MDT Meeting Minutes for March 17, 2008

Attending: B. Lewis, K. Beiley, L. Singer, T. Welsh, P. Joos, A. Yu, E. Marcus, N. Rabiah, V. Otten, N. Martell-Stevenson, A. Broun. 
Parent-staff communication policy: At the February 25 discussion on this same topic, the parent MDT members volunteered to develop draft language to update the school’s policy on parent-teacher communication regarding parent concerns about teacher or classroom problems.  The parent MDT members presented the draft text to the MDT as a whole.  There was some fine-tuning of the original draft language, but the group agreed to the overall policy proposed.  The MDT agreed by consensus to the approach outlined below:
The appropriate process for [parents to raise] concerns and complaints is:

• To bring the matter to the attention of the staff member involved
• If the matter remains unresolved, bring it to the attention of the principal
• If the matter still remains unresolved, bring it to the office of the instructional superintendent, Francisco Millett
• If the matter still remains unresolved, bring it to the attention of the Chancellor’s office

The MDT parent members will send a letter to all parents/guardians – via backpacks, the website, and the Forum – to inform the community of the changes and to explain the context under which the changes became necessary.  The Murch handbook will also be revised in time for the 2008-09 school year, to reflect the updated policy.
School Plan: Under previous DCPS policy, each school was required to prepare an annual school plan, which outlined the school’s objectives (both academic and non-academic) for the upcoming school year.  This was also a vehicle for each school to present to DCPS its vision/mission/core values.  Amanda Broun suggested to the MDT that the time might be right to bring the community together to develop a mission statement, given some of the differences on a number of issues within the Murch community. 
Principal Lewis informed the MDT that the Chancellor has revamped the DCPS school plan.  Each school now prepares a two-page document outlining the top academic objectives and metrics to measure success.  The new plan provides no place for schools to present mission statements. 
All members strongly supported the underlying objective of bringing the community together to pursue a positive agenda.  A member suggested the objectives proposed by the diversity committee were closely aligned to what Amanda was proposing.  Vicki Otten will follow up with Brenda Smith to discuss possible next steps.

Student recognition:  Amanda Broun reminded the committee that a parent had raised concerns last spring about the school awards process and the potential negative impact of awards on those students not receiving recognition.  The MDT received the concern too late last year to take action, but agreed to take up the issue this school year in time to inform this year’s process.  Principal Lewis was aware of the concern and had been discussing the issue with Ms. Miller, the counselor.  She and Ms. Miller wish to discuss the issue further, and will report back to the MDT in April. 
A parent member suggested the value of achievement was well understood at the 6th grade level, while perhaps not as much at lower grade levels.  A teacher member said at the beginning of the year nearly all the 6th grade students were aware of each of the school awards and what they needed to do to be competitive for recognition.  Another parent member suggested greater use of interim awards as a way to encourage achievement through the year.  In that regard, all members pointed to the success of the horseshoes award.
Principal selection: Amanda Broun informed the MDT of her contact with DCPS on the delay in the selection process.  DCPS informed Amanda that the Chancellor has decided to wait until all schools have formed their selection panels before releasing her decisions on interim principals, in total.  DCPS expected panels to be in place in time for the Chancellor to issue her decisions by the end of March.
Personnel: Principal Lewis reported that she had reached out to the three candidates for the math and reading specialist positions that DCPS had passed to her.  They have not responded to her yet.  Principal Lewis is working to recruit individuals for these positions.
Parent requests for teachers: Principal Lewis has been discussing the issue with Lynn Main at Lafayette.  She also wishes to consult with teachers before discussing her proposed approach with the MDT.  The issue will be on the April MDT meeting agenda.
Curriculum issues: Principal Lewis updated the MDT on the discussions/actions of the Instructional Support Team (IST). 
Enrichment: Principal Lewis is building into the 08-09 budget sufficient resources for wages and materials to pay teachers to work over the summer to develop enrichment programs for the next school year.  She has also asked Norah Rabiah to call on other area schools (Eaton, Lafayette, Janney, Mann and Key) to draw from their enrichment programs.
Research skills: Principal Lewis has asked Steve Webber, the librarian, to take the lead on preparing a school-wide program to develop student research skills.  He will work with each grade team to develop grade-appropriate plans.  Steve is very excited about the initiative.

Math computation: Principal Lewis and teachers have been discussing what types of materials they would like for strengthening student computational skills, to supplement the Everyday Math curriculum.  (Update: the faculty gave the HSA the list of materials over Spring break and everything has been ordered).
Handwriting: Murch will adopt a school-wide approach on handwriting under the Handwriting without Tears curriculum, to be launched next fall. 
Keyboarding: Principal Lewis and Steve Webber will take up this matter.
Spanish: A parent member asked the MDT to look at the long-running absence of a Spanish language program during the regular school day and how the after school program was addressing the need.  A parent member pointed out that previous Murch principals and the MDT have tried to address this problem, but could not find qualified teachers.  In one year, Murch lost funding because it could not fill the position.  An important reason for the difficulty in hiring was because teachers hired by Murch/DCPS must meet specific qualifications under the No Child Left Behind law; this requirement does not apply to after school activities. 
Another parent then strongly praised the after school language program that Cinzia Roveta (who was in attendance) was running.  The after school program has 130 enrolled students, and offers French, Italian and Spanish for one or two times/week.  The parent member pointed out that under a regular school day Spanish program a student would likely only have class once/week, with questionable learning benefit.  Furthermore, the group size in the after school program is quite small as compared to a full class, again improving the language learning environment.  On the question of cost, Principal Lewis informed the MDT that she, Cinzia and interested families have been able to make financial arrangements so that interested students were able to participate.  Principal Lewis and Cinzia agreed a longer run solution was required to address this access/cost issue.
Other business: A teacher member recommended the school soon send out a letter to families asking about enrollment plans for the next school year.  A parent member passed along a parent question regarding Murch’s policy on television in the classroom.  Principal Lewis asked that the minutes reflect the approach that she adopted in light of another parent’s inquiry on this same subject last month.
Principal Lewis looked through records and found no pre-existing policy. She will inform teachers of the parental concern and will add a policy in next year's staff handbook that would call for teachers to tie any video presentations to a benchmark standard and that teachers undertake a classroom discussion of the video, and tie that discussion to the benchmark standard.

The MDT meeting adjourned at 7:00.
Next meeting: Monday, April14, at 5:00.

Alan Yu
March 29, 2008