- Staffing Update
- For next year, Murch has 7 staff moving positions. Of the 21 open positions, there are 10 offers out.
- The HSA is committing to fund two additional instructional aides next year, but will be hiring no lunch or recess aides. Teachers will cover lunch 3 days and recess 2 days a week. Additional coverage will be provided by instructional aides and support staff.
- Space for 2014–‐15
- DGS will be installing 8 new trailers with water/bathrooms on the parking lot. The will be removing the art/music and Ben 3/4 trailers.
- Even with the extra space the school is still short a classroom for World Geography.
- Will need a flexible computer lab space for ST Math testing, etc.
- The SIT is looking into parking options for staff next year.
- Renovation
- DGS Interim Project Manager assigned.
- DGS has identified a contractor to work on the Ed Specs.
- Current anticipated schedule.
- First draft of Ed Specs is expected to be done by end of June.
- June/July –‐ DGS doing a feasibility study.
- DGS plans to solicit for architect in September (with proposals due in October).
- Possibility of getting additional money in FY 2015 budget.
- School Operating Budget
- Catania is advocating that the at–‐risk funds should be “additive” and should not cause schools to lose funding next year.
- Parent Information night
- Proposed date: Thursday June 5, 6:00–‐7:30, open house style.
- Subject: Things to do over the summer with your child. Skills your child should have to hit the ground running at the beginning of next year.
- Reading [DC Library summer reading program rep?]
- Writing
- Math [Does ST math work over summer?]
- Science
- Assignments
- Sabrina to get a volunteer from each grade level
- Martha to coordinate childcare/promotion with the HSA
- If there are things you want to suggest to next year’s LSAT, post on Basecamp and/or send them to Martha/Sabrina. Some ideas mentioned during the meeting:
- PARCC assessment
- How do we prepare students for the technology necessary to succeed on this test?
- Keyboarding/Technology
- World Language requirements
- Volunteer school/HSA collaboration
- Behavior management
September 24, 2014 LSAT Minutes
- Introductions – The attendees introduced themselves.
- Administrative Matters
- Secretary and meeting minutes – Lisa Stone volunteered to be the secretary.
- Meeting Schedule – Generally meetings will be set for the first Thursday of the month, with the exception of the October meeting which is scheduled for October 23. We considered whether to invite Mr. C to attend every meeting or to alternate attendance. Several members expressed a desire for Mr. C to try to attend every meeting (as his schedule allows) because often he has information that is necessary to productive conversation.
- Community Representative – The committee discussed several priorities in a community rep: diversity, proximity to building, experience with Murch. Historically it has been difficult to find someone to fulfill this role. Beth Colleye has individual candidates in mind and will pursue them.
- Basecamp – We will be using this project management tool again this year. Beth Colleye will send an introduction to all members who are not currently in the LSAT project.
- Enrollment – Mr. C reported that Murch currently has 620 enrolled students and expects to enroll one more student to fill an open PreK slot. Any additional enrollment will come from in-boundary students. Mr. C has been told that the school will not lose any positions this year due to under-enrollment but we should expect a reduction in staff next year. Currently the enrolled ELL population is low and Mr. C expects to see approximately another 20 international students enroll during the school. Lower enrollment may also be the result of a number of families move out of the Murch district and into other school boundaries such as Janney, which was recently renovated. Mr. C believes the pending renovation may have driven some families away. Last year we had 86 new families. This year we saw about 30 new families. Mr. C does not expect the new boundary changes to impact total enrollment next year.
- Building Renovation Update and LSAT input – Mr. C reported that the current renovation plan is to build for a size of approximately 700 students. The city has completed a feasibility study, which revealed several site restrictions that limit our ability to build a school larger than that. DGS is putting out a RFP for the building architect next week. The building ultimately will grow from 40,000 sq ft to 90,000 sq ft. In response to a question about specialized classrooms/curriculum Mr. C reported that current plans includes 3 autism classrooms.
- DGS is beginning to explore swing space for Murch during construction. One option is St. Anne’s, but this site is not large enough to hold entire school. Portable classroom trailers on the Lafayette fields (following their use by Lafayette during their renovation) present another possibility. When asked to identify the top three challenges in the event of displacement from the building, Mr. C responded that they are communication, consistency of instruction and attendance. The committee discussed the possibility of asking a representative from the SIT to attend an LSAT meeting to discuss instructional challenges resulting from the renovation and how the school can proactively address them. Mr. C asked members of the LSAT to prepare list of questions in advance so the SIT rep can come prepared.
