Last night’s (9/15) School Committee meeting
opened with MHS student representatives Maria Tramontozzi, Olivia Rittenburg,
and Rachel Freed providing their first report of the year, including notes that
the football team won their home opener against Masconomet Friday night, the A
Capella Club will be holding auditions soon, Open House is Thursday, 9/17,
German and French exchange students are visiting the US in October, and
Junior/Senior Parent Breakfast is 10/8.
Chairman Thorp took a
moment to clarify information on postings in the warrants (school district
bills) from the last meeting (9/8) that she said was unclear. At the end of the fiscal year (June 30th),
when processing occurs for bills from the prior year, transfers can’t be done
because MUNIS (the City’s accounting and reporting system) doesn’t allow it.
The last few bills must show initially in the wrong categories because of MUNIS
limitations, but they get moved into correct categories before the required October
1st DESE (end-of-year) report and before we do actuals for next
year’s budget. Anyone who has questions can find out further information from
Central Administration.
Supterintendent Taymore
reported: * We are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the MHS German
exchange program (GAPP) with festivities planned for 10/20. * She also issued
some follow-up comments to her Office for Civil Rights (OCR) statement from the
9/8 meeting, noting that some parents have asked questions about the proper chain
of communication if they or students wish to express a concern. The teacher is the
first person to whom to relay a concern, but if families aren’t comfortable
with that, they are always welcome to call the principal or guidance counselor.
At the secondary level, there is a built in system of support so students know
who their guidance counselor and school psychologist are, and the guidance
counselor is the person who steps in when students have had a negative
experience and need someone to talk to. Whenever students need support or need
questions answered, they can look to the guidance counselor who will also walk
parents through next steps, and all principals and guidance counselors have been
trained in next steps. Supt. Taymore urged families to reach out to the teacher
first because they are the people who know the child best, but if they feel
they can’t, to please contact the principal or guidance counselor. All
information to this effect is in the Student Handbooks.
This week’s Consent Agenda
included meeting minutes from last week (both sets), warrants, and the MHS trip
to Costa Rica, which were all ultimately approved.
Policy and Planning
Ms. Dugan led the
Committee in a brief discussion of policies related to Internet safety
measures, which we are required (by our own policy) to review annually. No
changes were suggested. Supt. Taymore spoke to updates in the Strategy
Overview.
Educational Programming
and Personnel
Horace Mann Accelerated
Improvement Plan: Principal Mary Ellen Cobbs, along with teacher Kim Barbagallo
and parent Bill Keefe presented the school’s Accelerated Improvement Plan
(AIP). School Site Council members were also in attendance as were a number of
teachers. She indicated that her presentation would provide insight into the AIP
process, explain how this endeavor reflected the collected input of HM
educators, and outline how the plan would impact student achievement. The team
volunteered to participate in the AIP process (it was not required), was led by
a state liaison, and was an opportunity to get outside coaching to accelerate the
learning of Horace Mann students. The plan was reviewed, revised, and edited by
staff prior to being sent to Supt. Taymore for her review. As a Level III
school, the staff took advantage of professional development, instructional
coaching, and came together as a team to develop the plan. They spent time
talking about what went well in the past year and where challenges remained. (Principal
Cobbs referenced the HM Data Dashboard for individuals to see the growth in
student learning.) The AIP protocol required identifying two to three problems,
brainstorming causes, and developing strategic objectives to address areas of
need. As a team, the group identified three problems regarding closing the achievement
gap: first, the achievement gap itself (the difference between academic
achievement by high needs students and general education students); second, the
split between general ed and special ed staff and programming; and third, that
the Horace Mann, albeit well-intentioned, lacked a professional climate and shared
vision. She said that conversations around these issues were difficult, but they
did it, and agreed that if they didn’t address problems, they wouldn’t sustain the
work that had been done, and couldn’t continue to improve. Ms. Barbagallo spoke to staff participation,
experiences, and product; and Mr. Keefe spoke to parent efforts around
supporting student learning. Action steps in the plan consistently reflect
improvement (e.g. tiered instruction). Practices around using data to inform
staff work and accelerate and extend learning were explored, implemented, and
shared with the other schools (who are now implementing them). How did the team
they share what they had learned? By employing efforts like learning
walk-throughs (all HM staff have been or are being trained). Research shows
that four elements make for the most effective learning communities: providing
the correct conditions, aligning with school and district priorities, focusing
on learning rooted in data, and sharing the work. Horace Mann focused on
including all of those elements in the document. (Video times 24:42-57:39)
Supt. Taymore spoke to her
vision that every child educationally receive what he/she needs without being
labeled, and presented a review of the efforts the district has taken over the
past three years to provide various and challenging educational opportunities
for all students. Structurally, those efforts include capacity building, use of
best practices, developing common assessments, and using strong data practices.
Based on this work, she feels that the district is ready to take the next step
in teaching and learning in the form of competency-based (or mastery-based or
performance-based) learning. The Strategy Overview includes priorities that set
the stage for a discussion around this topic. The Committee has scheduled a
meeting on October 6th at 7:00 in the Aldermanic Chamber to begin an
in-depth study of this fundamental change in our approach to educating Melrose
students.
Finance and Facilities
Director of Finance Jay
Picone prepared and presented a new report: the Report of Grant and Revolving
Account Activity. It was compiled to provide additional transparency around the
monies actually used to fund the Melrose Public Schools, including federal and
state grants (like special ed and METCO), applied fund accounts (like athletics
and elementary music), and district and school accounts (like ECC tuitions, individual school accounts, etc.).
The report will be provided 3-4 times / year.
Dr. Heather Josephson
provided a review of the Campus Kids program, indicating that it was very well
received by families, with enrollment up by 10% (to almost 200 students/day). She
credited the staff for making the program excellent. Space became a concern and
that challenge will be explored next year (as the Lincoln and Roosevelt
normally trade years in order for comprehensive cleaning). Financially, the
program experienced a profit. Separately, the Middle School’s Students Without
Borders program was also successful, but barely broke even, so Supt. Taymore
will explore whether rates should increase next year in order for the program
to sustain financial health.
Announcements of the
Chair
The Committee will embark
on a plan to produce a School Committee handbook to help the community
understand the internal workings of the Committee. A proposed Table of Contents
was provided to kick off the effort with the final version tentatively
scheduled for 12/8. * The Committee approved sending an opinion statement
regarding high stakes testing indicating that “…the Melrose School Committee
recommends that the Massachusetts Board of Education enter into a moratorium on
PARCC testing until issues of timing, funding and evaluation can be adequately
resolved.”; * Ms. Thorp has begun preparation of a list of data information/reports
normally sent to the Committee for review so that we can determine whether
additional information/data is needed and then to decide its format and timing;
* I commented on the MelroseForward initiative, the reboot of the Melrose
Master Plan, and its first effort at exploring Melrose opinions around community
attributes (based on efforts at last weekend’s Victorian Fair). Top 3 to date:
1. Ability to get around by rail, bus, bicycle, walking & driving; 2. Many
local options for shopping, dining, and services; 3. Focus on environmental
preservation and energy efficiency. Find them at @melroseforward or on
Facebook.
Please check the
melroseschools.com web site for the packet documents and/or the MMTV3.org web
site for the Vimeo. And remember, next meeting is October 6th at
7:00 and focuses on Supt. Taymore’s review of competency-based learning and
what it could look like in the Melrose Public Schools.
