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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-11-15-ESTABROOK-min Minutes of the Site Council's 1st meeting of 2024-25 academic year (November 15th, 2024) Attendees: Gerardo Martinez, Maris Joniec, Karyn Zhao,Andrew Harris, Carolyn Mabardy, Joe Sullivan and Ethan Wells Agenda: - Introductions - Future meeting schedule - Norms and bylaws - School and district goals Introductions New and returning site council members introduced themselves. Returning this year as faculty representatives are Maris Joniec and Gerardo Martinez. They are joined by Carolyn Mabardy. Ethan Wells is the only returning family representative, and is joined by Andrew Harris and Karyn Zhao. Joe Sullivan joined as community representative. Maisey, the community resource dog, will be attending this year's meetings in a non-voting capacity. Detective Sullivan advised that his correct email address is ura vanc Vexingtonma.s ov Mr. Harris and Ms. Zhao, both members of the PTO (along with Mr. Joniec), took the opportunity to update the council on upcoming events and fundraisers, including the Winter Market Place (December 8th, in the school cafeteria). This will be preceded by the Book Fair, which begins a week earlier. The science fair begins next week. Future meetings The following dates for future meetings of the site council were agreed to: Friday, January 10 at 2:30 Friday, March 7th at 2:30 Friday,April 4th at 2:30 Friday, May 30th at 2:30 June TBD Ms. Zhao requested that meetings be accessible remotely. This was agreed to with no dis- agreement. Norms and By-laws The norms and by-laws governing the site council, its decorum, etc. were discussed briefly and agreed to without dissent. School and District Goals Prior to discussing the school and district goals, Dr. Martinez took a minute to bring the council up to speed on the resounding success of the hydroponic garden pilot project. This project is an off-shoot of the LEF-funded greenhouse and involved six 5th graders, who successfully planted and harvested a significant amount of organic basil. This basil was incorporated into the school lunch, with excess basil being sent to Lexington High School. On the strength of this success, the project will continue, with the hydroponic garden being reused this upcoming school year to grow different varieties of lettuce. Dr. Martinez then walked us through four strategic objectives for the upcoming school year: 1. To address and narrow equity gaps by (a) implementing revised curricula on reading and writing, with an increased emphasis on phonics and (b) continuing to implement a model of restorative justice. Mr. Wells raised a concern about this model's indebtedness to the Suffolk University Center for Restorative Justice. In particular, he noted that the openly stated assumption of this model, that "the true self in everyone is good, wise, and powerful"was problematic, first because this assumption is contrary-to-fact (if people were in fact good, wise and powerful, there would be no need for restorative justice in the first place), but second because it risked vitiating the notion of responsibility of its meaning. If the true self is inherently good, wise and powerful, then it is also inherently innocent. Why? To say it is good and wise but not powerful enough to manifest this goodness/wisdom would in fact underscore its powerlessness, while to say that it is in fact powerful enough to manifest itself in the world means that it is either unwise or not good, if it manifests itself through unjust action. But if the true self is inherently innocent, what does it mean for the person who acts unjustly to take responsibility for his or her actions? Restorative justice programs always involve a moment of"owning" one's actions, but what does it mean to take responsibility if the one taking responsibility effectively says: "I take responsibility, but it wasn't my `true self who did it?" Or what amounts to the same thing: I take responsibility, but it wasn't truly me who did it? How can one take responsibility and exonerate oneself in the same breath? So Mr. Wells asked how this assumption was being implemented in the K-5 context. Mr. Harris noted that it is often implemented in the context of one child saying something hurtful without realizing it, and took the form of trying to help the child understand why the statement might be hurtful. Dr. Martinez noted that the assumption was not directly taught to kids and underscored the difficult task of trying to get students (or, for that matter, anyone) to take ownership of their actions while also finding a way to move on. Mr. Sullivan underscored how restorative justice programs were an effective way of allowing kids to avoid the "system" and its largely punitive approach. No one thought a strictly punitive approach was in any way preferable. 2. To Redefine success. Dr. Martinez discussed how the Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program was translated into "Estabee" behaviors and implemented at every level of the school, which was confirmed by Ms. Mabardy, who teaches first grade. Dr. Martinez also noted how Estabee behavior was implemented in specific situations, with somewhat different expectations communicated to students depending on, for example, whether one is in the classroom or the cafeteria. 3. To increase student agency. The school is in the process of creating a student council for 4th and 5th graders. Students are also encouraged to advocate for themselves. Dr. Martinez gave the example of how students had written him a letter asking why hot sauce wasn't provided in the cafeteria and how he was able to act on the students' suggestion to provide it. The point of the example was to show how students are encouraged to see themselves not merely as passive participants in the Estabrook community, but active members of it. Dr. Martinez also noted how 4th and 5th grade students are being encouraged to develop their goal setting and SEL skills (Social and Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Responsible Decision Making, Healthy Friendship). Mr. Harris asked how SEL skills were being implemented in specific situations, such as math class, or reading. Dr. Martinez and Mr. Joniec provided examples from the classroom setting. 4. To innovate for sustainable change. As time was running short, Dr. Martinez briefly recounted how the school is implementing its recycling and composting programs.