Jamestown Schools: A School-Community Partnership
"SCAN," issued by the Superintendent’s Office in conjunction with the School Committee, is designed to inform staff members and interested others of matters discussed and actions taken by the Jamestown School Committee at its most recent meeting. SCAN does not represent meeting minutes.
New Business
Bequest to the Jamestown School Committee: Attorney Quentin Anthony provided the school committee with -copies of the will of Jamestowner Elizabeth Stone, who bequeathed to the School Committee a sum approximating $160,000 to be used to establish a scholarship fund—the Elizabeth Stone Fund—to assist Jamestown high school graduates attending four-year colleges. Ms. Kallfelz and Ms. Kaiser volunteered to serve as a sub-committee to work with Attorney Anthony to draft procedures for fund management. The sub-committee will share its recommendations with the committee at an upcoming business meeting.
Workshop Discussion Topics
Update on the Joint School Committee-Town Council Meeting: Committee members agreed that the joint meeting had been productive and that continuing communication will facilitate meaningful dialogue at budget hearings in the spring.
Strategic Planning/ Rigor and Relevance: The superintendent led a discussion of strategic planning. Based on the recommendations of the administrative team, the committee decided to schedule strategic planning sessions in March or April 2009. An orientation meeting will be followed by a two-day work session (on a Friday and Saturday). The district’s focus on rigor and relevance will provide the framework for the plan. The planning process will take place in two stages: plan creation by a core group; followed later by the drafting of action plans by a broader-based group. The committee agreed that the core group should comprise no more than twenty members, including four administrators, two school committee members, six teachers, one tech staff member, one SELAC member, a member of each School Improvement Team, a town council member, a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and a representative senior citizen. The superintendent recommended that the committee engage a facilitator to lead the core group’s planning work sessions.
The next business meeting of the Jamestown School Committee will be on November 20; the next workshop meeting will be on December 6. All meetings are held at 7 p.m. in the Lawn School Library.