HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-04-05 School Council - Wood End Elementary Minutes5/4/12 " Meeting 4- 5- 12.doc
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Wood End Elementary School
School Council Meeting
MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE SCHOOL COUNCIL
April 5, 2012
A meeting of the Wood End School Council was held on Thursday, April 5, 2012
from 3:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the conference room of the Wood End Elementary
School, Reading, Massachusetts.
Council Members Present:
Richard Davidson, Sandy Emery, Debbie Hattery, Joanne King, Sally Mucica,
Barbara Sheehan, Monette Verrier, and Maria Walsh.
Call to Order
Principal Davidson called the meeting to order at 3:15 p.m. and Joanne King
recorded the minutes. A quorum of Council Members was present, and the
meeting, having been duly convened, was ready to proceed with business.
Agenda, Minutes, and Introductory Business
All members present reviewed the minutes from the previous meeting held on
March 1, 2012. A motion was made to accept the minutes by Monette Verrier and
Debbie Hattery did second the motion. Minutes were approved.
School Improvement Plan
Mr. Davidson informed the Council that a one -year school improvement plan must
be ready by the end of June to be approved by the School Committee for the
2012 -2013 school year. Members of School Council will review this year's school
improvement plan and come with suggestions at the next meeting in May.
Blue Ribbon Site Visit
The site visit for the Blue Ribbon Conference is scheduled for Thursday, April 12
2012. Mr. Davidson reviewed the information that 5th Grade students will be
presenting as they serve as tour guides for guests visiting the school. Two
students will be in each tour group along with one parent volunteer. Maria Walsh
will contact a small group of parents to share their views about Wood End as a
school and community. In addition, the Kindergarten and First Grade classes will
present a play prior to the tours.
New Family Survey Results
Debbie Hattery reviewed the suggestions from parents gathered from the recent
on -line survey sent out to new Wood End families. The survey was sent to 39
families and 19 responded. Suggestions reflected a need to hold evening events
in addition to daytime events for new families, due to conflicting work schedules.
The PTO may run a "new family" orientation prior to the start of school in the fall.
Other resources to provide information will include the Wood End Facebook page
for parents which currently has 102 members. Debbie suggested having the
students create videos to be posted on Youtube giving tutorials or answering
questions families may have. Other suggestions will be reviewed by the School
Council and may be incorporated into the school improvement plan. Debbie
Hattery is looking for a new chair for this committee as her term on the School
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514/12 ' Meeting 4- 5- 12.doc
Council is ending in June.
Wood End Technology Committee
Principal Davidson presented a revised 4 -year Technology Plan for Wood End
which was presented to the PTO. Due to the money earned from the Extended
Day program and the savings from the mild winter, monies will be returned to
Wood End, to be used for technology.
• Year 1 - A Smart board for the music specialist and some of the laptops
will now be funded from this money.
o Eight laptops for a Lepa mini -lab and a classroom set of "writers"
for Grade 3 remain in the plan.
• Year 2 - Eight laptops to update the computer lab, 2 -3 laptops for each
classroom in Grades K -5, and eliminate the classroom set of "writers" for
Grade 4.
• Year 3 — A COW (Computers on Wheels) with 25 laptops and a second
Smart board for the Library Media Center, and eliminate classroom set of
writers for Grade 5.
• Year 4 — Update computer lab systems — 8 laptop computer systems,
including software licenses, and provide Smart board technology for tutor
program.
• Year 5 — Investigate iPad technology and develop a five -year plan.
Other Business
Mr. Davidson was asked to look into the basketball court to be installed with funds
raised from last year's 5th Grade class. It is estimated to cost $7,500 to install on
soccer field to the left of the playground, covering an area of 55' x 35'.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 p.m. The School Council will resume
discussions at the next meeting on May 3, 2012.
Respectfully submitted,
Joanne King
Recording Secretary, 4/12/2012
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