Absent: Michael Scherger
- Community Rep – Lisa Stone proposed that we invite Emma Stewart to be the Community Rep to the LSAT. Ms. Stewart is a former Murch parent and currently has children enrolled at Deal and Wilson. She also is the Assistant Director to CCBC Children’s Center. No objections were raised and several members commented that she sounds like an ideal candidate. Lisa Stone agreed to reach out to Ms. Stewart and invite her to our December meeting.
- Extended Planning – Faculty and staff requested to discuss this issue first with Mr. C. so issue was tabled until next meeting. Mr. C reported that a survey was circulated to teachers and Mr. C will circulate responses to the staff tomorrow. Mr. C plans to discuss extended planning with the faculty before the December meeting.
- Parent Information Nights
- October night on assessment was successful.
- About 30 parents in attendance.
- Good vehicle for addressing issues with parents that come up every so often , (i.e. keyboarding, common core, curriculum, what parents can be doing at home, report card night, responsive classroom)
- General consensus that a curriculum night is the most important one to complete this year. Goal is to teach parents what classroom lessons look like and what they should know by the end of the year. Tentatively planned for last week in January. We discussed the importance of targeting the information as specific as possible to students (i.e., grade by grade).
- October night on assessment was successful.
- Budget Preview
- The LSAT all agreed the importance of discussion difficult budget issues before the actual budget process so that the LSAT can give Mr. C well thought out advise.
- Mr. C reported that the school anticipates another 4% growth this year which will bring Murch’s estimated enrollment to 650 for next year. This would mean two classroom teachers in addition to what we have now. Unclear how to deploy these teachers, especially with space limits of current building.
- Autonomous school status gives Murch some flexibility on staffing models.
- A question was raised about how non–‐staff instructional resources like specialized programs and curriculums fit into the budget process.
- DCPS makes purchasing difficult by being very unpredictable in their curriculum supplies.
- All agreed this is an important topic to consider and advise Mr. C on.
- Vicki Otten will work with Mary Eckstein to conduct a survey of teachers about what they want and organize the information.
- Goal is to complete the survey during December. Teachers will gather info, align along grade and subject matter lines and ready to present to LSAT at Jan. meeting.
- Mary working on a parent volunteer program to roll out soon.
- Auction Paddles Up – Mr. C would like LSAT to advise on the Paddles Up ask this year.
- December meeting – Mr. C will share the 2013–‐14 year’s budget with the LSAT at the December meeting for background purposes.