Meeting Minutes of September 25, 2007

Regular Meeting of the Regional
School Committee

Tuesday,
September 25, 2007   7:00 p.m.

High School Library

 

Present:            Elaine Brighty, Chair                                         Jere
Hochman, Superintendent

                        Kathleen
Anderson                                           Mark
Jackson, High School Principal

                        Andy
Churchill                                      Marta
Guevara, HS Assistant Principal

                        Sonia
Correa Pope                                           Annie
Leonard, HS Assistant Principal

                        Michael
Hussin (arrived 7:20)               Karen Keough-Huff, HS Athletic Director

                        Michael
Katz     
(arrived 7:22)             Fran Ziperstein, Middle School Principal

                                                                                                Mike
Hayes, MS Co-Principal

                        Public                                                               Libby
Hurley, MS Assistant Principal

                        Press                                                               

 

Absent: Marianne Jorgensen, Chrystel Romero,
Maureen Ecclestone

 

1. Welcome                                                                                                     7:00
p.m.

A. & B.  Call to Order/Agenda Review----  Ms. Brighty called the meeting to order at
7:00 p.m. without quorum.  She then
reviewed the agenda and welcomed everyone to the meeting.

C.  Minutes---- Approval of
the minutes of September 11, 2007 was postponed.

 

2. Announcements and Public Comment                                                                              

Mary Fuller, a cook at Marks Meadow,
distributed two letters about cafeteria worker pay and the current food service
company.  Ms. Brighty spoke briefly about
the recent very informative meeting between representatives of the cafeteria
workers, Mr. Churchill, Dr. Hochman, and herself.

 

3. Superintendent’s Update                                                                                                  

Dr. Hochman explained that the
School Committee has made the decision to go with a food service company, but
that the options for food service are still being examined and that further
information is being gathered from districts with in-house programs.   The food service committee is being formed
now because whether we decide to write an RFP or not, the working committee
needs to send out surveys soon to parents and students.  A request for volunteers interested in serving
on the Food Service Committee was included in the Learning@arps
newsletter and will be included in the school newsletters.

Ms. Anderson suggested appointing
a cafeteria worker to the food service committee.  Dr. Hochman pointed out that there would be
conflict of interest problems.  At a
future meeting the School Committee will need to meet in executive session to
discuss cafeteria workers’ pay scales.

 

4. Unfinished/Continuing Business                                                                                      

 

5. New Business                                                                                                                    

A. School Choice
Discussion-----Dr. Hochman provided the committee with a chart showing the
number of School Choice students by grade in the Regional District on September
1, 2007 and September 15, 2007.  Dr.
Hochman explained that the committee should make decisions about two School Choice
questions.  (1) When during the academic
year should the district close the remaining School Choice vacancies?  (2) If a School Choice vacancy occurs during
the year because a student leaves, should the seat be filled, and what is the
latest date that can occur?  He said that
the answer to the second question may be different for different grades. The
administration will bring its recommendations to the Regional School Committee
at a later meeting for discussion and decision.

.

6. Reports                                                                                                                              

Middle School Improvement Plan ----Ms. Ziperstein
did a powerpoint presentation of the School Improvement  Plan for
the Middle School.  She began with the
school vision statement and the principles from the Turning Points model which
guide their work.  She then described the
four major categories the Middle School is focusing work on this year: High
Achievement for Each Child, Communication/Building home-School Partnerships,
Professional Collaboration, and School Safety. 
Goals, examples of accomplishments, and planned next steps were provided
for each of the categories.

 

Mr. Churchill asked whether
moving the math teachers off of the Middle School grade-level teams this year
had allowed teams to no longer be tied to particular music performance
groups.  He also asked if this change had
made math grouping more flexible.  Ms. Ziperstein is true for the seventh grade teams; however,
the eighth grade teams looped this year and retain the earlier organizational
constraints. Math grouping can be more flexible, the Math Plus
Program is more available to students needing double dosing, and class sizes
are better with this schedule, too.  Ms.
Anderson objected to the phrase “students who struggle to learn” and asked if
Ms. Ziperstein should instead say that teachers were
not teaching a student in the way the student could learn.  Ms. Ziperstein
agreed that students have different learning styles, but said that some
students do have more difficulty learning some skills or abstract thinking and that they do have to struggle more to learn.  Ms. Brighty asked how the Middle School
benchmarks the level of rigor that they are trying to ensure is appropriate for
each student.  Mr. Hayes said that summer
work addressed consistency of expectations in each department, and that different
departments are at different stages of evaluating it.

