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Home My WebLink About2025-04-17-DIAMOND-min Johnny Cole, PhD (781) 861-2460 Principal jcole@lexingtonma.org Fax: (781) 274-0174 Diamond Site Council Agenda April 17, 2025 - 7:00am I. Welcome A. Present: Johnny Cole, Whitney Didie, Remy Coombs, Beth Bristol, Joyce Dvorak, Stephen Babbitt, Mary Barry-Ng B. Introductions by members present II. Approval of Minutes From Previous Meeting A. Minutes approved III. Updates A. Principal 1. Follow up items from the last meeting: a) We are in the final stages of the assistant principal hiring process, screening committee look at resumes, last week we invited nine people in for interviews. Two people backed out, so a total of seven screening interviews. We invited our top three in yesterday for a full day of in-school meetings with staff, students, and caregivers. All three are extremely strong. b) Yesterday provided all three an opportunity to see what we are all about and what their potential days could be like. 2. Still working on the S.I.P. - inherited the second year of a plan that this administration was not a part of. Also discovered that Andy Baker, LHS principal, also inherited a S.I.P. that was in its second year, so I am following his path. Until the Diamond administration is solid, pausing on this. I will update you next month on where we are. 3. Snow days 4. Parking update: We could put temporary parking along the curb (on the Sedge road side). The downside is that if those cars are not moved, it could be a problem with the buses exiting a) Parent suggestion: Perhaps staff obtain a parking sticker/permit and if you don’t have a sticker, you don’t have priority parking. b) Staff request: Facilities often park in the back, near the custodial office. At times they park erratically and take up more than one space. 5. Science bowl - Whitney Didie is going to D.C. with students to compete next week. The Diamond Science bowl also won and is going to nationals in Nebraska. 6. A survey was created and given to the 9th graders at LHS, and asked questions about the transition from 8th to 9th grade. What were they most worried about? What did they find most challenging? Also asked about the transition from standards-based grading to traditional grading. One of the other data points was the workload. Because we work as a cohesive team in middle school, teachers often plan their projects, assignments,and assessments. Due to the fact that LHS does not have teams, multiple assignments and assessments on the same days were a common occurrence. 7. Staff: Not pleased with the STAR assessment reports that were passed out this past week. Whitney Didie shared that she was disappointed that the STAR reports were rolled out to students. Many student saw their scaled score and did not know how to support their students. Many of our kids on Special Education plans saw that their percentage was extremely low compared to their classmates. 8. Parent comment: Their child had a significant drop from the fall, and I did not understand how a child could drop so low and have nothing to worry about. Nevertheless, I do think these types of data points are good information. I am still trying to understand the metrics that are used and what these measurements mean. 9. Principal: We are trying to be as transparent with all stakeholders with the assessments and data that we are providing, as well as what it means and what it is measuring. We are working hard with the literacy group in town to ensure that all are aware. 10. Parent: How did we find out about this report? Communication is too much in this district. B. Staff C. Parents 1. Complaint about no knives in the cafeteria. Can’t cut his chicken. 2. Concerned about students taking a bus to the center (not their assigned bus) 3. As a mother who meets monthly with a group of moms, we are extremely pleased with the communication from all the teams. Our children are all on different teams, and every parent feels as though the teams have been amazing in their communication. IV. Open Discussion V. Meeting Adjourned Site Council Thursday, April 17 · 7:00 – 7:45am Time zone: America/New_York Google Meet joining info Video call link: https://meet.google.com/afe-thmw-iod Or dial: (US) +1 208-856-8268 PIN: 690 094 368# More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/afe-thmw-iod?pin=2633796058636