Thursday October 29, 2009 5:00-7:00 at GNG High School Library

                       

Location: High School Library      

                       

Agenda Created By: K. Caprio & Bruce Beasley

 

Attendance: Karen Caprio, Vicky Burns, Dan Joseph, David Coleman, Sherry Levesque, Barb Weed, Bruce Beasley, Sue Staples, Patti Dudzinski, Donna Beeley, Paul Penna, Diana Doiron, Kelly Thornhill, Lisa Twomey, Kristi Fecteau, Beth Sutherland, Paul Penna, Joan Tremberth, Julie Ricardi, Anita Campbell, community member, J. Bagdon

(Declare a Quorum)

·      Welcome to Jeff Bagdon and Diana Doiron and Anita Campbell

·      Workshop dates: Winter Symposium Jan. 20^th, 21^st & 22^nd (HS &MS)

·      K-5 Initial RISC training

·      Beacon Teacher Training Dec. 13^th-16^th

·      Standards Based Design Course-21 staff members enrolled in the standards-based course. Monday afternoons starting at 3:15, a cohort group of 9 to 10 teachers meet at Dunn School during this time. State level Conference for Graduation Update (Vicky is working with the Diploma Partnership with the Dept. of Education to represent RISC requirements (performance-based).

 

Action Planning Report Out:

Memorial: Donna Beeley reported that all staff were involved in the shared visioning process. A power-vote was taken regarding the three questions given to K-2 staff and parents. The K-4 staff will have a January introduction to RISC. Next Tuesday there will be a table at the polls at Memorial School to get community input on the shared vision.

 

Russell: Dan Joseph: Students will answer questions and power-vote the questions. Students developed classroom norms related to the school vision. Tools are being modeled in the classrooms and during staff meetings. Parents have been given the vision and responded to the key questions. A parent meeting will be held in February. Outreach will include the Parent Patriots (PTO) and other members of the community.

 

Dunn: Bruce Beasley: Breakfast with 3rd grade parents next Friday and 4th grade in December for input. We have met with staff. Getting input from students is being organized. Teachers have expressed interest in the Beacon Teacher training. Beth Sutherland provided information regarding the need for more explanation before the feedback is needed from parents. Bruce agreed that a letter will go home with parents prior to the breakfast.

 

GNG Middle: Barb Weed shared the MS Action Plan. Student feedback was received. By December, the feedback will be collated and summarized. Discussing a code of conduct for the building using RISC tools and supporting the use of tools in the building. The Student Council and NJHS will be used. The building has a date to work with the staff regarding the use of tools, the shared vision. The leaders will be a support team for the beacon teachers. They are creating a portal on the web to find links to a variety of topics related to RISC. On conference night there will be a time and presentation for parents to get their feedback on the vision. In the community, we have a parent who will help use the press to get understanding and support.

 

GNG High School: Parent letters were sent out. Feedback from staff has to be gathered from the first day of school. PLCs are wrapped around the RISC model. Beacon teacher training has been explored and information has been gathered from Adams 50. The Student Advisory Group will be the leaders to get input from the students. David Coleman shared beacon teacher criteria from Adams 50 and Highland Tech High.

 

Diana shared that at the Beacon Teacher training an individual assessment tool will be used.

                       

Shared Vocabulary Exercise: Bruce facilitated the development of our own vocabulary related to the RISC work and have a place for teachers to go to learn the language. The groups brainstormed the vocabulary list/notebook for MSAD #15 for seven minutes. Groups shared their words. Karen charted.

 

The list was reviewed for duplication. The vocabulary words were assigned in order to compile the list and a defined list will be created. Bruce categorized the words in order to make assignments for the next meeting. Each school was given a list to complete prior to the next meeting. They should be emailed to Karen. Beth Sutherland will be the “reviewer” of the document.

 

Parent & Community Handout: Karen handed out a brochure from Adams 50 and agreed to what will be handed out to groups for a consistent message. She will look for a volunteer who wants to work in pages to develop a brochure for MSAD #15. Asked the parents, community and staff to work together on the language to be included on the brochure. One suggestion was to rewrite the parent language “Failure is not an option” to flesh it out, with students progress at their own level. 15 to 20 minutes were used to discuss the bullet points from Adams 50 and a draft prepared by Barbie Weed. Each group shared their recommendations. Teams felt that the Adams 50 format should come later and that the Council should use Barbie Weed’s draft as a starting point. Karen and Bruce will put it together and send it prior to the next meeting.

 

Beacon Teacher Description: Karen shared the recommendations of a subgroup who met to define the qualities of a “beacon teacher”. Karen asked to review the descriptions from Adams 50 and MSAD #15 and make recommendations. It was suggested to merge the two: qualities and expectations. Diana shared that one of the requirements is that they have attended one of the trainings. They could go to the January symposium and go to the beacon teacher training later in the year. The symposium is a multi day introduction to the RISC model. It is 2.5 days. K-5 teachers could go to the symposium in lieu of the 1 day training at MSAD #15. Diana D. will check with the RISC folks to see if the course will count as a multi-day experience in order for teachers to attend the Beacon Teacher training.

 

Wrap Up:

The next meeting is November 19th. Send the electronic action plans from each school and the vocabulary by November 13. The brochure will be developed by Karen and Bruce and interested committee members.

 

Summarize Decisions and Recommendations:

 

Next Agenda: November 19, 2009 GNGHS Library 5:00-7:00 p.m.

Vocabulary followup

What are the 21st Century Skills anyway?

 

Adjourn: