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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-12-15-LHS-minLEXINGTON Andrew Baker (781) 861-2320, ext. 69102 Principal abakeralexingtonma.org LHS Site Council - Virtual Monday, December 15 • 6:00 — 7:30pm Time zone: America/New York Google Meet joining info Video call link: tt s:// eet. oole.co /iop-pcxr-ek Or dial: (US) +1 516-888-0871 PIN: 555 547 1629 More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/iop-pcxr-ekq?pin=1525901971252 Minutes: Attendees included: Rebecca Fagan Gorospe, Allison Mantha, Vyushstu Khetan, Monique Schramme, Sarah Cravedi, Aaminah Shams, Andrew Baker, Bryce Spaulding, Liz Curtin, Janet West, Jun Yin, Sophia Du, Suzanne Lau, Ye Tong. Guest Reggie Hobbs, Science Department Chair and Jennifer Gaudet, Director of Secondary Education. 1. Approve minutes of Sept and November meetings. a. September and November Minutes approved 2. Presentation from LHS Science Department Chair and teachers around ongoing changes to Science sequences, staffing mandates, and opportunities for student choice. a. Presentation can be viewed here. A course sequence can be seen here. And the current LHS graduation requirements, here. The next step is a presentation to the School Committee. b. Working on this for three years: the plan aims to be helpful for kids in terms of their well-being and offer similar opportunities to what students can currently take. c. The last contract with LEA included a provision to ensure all teachers taught four four -credit classes. The science department is the last to achieve this. Currently all Lexington High School 1 251 Waltham Street I Lexington, MA 102421 science classes are 4 credits, except for APs, which meet 6 blocks. After this year, all science classes will meet four blocks; this plan was previewed with Dr Hackett and the School Committee last winter. d. Draft Science Sequence Transition presented (slide 4 of presentation). When a 4 -block non -AP class is offered, there will be multiple levels (they are not just removing AP, they will add honors and offer CP 1 and CP 2) e. Students will still be able to take 3 or 4 AP science courses: AP Bio, AP Chemistry, AP Physics C: Mechanics and AP Physics C: E&M, each 4 -credit. But they'd have to double- or triple -up on science courses their sophomore, junior, and/or senior year under the new model. f For Physics: i. Many students sit for AP Physics Mechanics, with fewer choosing E&M (Reggie noted that LHS students make up about 30% of Massachusetts' E&M tests taken so we still have quite a few taking the E&M test.). ii. College Board has changed Physics into two full three-hour exams (Mechanics and E&M). iii. To take Physics, students must be concurrently enrolled in calculus, or already have taken calculus. There are 50-60 juniors taking calculus each year (those that skipped at least one year of math), which means they could take AP Physics C: Mechanics their junior year (presumably alongside AP Bio and first-year Chem). g. For the class of 2029 (current freshmen), students who want to take AP Bio and AP Chem will need to take the foundational science course before the corresponding AP course. Sophomores take a Bio course then have the opportunity to AP Bio in junior year, perhaps alongside the first year chem class. Then taking AP Chem and up to two AP Physics courses their senior year h. To complete to the same AP science load of prior LHS classes, students will consume more credits: 23 credits for the class of 2026 vs 28 credits for the class of 2029 i. OLD: 5 credits for enviro/earth + 3x6 for AP Bio, AP Chem and AP Physics (both Mech+E&M) ii. NEW: 4 credits for enviro/earth + (6 courses x4 credits each) for Intro Bio, AP Bio, Intro Chem, AP Chem, AP Mech, and AP Phys E&M. (Note: AP Physics courses will be taught as first-pass courses; no prior physics course required.) i. The College Board recommends 120 hours for AP courses and the four -block course is under 100 hours. By offering foundational content and lab skills in the first year course, won't have to cover that in the AP course. j. Piloted AP Bio second -pass course this year; 46 seniors expressed interest and enrolled 26. Students rated their content knowledge of sophomore Bio highly and slightly lower for lab skills and practices. When these students took Bio as sophomores, it was CP bio as there was no honors option. (Only CP or AP Bio was offered.) k. The current freshmen are the ones that will be impacted by this sequence. Next year, they will take Bio (CP 1, CP2, or Honors; no AP option). Then junior year, they will choose from among a variety of science courses, or to double or triple -up. Students still have to take 4 full years of science, but it doesn't have to be four different disciplines. 