal; Jonathan VVettstone, Assistant Principal; Elizabeth Murphy, Social Worker; Sarah Fattal, Teacher; Casey Siagel, Teacher; Jon Chamberlain, Teacher; Angela Chang, Parent; Naomi Priver, Parent; Jennifer Roney, Parent. I. Welcome 11. Review and approval of December 2016 Meeting Minutes 111. Concerns/Questions A. Speaker (Diamond parent), concerned that did not get health, specifically with respect to understanding gender issues and sexl education a. Principal - very rare for students not to get health b. Social Worker - in looking at the 7th grade health program, we looked at it to ensure all students would get the S.O.S. pilot. We did identify there were three total this year that due to services were not able to participate in health class. Ms. Murphy will also talk to her colleague at Clarke to convey the concern/issue of the very few who do not attend full 7th grade health class. B. S.O.S. Signs of Suicide Lesson a. Video and lesson - shows a reduction in suicidal thoughts 60% on average, best part of this is the A.C.T. strategy (acknowledge, care, and tell). To acknowledge or validate how person saying what they feel, care about the person and tell a an adult. Students in middle school are very aligned with their peers, so we are looking to see how we can support students take the appropriate action and learn how to get an adult into the discussion to help their peers. b. Health teachers and school counselors will partner together on this to help students learn about this topic and practice the A.C.T. strategy c. Principal - we put this information out there with the hopes of communicating with parents and understand the value of this lesson. Parents will be able to speak with the 7th grade school counselor (Sarah Shapiro) so that we can better understand their concerns) and communicate goal of these lessons. d. Principal - the video is very good. It helps students when they see that post on social media or they hear about a friend who might be cutting. This is why the ACT strategy is so helpful. e. Ms. Murphy- They will know how to use the ACT strategy (a universal strategy that helps everyone, rather than targeting a specific group of students). f. Parent - is this followed up at the high school g. Ms. Murphy- yes, program continues in 9th grade- the program is called the "Signs of Suicide." h. Parent - will parents get an email so that they can follow up after? i. Principal - yes, parents will get email this week. j. Ms. Murphy - this is part of a pilot program. VVe selected 7th grade health because this tied into a unit on depression that they already taught, additionally the YRBS also indicated this would be best, with the spike that occurred with 8th grade data. k. Mr. Chamberlain - Does this continue in LHS? I. Ms. Murphy - yes, in 9th grade curriculum. C. Nurses & Verbal Screening Nurses for a. Principal - New screening shown to actually prevent drug/alcohol use. Called the S.B.I.R.T. This stands for Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) is an evidence -based practice used to identify, reduce, and prevent problematic use, abuse, and dependence on alcohol and illicit drugs. b. Committee to be assembled this Spring 1. Nurses, possibly school counselors, will be trained on how to ask the questions and read the student responses 2. Piloted beginning next year D. Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) will be administered again this Spring, April 13th for all 7th and 8th graders a. Parents are allowed to opt their students out of the survey b. It will occur during a WIN block and be online c. A few questions were slightly altered from the last YRBS d. Our W.I.N. block actually came out of the last YRBS survey and student needs that were identified e. VVe won't get the data until next fall, but very interesting to see if any changes f. E. Practice CBT (Computer Based Testing) for MCAS also occurring today a. Diamond doing this at the exact same time so that we can look for any technology glitches, etc. b. Test itself is different than it was in the past, therefore it is truly a "practice" for everyone involved, staff, students, technology. c. Parent: What happens if they finish early? d. Principal: Only read, just like regular MCAS, can't use the iPad, can't access any other app. IV. Goals on SIP for Next Year I A. ALICE (Alert Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) training & development of a safety/security goal. a. VVe work very closely with the LPD. Two years ago, training for staff (no students in the building). Next year, need to conduct another training. VVe may consider practicing the scenario with students. In the past, we have practiced a lockdown with students but no scenarios in the building. b. With staff turnover important to review again and make them aware of our program. c. Parent - when staff come in mid -year, do those staff members get some sort of written summary or instructions on how to deal with these issues? d. Principal - this is a concern that we have raised. How do we incorporate into the training and transition of staff? This will be part of our goal in the next year. e. Parent - also a concern with how you present this to students. Important to have a parent forum or parents on the community. Especially with respect to the language and situations you put the students in. i. Might not practice with students, but just share the information and the strategies. ii. Parent - Harrington runs drills and will sometimes block an exit - does that happen here? iii. Principal - yes, Lex Fire Dept. has done that in many drills. It is helpful to experience different scenarios. iv. This will probably take the place of the third goal on the S.I.P. (currently the building goal) v. Will involve reviewing video and Google Slides with Staff 1. Meet with crisis team and plan training for staff 2. Discussion if it will involve students B. Other Goals that will continue a. Academic Goal and Social Emotional Goal i. Parent - will iPad training for parents be part of this? ii. Principal - Yes, we will have a forum in May for incoming 7th grade parents to inform them about our goals and practices. iii. Hope is to provide parents with strategies ahead of getting the iPad and even have our ITS (Instructional Technology Specialist) come to the parent night to share how the iPad is being used in the classroom. C. Project Based Learning - Pilot a. Buck Institute - June 26, 2017 will conduct a real time PBL training entitled, "Project Slice." This will be open to 35 teachers. It is important to get teachers and administrators involved in understanding how PBL works. So, this experience will allow teachers to see and feel what students feel during this b. Parent - are you anticipating any of the PBL will be part of the School Improvement Plan next year? c. Principal - focus will be more on the professional learning aspect of PBL d. Teacher - we have really been doing a lot of work in this area already. e. Parent - Maybe you could identify some teachers who already teach this way and suggest others go take a look at a class. f. Principal: Something I have seen online is this "pineapple symbol" - as the pineapple means welcome. Currently considering using this symbol and encouraging teachers who want to share a skill/instructional strategy or get specific feedback on a specific instructional strategy or lesson to post the pineapple and begin an informal "walk-through" or visiting process. g. Teacher - any information about homework survey? h. Principal - Dr. C had sent out a list of approximately 20 value statements. Different departments and teams began to discuss and look at the statements, with the goal of selecting five. VVe then provided the feedback to Dr. C. and the administrative team is looking to use this feedback to draft a new policy. i. Teacher - Departments have also looked at these statements and had many good discussions about purpose/nature of homework. j. VVe will share 20 value statements with Site Council Members V. Question about Foreign Language I. Parent: Is there a way that students could obtain a sampling before selecting their language? A. Perhaps a quarter of each language (adding Latin) to the curriculum, then having students select a language in 7th grade. B. Meeting Adjourned: 8:00 a.m.