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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994-01-20 Coolidge School Council MinutesArthur W. Coolidge Middle School School Council Minutes for January 20, 1994 The meeting was called to order at 7:20 pm on January 20, 1994 in the Arthur W. Coolidge Middle School Media Center. Present: Lou Adreani (for Al LaHood), Larry Chomsky, Peter Hitchborn, Mary Pacino, Carol Perletz, Debbie Reinemann. Visitor: Laura Peterson. The minutes from 12/16 were approved. Lou Adreani opened the meeting by discussing progress on the development of a set of core values for the school. This will be one of the major areas to be addressed in the school improvement plan. In order to stimulate discussion, Mr. Adreani showed a videotape called Voices of Reform that was recently released by the Massachusetts Department of Education and contained a considerable amount of material that was taped at the Coolidge Middle School. The tape focussed on five major areas: A Common Core of Learning (what all students should know and be able to do). What should we teach? How should we teach? How should schools be run? What resources do the schools need? A draft of a list of core values for Coolidge along with implementation ideas was circulated to the Council for comment. Considerable input was obtained and will be incorporated into the next draft. The second part of the meeting addressed the work of the Reading Public Schools Information Technology Task Force which is headed by Laura Peterson, a faculty member at Coolidge. Ms. Peterson updated the Council on the progress and plans of the Task Force and asked for input from the Council. There was some discussion of short-term needs such as additional phone lines into the school for access to various on-line information services and electronic mail. Discussions with NYNEX have resulted in lower rate and flat rate lines for the schools and additional lines will soon be installed (at least one at Coolidge). The council suggested that the minutes of the Task Force meetings be circulated to the School Councils so that school improvement plans could be coordinated with Task Force proposals. This led to a discussion relating to electronic bulletin boards with one dedicated to the School Councils so they could share ideas. Ms. Peterson said that a Task Force committee was in the process of setting up some bulletin boards for Reading. Everyone agreed that a major technology update was needed for all of the Reading Schools including Coolidge and that the School Councils would need to speak out and coordinate their efforts to get the resources needed. The Council also agreed that Coolidge School Council minutes should be exchanged with the Parker School Council There was then some discussion of how the Council could better elicit information about teacher needs and their ideas for school improvement. Thls 4tiiil be addressed again in future Council meetings. The next School Council meeting was set for 7:30 pm on February 16 at the Coolidge Media Center. Roy Welsch will be the Chair. The focus will be on inclusion profiles. The next Council meeting after the February 16 meeting will be at 7:15 pm on March 10. Council members should also attend the System Assessment Planning Workshop with Richard Strong at 7 pm on January 26 at the RMHS Lecture Hall. At 7:30 pm on January 31 at the RMHS Staff Center, the Reading School Committee will be meeting with two members from each of the School Councils to discuss common issues and school improvement plans. The Coolidge School Council will be represented by Carol Perletz and Debbie Reinemann. Everyone is urged to attend the presentation on core values by Wellesley Middle School Principal John D'Auria on February 7 at 7 pm at the Parker Middle School Auditorium. On March 2 from 7-9:30 pm in the Coolidge Cafetorium, Charlie Lawrence will discuss how to develop a school improvement plan. Also attending will be the Parker and High School Councils. The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 pm.