1. Could reduce pressure in junior year because could take an intro Chem with an AP Bio or AP Physics (if taking Calc). LHS is unique in that we offer Environmental Science to 9th graders, and that impacts choices later. in. What is the science department's definition of appropriate homework? APs: 45-60min per day. This is true whether it is a 4 credit (4 days of 45-60 minutes) or a 6 credit course (6 days of 45-60 minutes) n. There are additional FTEs tied to these changes. We've increased our electives significantly over the past few years, including many in the science department. But we cannot know how many FTEs will be required because we don't know what the course choice patterns will look like. If 280 students were enrolled in AP Chem this year, will it be more or less than that if we offer an honors option of Chem before AP? At the same time, there are enrollment declines at the lower grades. Estimating FTEs is challenging. o. There is an ongoing conversation about requiring only 3 years of science vs 4. That is a community conversation. p. By making all sciences 4 -blocks, they will fit into a single letter block, meaning it frees up the schedule for more electives and courses. q. If we require calculus to take AP Physics as a junior, will this push more students to try to exempt out of Math 2 so they take Calc as a junior? We don't know about the secondary impacts yet. r. There will be no placement test option to skip the first-pass course because the lab skills built in that first-pass course are vital. Also, a concern for equity drives this decision so students who are able to afford it aren't taking a summer course, leaving those who cannot afford it behind. s. Current "opt -out" policy of a fourth year of some subjects. Will this new science approach mean more students are opting out of other subjects to make room for AP sciences? t. Next step is to meet with secondary subcommittee of School Committee. Then come back to Site Council. At its core, this is about the teacher contract and parity, and also allowing students more flexibility. 3. Taking a glance at LHS and LPS staff data on attendance as shared by DESE a. Look at DESE's recently published teacher, a inistrator4 and staff attendance. Lexington in the middle of the pack (-92%) for adult attendance. b. Staff attendance includes parental leave. This is the first time DESE has published this. Andrew discussed this in Admin Council and agreed more longitudinal data and more details on the data would be helpful to understand how to interpret the attendance rate. He noted that some data is questionable (Medford at 100%? Seems unlikely.) c. In LPS, we have a team that accurately tracks and reports data on students and staff. They track this stuff very carefully, so he is confident our data are accurate. 4. Building Project Updates a. The debt exclusion vote passed. About 62% voted in favor; Andrew noted that we still need to attend to the concerns of those who voted no. b. Where are we now? Finalizing designs to be able to send to cost -estimator (due Feb 12th). Cost estimates will come back in March. In our January or February meeting, we should have more detailed designs. c. Starting July 1 st, fencing will go up along Worthen Road fields. The first step will be building the Foundation of the new high school, building it upon piles down to bedrock. The noise shouldn't be terribly noticeable until they drive it into the bedrock. d. How will the construction impact the traffic and navigating around the high school? Contractors are not allowed to be in the area clogging roads during school start and end times. Should only lose a few spots where students park. e. Concern about noise during learning hours: They'll erect sound barriers to mitigate noise. In the buildings closest to construction (math and science), putting in temporary HVAC systems so teachers can control temperature without opening windows to noise. f LHS wasn't actually designed as a California -style campus. It was a single building but we kept adding onto it as the school population grew. g. There will be lockers in the new building - day use lockers - and in the PE and athletic department. They will be larger in the new building. We heard that students would like to use lockers for special events like bake sales and Secret Santa, but they are so small. h. Impact of construction on fields is quite limited: practice and competition football fields, and the little league baseball field (which will be moving to Lincoln). Football will practice on Center Track field, and games will be at Center Track or local colleges. And there will be nicer fields after the construction is finished! i. Construction is supposed to be complete and move -in in September 2029. 5. Second Annual Student Led Lexington Learns Together a. January 16th. 53 students have submitted proposals to lead sessions already! Encourage your children, friends, and students to lead a session! 6. Items not reasonably anticipated 48 hours in advance of the meeting a. Where will the squirrels and rats go that currently live in and under the school? No one knows! They will be displaced when the old building is torn down. b. The next LHS Site Council meeting is Monday, January 12th at 6pm, in-person in 505D.