- In response to questions regarding the possible need for LSAT input into the renovation, Mr. C responded that he believes the LSAT’s assistance will be needed to consider multiple-year budget plans. Because the Ed Specs are so detailed, there is not a need for LSAT input into building design. Many decisions are outside the Murch community’s hands. For example, the gym is considered historic and must be repurposed. Mr. C will reach out to Mike Quadrino and ask what role LSATs play in other renovations and will report back. Beth College offered to reach out to SIT co-chairs and offer assistances as requested.
- Feedback on Diversity Presentation and ongoing related work – Terri Fuller and Mr. C reported on the evening from earlier this month. The focus of the evening was how to build and support our community as a whole. Terri Fuller read from the formal notes from the meeting (which were prepared by the facilitators) and it was requested that she circulate them to the LSAT members. Among the topics that were mentioned were the following: the achievement gap, out of boundary families feeling disconnected, homework help, what does diversity mean for our school? Are all groups represented? Cultural competency. How to support ELL parents. The school plans to schedule another community based meeting. In the interim, Mr. C has gathered a working group that will meet at Tenley Library on Oct. 9 to look at how to build bridges within the greater Murch community. Lisa Stone will attend this meeting and will report back to the LSAT on any items specific to LSAT.
- Topics for Future Meetings – The committee briefly discussed how to prioritize among the many possible topics that have been previously identified for future meetings. In addition to the items identified on the agenda, the following were also identified, including (a) a communication to parents on how to prepare for conferences that will inform parents of changes in assessments; (b) departmentalization of instruction for grades 3-5; and (c) behavior support. The committee plans to use Basecamp to gather a complete list of topics and Bethany Little has agreed to design a survey to facilitate prioritization.
October 23, 2014 LSAT Minutes
- Follow-up
- Community Representative – Beth Colleye updated the group on the three candidates she is pursuing for the community rep (one declined).
- Basecamp – Everyone new to be invited so that it can be used for discussions.
- Parent Info Night on PARCC – The group discussed what would be most useful for parents as well as the best timing. Given the HSA presentation to parents on assessments generally (not just the PARCC) which is scheduled for December 9, it was agreed to look for a date closer to the PARCC testing but still sufficiently in advance to help families prepare and support faculty. It was agreed to look for a January date which would also benefit from work that the faculty will be doing in advance of the test administration. In advance of the PARCC meeting, it was agreed to focus a large part of the January LSAT meeting on reviewing school level data. Mr. C commented that the data shows in many cases that the Murch learner community does not evince typical patterns of struggle and failure.Terri Fuller shared with the group the most current information she had from DCPS regarding testing windows: PARCC, 12 March to 10 April and 31 April to 29 May and NAEP for the 4th graders, January to March. This was followed by a broader conversation about the volume of testing at Murch and whether students were being over-‐assessed. Many expressed the desire to identify which assessments were essential from an instructional standpoint. There was general support for the idea of developing priorities and a calendar that maximizes instructional time – and to develop strategies to advocate for just the most effective assessments. Others raised questions about how best to balance the need to help students be familiar with the technology used for tests without taking away from instructional time. The faculty noted that some aspects of the interim assessments were still being worked out and emphasized that it was summative in approach and not formative.
- Community Engagement Program -‐-‐ Sabrina Finburg updated the group on further ideas for a program designed to engage students in social and learning activities outside of school with other Murch community members, the idea being to create out of school enrichment experiences and social opportunities for students who don’t regularly benefit. It would depend on adult volunteers and there is the opportunity to partner with other schools. Further planning will be rolled into a building diversity group that both Sabina Finburg and Terri Fuller participate in. There is the possibility of using some of the OSSE student satisfaction grant funding for transportation.
- Enrollment – The enrollment audit was taking place that day at school and inspectors (and Mr. C) remained at the school working well past the LSAT meeting. Preliminary results may be ready by the December meeting.
- Building Renovation Update and LSAT input– Mr. C reported that there was no additional update regarding the renovation and that DGS has put out the RFP for the building architect to be selected.
- Printers and Copiers – Bethany Little asked about the burden on faculty and administrators resulting from a lack of working copiers and whether parents could help relieve the problem. Mr. C reported that three new (not refurbished but new) copiers were ordered and expected during the school year. Vicki Otten described the small stand‐alone printer/copier machines used in the 5th grade and the group discussed whether more might be helpful at other grade levels while the large copiers were on order. Parents also asked whether there were any other supplies or tools needed.
