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Home My WebLink About2020-09-10-LHS-min V -i il G 1--i S (", or LEXINGTON 1"10 0 L Andrew Stephens, Ed.D. (781) 861-2320, ext. 69103 Principal astephens@lexingtonma.org LHS School Council Meeting September 10th, 2020 via Zoom Present: Andrew Stephens, Cathy Swan, Kate Riley, Karen Griffiths, Jen Roney, Suzanne Lau, Sam Offsey, Ling Yang, Angela chang, Hoi Le, Liz Curtain, Nancy Shepard, Erin Barrett, Missing: Katie Cutler Guest: Rucha Londhe Approved the June Minutes Introductions were made for all who were present Cathy Swan was voted Co-Chair of Committee for the 20-21 school year Updates *Phased In Approach for Orientation -LHS has multi-grade classes so can't run orientation by grade -don't want kids in school to be missing anything while remote students were meeting with teachers -not a heavy focus on content or learning for the first 2 weeks -orientation for 250 kids per day -8 times over 2 weeks -24 groups of no more than 12 kids -week 1 will be 9th and 10th grade -week 2 will be 11 th and 12th grade -will meet with advisory group for orientation and ice breakers -students will rotate through activity blocks -pick up books -books will remain at home -take yearbook picture -will continue to meet with advisory group throughout the year *Hybrid Schedule -by week 5 all staff and kids will be in full Hybrid -over the course of 4 weeks, Cohorts A and B will come to school in a phased-in approach -each grade within a Cohort will come to school on one day to learn how to navigate the school and schedule -eventually all grades within a Cohort will come to school in the morning for a week and the other Cohort and RLA will be remote -the next week will alternate to other Cohort -all students will be remote in the afternoon -every Friday is a half day *HVAC system has been updated Communication *Teachers will email students via zoom link or google classroom for class meetings *There is going to be a lot of communication coming to families *Students need to check their emails regularly *Each department should have a landing page with zoom links for each class -security concern- who has access to zoom link? -maybe it will be on their google drive -kids need a safety net in case they can't find their zoom class *Each teacher should set expectations and procedures for their class *Principal newsletter will be important source of information *What is plan to collect feedback about what is working and what is not? -looking to get steady feedback from kids and faculty Technology *Lex Get Organized -guidance for kids to make a google doc themselves with all of their useful info -mobile app to update their calendar -help kids with executive functioning *New Website -help kids and families navigate the new year -will have info about everything -can grow with the kids and add to it as we enter new phases *Internet system has been beefed up to 10 gig pipeline -bandwith will not be tested until all kids are in school *Issues -Zoom reverb in classroom -will limit what teacher can do -what can kids do at home to beef up internet? -uploading and downloading drains battery on Chromebook -kids may have trouble getting through 4 hours at school -can't share charging stations anymore -kids must bring fully charged Chromebooks to school -some issues will be trial and error and will require a shift in thinking and solving *Getting headphones for kids and teachers to make it easier to hear and be engaged *Getting teachers bluetooth speaker to give them movement *Technology drive -asking community to donate to purchase newly required equipment LHS Approach *Different schools are doing things differently -LHS has its unique challenges so doing things differently than other schools in LPS -other high schools are doing things differently as well *What do we want kids to know? -content will be less but we can teach skills -how to write a research paper -how are we assessing? *Each department has had teams over the summer working on core skills and content -more focus on skills -will have to see how it works as we begin *Looking for opportunities for innovation *One School Approach -kids will be meeting with same teacher during same class whether they are in school or at home -everyone has same access -no one missing out on instruction -at beginning of class everyone at home and in class will be meeting -then break out activities -can make groups that can talk to each other -end class with everyone back together -will be easy to go back and forth between being in school and at home -no missed class or instruction if you are sick or have to quarantine -transition is seamless *This will not be like pre pandemic school -must stay 6 feet apart -different pacing -different amount of curriculum -about 50% of the curriculum will be covered this year -parents are concerned about this -teachers will be very limited -this is all new to them *AP Classes -College Board right now says 100% of material will be on tests -working to address this issue *Assessment -do we have 2 different assessments for in school and remote kids? -do you do a project or a paper? -this will be up to the teacher -Quarter 1 will be over in November -hopefully there will be lots of smaller assessments instead of 1 big one -because of the phased in approach, first quarter is much shorter *Staffing -a chunk of teachers will be fully remote -coverage for teachers -we have already put out openings across the board to have resumes to draw from asap -no study halls for 9th and 10th graders because we need those teachers for coverage -no I Block -if kids don't have to be in school, don't be there -if they can't leave, there will be 3 designated spots where kids can wait -open campus for all kids *Logistics/Issues -working on tents to utilize outside space -budget and availability issues -when kids are outside and going to class they may take their masks off -there is a teacher station in each class but not a second station if there are co-teachers -not every room is at full capacity -labs for science are going to be tricky and there will have to be fewer -PE and Music -PE is going to be outside -how do you do this with remote kids? -teacher may connect with remote kids and have them do asynchronous learning and in person kids will do PE -flip for Music -State is giving strict rules for PE but is allowing sports to happen -contradictory guidelines -will schools go fully remote? -Karen Rufo is on state board and is in daily contact with Board of Health -don't know what metrics are used to decide this -Superintendent and Board of Health will make that decision Meeting Adjourned Next Meeting: October 18th 5-6:30 pm via zoom