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Board - Committee - Commission - Council:
School Council -Reading Memorial High
Date: 2023-12-13 Time: 4:15 PM
Building: School -Memorial High Location: School Library
Address: 62 Oakland Road Session: Open Session
Purpose: School Council Meeting Version: Draft
Attendees: Members - Present:
Principal Callanan, Eileen Manning, Marianne Downing (via Zoom), Christine
Lusk, Sherllla Lestrade, Trey Skehan, Jessica Ayer, Pooja Mandon Parsons
(via zoom)
Members - Not Present:
Bridget Patterson, Antonio DiSerlo, Laurie Donahue, Sara Ortins, Dante
Deserio, Daija Forrero, Eli Brown, Haden Davis, Cole Grant, Jennifer Baskin
Others Present:
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Marianne Downing
Topics of Discussion:
Meeting was called to order by Principal Callanan at 4:15 PM.
The meeting began with Principal Callanan nominating Eileen Manning to be chair and
Marianne Downing to be vice chair, and the members present unanimously approved.
The council reviewed the minutes for the 10/4/2023 meeting and unanimously approved
Principal Callanan presented the school Improvement plan (SIP) for final approval and
discussion, noting that after the school committee meeting there were some minor changes,
and she indicated where the changes were. For example, changes were made at pages 10-
11. A staff member mentioned further changes were needed regarding Post program and
Special Education program and principal Callanan made the changes. The council
unanimously approved the SIP changes.
A parent asked whether Advanced Placement science double block was gone for next year,
mentioning there were online rumors of this. Principal Callanan said this could be addressed
as part of a brief discussion of RMHS schedule changes being considered. The principal
explained what had been going on with the schedule review process and that there was a
goal of providing more equity In the schedule, with a goal for the new schedule of
maintaining Flex time and the same start and stop times for classes. The principal Indicated
that she is drafting a community email about the schedules, Including about a pilot schedule
and If there are changes for next year, there will be an email on that.
As an example of the types of schedule changes being discussed, a slight adjustment in the
end time for the day at RMHS. She gave the example that, if you add just 3 minutes to the
end of the school day, at the end of the school year that adds 9 total hours of learning time.
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The principal explained a further proposed schedule with so-called "red block days" and
"black block days." There could be 16 "red block" days per year, where a "red block" day
would have 4 longer blocks (vs 6 blocks as is done currently) and an early release at 1:45
pm. This would result in more early release days per year for RMHS, which would give staff
more planning time, but would end up giving each academic class more instructional time,
because each class would end up having 16 of the longer blocks per year. The principal said
that in AP classes, they end up having about 16 labs a year that are long, so this would
provide equity In allowing non -AP science classes to have longer labs, too, as well as other
classes to have longer time on learning. With this kind of a schedule, on certain days one
block will drop and on other days two blocks will drop. There will still be three lunch periods
per day.
The principal stated that RMHS is going to pilot this "red block" day and "black block" day
schedule at the start of the tad semester, after midterms and running until February
vacation. She stated that she will send emails to students and to parents/guardians to
explain further. emails and student
A parent asked, has this been communicated to teachers and how are they working with it?
Principal said yes, RTA contacted, department heads contacted. A staff member observed
that this block schedule will result In fewer transitions, so less passing time during the day.
Another parent asked, so how much longer are the blocks. A staff member explained a
standard day In the schedule would be just like current schedule on Mon, Weds, Fri, but
Tu/Th every other week would have the 4 -block schedule with early release. The rotation
would be a 5 -day rotation Instead of 6 to make this work.
A staff member noted that if this kind of schedule change is implemented, there may need
to be a meeting with the RMHS special education staff to see If any IEPs would need to be
rewritten..
The principal indicated that there would be more discussion on schedules at the next school
council meeting.
The meeting then moved on to the principal's accountability presentation, which covered
2023 MCAS data, which the principal reviewed in detail, Including both academics and
changes in demographic data of students. The principal stated that this data already had
been presented to the PTO in its first quarterly meeting.
Some things that were noted, first with RMHS overall student data (not specifically MCAS
scores)
• RMHS has an accountability percentile of 85%, which the principal described as
strong.
• RMHS has had an enrollment decline since 2020, one of many impacts of COVID.
For example:
o In 2020 enrollment was 1230
o In 2021 enrollment was 1222
o In 2022 enrollment was 1135
o These declines are happening across the state
o The principal said these enrollment changes may have an impact when
planning new elective classes, whether there will be sufficient enrollment.
• There has been a minor shift in the white/non-white population at RMHS since 2020:
o RMHS was 88.2% white in 2020
o RMHS was 86.9% white In 2022
• RMHS high needs population is increasing:
o High needs at RMHS went from 22.2% of school population in 2020 to 25.5%
in 2022
o Statewide, high needs went from 48.7% of school population in 2020 to
55.6% In 2022
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RMHS chronic absenteeism rate Is Increasing, but the principal notes that the rates
do not account for illness and excused absences:
o 2020 was 6.3%
o 2021 was 11.6%
o 2022 was 11.4%
Avg * days absent is up at RMHS and in the district as a whole
o 2020 -avg at RMHS was 4.6 and avg in district was 4.1
o 2022 - avg at RMHS was 9.9 and avg In district was 10.1
% of students passing courses: 95.77% of students are passing all courses in
grades 9-10
67% of RMHS students In gr. 11, 12 have completed "advance coursework" which
includes honors classes, AP classes, at RMHS. Principal explained that this state
statistic does not Include advanced coursework taken in gr. 9, 10, though there are
RMHS students taking advanced coursework in those grades
o Principal also explained that, per DESE, any math beyond Algebra 2,
regardless of course level, is considered to be "advanced" math coursework
and that well over 90% of RMHS students take 4 years of math
89.1% of RMHS students complete the so-called "Mass Core" curriculum, though
principal believes this actually is closer to 99% at RMHS and there may be Issues in
the reporting to DESE. She noted that those who are home schooled and out of
district count towards the Mass Core completion rate.
RMHS graduation rate goes back 2 years in data, to 2021 Is 98.2 %. The principal is
concerned about who is not graduating, and notes that students who do not take
MCAS, such as some special ed students, are deemed "not graduating" by DESE
o There is concern about graduation rate for one RMHS subgroup, the
Hispanic/Latino population, because the RMHS graduation rate for that
subgroup, in the two-year data, was only 66.7%. The data for this subgroup
over a 4 -year timeframe was higher, 85.77%, and over 5 years 100%
The principal then went over the actual MCAS scores for RMHS in 2023
The principal first explained how student growth percentile (SGP) is computed for
each school, and she added that the high school SGP is compared to grade 8 . She
went over an example computation
RMHS scored Its highest ever math SGP, 64, on record
RMHS went from a pre -pandemic SGP of 52 to a post pandemic SGP of 85
The principal discussed further MCAS data and ideas for improving attendance.
The principal shared a so-called "MCAS explorer" computer tool and how it can
provide other views on data.
Per the principal, RMHS had 15 students who did not pass the science MCAS last
year, and this is a category RMHS needs to improve.
Lastly, the principal briefly reviewed RMHS data for spring 2023 AP exams.
The school council meeting adjourned at 5:35 pm
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