Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-11-17-CLARKE-min�OVS MORN/ o� 1 77 5 nW ; 3 Jonas Clar M Schoo APRIL Ir `FxI NG - V 17 Stedman Road ❖ Lexington, Massachusetts 02421 Steven H. Flynn, Ed.D., Principal Office: (781) 861 -2450 Anna W. Monaco, Assistant Principal Fax: (781) 674 -2043 Jennifer E. Turner, Assistant Principal Site Council Meeting Minutes November 17, 2011 In Attendance: Steven Flynn, Principal, Anna Monaco Assistant Principal, Jennifer Turner, Assistant Principal, Michelle Bartley, Teacher, Torrance Lewis, Teacher, Kristen Rangel, Teacher, Suzanne Cherenson, Parent, Dina Savitz, Parent, Lorelle Yee, Parent, George Murghnahan, Parent. I. Approval of September 14, 2011 Meeting Minutes: Review of minutes postponed until next meeting. II. Update on 2011 -2012 Goals: a. Homework Conversation: Dr. Flynn reported on a meeting with EDCO middle school principals and on previous meetings held with the leadership team in regards to homework. He explained that at the meeting with EDCO, it was stated learned that other districts are in the same situation we are in terms of homework concerns. The overarching message was the importance of understanding the connection between what happens during the day and at home. Dr. Flynn explained that our last faculty meeting was focused on homework. He described how the faculty was broken up into smaller, random groups and each group read two articles: "The Trouble with Homework" by Annie Murphy Paul that appeared in the New York Times and "Rethinking Homework" by Alf e Kohn. The groups followed a specific group protocol that allowed all members of the group to identify what they found important or interesting. Teachers reported that it allowed them to have a professional dialogue about homework and homework policies with each other as well as with the administration. Teacher: People also got to speak with others that they don't usually work with. Some people were saying that they were going to continually reflect on their homework policies. It was very informative. Dr. Flynn: One of the goals was to discuss how we protect students from unhealthy stress? Parent: So glad that people are aware of the issues. Very pleased that on back to school night teachers made a point to say that if your child is spending more than 30 minutes per assignment they should stop. This had made a difference for her child. Dr. Flynn: This can be difficult because many of our students strive to finish and they will not stop after a certain amount of time. Dr. Flynn: I did not want to give the faculty my opinion to shape their views. They wanted to know what I thought. He wanted teachers to reflect on how they are assessing student learning? We need to continue to have much more dialog about this. In the future we want to have clear expectations and understanding about homework and how to make it most effective. b. Aspen Parent Portal: The Assistant Principal reported on how Clarke will be using the Aspen Parent Portal to allow parents to view progress reports as well as report cards online during specified windows of time. We will be communicating this change with families in the near future and are aiming to have families access this portal for 2 nd quarter report cards at the end of January. In addition, the format of Progress Reports will also be changing to a one- page progress report, but not until the 3 rd Quarter. III. FY 13 Budget: Dr. Flynn: Current 5 grade numbers aren't showing the large numbers that we have this year. Next year we are projecting to have 3 teams in 6 grade and 4 teams in 7th grade. Parent: Will the teachers move with the students? Dr. Flynn: The FTE's will move to 7 grade, but it is too early to determine who will teach what. We will get a 2% increase in the expense budget across the board. We were able to put in supplemental requests to the Superintendent, which need to be justified. Diamond and Clarke are both requesting a change to the Dept Head model. The dept heads spend too much time going between schools. They teach two classes, one at each building. We are proposing a reduction of .25 in their teaching load, which will enable them to be Dept Heads .75 and teach .25. It will also allow them to spend more time supervising and getting into classrooms. This will be a 1.25 shift in the budget for FTE's. We don't know if this will go through but we feel that it is needed. We can't talk about personnel moves until the budget is approved. There were no other supplemental requests submitted by Clarke. All budget requests are pending School Committee approval in early 2012. IV. FY13 Capital Requests: The Capital budget is outside of the operating budget. The town approves this for the facilities. I talk to a lot of people to determine where our needs are for our building. I submit our requests to the Superintendent. The list comes back to us and we are asked to prioritize it using a 1, 2 or 3. a. Fitness Center Equipment: $20, 000 request — equipment is very expensive and utilized heavily. We work with a company to determine what equipment will fulfill our needs for a school of 825 students taking into consideration our fitness curriculum as well the needs of students with physical disabilities. b. Increasing Storage in the Gym: The existing dividing wall has not been used in many years because it would rip the floor. We are looking to use a mesh divider to be able to divide the Gym for multiple classes. When the wall gets taken out there would be room for more storage. c. Replacing Fitness Center floor —This floor needs to be ripped out. d. Painting the Gym — projected for FYI 4. e. Replacing carpet in the auditorium and the IMC —needs to be done L Replacing bookshelves with new ones with wheels — allowing teachers to move bookshelves around the room. g. Purchasing new lunch tables h. Replacing curtains in classrooms —This is a safety concern related to our crisis plan. We need to make sure we can close off any windows if we had a lockdown situation. Many of the curtains have fallen off the pulley system. i. Science Labs —need to be updated. Pat Goddard (Facilities) has put in a request to have an engineer to look at the needs at both Clarke and Diamond Science Labs. This is a potential upgrade in the next few years. V. Questions: Parent: Did the Diamond teachers have a similar discussion about Homework at Diamond? Dr. Flynn: has not directly discussed this with the principal but he has knowledge that the Diamond Faculty has discussed this in the past. VI. Next meeting will be in the end of January or early February.