HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-03-10 Coolidge School Council Minutes<:_1
A.W. Coolidge Middle School
School Council Minutes, Tuesday, March 10, 1998
The meeting was called to order in the Coolidge Media Center at 7:40 pm by John Doherty and
Marie Pink.
Attending: John Carpenter, Larry Chomsky, John Doherty, Mary Ann Kozlowski, Marge
Pacino, Marie Pink.
Minutes by: Larry Chomsky
Minutes from the Thursday, February 26, 1998 meeting were presented and accepted with 2
changes. 1) Marge Pacino not present, 2) change acronym (page 2) from NASDAQ to NESDEC.
MCAS: John Doherty mentioned that the MCAS testing will take 16 hours in May. The
intent is to use the first 2 periods of each day until complete. The state will be reporting
raw, not scaled, scores.
Coolidge Building Project Update. Town meeting vote is expected this Thursday.
John is working with the architect on a list of immediate needs should the building plan
not be approved. We discussed these needs assuming a time frame of 2 years until the
building plan project would next be addressed.
Strategic Planning Survey. Marie and John D., as members of the 102 member
Strategic Planning Survey, presented a list of statements for School Council feedback.
Statement topics included Beliefs, Vision, and Goals.
Council Membership. John noted that the Council will need to begin considering
possible candidates as replacements for the 2 parent members that will be leaving at the
end of this year. (John Carpenter and Larry Chomsky.)
School Improvement Plan. We began the review of the Coolidge Plan in earnest. Mary
Ann suggested the addition of a sentence to the Philosophy: "We believe in a balanced
student with strong academics with opportunities for excellence in art, music, drama, and
leadership." The addition was quickly approved.
We decided to postpone any action on the first school goal "Facilities and Equipment for
Effective Learning" pending the outcome of the Town Meeting decision on the building
project.
We started detailed work on the second goal "Meeting Diverse Learning Needs". John
indicated that since the original Inclusion Plan was adopted in 1993-94, there have been 2
changes in administration, and a 1/3 turnover in staff. It was agreed that there is a need to
reassess the goals and Inclusion Plan. A statement reflecting that the original plan is 5
years old, and that there is a need to reassess the goals and objectives was added to the
Rationale. A second goal was therefore added "To put the first Inclusion Plan to closure
and design a new Inclusion Plan based on current and expected needs."
The Objective were also updated to read as follows:
[A] Review and revise the Coolidge Middle School Inclusion Plan adopted in 1993-4
[B] Identify specific student learning styles and modalities of the entire range of our
student bodv. (Note: although not explicitly in the statement, learning style examples
include problem solving, abstract vs. concrete, investigative, and directed styles.
Modalities include auditory, visual, kinesthetic and additional types as examples.
Gardner's 7 Intellegences were mentioned as a possible in-service theme.)
[C] Identify effective learning strategies which will meet the learning styles and modalities.
[D] Assess how well those learning strategies meet the needs of the entire range of the
student body.
[E] Give teachers a variety of strategies and tools to meet diverse learning needs.
[F] Support this goal with the appropriate funds and/or resources.
[G] Implement the revised Inclusion plan.
"Limitless Learning" is being removed as an explicit learning strategy. It is still an implicit
tool.
"Recognition" as a goal was discussed, but it was generally felt that adequate recognition
programs are typically being utilized, and it was not added as a goal.
We will continue with the "Tasks" at the next meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:45 pm.
The next meetings are as follows:
Tuesday, March 17, at 7pm and Tuesday, March 31 at 7pm.
School Highlights is now rescheduled for Wednesday, March 25 at 7pm.