HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-11-08-CLARKE-min.pdfPUBLIC MEETING NOTICE
Jonas Clarke Middle School
School Site Council Meeting
November 8, 2023
7:00-8:00 AM
Main Office Conference Room, Jonas Clarke Middle School
17 Stedman Road Lexington, MA 02421
Agenda
I. Call to Order, Welcome, Council Business & Public Comment
a. Review and Approve Last Meeting's Minutes
i. pushed to next meeting, as not fair opportunity to review and
approve.
b. Review Meeting Times for December Meeting
=111011[.T •KT,i -3am
II. Parent, Staff, and Admin Check -Ins: October in Review (10 minutes)
a. Parents
i. Parent addressed the Quebec trip and the lottery system for it.
ii. Principal - lottery is due to the number of students for a trip and
the agreement with a travel agency for a price per child.
Principal also expressed to parents
iii. Parent also expressed that there were a number of questions
posed on the form that required students to express why they
thought they should go on the trip. Thus, students thought if
they did a better job on the form, they had a better chance. The
form should not be part of a lottery.
iv. Principal expressed that he would share that feedback with the
World Language department head.
v. Possibility of no WL trips might even be more equitable.
Especially for students with no WL and don't get the opportunity
to participate in any trip.
vi. Parents also addressed the cost of all these trips (drama,
language, ski trip, and Washington)
vii. Principal accepted feedback and offered the idea of a survey for
parents and community.
viii. Parent suggested that we (schools) look into a summer
opportunity for students to participate in travel for the world
languages.
b. Staff
i. Teacher brought up the concern of how the school can support
families in looking at the new platform for an open gradebook
(Teacher Ease). Is there a basic guide to help
parents/caregivers navigate the open gradebook idea.
ii. Principal shared that the middle school administration has
reached out to LHS, as they already do have an open
gradebook, to identify the norms for teachers and
parents/caregivers for open gradebook.
iii. Parent expressed that there is a lot of software/platforms that
LIPS expects parents to be able to navigate and understand
without a lot of training - and reality is it is difficult (Google
Classroom, Websites, Aspen, Teacher Ease, Parent Square,
payment systems, etc.)
iv. Parent - could schools clearly express the clear norms and
expectations for parents about what is expected by caregivers
for intervention or check in with all of the technology?
v. Parent expressed LHS actually has a really clear set of
expectations around setting norms.
vi. Parent expressed the need for additional information and
training to set norms and help families understand how to
access, how to read.
c. Admin
III. Reviewing Key WAS & YRBS Data Points from 2022-2023 Testing
1. The group reviewed some significant equity gaps in the 2023 MCAS
results. The, a�ghlighted in this slideshow.
IV. Feedback and Questions RE: `23-'24 Innovation Plan
V. Adjournment