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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-10-01 School Council - Wood End Elementary MinutesG Wood End Elementary School Z School Council Meeting I _ - 2 c 1 MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE SCHOOL COUNCIL Juae4, 2012- A meeting of the Wood End School Council was held on Monday, October 1, 2012 from 3:15 until 4:30 p.m. in the conference mom of the Wood End Elementary School, Reading, Massachusetts. Council Members Present: Joanne King, Sandy Emery, Maureen Fennessy, Pooja Parsons, Maria Walsh, Barbara Sheehan, Stephanie Malone, and Mia Gaska. Call to Order: Principal Joanne King called the meeting to order at 3:15 p.m. and Mia Gaska recorded the minutes and Maureen Fennessy volunteered as Co-chair. A quorum of Council Members was present, and the meeting having been duly convened, was ready to proceed with business. Start of the Year Business Members were reminded of key points in the Open Meeting Guide. All members read and signed the Conflict of Interest Law form and the Certificate of Receipt of Open `^.. Meeting Law Materials. �j Minutes All members present reviewed the minutes from the previous meeting held on June 7, 2012. A motion was made to accept the minutes by Maria Walsh and Sandy Emery did second the motion. Minutes were approved. School Improvement Plan Mrs. King presented the revised School Improvement Plan for Wood End for the 2012- 2013 school year. She will present this plan to the School Committee on October 22nd. Principal King noted that changes to the previous school plan are as follows: • Goal 1 focuses on increasing the academic success of all students in the areas of reading comprehension and writing, as measured by FLA MCAS, published pieces of work per student, and the Gates Reading Comprehension Assessment. • Goal 2 focuses on closing the achievement gap for high needs and special education subgroups in math and literacy. • Goal 3 focuses on fostering open communication with families and the community, measured by percent of families enrolled using Edline and percent of families participating in a pre/post survey on family and community participation. Technology Committee Update ® Mrs. King presented an update on the technology purchased over the summer. The PTO generously purchased 32 laptops that were installed in the Library/Media Center. There were an additional 25 laptops purchased with money received from a METCO grant and the school purchased two COWS to house these additional new laptops. Budget Update Principal King noted this will be discussed at each meeting. Some funds were reallocated for staff Professional Development and instructional resources for teachers. Building Work During the summer, the custodians worked closely with Mrs. King to clean and paint several areas of the school building including offices and classrooms. Construction debris and broken equipment / furniture were also removed. Teachers cleaned out classrooms and two dumpsters were filled. In addition, a paper shredding company hired by the district came and shredded 18 cases of materials no longer needed on file. Community Service Projects As part of the School Improvement Plan, a goal is to get students more involved in their community. Mrs. King shared that students will be participating in the annual Veterans' Day program on the first Friday in November, as well as the Soldier Drive to collect items to be sent overseas to the troops in time for the holidays. It was decided that each grade level will be responsible for one community service project with the goal that all students will be able to participate and the service be focused on local families. The projects are as follows: • November/December - Soldier Drive - Grade 5 • December/January —Anton's Coat Drive — Grade 3 • February - Leukemia & Lymphoma Society — Pre -K and Grade I. • March — Reading Food Pantry — Grade 4 • April— Mission of Deeds, Reading — Grade 2 Wood End Brochure and Handbook Both Wood End at a Glance and the Wood End Handbook will need to be updated. Mrs. King will send School Council members the current handbook and suggestions for changes will be discussed at next month's meeting. The changes to the parent handbook will include the Acceptable Use Policy, what constitutes excused/unexcused absences, the tardy policy, and the districts physical restraint policy. Spirit Wear It was shared that there are no remaining Wood End t -shirts or sweatshirts available, only water bottles and notepads. Mrs. King has received samples from several vendors, but it was suggested to keep the Wood End Spirit Wear order local. She will look into ordering from a vendor in Reading. u Other Business Maria Walsh shared that there is about $2,500 in funds available for the basketball court project. Mrs. King was updated by the Public Works Department that they were aware of the project, but no date for installation has been decided. She will follow up to find out if there is a smaller scale project that could be done sooner. Adjournment Mrs. King shared her excitement to work with the School Council this year. The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 p.m. The School Council will resume discussions at their next meeting on November 1'. Respectfully submitted, Mia Gaska Recording Secretary, October 1, 2012 O rJ