- Planning Time – Bethany Little inquired of the faculty and administrators about the effectiveness of the pooled planning time now built into the calendar. She asked about the possibility of having a half day once a month for faculty to plan when an outside group such as an arts organization could be working with the students on special programming.
- Topics for Future Meetings -‐The committee plans to use a survey tool to gather a complete list of topics and Bethany Little has agreed to design a survey to facilitate prioritization. The results will be discussed at the next meeting.
December 4, 2014 LSAT Minutes
- Enrollment Projections: Mr. C and Ms. Fuller were not able to attend tonight so the committee was not able to discuss this topic. Beth and Sabrina will follow‐up with the administration to determining the timing of establishing projections for 2015‐16 school year.
- Behavioral Support: Last year discussed having a behavioral specialist but was too late in the budget cycle. Staff reported that there has been some progress this year on behavioral challenges even without a programmatic change. Having a dedicated Special Ed Coordinator and full time social worker is helpful. It was noted that it seems as though the school does not have as many kids with severe behavioral challenges this year as previous years, but there do remain some challenges. The Responsive Classroom (RC) program is very helpful for classroom management.
Several staff members attended the Responsive Classroom leadership conference in Chicago the previous weekend during which they attended a very helpful session addressing behavior. Tomorrow, the RC committee is presenting four different sessions to the staff during the professional development day. Is it possible to get an RC consultant or an instructional coach for RC on staff part time? Currently, it is believed that RC is not fully implemented at the school. As a rough estimate, approximately 75% of classrooms are doing morning meeting well. Only a handful of teachers are capable of adhering to RC’s guidelines on teacher language/responses. The RC committee has discussed with Mr. C doing a parent information night dedicated to RC, tentatively in Spring 2015.The committee discussed possible options for investing further in RC. Due to turnover there is a continual need for additional RC training. We discussed the possibility of focusing on RC as part of the Paddles Up portion of the live auction. Lisa and Lauren agreed to work together to identify the specific training needs of the school and the cost. How does Fairfax County support its extensive investment in RC? How do Janney, Mann, Maurey, and Key keep their teachers trained?
- Topics for Future meetings: Due to time limitations, our discussion of topics for future meetings was limited. We agreed to have a Basecamp discussion about what is needed for the January meeting. Some high priority topics include:
- School data -‐Consistent with Mr. C’s previous suggestion, we will look at school data in January after next set of unit testing. Committee would like to review last year’s CAS scores, including subgroups, as compared to prior years. [Beth/Sabrina to ask Mr. C to provide at January meeting.] iReady data also would be helpful to review. Sabrina will request Fountas and Pinnell data.
- Assessments -‐ Are we doing too many assessments? Which ones are the most helpful for educators? There was some discussion of whether teacher created assessments produce more reliable data, but they are more difficult to gather and compare. There is a parent information night on Assessments scheduled for Dec. 9, and there will be a separate night on the Parc later in the year.
- Feedback on Current staffing Model/Enrichment -‐There were alot of staffing changes this year and it will be helpful to gather feedback on how it is going. With the large number of support positions, students are being pulled out of class alot. Staff committee members agreed to poll the staff before the January meeting to ask what positions are they finding the most valuable this year. At that point we will discuss how/whether to poll parents. One option is to modify the school satisfaction survey from last year.
- Aides -‐ There were discussions last year of deploying aides in a more instructional capacity this year. There has been no top-‐down direction this year on implementing this change. Some aides are doing enrichment as part of their own initiative, but not as part of Ms. Presnik’s program. Each grade level decides how to use its aides.
January 8, 2015 LSAT Minutes
- Review of the Staffing Model: The staff survey has not been circulated yet because Sabrina wants to review questions with LSAT and Mr. C before finalizing. The committee agreed to ask her to post the questions to Basecamp so members can review and provide feedback. During meeting discussion, the following additional topics were suggested for possible inclusion in the survey:
- What curriculum areas are underdeveloped or absent? One example might be readers/writers workshop which has received less support in recent years. Another possible topic is grammar.
- By grade level, how does the writing development of your students compare?
Mr. C noted that he would like to have teachers at the end of the year write down a list of competencies they believe students should have before leaving their current grade level.
