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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-11-07 School Council - Wood End Elementary MinutesCly OF $ ' y. Town of Reading ti �, r.a brl Meeting Minutes Sf9' 11iCOR4�PP Board - Committee - Commission - Council: School Council -Wood End Elementary Date: 11-7-16 Time: 3:15 PM Building: School - Wood End Address: 85 Sunset Rock Lane Location: Conference Room Purpose: Monthly Meeting for November 2016-2017 School Year Attendees: Members - Present: RECEIVED ► 7Ows CI rRK `® REAoiNG, NASS. 1016 h'GV 28 P 3: 55 Joanne King, Caitlin Koehler, Lynda Michel, Melissa Murphy, Elena Raffa Members - Not Present: None Others Present: Andrea Freeman (WASH) and Tim Pettus (Safe Routes Representative) Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Melissa Murphy Topics of Discussion: The second monthly meeting of the Wood End Elementary School Committee was held in the Conference Room of the Wood End Elementary School on November 7, 2016. Call to order: A quorum of members being present and the meeting having been duly convened at Wood End School by the Wood End Principal, Joanne King called the meeting to order at 3:15 p.m. and proceeded with business. Public Comment: None. Review and Acceptance of Minutes: Members reviewed draft minutes from the October meeting. There being no discussion, Mrs. King moved that the minutes from the October 3, 2016 meeting be accepted as drafted. Mrs. Michel seconded the motion. The members then voted unanimously to approve the minutes. Vote: Minutes Accepted 5-0-0 Page 1 1 New Business: Safe Routes: Tim Pettus from Safe Routes to School, a MASS DOT program, came in to talk about encouraging walking and/or biking to school. Safe Routes works with schools, parents and members of the community to establish a community -focused approach to finding safe routes to schools. They also offer classes to teach students about pedestrian and bike safety. The pedestrian safety class can be taught at the school in the parking lot. The class is about 20 minutes long and requires support from parent volunteers. Safe Routes has developed a parent survey to figure out the walkability of the town. Wood End plans to have the survey go out to parents in early December. They will have two weeks to complete it. If we get 50% of the school to complete the survey, Safe Routes gives the school a $250 gift card to be used for pedestrian safety programming needs. How do we get parents to complete the survey? We discussed sending an email through the room parents with the link to the survey. The Safe Routes program gives incentives to the students for walking or biking to school, rather than driving (i.e. bookmarks, stickers, etc.) School Improvement Plan: The School Improvement Plan includes the goals for the school and is developed by administration with input from the School Council. Each year, the plan is developed and reviewed prior to being presented to the School Committee for final approval. This year, Wood End's goals are centered on math instruction and closing the achievement gap for high needs students. Mrs. King reviewed the plan with members of the committee and asked for feedback. With a few minor corrections, the members agreed with the proposed plan. The School Council unanimously approved the 2016-2017 Wood End School Improvement Plan. Attached is a copy of the School Improvement Plan. Budget Parents: Brian O'Mara and Kelly Mahoney have volunteered to be the representatives for Wood End as Budget Parents. They will meet with Dr. Doherty at the end of the month to begin the FY18 budget process. Wood End is fortunate to have their leadership and participation through this process. Parent Volunteer for Leadership Team: The Wood End Leadership Team is looking for a parent volunteer to join their group. The mission statement of the school is: "The Wood End Elementary School seeks to create a safe and supportive learning environment. We will work to achieve this aim through the implementation of a tiered support system that promotes clearly defined and consistent student expectations and accountabilities based on our core values, communication and collaboration within our school community, reliance on data for decision making purposes, and an efficient and effective response to the needs of our students who require additional support to be successful." Page 1 2 The Leadership Team's overall goal is to maintain fidelity and sustain the Tier 1 (universal) supports for all students. The group meets on Wednesdays once a month from 3-4:00 pm. Ideally, the parent volunteer would have some experience in dealing with behavioral health. We are hoping to find a parent volunteer for this team as soon as possible. Anyone interested is encouraged to reach out to the school principal, Mrs. King. Research on homework effectiveness: Mrs. King would like us to review these links while we work on revising Wood End's homework policy. htti)://www.centerfori)ubliceducation,org/Main-Menu/Instruction/What-research-says- about-the-value-of-homework-At-a-glance/What-research-says-about-the-value-of- homework-Research-review.htmI htti)s://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wl2/2016/08/23/a-texas-teacher- stopped-assigning-homework-the-Internet-gave-her-an-a/?hpid=hp