 

Ms. Ziperstein
described how the Middle School is increasing communication and building
relationships with families by recognizing that partnership looks different to
different families.  For example, Mari
Vicente works as a contact/resource person working directly with Latino
families in a new pilot program to help them navigate the system and obtain
translations.  Ms. Anderson asked if
homework is translated into the parents’ native language so they can assist
their children.  Ms. Ziperstein
explained that translating homework is against the law now.  Dr. Hochman spoke about the other ways the
district puts supports in place for children in this and similar situations
where parents cannot provide academic help.

 

Mr. Hayes described each of the
seven inquiry groups of teachers that meet on late start Thursday mornings to
research and address big questions: Values and Virtues, Exhibition, Numeracy, Structures for Success, Closing the Achievement Gap,
Sharing Instructional Practices, and Grading.

 

Ms. Anderson asked what was being
done to teach white students about interrupting racist behavior and about white
privilege, racism, and the oppression of people of color by the dominant
culture.  A discussion between Dr.
Hochman and Ms. Anderson ensued.  Dr.
Hochman returned to the topic later in the meeting citing the numerous programs
in the schools and targeted adult intervention.

 

Mr. Churchill made the motion to
accept the Middle School Improvement Plan. 
Ms. Anderson seconded and the motion passed unanimously. 

 

High School Improvement Plan-----Mr. Jackson gave a powerpoint presentation of the
High School’s School Improvement Plan.  The
majority of the report was focused on working to improve student outcomes and
strengthening both instructional and institutional responses to student
struggle.  At the institutional level,
because students need to be in class to be successful, attendance procedures
and parental notification continue to be improved with the new software
capabilities.  To help students connect
with the school, transitions into the high school include more orientation
meetings for students and families.  New
programs are being introduced to help students stay safe and make safe choices.
 Several pro-active programs are in place
to support students who may struggle and to anticipate the challenges they may
encounter.  The Web Grade Book, a new
upgrade to the PowerSchool software system is being
piloted with the goal of providing real-time information exchange between
teachers and families about each student’s progress.  Similar strategies will provide better
communication within the school between the adults responsible for a student.
Work is also being done on alignment of curriculum and expectations among the
teachers sharing core courses. 

 

On the Instructional side, Mr.
Jackson emphasized the day-to-day meaningful work that involves close attention
to smaller, daily academic gaps in order to close the observed larger Academic
Gaps.  On late start Thursdays at the
high school, the teacher groups are defining the work
of the high school to ensure improved student outcomes by identifying patterns
of struggle and success and by collaboratively developing instructional
responses.  In-school suspension is
changing to be less punitive and more focused on behavioral intervention and
problem solving. 

 

Two other areas of the plan
involve using technology, such as the new Data Warehouse, to make greater use
of data in decision-making and creating other pathways similar to Pro-Start (culinary
arts) but emphasizing technology for students who do not plan to attend
college.

 

Mr. Hussin asked whether the high
school and middle school are working together to align their curriculum and
expectations. Mr. Jackson described how the teachers in each department from
both schools had met together during the January curriculum day to identify
what students should know and be able to do by the end of a course.  But he admitted that it is difficult to find
time for this joint work on academic transition and curriculum alignment.  Mr. Hochman described this past summer’s work
on aligning the curriculum expectations and putting it in written form to
define it at all levels.  He emphasized
that part of accountability involves administrative supervision training as
part of assuring that the expected alignment is occurring in the classroom.

 

Mr. Churchill made the motion to
accept the High School Improvement Plan. 
Mr. Katz seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

 

7. Subcommittee Reports                                                                                          None  

 

8. School Committee Planning                                                                                   None  

 

9. Adjournment                                                                                                        9:50 p.m.

Mr. Churchill made the motion to
adjourn at 9:50 p.m.  Mr. Hussin seconded
and the motion passed unanimously.

 

                                                                        Respectfully submitted,

                                                                        Elaine
Brighty