- Review of school data: Mr. C provided to the group several points of data. Overall review of the CAS schools shows that the school is moving in the right direction, in particular within the black subgroup. However, for the most part the school’s scores are staying within a very small band-‐ they are “static with slight growth.” The group noted that overall scores of “advanced proficient” went down last year with the “proficient” group increasing. School’s focus in past few years has been on those students who are in the below basic and basic groups.This year the school takes the PARCC and Mr. C reported that it likely will be at least 2 years until we will be able to make any real analysis of those scores. The committee also noticed that the composition score from the last year’s CAS test went down. It was noted that this year the CAS changed its grading system to consider grammar. Grammar has generally been deemphasized in primary education over the past decade. We discussed the possibility that in light of this change in scoring criteria, the school should have a renewed emphasis on teaching grammar and writing skills. Because the expectations haveshifted, the school many need to incorporate an integrated approach to teaching writing and grammar school-‐wide.
- Wilson/Deal -‐ Mr. C reported having an informal conversation with Principal Albright during which he commented that the majority of Murch students are at least as well prepared for Deal as students from other feeder schools. Beth Colleye has opened a conversation with a member of the Deal LSAT about how best to exchange information. Murch teachers commented that in past years they have unsuccessfully reached out to their Deal colleagues about sharing information and would be happy if the LSATs are able to facilitate such exchange. Mr. C. commented that one of his goals would be for advanced Murch 5th graders to be able to take math at Deal. Mr. C. noted that the Wilson feeder-‐pattern principals informal group has disbanded.
- Enrollment projections. Current enrollment is 627. District projection for next year was 644 and Mr. C did not contest it
- Renovation-‐ Murch is the first elementary school to be relocated during renovation.
- DCPS Budget Engagement Meeting: The Chancellor is again holding budget engagement meetings. This is a working session where the schools and the Chancellor exchange information and share their priorities. Murch’s meeting is Jan. 20 at Coolidge High school, from 7:00-‐9:00. LSAT member attendance is not mandatory but has been helpful in prior years.
- February meeting topics for discussion:
- Results of Jan. budget engagement meeting.
- Planning for 2015-‐16 budget
- Results of teacher survey
February 20, 2014 LSAT Minutes
- Housekeeping
- Minutes from meetings earlier this year had been posted to website, but link to the minutes had not been working. The link has been corrected and all minutes are now available.
- Family Outreach
- Valerie Mallett presented an article from The Washington Post about home visits through the DCPS Family Engagement Partnership (FEP) as an effective intervention tool.
- C reported it’s an interesting idea, but that Murch is not eligible for FEP due to school demographics.
- On a related note, the budget information to be presented later in the meeting suggests increasing the school social worker to full–‐time as a means of trying to address the same issue –‐ outreach to families who need it the most.
- Not practical for Murch to do home visits for each student, but also would want to approach the topic in a way that does not make people feel targeted.
- Out of boundary students often have difficulty socially because it is hard for them to engage in after school activities at Murch. Also, weekend activities like sports are often geographic based. Although many leagues (Stoddert, Cap City) are increasingly opening up to the school populations, the travel time alone makes participation impractical for many OOB families.
- School faculty interested in trying to reach out to OOB families in their own neighborhoods. One option would be to host a neighborhood coffee or playground dates where one or more faculty members would attend. It would help families find others in their neighborhood. Martha McIntosh noted the HSA has information on where families live.
- C reported it’s an interesting idea, but that Murch is not eligible for FEP due to school demographics.
- Valerie Mallett presented an article from The Washington Post about home visits through the DCPS Family Engagement Partnership (FEP) as an effective intervention tool.
- Enrollment Project Update
- Official projected enrollment for Murch for next year is 680.
- DCPS has no policy under which they can tell us we don’t have to take OOB kids. Individual placements still happen. If class size is really low, we may have to take additional kids.
- DCPS has confirmed no spots are being made available in lottery.
- Chancellor Henderson, Mary Cheh, and other public officials are visiting Murch for Read Across America on March 3. This is good exposure for Murch. Best advocacy for the school is for officials to witness the current conditions in the school first hand.
- Budget Update
- Results of the meeting with the Chancellor
- Anticipated budget process and schedule (all likely to occur within the same week)
- March 3 –‐ Mayor’s State of the District speech
- After that the Chancellor will give a speech
- After that the LSATs will receive budget info
- Chancellor advised LSATs to “think big” –‐ what would you do with 10% budget increase? Murch anticipates that the increased funds may not be distributed evenly so we may not receive a full 10% increase. To be best prepared, Mr. C is planning for three possible scenarios:
- Plan A: Even if district per pupil funding to Murch is the same, Murch will get approximately $690,000 increased budget due to increased enrollment (based on last year’s funding figures).
