Minutes of the LHS School Council Meeting
February 25 , 2008, 7:00 PM
LEXINGTON HIGH SCHOOL
School Council Meeting Notes
High School Guidance Conference room
In attendance : Mike Jones, Ellen Hilsinger, Adam Seitchik, Marshall Dury, student rep, student rep, Dick Brown, Sharyn Walczewski, Pat Bonnet, David Colarusso, John Shea (visiting speaker) and Susan Cusack (visiting parent)
Minutes: The minutes from the Jan. 22, 2008, School Council meeting were approved without amendment.
“Achievement Gap” Report
Dr. Jones briefed the council on Vito LaMura’s study of the achievement gap at LHS, which was commissioned by the superintendent. Primary data analysis included looking closely at MCAS scores, GPAs, and Honors & AP courses between different categories of students to conclude that the achievement gap does indeed exist. LaMura’s report included (but is not limited to) a review of the current literature, books, and best practices. The largest suggestion from the report: strong action to close the achievement gap — especially in LHS’s METCO program. Report: well-received at Boston conference, and Dr. Jones found it to be a catalyst for helping the entire school refocus on learning and assessment. The report is in the process of being disseminated; LaMura will brief the full LHS faculty on March 10th — as it will be an integral part of the school’s upcoming improvement plan.
Report on the Communications Committee
John Shea (LHS Math Department; Home-School Communications Committee Chair) & Susan Cusack (parent)
Dr. Jones reminded the Council that the topic of home-school communication is something that started in the Spring of 2007 under suggestion from the Council.
Shea’s report: the Home-School Communication Committee started meeting in October; beginning meetings were devoted to defining what end product may be most useful to helping students continue to learn and achieve at LHS. Shea admitted that some portion of the LHS faculty may be a bit reticent to adopting a “more work” strategy to home-school communication. Finding a way to “work smarter” [working with the technology LHS does have in place] then became the clear objective of the committee.
| Observations & Suggestions from the report: |
| 1. |
Updating Lexington High school’s current webpage & departmental web pages [with current “best way to contact” information for individual teachers, which may link to specific teachers’ web sites] |
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a. |
Art classes at LHS are currently designing templates for this process to be easier for all teachers |
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b. |
Potential model: Teachers fill out an information sheet at the beginning of the year & their contact information is then updated to current courses, room numbers, office hours, free blocks, etc. |
| 2. |
Piloting [only in the freshman team] of posting homework assignment on FirstClass: Allowing the committee to collect data and identify potential problems, added benefits, etc. |
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a. |
Resource teachers, students who are out for extended periods of time, and if a student forgot an assignment would then have a more accessible way to gain information about what has been missed. |
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b. |
Shea noted that this online HW resource would serve only as a back up to any in-class strategies [HW on whiteboards, dictation of HW, etc.] teachers already use. It would be used primarily as a supplement to what teachers already do. |
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c. |
It would be required that students sign-off as not being able to use “HW not being online” as an excuse for not getting assignments done |
| 3. |
Information for teachers about how to best contact home: a more streamlined approach for parents getting this information to LHS |
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a. |
The filling out of one sheet [rather than 5-7 individual ones] at the beginning of the year that all teachers then have access to |
| 4. |
General cultural shift to getting teachers and students more training/information about the use of FirstClass at LHS |
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a. |
Ease of access for students trying to obtain a password |
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b. |
Ease of teachers being able to create conferences, post documents, etc. |
| 5. |
The continued use of a “Best Practices” model when giving students a 1 to 2 week schedule about upcoming HW, class topics, tests, quizzes, etc. |
QUESTIONS
Discussion focused primarily on harnessing some of the potential of LHS’s mail client: FirstClass. Shea mentioned again that the objective is to find a way for students to continue to achieve and for information to be more accessible. Susan Cusak noted that this sort of movement towards finally adopting FirstClass into the LHS culture would require training and a schoolwide cultural shift that adopts the program. |
Notes on the 2009 School Improvement Plan
Two primary areas of focus:
1. Collaboration among the professional staff
2. Every decision at LHS should be made in light of enhancing student learning
Dr. Jones note the burgeoning importance of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) at LHS: groups of teachers of a similar/same curricular focus that meet regularly to review student work/data, to notice what students are and are not learning, and to design future instruction based on the two previous ideas. Dr. Jones noted the necessary importance of PLCs having structure: agendas, meeting protocols, minutes are taken, and goal setting to improve instruction. The integral nature of training for the development of PLCs and making sure that time is/will be set aside was brought up. Potential ideas for time: Having 1 full faculty meeting per month; utilizing 2 X-blocks a month for PLCs. The discussion of this topic focused primarily on the use of time, the loss of X-block, how this will impact the student-faculty senate & the tricky nature of tweaking LHS’s schedule.
Distribution of Planning Documents for 2008-2009
Dr. Jones noted that this sort of outline will be key in letting the new LHS principal know what the high school needs/wants.
Wednesday’s (2/27/08) Open Meeting with Dr. Ash
Upon request from the council, this meeting will allow the council and any other member of the community to listen to Dr. Ash’s thoughts on the process/guiding principles in looking for a new LHS principal
Adam Seitchik: appointed acting chair of the council [Dr. Jones will not be present at the meeting — by nature of the meeting’s topic]
Dick Brown: appointed as recorder
Adjournment: 8:40 p.m.
Respectfully submitted, Marshall D. Dury
Next meeting: March 24, 2008
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