HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-11-19 School Council - Arthur W Coolidge Middle Minutes�N OF
Town of Reading
Meeting Minutes
RECEIVED
„ "•w• TOWN CLERK
READING, MASS.
Board - Committee - Commission - Council:
School Council -Arthur W Coolidge Middle 1016 FEB -2 P 0 32 I
Date: 2015 -11 -19 Time: 3:00 PM
Building: School -Coolidge Location: Meeting Room
Address: 89 Birch Meadow Drive
Purpose: School Council Session: Open Session
Attendees: Members - Present:
Sarah Marchant, Jennalee Coyne, Marcel Koster, Eric Castriano, Pooja
Mandon, Brad Agostinelli, Lisa Tighes
Members - Not Present:
Laura Warren, Paul Guidetti
Others Present:
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Jennalee
Topics of Discussion:
Nom,
• Be prepared, be present, be punctual.
• Begin and end on time.
• Engage in dialogue during the meeting honestly and respectfully.
• Keep the focus on what is best for the entire school population.
• Ensure that all voices are heard. Be aware of personal "air time ".
• Keep a sense of humor.
I. Review Minutes from last meeting
a. Minutes approved
H. Budget update/ building Impact this year
a. Each building has one or two budget parents
It. Per pupil budget has been cut. Lower budget for:
I. PD
ii. Supplies and resources
c. Technology impact -COWS in the classroom
d. Substitute budget
i. Used to get subs ahead of time before people called out, now they
have to put in to be officially out before sub position can be filled
ii. Not paying subs as well as some surrounding districts
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ill. We are sometimes short subs in the building
iv. Pocja asked about a substitute flexible schedule
III. Sharing of building & district PARCC Data (so far) & plan for the future
a. Data was presented to teachers in a modified PowerPoint from the state
b. Reading chose to adopt PARCC for a pilot year
c. Did a lot of prep with students with the technology and types of questions
d. Parents should get individual student results at end of November or
beginning of December
e. Sarah will have PTO meeting on December 81" to go over PARCC results
(6:45pm)
f. School levels, SGP, CPI
g. Science testing -MCAS in 51h and 8`h grade
h. Testing for science will be in 3 years
I. Current 5" grade is using the Next Generation Science Standards and
will move up with those into 6"' grade
I. Data includes math and ELA at the middle school level for both Coolidge and
Parker
J. Math
I. Looking at breakdown of students at each leveled area of math -what
are the percentages of students in each class?
H. Lisa discussed concern with frequent changes in standards -has been a
challenge for students currently in middle school
ill. Level of rigor without the same support in 7/8 grade is difficult to
maintain
iv. Math center after school would be helpful
k. State is struggling to process the data
I. 2017 -MCAS 2.0 -will be working with PARCC to purchase PARCC type
questions, but MA wanted to be in charge of testing and didn't want to be tied
to Pearson corporation
m. In the meantime, as a district we will be doing PARCC
1. Will only be one time block for testing instead of 2
IV. Update on, and invitation to, Challenge Day (December 14 & 15)
a. Marlene Lifshin- brought Challenge Day to our district after seeing an MTV
show that she has shown segments of to her classes
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b. Data from Challenge Day was very positive in terms of how students
responded to the program
c. Explanation of program
i. All 8`h grade students will have the experience this year
ii. Funding came from a grant last year, will come from administration
this year
iii. Sarah had a parent meeting last night to field questions about the
program
1. Many questions on how to support the students
iv. Pooja expressed concern for kids who may not be in a positive state of
mind
v. Invited members of the community to participate one day
V. Update on REF funding in the building (and our connection via Festival of Trees)
a. Festival of Trees -to support REF (Parker Middle School)
b. Subtext grant, interactive whiteboard grant, interdisciplinary projects and all
school reads /speaker
c. Teachers are currently in the grant writing process
d. Team Polaris- literary tree
VI. Teen Nights
a. Brad reports they're going well
b. A lot of kids from Reading, Wilmington, North Reading
c. Sports league, fitness classes, leader's club
d. Teen nights are mostly boys right now
e. Wednesday early release usually between 3 and 5 kids
f. Youth volunteering opportunities
VII. Volunteering opportunities for students?
a. Reading Rec has lots of volunteer opportunities
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