- Plan B: additional 5% increase in budget overall.
- Plan C: additional 10% increase in budget overall
- C reviewed the following possible additions/changes to the Murch budget from last year’s staffing. The below list identifies each new possible addition to the staff if Murch were to receive the maximum amount of additional funding that has been identified. Real budget figures are likely to be more limited and will require the school to prioritize among the following options.
- Increase one class section in K, 1 and 2. Critical issue is finding space to house the classrooms. Options include library, additional trailers and/or swap out existing trailers for better trailers.
- Special Ed:
- Add a Special Ed coordinator position.
- Additional Special Ed and ELL aides –‐ Would be key to continuing learning when teacher not in the room. Question whether this is a half time job, with other half being in the classroom?
- Behavior Technician
- Help implement Responsive Classroom throughout the school. Would act as an “RC Coach.”
- This position could also complete the SSTs (Student Support Team) and collect data in classrooms for difficult students.
- Technology coach
- Essentially an instructional coach focusing on technology. Would have a dual function, both coaching teachers and directly teaching students space permitting. Realistically probably would not directly teach students until after renovation.
- This position is in part planning for the school’s post–‐renovation future
- Enrichment specialist.
- This position would plan lessons with staff, gather resources and prepare space for lessons. Could also lead small groups. Could be available to work directly with groups of top students as well (top 3%).
- DCPS is adopting a school wide enrichment model. Initial thought was that District would only fund a half time position for Murch. However, District also planning pilot program next year in four schools, which may include Murch. In which case the District might fully fund this position for Murch next year outside our budget.
- Math Specialist
- This position could be helpful for ensuring students get experiential learning opportunities.
- Teachers believe that with Math, the teachers already know how to use manipulatives, etc. The greater need is for intervention support. For kids who are struggling with math, at this point you need a specialist to do the intervention. An instructional aide can’t do it. Frankly, the teacher has already exhausted her knowledge base.
- Even in 4th and 5th grade you have kids needing intense intervention. Math teacher doesn’t have bandwidth.
- Classroom teachers do not have the time to do the level of intervention needed.
- Science Specialist
- This position would ensure kids get experiential learning opportunities in science.
- DC adopted new science standards Next Generation Science. How are we going to get ready?
- Most elementary school teachers are not science experts and they were not taught how to teach science in school. They need training and materials.
- One person to support science throughout the school seems manageable. [As compared to math, where it seems that a school this size might really require two specialists.]
- Parent Coordinator/Project Manager
- Plan would be to hire the school’s current project manager (currently an HSA employee) under DCPS.
- Registrar
- Plan is to add an individual to the front office to free up some bandwidth for current staff. Location to be determined.
- Head Custodian
- School needs one Head Custodian to fill district requirements, including attending District meetings, trainings, etc.
- Pre–‐K teacher
- Plan would be to increase our current Pre–‐K resource teacher to full time to help with in classroom.
- Priorities: After initial discussion, we discussed the following positions being of the highest priority:
- classroom teachers + K aide
- Special Ed Coordinator
- Anticipated budget process and schedule (all likely to occur within the same week)
- Results of the meeting with the Chancellor
- Autism Program:
- All current students within the self–‐contained autism classroom at Murch will graduate this year.
- The District is indicating that Murch may be receiving a Pre–‐School (age 3) autism program as a substitute. If so, Mr. C likely would house this classroom in Kaufman.
- C has indicated to the District that we do not have the space to accept this program at this time, although the school may have no choice.
- Aides
- The group had a further discussion on a topic that has been raised previously: should classroom aides (especially in grades 1–‐5) be designated as clerical or instructional in order to maximize skill set and value?
- Teachers noted that both classroom aides and instructional specialists require a lot of teacher collaboration. Classroom teachers are ultimately responsible for the students in their classroom
- Consistency and reliability is key.
- It was noted that if aides are to be delinked from a single grade, it would be best for them to work with a limited group of teachers. Having the ability to get to know a limited set of teachers and students well would maximize their effectiveness.
- Assigning an aide to two grade levels could have an advantage of adding consistency with students as they progress from year–‐to–‐year.
- Non–‐Personnel spending
- Part of budget planning must include a discussion of the non–‐personnel spending line.
- We ran out of time during this meeting to address it.
- Martha to circulate survey information from staff on non–‐personnel spending and we will include it in our discussions next meeting.
