Murch Development Team

Minutes September 5, 2006 Meeting

Open

Meeting opened at 4:30 with a welcome from the co-chairs, Vicki Otten and Amanda Broun. Members in attendance included: Carolyne Albert-Garvey; Marcia Jackson, Amanda Broun, Nancy Martell-Stevenson, Martha Saccocio, Pam Joos, Susan Banta, Linda Singer, Natalie Stapert (WTU), Tim Welsh, Vicki Otten, and Halina Cymerman

Meeting dates

First order of business was to establish MDT meeting dates for the academic year. Carolyne proposed meeting on the first Tuesday of each month, except Jan and April when the school is closed for winter and spring breaks. All agreed. Dates for MDT meetings for the 06-07 academic year will be: October 3rd, November 7th, December 5th, January 9th , February 6th, March 6th, April 17th, May 1st, and June 5th. In spring additional meetings maybe needed to produce the next school plan and will be scheduled accordingly.

LSRT Planning Document

Second agenda item was the introduction of the DCPS LSRT planning document. Carolyne brought attention to the only new item in the document for the academic year, an addendum dated Nov 2005 that allows the LSRT (MDT) to be chaired by either a parent or a teacher. Amanda then highlighted parts of the document that will govern the MDT over the course of the year, namely:

• P. 5 bullet 22, which provides a definition of the MDT and dictates what agenda items are appropriate for any MDT agenda;
• P. 4 bullet 12, which directs the MDT to make decisions based on "consensus", defined as general accord;
  
• P 4 bullet 13, which defines a quorum as a majority of the members of the MDT that includes the principal, the building representative (or their designee) and at least one parent representative;
  
• P. 4 bullet 14 states the main responsibility for the MDT, which is development of the school plan.
  

Staffing

Third agenda item was discussion of staffing issues still remaining for the 06-07 academic year.

NURSE: Carolyne opened discussion with the urgent need to fill the position of full-time Nurse. Children's Hospital is responsible for filling the slot, which remains vacant after the appointed nurse declined to accept the position late in the summer. Because the academic year does not correspond with the fiscal year, we cannot command a full-time nurse (a new budget item for this calendar year) w/ DCPS money until Oct. 1 (fiscal year start) if one is not present by September 1, so Children's is only supplying 20 hours a week with temporary help. Once a candidate is identified, they can start on October 1, but no progress is currently being made. While Murch administration has no control over that process, HSA has agreed to advertise for the position once the job description is provided by Children's. Linda will call Carlos Cano, parent and HHS employee with responsibilities in this area, to get job description for full time position; and ask that he help to move along the process at Children's to aggressively recruit for full time nurse.

ENRICHMENT:

The enrichment resource teacher position also remains unfilled. The position has been advertised all summer at various national and local organizations' web sites. To date no applicants, presumably because the qualifications are too stringent. Debbie Cook, a former Murch teacher, was approached about filling the slot, and is thinking about it. She is certified as a teacher, but does not meet current qualifications specified. Consensus was quickly reached that she would be an excellent fit for the position, as she is a world-class educator and revered by the teachers and students. Should she be considered for the open position, the job description would have to be changed to class room teacher willing to take the training for certification in enrichment.

Carolyne asked for ideas for filling the open slot should Ms. Cook not take the job and no other candidates were identified. Alternative positions identified included:

• Foreign language teacher; however, there are vacancies all over the city for language teachers, so we could easily loose the budget money if this option is chosen and we do not succeed in hiring. Martha also suggested that parents want enrichment over language.
  
• Sixth grade teacher; however, as it stands, we have 25 children per class in 6th grade, and no classroom for additional class. It was also suggested that if the budget money were allocated in this way it would benefit only the 6th grade instead of the whole school.
  
• Math or Science resource teacher;
  
• Technical coordinator (posed by Natalie), who would operate like an enrichment teacher in the computer and technology area, assisting teachers with classroom computers and in adapting curriculum to take advantage of them, as well as working with large and small groups of students.

