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Home My WebLink About2014-01-06 School Council - Wood End Elementary MinutesOF R i Town of Reading Meeting Minutes J539' /NCORp�� Board - Committee - Commission - Council: School Council -Wood End Elementary Date: 2014 -01 -06 Time: 3:10 PM Building: School - Wood End Location: Conference Room Address: 85 Sunset Rock Lane Purpose: Regular Monthly Meeting Attendees: Members - Present: i;tCtIVE.(J OWN CLERK ��ER .;DING. II 1JJ Cc LJi 4 JAN -I P 4 23 Joanne King, Maureen Fennessy, Keri DiNapoli, Mia Gaska, Debbie Hattery, Kyra Johnson, Pooja Parsons, Frederick Van Magness, Jr. Members - Not Present: None Others Present: None Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Frederick Van Magness, Jr. Topics of Discussion: A meeting of the Wood End School Council was held on Monday, January 6, 2014 from 3:15 p.m. until 4:25 p.m. in the conference room of the Wood End Elementary School, 85 Sunset Rock Lane, Reading, Massachusetts. CALL TO ORDER Principal Joanne King called the meeting to order at 3:15 PM. A quorum of Council Members was present, and the meeting having been duly convened, members were ready to proceed with business. This regular monthly meeting was the first meeting of the Wood End School Council during 2014. Mrs. King welcomed the members to the meeting and wished all of the members a Happy New Year. She also expressed her appreciation for Vice Principal Lisa Norcross having chaired the last meeting of the School Council (held on November 4, 2013) in her absence. ACCEPTANCE OF NEW MEMBER Mrs. King reported to the members that Stephanie Malone had resigned from the School Council due to scheduling conflicts. She introduced Wood End teacher Kyra Johnson as her replacement and welcomed her to the meeting. Each of the members then introduced themselves to her and welcomed her to the School Council. Mrs. King notified Ms. Johnson that she would provide her with informational materials regarding the state Conflict of Interest Law for Municipal Employees and the state Open Meeting Law as is required. REVIEW AND ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES Mrs. King asked members for any comments regarding minutes of the last School Council meeting held on November 4, 2013. There being no discussion, Mrs. Fennessy moved that Page I 1 the minutes be accepted. Ms. Gaska seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the minutes were accepted. VOTE: - Minutes Accepted 7 -0 -0 NEW BUSINESS Blue Ribbon Conference Mrs. King reported that she and four other staff members (Ms. Parker, Ms. Figueroa, Mrs. DiNapoli and Ms. Norcross) attended a four -day conference of Blue Ribbon schools in Florida in December. The conference was attended by over 500 educators from across the country from all grade levels. Reading was honored to be the only school district from Massachusetts represented at the conference. Attendees participated in a series of workshop meetings during the conference, and also offered presentations to the group. Presentations were generally aligned with each of the nine standards required of Blue Ribbon schools. Ms. Parker, Ms. Figueroa and Mrs. DiNapoli made a presentation regarding Writing Workshops. Mrs. King and Ms. Norcross made a presentation regarding Building Communities. In preparation for the conference, and in support of the presentations being made, Mrs. King developed a brochure about Wood End and brought copies to the conference. The brochure includes information on some of the curriculum and instructional programs at Wood End, together with a list of some of the activities sponsored by the PTO and extracurricular activities at the school. The brochure also includes the district's mission statement. Members of the School Council liked the design of the brochure and expressed their appreciation for Mrs. Kings' work in putting together the brochure. Mrs. King asked Mrs. DiNapoli to share her perspectives on the conference with the School Council. Mrs. DiNapoli said that it was a great experience. Everyone found the presentations which were made to be extremely informative, with people sharing their mutual experiences in aligning their schools with Common Core standards. She also noted how highly officials from other school districts regard Reading and the educational programs and professional development being implemented in our schools. In particular, Mrs. DiNapoli and Mrs. King said attendees enjoyed a site visit they made to a local elementary school, Narcoossee Elementary, (which is first in its district) near Orange County, Florida. The school has made specific advances implementing social, emotional and behavioral programs for students. Attendees found the site visit to be very impressive. Mrs. King announced that Wood End will be the location of a site visit by Blue Ribbon conference attendees at an upcoming conference to be held in Reading in April, 2014. The conference will be attended by a number of high - profile speakers and educators from across the country. Mrs. King told members that she is already beginning to make plans for the site visit, and that she would like to involve students, parents and staff in the planning process. The plan is for the visit to showcase all of the good things happening at Wood End with a business -as -usual attitude. Mrs. King asked School Council members for their suggestions on how to improve the site visit. Ideas are already being considered to create a "wall of fame" to showcase and reward good things students do at the school. The site visit also will be a great opportunity to showcase student work, which will be on display throughout the school in coordination with Arts Fest week. There will also be a number of efforts to make sure the school is looking at its best for the visit, including new painting and exterior cleanup. School Council members suggested other ideas, including having snacks and goodie bags available for attendees and having student ambassadors on -hand for the site visit. Mrs. King is also working on possibly having customized "street signs" in the hallways and media center to help people navigate the school. Page 1 2 Sr Members will continue to be updated on progress as the site visit grows closer. ALiCE Training and Implementation Mrs. King informed members that Superintendent Doherty and Police Chief Cormier would be holding an informational meeting regarding AliCE implementation and training that same evening at 7pm at Birch Meadow School. The program is designed to help staff and students prepare to evacuate the school if there is a violent incident and sheltering in place during a lockdown would not be appropriate. Staff will receive an hour -long training session on the program, which will be followed by a mock training exercise for students. School Improvement Plan Mrs. King informed members that she had made revisions to the proposed School Improvement Plan based on suggestions by the members at past meetings. She also informed members that a Title I math tutor has been hired to assist K -2 students during the school day. Assessment and assistance programs are already in place for students in Grades 3 -5, but this tutor will assist students in lower grades to meet their goals. Student Council Mrs. King informed members that students had been selected to participate in the newly - formed Student Council, and a first meeting of the group had already been held. One of the students' first projects will be to participate in the Pennies for Patients program, which supports the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and its fundraising efforts. Student Council members are working on producing a video which will be shown to other Wood End students to help educate them about the program, which is from January 27 to February 14. 2014 -2015 Budget Business Manager Mary Delai has completed initial work on a budget for 2014 -2015. Meetings regarding the budget will begin on January 16 and will be open to the public. Wood End has two parents representing the school in budget discussions: Ana Sancho and Andrea Quirbach. A public hearing on the budget will be held on January 27, and a final vote is expected on January 30. Last year, the district budget recommended a 4.7% increase in funding, which provided a level- service budget for the district. Similar recommendations are anticipated this year. Many schools within the district are requesting additional budgeting for social /emotional support of students (such as additional school counselors). There is also a need for English Language Learning certification and training. Schools also have expressed interest in having additional technology specialist support at the elementary level; there is currently only one technology specialist to support all five elementary schools. It remains to be seen how these and other needs will be reflected in the proposed budget. Adjournment There being no further discussion, the meeting was adjourned at 4:25 p.m. The School Council will resume at their next meeting on February 3, 2014. Respectfully submitted, Frederick Van Magness, Jr. Recording Secretary January 6, 2014 Page 1 3