- Teachers helping other teachers in the classroom
- Several years ago teachers could volunteer to spend one planning period a week helping in another teacher’s classroom.
- It was a good program and successful in both supporting teachers with intervention, as well as cross–‐ pollinating teaching styles. Now Murch teachers are siloed in their classrooms.
- Program was volunteer only. It was not required.
- Program happened when the HSA paid for recess aide and teachers had additional planning time free during the day. Not likely teachers would volunteer to do this today because they have so little free time during the day
- Options for Adding Classroom Space at Murch Next Year
- world geography room
- trailer for ELL
- library
- additional trailers
- autism room
- Interim Space Improvement Priorities (possibly to be addressed during spring break or summer break)
- Functioning Wi–‐Fi
- Locks on classroom doors
- Electronic key access to the building
- thorough cleaning of the building
- permit parking for staff in the neighborhood (to free up parking lot to use for trailers)
- Next Steps
- C. to circulate job descriptions for possible new positions to LSAT.
- C to circulate staffing models to teachers and schedule meeting with staff on March 4 for discussion.
January 25, 2017 LSAT Minutes
Present – Alicia Garfinkel, Aaron Hanna, Vicki Otten, Emily Kallaur, Lauren Miller, Stefanie Berger, Adam Riggs, Karen Abrams
Meeting was called to order at 5:38
Administrative
- Review November minutes
- Vicki motioned to approve the minutes, Adam seconded the motion.
Items for Discussion
- Stefanie Berger joined us to discuss implementation of the enrichment program to date: mission/objectives, challenges, successes, what works, ideas for next year, etc.
- Emily reviewed past discussions about I/E
- Stefanie went over the most recent Enrichment offerings (explorers, junior great books, weather, math project from cornerstones, and more)
- Want kids to learn in a hands-on way and have different experiences than they would be exposed to in the classroom
- Projects are presented to other students once completed
- GoQuest is new program that all kids are being added to (paused I/E block to add them to this) and will be a great addition to the enrichment program (as well as for teachers to use); could be helpful with helping to connect grade-levels
- Junior Great Books program connects and progresses thru each grade-level
- Aides are documenting and saving lessons
- Stefanie thinks 4th and 5th grade I/E is running very well
- Idea of enrichment is to broaden kids exposure and understanding of topics (and more than just literacy and math)
- Challenges
- Aides don’t have a place to keep all of the kids projects and supplies
- 30 minute time can be limiting, especially with lower grades, for longer projects – especially with needing to move around building, move supplies and find a space
- Aides are buying own supplies
- Computer issues
- Need to look into what professional development and support may be required to build a strong, sustainable program
- Ideas for going forward
- Could be great for completed projects to be presented to parents and/or to other classes
- Have a “toolbox/bank” or lessons to pull from so that it’s not a prescribed thing each year, but aides are not making new lessons all the time; projects need to be ready to go at the beginning of the school year
- Enrichment training for aides
- Next steps:
- survey/focus groups?
- Scope and sequence for I/E block?
- How to measure success?
- Figuring out upfront costs and budget needs—define high, middle, low budget scenarios
- Finding “kits” and projects that are already made
- Coordinate with HSA—possibility to fund materials or other support? Display I/E projects at Auction?
- Researching costs and programs
- Karen is going to reach out to Sue
- Aaron, Stefanie and Vicki are going to research programs
- Mr. C – consider budget requirements
- Text for Murch website describing I/E block for parents
- Small group has draft of letter à will be sent around to LSAT
Other
- DCPS webinar on budget process—link to be shared with group
November 30, 2016 LSAT Minutes
- Present: Chris Cebrzynski, Alicia Garfinkel, Aaron Hanna, Vicki Otten, Sara Heist, Emily Kallaur, Lauren Miller, Karen Abrams and Adam Riggs.
- Meeting was called to order at 5:35 PM.
- Adoption of the Minutes from October – Sarah made the motion to approve the October minutes, Adam seconded the motion – all approved
- Principal
- Mr. C spoke about the new chancellor and a phone call he had with him and other DC Principals.
- We hope he will have the chance to visit Murch soon
- Intervention/Enrichment
- What is RTI? How is it different from I/E?
- RTI à The program/plan/method that identifies and tracks students as at risk or below grade level; very specific – lots of assessments and coordination; RTI comes in 6 week cycles – if the intervention is not successful, it can be modified, or moved to getting an IEP
- I/E is based on data and all students participate
- Another way to think about it – “A student who has an RTI plan will receive an RTI during I/E, but a student in I/E doesn’t always have an RTI plan.”
