HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-11-30-Estabrook-min
Estabrook School Site Council
Meeting Minutes
November 30, 2009
Present: Sandy Trach Absent: Lisa Nordman
Kim Coburn Ron Sanborn
Gretchen Saunders
Carey St. Onge
Pamela Tames
Next meeting: Monday, December 21st, 3:30-4:15, Estabrook Library
I. Announcements
Sandy proposed an additional meeting date of January 11 from 3:30-4:15 be added
to the schedule of meetings. Members should consult their calendars and let Sandy
know if they can attend.
II. Discussion
Sandy proposed norms for the general operation of the Site Council which
were unanimously accepted by all Site Council members who were present.
Role of Site Council was discussed. Site Council is intended to help the
principal establish goals for the school as part of the School Improvement
Plan. The School Improvement Plan had to be presented to the School
Committee in October, so the Site Council this year will focus on refining and
rd
implementing the 3 goal (Community Building: Promote a culture of home
and school collaboration.) Throughout the year we will be thinking ahead to
next year’s School Improvement Plan to have suggestions in place by the end
of the year as input for the fall 2010 goals.
2009-2010 School Improvement Plan
-Goals 1 & 2 were written jointly by all six elementary principals as
district-wide goals (SMART goals are Strategic Measurable Attainable
Results-Oriented Time-bound Goals)
-The Site Council began discussion of the various points under Goal 3:
Promote a culture of home & school collaboration
Support and refine Professional Learning Communities (PLC’s):
Staff is currently meeting in PLC’s on a weekly basis to assess
student progress and develop teaching plans based on
individual students’ needs. Small group work might involve
grouping students across all classes at that grade level to focus
on the skills that they need, using specialists to help the
classroom teachers with instruction to all of the small groups.
The PLC’s include all classroom teachers at a given grade level
and often include specialists (literacy, math, CARE classroom
teachers) in order to increase communication, innovation and
support across the grade level.
Implement LPS diversity curriculum: “Windows and Mirrors”, a
diversity curriculum piloted last year, was developed to bridge
different areas of the curriculum, offering a common approach
and language across the district. This goal is intended to keep
the momentum established by the pilot last year and
incorporate additional curriculum areas.
Implement Principal/PTA newsletter: A weekly newsletter is
now coming home electronically in an effort to save paper.
There are 8 families who have requested and are currently
receiving the newsletter in hard copy. The link to the
newsletter is also being circulated to the staff. There will be
ongoing discussion as to what additional information, (if any),
people would like to see in the newsletter.
Promote technology use, such as improving website, to
enhance communication: Creating a simpler, more “user-
friendly” website is on the minds of many parents in the
Estabrook Community. Sandy has just received an LEF grant
for $250 to establish a new school website using
teacherweb.com, a company that provides templates for easy
website design specifically for schools. The next step in this
project will be to determine what information people most want
to have access to on the website.
Assess & enhance home / school communication & relationships
with METCO families: In general, the feedback from the METCO
families has been very positive. Site council members agreed
that more could be done to strengthen the Boston/Lexington
relationships. Carey said that the Anti-Bias Committee
discussed ways to make it easier for Boston families to become
connected to the Estabrook community at their most recent
meeting. The Family Friends program is working well, but the
PTA and the school should work together to increase support
and communication for the program. Suggestions were made
to:
Highlight the program at the very start of the year to
increase understanding, interest and participation right
away.
Find ways to have host families and Boston families
connect early in the year so that parents can get to
know each other.
Have support available at the school if problems develop
with a pairing that the host parent is unsure how to
resolve.
Find ways to support METCO student interests in after-
school activities in Lexington to help them further
connect with their Lexington community.
III. Plan for next meeting
We will cover the remaining sub-goals (2e, 2f, and 2g) in December and then target
a specific task from the “Goal 3” list on which to focus our energies.
Minutes recorded by Kim Coburn