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.