Consensus was reached that

• Marcia will add a note on the g&t teacher site softening quals for the position in the advertisement
  
• If D. Cook is interested, the MDT recommends her as the choice for filling the enrichment slot;
  
• If 6th grade stays under an acceptable level and no enrichment candidate is found within two weeks, it is recommended that the school start looking for technical enrichment coordinator. The candidate should be able to work with the children and teachers in the classroom.

  Student Count We are about on target; final count will be set on the 9th of September.

  School Plan
  

  The plan will be available for review on-line, and Carolyne will email to all MDT members for review. Plan elements new for the academic year were reviewed:
  

  • Teaching of writing workshop is being implemented in classrooms for first time. Teacher's Workshop has provided at least $50 to $60 thousand worth of training and materials. Classroom libraries will each be furnished in future with 400-700 volumes, bookcases, and other support materials. Nancy made the point that the teachers are also putting a lot of work in; and the kids are excited. An evening presentation to parents on the implementation of the writer's workshop is planned for the future.
  • Responsive classroom - school-wide program for behavior. Murch teachers now working on training for collaborative planning; training on responsive classroom later.

  No action required at this time by MDT on the school plan. The plan will be made available to all parents in the following locations: on-line; in library; in principal's office; and on HSA table. Amanda will post on listserv to let people know where to find it. Carolyne will place on HSA table.

  Curriculum Changes
  

  New curriculum changes for the academic year include writer's workshop and new standards for reading and math, science and social studies are to be implemented this year (although not all materials have been provided by DCPS). Teachers are working on smoothing transition so all kids get all topics with limited overlap.

  Amanda suggested that a curriculum night be planned so the new DCPS standards, resulting curriculum changes, and new DCPS assessments can be presented, especially as last year's test results will be released shortly.

  Community Rep
  

  The MDT needs to appoint a community representative to the team. Amanda recommended Brenda Smith. She is a former parent, and was very active on MDT/HSA. She is an accomplished AU law professor and active in the community. She was not an in-bounds parent and took her children out of public school when her eldest finished sixth grade; however, was very well-liked, and very active in the school community. Linda posed another candidate who is a prospective future parent with a 3 year old. Nancy recommended a former parent who she is willing to ask. Susan suggested a former parent,. Consensus agreement was that Brenda Smith be asked to join; and that Nancy approach her recommended candidate to gauge her interest. Martha reminded the group that the LSRT guidelines permit up to an additional 3 members beyond the community representative, so we can add additional members in the future. It was agreed that we would hold off on doing so until Brenda had joined and after Nancy had asked her candidate.

  Web site
  

  Carolyne posed the question to the group: what should content of the web site be and should the MDT be involved in its redesign? Pamela suggested that it could made more user friendly, and agreed to spear-head an effort to get parent input on potential improvements. Pam will meet with Jacques Kapuscinski (now managing the web site for HSA) to coordinate, and he will be invited to the next MDT meeting to make a presentation, which will be open to teachers. Vickie will put out a memo to staff to invite their participation. Content suggested at the meeting included: resource schedule for all classes; e-mail addresses for teachers; homework assignments; pictures; teacher bios and a calendar of Murch events open to parents and the public. Carolyne expressed concern that changes not impose additional burden on teachers, who are already implementing curriculum changes and attending supporting training. Pam will act as contact for parents. Helena and Vickie will be teachers' contacts.

  Other business
  

  Amanda suggested that a flier be produced to pass out to voters on Election Day telling them about their community school and how to support us. Amanda agreed to email the flier that was distributed two years ago, ask for improvements/changes, and then produce it.

  Vicki asked if we need to touch base w/ teachers on how to use enrichment money in the event that a teacher is not identified and hired. Consensus decision is to wait until we know if the slot will be filled before raising the issue. Vickie will in the interim talk to the Dean at AU to look for candidates and/or provide training to an uncertified candidate; other deans should be contacted to see if they will do training for enrichment

  Adjournmen
  Meeting was adjourned at 6:00.

  Signed
  S Banta
  5 Sept. 06