HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-10-10 School Council - Wood End Elementary Minutes - DraftTown of Reading
9 Meeting Minutes
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Board - Committee - Commission - Council:
Date: 2023-10-10
Building: School - Wood End
Address: 85 Sunset Rock Lane
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2023 OCT 17 AM 8: 14
Time: 3:15-4:15 pm
Location: Virtual (Zoom)
Session: Open Session
Purpose: Regular Meeting for 2023-2024 Version: Draft
Attendees: Members - Present: Lindsay Baker, Kristine Crowley, Maureen Habeeb,
Nicole Schwartz, Amelia Sinha, Christine St. Hilaire, Lindsey Tainsh
Members - Not Present: Kevin Sexton
Others Present: None
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Lindsay Baker
Topics of Discussion: The first meeting of the Wood End Elementary School Council for
2023-24 school year was held via Zoom on October 10, 2023.
Call to Order: A quorum of members being present, and the meeting having been duly
convened for Wood End Elementary School by Principal, Nicole Schwartz called the meeting
to order at 3:18 p.m. and proceeded with business.
Public Comment: Principal Schwartz noted that Kevin Sexton was absent from the meeting and
further, would not be able to serve on the council for the remainder of the school year. She noted
that a replacement for Kevin's parent seat on the council is needed. In order to keep voting even
- allowing equal representation from parents/guardians and staff - Principal Schwartz would
abstain from voting during the meeting.
Christine St. Hilaire noted that MCAS results had been presented at the most recent School
Committee meeting and expressed interest in hearing about Wood End's performance on the
annual test.
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Election of Council Co-chair and Secretary: As customary for the first meeting of the school
year, Principal Schwartz asked for volunteers to serve in the roles of council co-chair and
secretary. Maureen Habeeb, second grade teacher, offered to serve as co-chair and Lindsay
Baker, parent, offered to serve as secretary. In a formal vote, both volunteers were unanimously
elected to their respective roles.
Vote: M. Habeeb as Co-chair 6-0-0
Vote: L. Baker as Secretary 6-0-0
Review and Acceptance of Minutes: Members reviewed draft minutes from the April 11
and lune 6, 2023 meetings. The vote to approve the April 11 minutes was delayed to this
meeting because there was not a quorum for voting at the June 6th meeting. There were no
corrections or additions. Votes were made to accept the minutes from both meetings.
Christine St. Hilaire motioned for their acceptance, seconded by Maureen Habeeb.
Vote: Minutes Accepted 7-0-0
New Business:
Draft School improvement Plan Shared, Principal Schwartz reviewed a draft of the Wood
End's School Improvement Plan, to be presented at a future School Committee meeting. The
plan has two overarching areas of focus: (1) fostering a safe and supportive learning
environment and (2) creating coherent instructional systems.
Major components of the Improvement plan for fostering safe and supportive learning
environments include but are not limited to: expert professional development opportunities
for engaging effectively and sensitively in conversations about equity and race; fostering
relationships with Boston resident families through the "found families" program; building
understanding of WIN (what I need) blocks to make sure all students recelve what they
need to be successful; piloting new social -emotional learning curriculum; and analyzing
attendance data to reduce chronic absenteeism.
Major components of the improvement plan for creating coherent instructional systems
Include but are not limited to: continuing to build up the school's Instructional Leadership
Team; scheduling -in time for collaborative planning; providing coaching to staff on new
curricula; Identifying ideals of high quality instruction; creating and maintaining data
systems; creating and piloting a math Intervention model; piloting a specialist team
teaching model; Increasing efficiency in use of resources for meeting IEP needs for all
students; engaging paraprofessionals in two professional development opportunities each
school year; and creating opportunities for teachers to observe each other's teaching styles.
There were no questions from the council regarding the Draft School Improvement Plan at
this time.
Sharing the ldeneflt5 gf the instructional leadership team office hours Initiative Principal
Schwartz Introduced the parent council members to the leadership team holding "office
hours" during which staff can consult with them on challenges and potential supports for
their students, classrooms and teaching. The intent Is to support teachers in their
professional development as needed and over time and to enable their support of students
needs. Both Maureen Habeeb and Lindsey Tainsh agreed that it Is a great resource and very
helpful to be able to have colleagues as a sounding board for specific Issues that may come
up.
MCAS results- Wood End Elementary did well on the 2023 MCAS. The school accountability
percentage which indicates the school's overall performance compared with other schools in
Massachusetts that administered the same test was 88%. Other positive data include an average
student growth percentile - a comparison of each student to themselves (past test performance)
and peers taking the same test - of 61.1% in math and 66.6% in engiish-language arts (ELA).
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In both math and ELA Wood End had good percentages of students meeting or exceeding the
standards across all grades. All data is public on the DESE website and families will be receiving
their child(ren)s test scores by mail.
Staff receive their own scores which reflect their teaching and their students' comprehension and
integration of the material. Principal Schwartz has compiled an item analysis for ELA, Math and
Science and will be working with building staff and the district math coach on item analysis per
grade to further inform future teaching and support student and teacher success. Within this
analysis she is also trying to ascertain which standards, if any, fell below state level, which areas
are being missed, and any other Informative patterns. WIN (what I need) blocks can be used to
begin to address any needs revealed by this analysis.
Principal Schwartz also noted that the 2022-2023 3rd grade, which sat for the test for the first
time last year, was in Kindergarten at the outset of the pandemic and are a group recognized
nationally as at -risk for learning loss as they were not able to complete kindergarten among
other disruptions. Their scores from this MCAS test will provide further data points to identify
their learning needs going forward in light of their unique educational experience.
Other Notes: Council members are encouraged to let Wood End parent and guardian peers
know of the opening on the school council and are welcome to share any potential members with
Principal Schwartz.
Adjournment
There being no further business, the School Council adjourned at 4:20 p.m. The next
meeting will be held at 3:15 pm on January 16, 2024.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lindsay Baker,
Recording Secretary
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