Marblehead High School

Site Based and Parent Council Meeting

October 10, 2006

Welcome and introductions, Laura Kurzrock emphasized that Parent Council and SBMT will make every effort to adhere to the agenda items and shorten meeting time

Class Reports:

Senior Class: Eric Lipkind reported

• Senior Class Council had been elected.
• Council delegates coordinators and volunteers for specific senior events.
• The progressive dinner will be held in November still looking for families to host.
• Flag football team is beginning to gear up for Thanksgiving game.
• The class has collected the 1^st installment of senior dues.

Freshman Class:

• Freshmen officers were recently elected and introduced at the meeting.
• Upcoming event - ≥Free Bake Sale≤ at MHS Open house, accepting donations to support the class

Student Council: Andrew Kurzrock reported

• Andrew is the student representative to the School Committee
• Requested support from SBMT to lower the class sizes and have a manageable number of students in study halls.
• This is an immediate concern because the average class size is 27 students and the honors and AP classes have 30+ students.
• Implementing changes by January would be beneficial
• Mr. Ziergebel will be meeting with the student council later in the week to discuss possible solutions.
• Inquiry was made regarding ratio of students to teachers—has it changed?
• Amy Drinker and Rob Dana responded: Five years ago MHS had 650 students, currently there are 1014 students
• Staffing has not increased at the same degree
• Mr. Z. responded that 400 classes are offered and that the average class size report can be deceiving.
• The most recent class size report indicates that 19 classes have over 26 students
• Class load is a challenge for teachers and he would like to address this as soon as possible. (Class size addressed later on the agenda)

Principal Update:

• Club awareness: may occur on the next early release day after school
• Student government is creating a updated list of clubs and advisors
• Study Halls – Reviewing applications for a permanent substitute teacher
• Seniors can sign up for the conference room in library
• Communication – increased effort is being made to read aloud the daily bulletin in each class to keep students informed
• Newsletter – will be issued the 1^st of the month. Families will be able to opt out of receiving a paper copy in the mail at Open House. Newsletter will be posted on the MHS site
• Email – teachers email addresses are on the web page, but not all are hyperlinked. Pam Milligan will include teacher email addresses in the MHS family phone directory
• School Safety Review – Committee recently met with the Police Chief and Fire Department to review guidelines and policies. Committee includes Mr. Z, Paula Dobrow, Donnie LeClerc, and Libby Moore. Group will meet regularly
• National Coalition for Dafur, Sudan – Students are advocating and supporting the people of Dafur
• Garden – recognized and thanked the weeding efforts in of volunteers, Mary Franklin, Jean and Joan from the living lawn. Two commemorative benches in honor of Holly Pierce have been installed. Steve Pierce donated sculpture, and two years ago the garden was established as a contemplative area in memory of Holly. The garden needs a working group to keep it maintained and to complete the plans and vision that was initially created. Ideas and suggestions were discussed, the garden could serve as a learning experience, the science department could use it, Earth day efforts could be spent here, community service opportunity –a teacher could spearhead this effort if stipended
• Rob Dana reminded the group that the general override included 1 FTE from Park & Rec to maintain the MHS school grounds. School grounds need care and MHS may want to investigate what is happening with regard to school grounds maintenance by Park & Rec
• Peer Mentor Dance- Fri Oct. 28, need chaperones & gift card donations for raffle

8^th to 9^th grade transition Discussion

• The group identified areas to improve and solutions to existing challenges
• Cohen Hillel, Tower School and MCCP were invited to the meeting, but there were no reps in attendance
• Currently dates for a transition day have not been selected
• Process - letter is sent to the local schools inviting their students to attend
• Suggestion was made to extend the invitation to other independent schools, Glen Urquat, Brookwood, Shore Country Day and Waring School
• Generally a date is selected after the Seniors leave (end of May/early June)
• Judy Luise discussed this unique ≥orientation program≤ and shared the multiple ways it has been implemented. Discussed the school ≥tours≤ and how that has worked on Step Up day and some of the challenges
• Suggestion was made to coordinate tours with mentors, Jefferson Forum students, afterschool in small groups, in the summer with mentors
• Scheduling issue was raised – Mr. Z indicated that student schedules would be mailed out earlier in August
• Peer Mentor program was discussed and most attendees indicated that it was essential for incoming freshman, but wanted more information about what a peer mentor is expected to do. Some inconsistency in mentor expectations/scheduling

• Issue was raised about MHS language classes. Independent school students are ahead in the honors Spanish and there is a challenge regarding skill level and integration of the students. Mr. Z responded that the curriculum director, Mike Hanna will investigate the challenges and perhaps increase language offerings/increase teaching staff

• Libby Moore, Principal Veterans Middle school, reported that this year middle school teachers and high school teachers are meeting regularly to discuss what is being taught in the content areas. New Curriculum directors are also meeting with middle and high school teachers together to guide the process and assist with evaluating skill level. Selection of high school classes is not based on a single placement test, but on a variety of indicators.
• Team 9 Pilot program presentation -Libby and Mrs. Ryan leading the≥Team 9≤ pilot program. It is for students who need more support with the 9^th grade transition. The goal is for all students to have success at MHS. Families are contacted about the program
• MVMS staff identifies students that will need additional support. Students have been placed in the same English, science and history classes.
• MHS faculty has common planning time to discuss strategies and support for the Team 9 students. Judy Luise also joins the weekly meetings.
• Not all the students are special ed. Students may be dealing with emotional issues, need a variety of intervention strategies, study skills or remediation to have success at MHS.

Class Size Report

• Mr. Z reported concerns need to be address as soon as possible. He handed out copies of the report that indicated 13 classes are at 30 students, a total of 19 classes are over 26. Honors classes do have more students
• There have been changes made to classrooms to accommodate more students
• English department class load is large due to the loss of one teacher not replaced.
• Report will be made to school committee

Parents Council report:

Magic Hat Thrift Shop

• Needs MHS volunteers - Thursdays 8:30 – 12:30 and Saturdays 8:30 – 12:30.
• Specifically need volunteers Oct. 26 & 28 - 3 people per shift.
• Money taken in when MHS parents volunteer is given directly to MHS Parents council. ($700 so far) Jefferson Forum students are considering

Funding requests

• Fine arts department requested $800 for camera – approved
• SBMT requested $$ for sandwich board for MHS for announcements – Laura Kurzrock will investigate price – approved up to $150
• Judy Luise requested funding for lunch at a new School/Social work symposium created by MHS. MHS will host local communities, with similar demographics to Marblehead, to network, share programs, review policies. The group will meet twice a year and includes Lexington, Belmont, Swampscott, Concord Carlisle and Newton – Betsy Ganglani will coordinate- up to $300 approved for lunch

Other announcements

• Family Phone directory will be printed by the end of October, $10,000 has been collected in family dues
• Superintendent search committee selected Marianne Dunne to replace Chris Linehan
• Superintendent steering committee is requesting a volunteer to work on MHS strategic plan. Meets 3 to 5 times a year.