ho-more-toD- stories education-homework835P%3Ahomepage%2Fstory We will discuss this in more detail at the next meeting as members begin the process of researching homework at the elementary level. Other Business: Mrs. Koehler brought up the bricks that have loosened by the lower playground and have now become a hazard. Mrs. King said she spoke to the Public Works Department about them, but will follow up once again. Mrs. Koehler is going to reach out to Public Works and press the issue. Adjournment There being no further business, the School Council adjourned at 4:30 p.m. with plans to reconvene on Monday, December 5, 2016 at 3:15 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Melissa Murphy, Recording Secretary Page 1 3 Reading Public Schools School Improvement Plan Wood End Elementary School 2016-2017 Reading Public Schools Mission: Preparing Reading's Youth to Be Respectful and Productive Citizens of a Global Society Page 1 4 Wood End Elementary School Improvement Plan 2016-17 Goal 1: To focus our energy and effort in identifying and implementing evidenced based instructional practices and interventions which will close the achievement gap with our students, in particular, our students in the high needs group (i.e. special education, English Language Learners, economic -disadvantage). Strategic Initiative/Objective: • Implement block scheduling, Multi -Tiered System of Support (MTSS) and DCAP to address academic needs of all students in mathematics and literacy. Monitoring Progress Process Benchmarks: What will be done, when, and by whom? Process Benchmark Person Date Status Responsible All teachers will have a professional practice and/or student learning Principal 10/31/16 Met goal associated with one of the four focus areas for the district (SEL, Closing the Achievement Gap, Literacy, or Math Instruction) Using Early Warning Indicator System (EWIS), SRSS/SIBS, grades, and Principal 11/30/16 In Progress discipline data, schools will develop a list of at risk students, develop interventions for those students, and monitor progress on a regular basis. Formative assessments to monitor student progress more regularly Teachers 6/20/17 Ongoing K-5 Student centered classrooms with reduced amount of teacher -talk Teachers 6/20/17 Ongoing K-5 Lessons aligned to standards and students held accountable for grade- Teachers 6/20/17 Ongoing level work K-5 Align math and literacy to power standards Teachers 6/20/17 Ongoing K-5 Progress monitoring systems aligned to standards (i.e. Assessing Math Principal 1/31/17 Co n ce pts fo r K-3) Teachers K-5 Data collection on time out of classroom — nurse visits, bathroom, Nurse 6/20/17 attendance Data team meetings will take place every 3 weeks and discussions will Principal 9/15/16 Ongoing include all students — looking at grade level trends Effective instructional practices identified through observations and Principal 6/20/17 Ongoing walk-throughs; provide time for teachers to observe in other classrooms (school and district -wide) Conduct at least one written observation using the identified power Principal 6/20/17 elements during walkthroughs/formal observations for 50% of the teachers in school including all new teachers Block scheduling to ensure 60 minutes of uninterrupted instruction in Principal 8/28/16 Met math and literacy 5 days per week Intervention blocks established for Grades 3-5 to provide tiered Principal 8/28/16 Met support in math/literacy to all students PD for paras to provide effective support; coaching and modeling Principal 11/8/16 In Progress LC Teachers Provide additional support from reading specialist and tutors to Reading 10/1/16 Ongoing identified students (Tier 2) in addition to classroom teacher instruction Specialist (double dose) DCAP staff development and PD to promote best practices in place in Principal 6/20/17 Ongoing all classes All teaching staff will be trained in the Open Circle Curriculum K-5 Sara Burd 6/20/17 Ongoing (Universal support for all students) All elementary students will receive at least 30 minutes of social Principal 6/20/17 Ongoing emotional learning weekly through their open circle lessons Page 1 5 Establish all -school time for Open Circle each week to provide consistency Principal 8/28/16 Met Based on our school data, we will identify Tier 2 and 3 interventions MTSS Team 6/20/17 Ongoing matched to needs of students Principal 10/31/16 Met A clear decision-making process for determining student access for Tier MTSS Team 6/20/17 Ongoing 2 and 3 interventions will be developed for students with regular MTSS Team 6/20/17 Ongoing progress monitoring. Measuring Impact Early Evidence of Change: Changes in practice, attitude, or behavior you should begin to see if the initiative is having its desired impact Early Evidence of Change Benchmark Person Date Status Responsible All staff will have a student learning or professional practice goal that aligns Principal 10/31/16 Met with one or more of the four focus areas Identify at least one evidence based intervention strategies to address the MTSS Team 6/20/17 Ongoing achievement gap Building Leadership Team (MTSS) meets 2 x monthly or equivalent based Principal 6/20/17 Ongoing on coaching support C. Brown Ensure through observation and