- The Murch I/E Program – What does it look like? (Murch Mindcraft)
- Looked at handout by Stefanie Berger
- Aides implement the Enrichment, classroom teachers do the Intervention (groups are mixed within the grade-level based on need); Math Specialist and Enrichment Coordinator help too – 12 adults help during each grade level’s I/E block
- Math – 10% are in the intervention block – grades 3 -5
- ELA – 17% are in the intervention block – grades 3-5
- 2nd – 5th grade have 30 minutes per day (1st grade has a different model)
- STEM competitions starting in January to add more Science and Math to I/E
- Most cycles are 3 weeks – number of days a week depends on groups/grade level
- Responses from teachers & aides on I/E
- 72% of teachers responded that a challenge is that there is not time to meet to discuss I/E
- (School-wide Enrichment à Ms. Bentley – separate from I/E block (based on their interest survey); 2nd – 5th graders will all have an enrichment project with her.)
- Discussion of articles and information on other I/E programs
- Going forward
- Coming up with specific Goals and Objectives of I/E block
- Communication with parents about the I/E block
- Section on the website about it?
- Get 3 or 4 measurable/achievable goals
- Would help get all grade levels more on the same page
- Enrichment à Clarify what we are doing – not pushing to the next grade-level, but exploring creativity and curiosity
- Make a scope & sequence for I/E block?
- At the end of the year, look back at projects and see overlaps in grade levels and see how to connect them and what to use again next year.
- Discussion of budget considerations to help with this more
- Time set aside on PD days to plan for I/E
- One idea – Once a month, grade-level teams get a full day to plan with specific goals
- This work is being done to be utilized for next year.
- Future thoughts à Utilizing parents with knowledge in specific areas to help (ex: meteorologists)
- What is RTI? How is it different from I/E?
A small group will meet to work on creating a draft of goals (Emily, Karen, Vicki, Aaron, Lauren).
- Miscellaneous
- Computers
- Adam talked about the issues we are experiencing with laptops at school
- Suggested sending out a survey to all teachers – is everyone having this problem? Can we reach out to HSA about fixing this?
- Mr. C will put Adam in touch with the DCPS person in charge of technology to discuss if we can use Chrome Books.
- Computers
October 26, 2016 LSAT Minutes
Present: Chris Cebrzynski, Alicia Garfinkel, Aaron Hanna, Vicki Otten, Sarah Heist, Emily Kallaur, Lauren Miller, Richard Nugent, Adam Riggs and Karen Abrams
Meeting was called to order at 5:35 PM
Administrative
- Reviewed September minutes
- September minutes were approved
Items for Discussion
- Updates from Mr. C (facilities; security/drills; enrichment; music program)
- Security Drills
- Practiced a Fire Drill going off campus and onto the sidewalk and plaza
- Started using alarms
- Did the Earthquake Drill
- Enrichment
- New enrichment program started this year
- Student enrichment groups are re-formed periodically around different themes
- Teachers create groups based on different scores and factors
- Some ways the LSAT could help assess program implementation later in the year:
- Sending out a teacher and aide survey
- Getting students together for mini focus groups
- Making sure differentiation is present and going well
- Music Program
- Going strong!
- Event in December includes entire school – in UDC’s auditorium
- School satisfaction survey data – Pushed to next meeting to discuss further.
- 96% of students had a positive view on their experience at Murch this past year
- Social Emotional scored at around 76%
- Comprehensive school plan
- Emily and Chris sent this around to us before the meeting to review
- Math and Reading are two goals, then has action steps related to ALT, Student Achievement and Differentiation/Differentiation Practices in the Classroom
- This is data the District requires we hand in to track our progress, and it is in line with other schools in our cluster.
- There is useful information in this plan for Murch to use, especially with the change in teacher evaluations and with differentiation. ALT helps with internal monitoring – looks at Professional Development and Data Analysis throughout the school
- Mr. Cebrzynski will meet with the Chief of Schools soon to present his plan.
- PARCC scores
- Shows last year’s scores compared to current scores by grade-level
- Looking for trends in the data – only have 2 years worth so far
- Murch kids are doing well! Compared to Upper NW schools, we are in the middle of the pack, but we have a different diversity rate (ELL, Special Education, apartment buildings, out of bounds, kids leaving and new kids coming) than many of the schools in the group.
