S.I.T. Committee Meeting -- Lawn Ave.Ê 4/10/03

Back

Meeting begins at 3:00 at the Lawn Ave library.

SIT Minutes, for the February SIT meeting, were accepted.

MinutesDiscussion:

1. It was discussed that details recorded in published notes of the SIT meeting should be kept to a minimum.

2. Notes of meeting could be placed on the network for each member.Ê

3. Each member will be responsible to print his or her own notes and handouts. Therefore, notes can be read ahead of time, and then meeting can be more productive.

Principal's Report

¬ Met with Fire Martial and had great meeting.

¬ Will investigate use of metal doorstops so that we can leave doors open on hallways and then they will automatically close should the need arise.Ê Maybe, doors open when in room and closed when we are not.

¬ Spray for fire retardant is safe.

¬ Until further notice, teachers must keep doors closed.

¬ It was suggested: invite Fire Marshal to fire drill.

Mr. Kelly, a member of the SIT, will meet with the fire department.Ê A school committee member will also join in this endeavor.

Subcommittee Reports

Assessment Presentation by Mrs Sipala and SIT committee evaluators went well last month.Ê Jamestown Parent meeting had a respectable crowd in size and responded well to the presentation.

Question by parent: What will be done next?

¬ At the presentation, the direction of the assessment subcommittee was to discuss the test results. This was done.Ê Is there a pattern of concern reflected in the testing scores?Ê If it does, is it a curriculum problem?Ê Teachers at various grade levels are using the info to help determine improving strategies.

¬ Math Committee of teachers went through results very carefully. They are also looking for patterns that should be addressed via grade level curriculum or more implementing more intensive teacher initiative in specific area of weakness.

Compliments to the SIT team evaluators.Ê The outstanding job in presenting the outcome of test results, will be very helpful to the school system.

Old Business:Ê

1. What's in a name?Ê

"Lawn Avenue School" is the current name of this school.Ê The idea of officially becoming a middle school by name is not being actively pursued right now.Ê Kathy Sipala will pursue this discussion with the union at a later date.

2. The web site is still being discussed by the committee.Ê They are deciding whether or not to just have one school calendar, or one per building.

3. Bill Kelly offered to work on grants with anyone interested.Ê The Champlain Grant was brought up.Ê Possible ideas for consideration in the grant application were discussed.Ê The application is due June 30^th.Ê Teachers may want to form a subcommittee to discuss their ideas.

New Business:

Lawn Avenue will review and revise the current School Improvement Plan to tailor one specific to this building.Ê It will need to fit with the Strategic Plan.Ê The School Improvement Plan and the Strategic Plan go hand in hand.Ê Once the direction is set, the School Improvement Plan sets actions.Ê The first step is to review our current SIT plan to establish the status of each part.Ê Our homework is to go through the current plan and we will continue to discuss this at the next meeting.

Open Forum:

The idea of having at a payphone or accessible phone after school hours was brought up for discussion.Ê Some feel it is needed for students to get in touch with parents for rides or for safety issues, especially with the new skatepark.Ê The question is whether it is a town or school issue.Ê To start with, a system for communication with parents will be coordinated with school coaches.

The safety pattern at Lawn Avenue might need review.