review of schedules that Open Circle Principal 6/20/17 Ongoing curriculum is being implemented with 100% fidelity Open Circle Coach Regular review at data team meetings of MTSS data, ODRs Principal 6/20/17 Ongoing All classroom teachers, specialists trained in Open Circle Sara Burd 6/20/17 Ongoing There will be a decrease in in the achievement gap between the general Principal 9/30/17 population of students and the high needs group on state and local Teachers K-5 assessments. Resources Supporting Implementation The staff and financial resources allocated to support this initiative Resources Professional Development time and subs — regular education and special education Comprehensive data collection review and analysis calendar Time and resources to provide intervention blocks for struggling students — academic intervention time in schedule for Grades 3-5 64 W 2; To improve mathematics instruction for all students by providing teachers with time and training, timely supervision and coaching, evidenced based Tier 2 student interventions, and clear expectations and pacing chart. Strategic Initiative/Objective (Curriculum Implementation) • Implement MA Curriculum Frameworks in Mathematics in all classrooms Monitoring Progress Process Benchmarks: What will be done, when, and by whom? Process Benchmark Person Date Status Responsible All K-5 teachers have 60 -minute uninterrupted block for Principal 8/28/16 Met math instruction five days per week Intervention blocks established for Grades 3-5 to provide tiered Principal 8/28/16 Met support in math/literacy to all students Math Coach will provide in -class coaching and support of Principal & 6/20/17 staff using Math in Focus in designated classrooms C. Brown Grades K-5 Teachers will be utilizing Math in Focus pacing Principal 11/15/16 guides for instruction Page 1 6 Identify common assessments at each grade level to monitor Teachers 6/20/17 In student progress—formative and summative C. Brown Progress Implement progress monitoring system aligned to standards (i.e. C. Martin 1/31/17 Ongoing Assessing Math Concepts for K-3) C. Brown Use grade level meetings and PLCs to model how to utilize data C. Martin 6/20/17 Ongoing results to examine areas of need for struggling students C. Brown 6/20/17 Ongoing assessments Principals Establish methods for staff to capture and report results of Principal 6/20/17 In assessments, progress monitoring SST Progress Principal will consult and/or utilize "Mathematics' classroom Principal 6/20/17 Ongoing observation form, especially with new teaching staff Teachers Professional Development around Differentiated Instruction C. Martin 6/20/17 within mathematics (coaching, modelling, repeated trainings, C. Brown 6/20/17 growth mindset courses, etc.) including utilization of PLCs, Collaboration times, coaching, etc. Principal 6/20/17 Identify teachers implementing best practices and provide C. Brown 1/31/17 In opportunities for peer observations (lab classes) Principal Progress Identify effective methods for teaching vocabulary in Mathematics C. Brown 6/20/17 including SEI strategies Principal Grade -level teams utilize data from interventions to determine Principal 6/20/17 In growth/success from provided interventions and use of academic Progress support times Collaborate with Math Coach about trends, strengths, Principal 2/1/17 consistent language, areas of need, in an aggregate way C. Brown to help inform feedback to teachers Measuring Impact Early Evidence of Change: Changes in practice, attitude, or behavior you should begin to see if the initiative is having its desired impact Early Evidence of Change Benchmark Person Date Status Responsible Observations of teachers would see evidence of increased differentiated Principal 6/20/17 Ongoing instruction strategies within classroom C. Brown Observation of teachers would include evidence of teacher collaboration Principal 6/20/17 Ongoing Increased level of consistency across classrooms as seen on common Principal 6/20/17 Ongoing assessments Decreased numbers of students referred for special education testing Principal 6/20/17 Ongoing and interventions SST Identified students are receiving appropriate interventions during Principal 6/20/17 Ongoing intervention blocks and not during regular mathematics class time. Teachers K-5 Tier 2/3 Interventions provided have data that indicate successful MTSS Team 6/20/17 instruction, improvement of student achievement Utilizing the Mathematics observation form with new staff Principal 6/20/17 Decreased achievement gap on state and local assessments. Principal 9/30/17 Page 1 7 Resources Supporting Implementation The staff and financial resources allocated to support this initiative Resources Math in Focus Curriculum for Grades K-5 — materials and teacher manuals District funding for progress monitoring (AMC for Math in Grades K-3) District funding for substitute coverage — instructional rounds, observations, PD Professional Development • Data Teams — data analysis • Math Vocabulary • Math Instructional Practices/Methodology • Differentiated Instruction Time • Time for staff to participate in Instructional Rounds, classroom observations • Advance planning time by administrators, curriculum leaders, etc. to plan time and support for the year Page 1 8