- Teachers working towards using more “PARCC Language” so kids are more prepared; new math curriculum has higher level of questioning that will lend itself to helping with PARCC; PARCC is aligned to Common Core
- LSAT role with PARCC – Maybe looking at ELL data? Looking at data of kids who have been here throughout the grade levels, not kids who have come in during the middle of elementary school?
- Request sent to DCPS to get disaggregated data
- LSAT role and objectives for the year: how can we make a concrete positive contribution?
- Internal measures for success, Spelling, RTI, I/E, PARCC Data for pockets/trends that exist?
- I/E (Intervention/Enrichment) Block – Mr. Cebrzynski would like LSAT to help analyze how successful it is with surveys, discussions, etc. throughout the year. Do parents know what the I/E Block is?
- Advocacy: When issues arise, LSAT can speak up for Murch -Ex: Nurse Coverage, New school accountability plan
- Budget: We will look at it, make edits and propose/submit it with rationale
- Mr. Cebrzynski wants to know what we will focus on and begin to develop a procedure/protocol of how we will handle each one.
- We will send the list out internally and will have a specific list created by the next meeting.
Other
- Nurse coverage: Our nurse coverage may decrease more – possibly to half-time (20 hours per week) from current level of 4 days/week. Letter advocating full-time nurse coverage was sent on behalf of LSAT to the Mayor and relevant personnel/officials
- UDC Relationships – Kids back in the gym sometimes for recess.
- Discussion about Fontas and Pinnell reading assessments. Time consuming, but important to do for differentiation and truly assessing where students are at the beginning of the year (as well as the middle of the year and end of the year).
- Discussion about teacher autonomy with lesson planning. Every grade level team differs, and subjects differ. Teachers have their own style, but it’s the same content. New math curriculum is helping with keeping language the same throughout classrooms and grade levels, but teachers can take lessons given and tailor them to the specific kids they are teaching. Parents can access the math curriculum online – greatminds.org
- LEAP coach to come to LSAT meeting after next cycle.
- Technology – Problems with laptops functioning, problems with Internet working
Meeting adjourned at 6:45pm.
September 28, 2016 LSAT Minutes
Present: Chris Cebrzynski, Alicia Garfinkel, Aaron Hanna, Sarah Heist, Emily Kallaur, Lauren Miller, Richard Nugent, Vicki Otten, and Adam Riggs
The meeting was called to order at 5:35 PM and members introduced themselves to each other. Alicia Garfinkel was nominated and confirmed as secretary for the year.
Principal Chris Cebrzynski updated the group on the transition to Murch-UDC and other back-to-school issues:
- Enrollment is currently 574 students.
- School administration and DCPS are continuing discussions with UDC regarding use of the soccer field and gym, and construction of the playground.
- The Comprehensive School Plan will be shared with the LSAT by next week.
- Demolition/abatement work is beginning on the permanent Murch campus and according to the project management team it is on schedule for completion for the 2018-19 school year.
- Murch now has a nurse on site 4 days per week instead of 5 days due to programmatic changes by DOH.
Mr. Cebrzynski emphasized that he would appreciate the LSAT’s concrete input into ways to make Murch academic programs as successful as possible. The group discussed key themes and agenda items for the year:
- LEAP is in the earliest stage of implementation but will be an important program to track. In November, Mr. Cebrzynski could invite a LEAP coach to join the LSAT meeting in order to provide insights into progress. In the spring, the LSAT could consider holding focus groups with teachers to get feedback on how useful the program has been from their perspective, and how it could be improved.
- PARCC scores and school satisfaction survey data from last year are already available and can be discussed at the October meeting. In October we will also discuss the Comprehensive School Plan, and with that framework in mind, develop a more specific plan for the LSAT to play as constructive a role as possible this year.
- Preliminary discussions about budget priorities for the 2017-18 school year will begin in November/January, with the bulk of the budget preparation work to happen in late February/early March.
- Other topics that may be discussed (list to be revised throughout the year) may include the piloting of departmentalization in 1st/2nd grade, how to engage/reach out to families that have not been active in the school community, special education programs, ELL, etc.
The LSAT will meet on the 4th Wednesday of every month (except in November, which will be the 5th Wednesday due to Thanksgiving). Meetings will be at 5:30 pm in the conference room as follows:
- Oct. 26
- Nov. 30
- Jan. 25
- Feb. 22
- Mar. 22
- Apr. 26
- May 24
The meeting adjourned at 6:50 PM.