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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-05-26-Diamond-min DIAMOND MIDDLE SCHOOL SITE-BASED SCHOOL COUNCIL May 26, 2010 MEETING MINUTES Attendees: Peg Mongiello, Co-Chair; Matt Schnall, Co-Chair; Deborah Strod, David Kluchman, Ann Redmon, Cindy Starks, Judi Robinson, Kelly Tzannes, Diane Corbett. Ed Dube joined the meeting in progress. Absent: Amit Roy, Janice Whittemore, Rick Comeau Audience members: Diane Biglow, Jessie Steigerwald, Eric Stout, Stacie Simon, Julie Vogel The sole item on the agenda was to review the survey results. Matt Schnall opened the meeting by saying that 220 parents and 151 students had completed the survey. 90% of the parents and students who took the survey completed the whole thing. Due to the volume of comments, the raw results in PDF form were about 160 pages long. 50% of students were on Omega – teachers theorized that since three of the Council members are teachers on Omega, and they had encouraged their students to take the survey, that may have led to more Omega students completing it. Each Council member who had volunteered to summarize the results led the council through their summary, a working document. In the Communication section, summarized by Ms. Strod, it was noted that while most students and parents feel informed about what is going on at Diamond, many commented on not informed well enough in advance or involved enough in advance of major decisions this year, such as the elimination and evaluation of Project Day and the substitution of extended learning activities; loss of study halls which do not count toward state requirements for time on task; changing of the teaming process and structure; cancellation of the Canobie Lake trip for seventh graders; and the changing of the team names. The Council discussed some of the lines between informing and involving either parents or students in particular decisions. During discussion of the listserv, a teacher noted they did not know about it, nor did they know that they could sign up for it. The PTA and Peg said the opportunity would be given to teachers to sign up for the listserv. It was noted that although a minority of parents regularly attend PTA meetings, a large majority think they are useful. It was noted in the safety section, summarized by Ms. Starks and Ms. Redmon, that the bushes on the property of the former Lexington Gardens, which had been maintained by the business, have grown to much that they obscure the view from the Diamond driveway into the Hancock rotary. Council members agree that rotary could use a crossing guard – the Safe Routes to School team is working on that. Potholes along Sedge road have also recurred. Other suggestions under the safety section included automated emails/tweets sent to parents if a child is tardy or absent. Under the sleep section, it was noted that although most students state they are getting enough sleep, the actual hours to not meet physician recommendations and most students also state they are almost always tired at school. Mr. Schnall presented the summary of the homework section, which had been prepared by Mr. Roy. There was a broad range of student and parent responses, from those who felt that homework was overly stressful to those who felt it was too easy. The responses, both in terms of overall homework load and stress associated with homework, did not differ dramatically by grade or team, although the total reported time spent on homework per week increased progressively from grade 6 through grade 8 and was 25% higher for Omega and Sigma students than for Delta students. A number of suggestions in the homework comments were centered around the idea of team coordination to help spread out homework loads and test dates over the course of the school year. Teacher representatives noted that new team calendars were used this year to try to prevent students from having too many tests on the same day, although parents noted that long term projects and tests can still conflict with quizzes to create a heavy load, and Peg Mongiello noted that especially at the end of term, such conflicts are more common. Dissemination: Audience members asked that the raw results be posted. Council members responded that the volume (160 pages) is so high, that that would not be easy to use; in addition in moving forward with the survey, the Council members had agreed that only aggregated results would be presented, and identifying information would be redacted. The Council values the effect of hearing direct comments, but also realizes that people taking the survey did not have the expectation that their comments would be made public, and did expect anonymity. For these two reasons, the Council will include Summaries of the comments, and some representative comments, with each section. Each council member had summarized their section in a slightly different way, and it was agreed that a more uniform presentation would be helpful to anyone wanting to use the summary. The group agreed that comments would be sent over the weekend to the summary volunteers, and by th June 7, each summary volunteer would send a final draft to Mr. Schnall for compilation. A final version will be presented at the joint Council/PTA meeting on June 10, 2010, at which Ms. Mongiello will present her interim report on progress on the 2009-10 School Improvement Plan and other goals this year. Anne Carothers, the incoming principal, will attend the meeting. After an hour of jointly meeting, the PTA and Council will continue their own meetings separately. School Improvement Plan for 2010-11 Peg Mongiello gave an update on the process for the School Improvement Plan for next year. District goals were generated from individual schools suggestions through a joint process across town, in order for Dr. Ash to present District Goals earlier in the year than in the recent past. School Improvement plans can be begun this spring, but will be finalized in the Fall. Peg Mongiello also reported that the teaming process was completed and teams will be given to th students and sent to incoming fifth graders. Ed Dube detailed the process used in the 8 grade, which involved putting each child’s name on a card (one color for girls and one for boys so the gender balance could be seen) and just throwing them up on the wall in gender balanced teams; revising the teams for data about what math level would be appropriate; revising again based on parental and current teacher input and requests for friends/learning partners; language needs, SPED and guidance needs. The administration then looked at the teams to tweak them, then the teachers had one last chance to tweak the placements. Mr. Dube said that the proof is in the pudding, and it remains to be seen whether the time spent on this process plays out well in successful teams next year; but that now is the time to get buy-in from parents and students so they can move forward positively. If it plays out well, that process may be the ongoing model. Other grades were established with a slightly different process. Council members and audience members alerted the staff to the level of stress being experienced around the teaming process changes and suggested that a letter outlining what Mr. Dube described should be sent to parents before the team and class assignments are handed out on Friday. Ms. Mongiello said that this would be done.