MHS SBMT & Parents Council

January 8, 2007

Welcome & Introductions

Class Reports: Senior Report: Eric Lipkind

• Senior Talent Show Jan. 5 & 6 --good turnout—still reviewing income
• Whitewater Rafting trip is May 29 & 30

• June 2 weekend Carnival at Deveraux Beach
• June 5 Graduation
• Other class events
• Junior Class Auction April 2

Presentations: New Curriculum Directors

Kaye Sheidler -English Language Arts K - 12

• Encourages open communication with teachers
• Recent focus has been on Professional Development with teachers
• Professional Development experiences
• Teachers have been trained to implement Socratic Seminar using a ≥fishbowl≤ strategy, which is a student centered activity that is used to examine texts in English class. Shared with the MHS Social Studies team
• Strengthening instructional practice and teaching and learning
• Planning a workshop with Professor Kessler from Salem State College on grammar and usage issues. Hoping to offer this experience to middle grade and high school teachers
• National Teacher Council of English Conference in NYC Fall 2007. One of the MHS teachers presents regularly and all 11 teachers would like to attend and possibly present in Fall 2007 they would bring back new strategies and share best practices
• A five teacher 10^th grade team has met since October to discuss integration of MCAS into class work. Focus on building skills for open response questions into their curriculum MCAS 10^th grade is week of Feb. 19th.
• Focus has also been on the following:
• Observing teachers and formal and informal observations
• K-12 English Curriculum is written for curriculum review
• Reviewing and selecting new titles and readable texts especially for struggling readers to supplement the current classic selections
• Questions and needs for the English Language Arts Dept.
• Participants asked questions and raised concerns about how the summer reading list was prepared. Engaging and contemporary books are selected and will be pre read by the department. Discussion about mature content vs. sophisticated reading
• Textbooks needed for MHS English classes- 3 big areas of need identified permabound copies of specific titles, new book titles, and contemporary anthologies are somewhat outdated (1989) more multi cultural stories are available with CDs.
• May try to do a textbook funding drive looking at grants to raise funds for new books

Micheal Hanna –World Languages and Social Studies K- 12

• Priorities and Focus
• Exploring best teaching practices in MHS classrooms (25 teachers)
• Priority is to build relationships grades 7-12
• MHS World language and History department have been meeting to collaborate and share strategies that promote student learning
• Recently established study groups in World language by discipline and level
• Intends to implement study groups for History department
• Priorities for Principal and CDs is to create bridges between the schools that support the studentπs transitions
• Created a 6^th grade study group to document social studies curriculum and to share curriculum with 7 & 8 teachers. Need to cross collaborate with schools and teachers, share information, skills, textbooks and make meaningful connections
• Collaborating with Language arts department and with Kaye
• Professional Development Experiences and other issues
• MHS teachers would like to attend Understanding Essex History
• Teachers will also attend Pursuing Justice full day and summer workshops
• Many summer learning opportunities for students in world languages in the U.S.A. and overseas—will communicate to families these offerings
• Currently building relationships at the Village school
• Exploring the possibility of offering world language learning at the lower grade levels
• Hopes to obtain a Friends grant to implement world language in 4^th, 5^th 6^th grade

(Chinese, Italian, French, Spanish and Latin)

• Discussing with Village School the option of offering one language for each grade, rotating the language during a EDU block 1 time a week/1 hour
• Questions: regarding students at MHS taking two languages
• Schedule impacts this issue. MHS administration and teachers are discussing the high school schedule changing from 8 periods to 7 periods Mr. Z is creating options for different schedules and will decide. Issue about schedule was tabled and will be discuss at next SBMT meeting.

Principal Report

• Three teams in state tournament –girls hockey, boys hockey, basketball

• Senior Talent show excellent!
• Luminesce National championship
• Team Up production was excellent focusing on alcohol abuse
• Encourages parents to be diligent regarding students drinking/drug use
• Will abolish Senior pranks – pranks have been destructive and harmful. Consequences for seniors --lose privileges such as the banquet attendance, whitewater rafting, and possibly graduation. Letter will go home with seniorπs next report card communicating this change
• Interested in soliciting names and ideas for graduation speaker

Parent Council Report

• URGENT --VOLUNTEER NEEDED – MHS SBMT treasurer /finance person. Duties include: collect money deposit funds , write checks, recordkeeping with quickbook software program
• Thank you note was read from Ginny Bowen for funding David Coffin performance
• Funding Requests:
• English Dept. Mr. Ryan requests $200 for the cinematic studies afterschool club. The club view classic films –creates a cultural awareness and learns how the films are made. Requesting funds to take students to an premiere film opening this spring. APPROVED
• English Dept. Mr. Ryan and Ms. Shul request $150 for awards for the Hugh Gallagher Essay Competition. Over 100 students participate. APPROVED

• Discussion about funding requests and approval—explained the process and the newly developed funding request form. Suggestion was made to compile a list of what has been funded in the past for MHS parent council review

• MHS PARENT VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
• Notecard coordinator – a profit of $10,000 could be made with the notecards We need to sell more notecards! Possible venues are the Farmers Market, 4^th of July, Christmas walk etc
• Garden Chair–Mary Franklin volunteered, but needs input and effort. Funding from a local Garden Club is available to complete the project, purchase plantings. Please post these volunteer opportunities on the website and in upcoming letters home to families.