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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-09-27-Harrington-min Harrington School Council Meeting September 27, 2011 Members present: Suzanne Cherenson, Judy Crocker, Michelle Motta Dardeno, Rucha Londhe, Elaine Mead, Cindy Salamone, Liz Sherriff, Nancy Taylor, Micah Viana 1.Introductions and Welcome to New Members A warm welcome was offered to teachers Cindy Salamone and Nancy Taylor along with parents Rucha Londhe and Micah Viana. Also, a thank you was given to Liz Sherriff for agreeing to serve an additional term. 2.Assigning a Secretary for Each Meeting Due to privacy policies, names can no longer be mentioned in the body of the meeting minutes. Sept – Judy Crocker Oct – Michelle Motta Dardeno Nov – Nancy Taylor Dec – Rucha Londhe Jan – Micah Viana Feb – Susanne Cherenson March – Cindy Salamone Apr – Liz Sherriff May – Amy Chamberlain June – Michelle Motta Dardeno 3.Minutes from June 14 th The meeting minutes were approved as amended. 4.Enrichment Program Grant Harrington music teacher Holly Stumpf submitted a School Council Enrichment Program grant to supplement a FOLMADS grant for October 28, 2011. The purpose is to offer a small honorarium to visiting drummers who are taking part in a Ghanaian drum and dance student assembly. The request unanimously passed. 5.School Improvement Plan (SIP) – Review final draft These documents have already been distributed to the staff for comments. a)Instruction –Academic Goal: If teachers expand their use of student data to discuss student progress and select effective instructional strategies, then all students will achieve at high levels.  Professional development for 2011-12 will focus on literacy. An effort will map the curriculum for consistent academic emphasis across all schools. Ms. Rosie and Ms. Mead have already attended an early literacy skills and phonics workshop at Hasting, one of many to be held this fall.  Teachers in extended data meetings will discuss the use of data to improve student achievement and during this time their classroom will be covered by substitutes. These will occur this fall and winter. It was noted that Harrington and other Lexington schools did well on the recently released scores for the MCAS exams.  The development of a specialist master schedule will allow for fewer interruptions in a student’s learning day. Math and focus reading will be highlighted and specialists will not be used during these blocks.  The plan was amended to include parent education under the academic portion of the SIP. b)Instruction – Social/Emotional Goal: If we increase student pro-social behavior and resiliency, and reduce sources of unhealthy student stress, then student academic performance and well-being will improve.  HAWKS! A September school assembly focused on the school mascot, the Harrington Hawk, and personified its attributes into a set of behavior expectations using an acronym matrix emphasizing Honesty, Accountability, Work, Kindness, and Self-control.  The development of a parent education component of the HAWKS behavior matrix will be a primary focus of the Harrington Site Council this year. It was suggested that a hands-on model for parents be used as a form of academic outreach and involve collaboration with educators.  A discussion of the publication “Yardsticks” followed, which examines different developmental milestones. The faculty was reported to be interested in having access to the text, perhaps through a LEF grant. It includes parental guidelines for their children based on chronological age. Ms. Mead will acquire a sample set for School Council in order to determine if it is an appropriate tool for parents. 6.Other Business The Harrington Site Council co-chairs, Ms. Mead and Ms. Cherenson attended the co- chair Lexington Site Council meeting. Dr. Ash discussed his desire for a round table of the nine school councils, for staff and parents, in order to improve district-wide implementation of SIP. His hope is for a more active parent participation in the SIP process. 7.Future Agenda Items a)New York Times article b)Safe Routes To School and Harrington Pedestrian Safety initiatives c)HAWKS d)other Respectfully submitted, Judy Crocker Next Meeting is October 18, 2011 at 7:30am in the school’s first floor Conference Room.