HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-12-16-Diamond-min
Meeting Minutes
Diamond Site Council
12/16/09
Present: Peg Mongiello, Principal and Co-Chair; Matt Schnall, Diane Corbett, Ed Dube,
Ann Redmon, Judi Robinson, Amit Roy and Deborah Strod were present from the
beginning of the meeting. Kelly Tzannes and David Kluchman joined the meeting in
progress.
Absent: Rick Comeau, Cindy Starks, Janice Whitemore.
1. Introduction of Members
Members introduced themselves and their roles:
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Peg Mongiello, Co-Chair; Matt Schnall, 6/8 grade parent; Diane Corbett, Special
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Needs teacher grades 6-8; Judi Robinson, 8 grade science teacher; Ed Dube, 7 grade
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social studies teacher; Deborah Strod, At-large parent; Ann Redmon, 7 grade parent;
Amit Roy, At large parent
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Other members include: Rick Comeau, 6 grade science teacher; Cindy Starks, 6 grade
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math teacher; Janice Whitemore, community member; Kelly Tzannes, 6 grade parent;
David Kluchman, At-large parent.
2. Role of Site Council
Matt Schnall and Deborah Strod briefly discussed a training on Site Councils they
attended at a joint event sponsored by the Massachusetts Association of School
Committees/Massachusetts PTA on November 21, 2009.
Implemented as part of the 1993 Massachusetts education reform, Site Councils were
intended to ensure a parent voice in school planning, as well as provide a forum for
communication among staff, teachers, parents and community. A Site Council is required
at every school by law. Among the roles of the Site Council, under the statute, are
reviewing the building budget (i.e., the Diamond School budget, not the whole district),
and developing the annual School Improvement Plan.
Matt Schnall reported that a Lexington-specific training for Site Council members was
recently approved by the School Committee.
Peg Mongiello reported that although a Site Council had been active at Diamond in the
past, during the last two years a council met only once, and as of last Spring all the parent
members’ terms had expired. One of the goals of the Council this year is to ensure
continuity.
3. Election of Co-Chair
Matt Schnall was unanimously elected Co-Chair of the Site Council.
4. Budget Process
Peg Mongiello provided an update on the status of the Diamond Middle School budget.
One meeting of the LPS administrative council (including the Superintendent, the
Principals, and other personnel involved in the budget) has already taken place and
another is scheduled for the first Tuesday in January. The general expectation is for a
level service budget. Ms. Mongiello also expects a focus on allocations for technology.
Howard Wolke (the DMS Technology Liaison) and Tom Platti (the LPS technology
integration coordinator) will make a presentation on Friday, December 18 at 9 a.m.
5. 2009-10 School Improvement Plan
The Council reviewed the current School Improvement Plan. It was developed last
summer with input from teachers, but due to the expired parent terms, little parent input.
There was agreement that the process should start earlier this coming Spring.
Many goals align with system-wide goals, but have Diamond-specific implementation. A
great effort is being made to provide time for grade and subject-level groupings of staff to
meet in order to be able to understand the whole student as well as to coordinate
curricula. This includes meeting with Clarke staff, and joint projects such as common
assessments for math so that students enter the high school with comparable skill
development and experience. Leadership development and supporting the development
of a continuing sense of community at the school are also goals.
Community-oriented as well as academic goals are included in the plan.
6. Survey/Communication
The Council discussed various goals and options for surveying the Diamond community
and the potential for coordinating with the PTA, but the consensus was that a survey
could wait until later in the school year.
The Council also requested that a single email address be set up for communicating with
the Council as a whole. Meeting summaries will be distributed on the listserv and
DiamondTalk discussion group. A request was made that similar distribution of
summaries of PTA events be made, which was reported to be already under way.
7. Other items raised for future discussion:
Potential to add more meetings – 4 are scheduled but most Councils meet once a
month
Principal search – more information coming in late January
Budget – more information coming in mid-January
Dances
Homework
Youth Stress
Revisions to Scheduling/Placement process
Future Meetings:
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January 13, 7pm, Diamond Library
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March 10, 7am, Diamond Library
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May 10, 5pm, Diamond Library