LSRT Meeting, November 15, 2004

Attending: Staff: Ms. Legall Teachers: Mr. Hughes, Ms. Abbas, Ms. Phillip Parents: Mary Froning, Deborah Fox, Mark Chichester, Linda Feldman, Mary Giffin

School Plan - Ms. Legall noted that she has updated the school plan, including the addition of comments from Deborah Fox. In addition, thanks to https://place-4-papers.com/nursing-essay-writing-service/ you can now ask write my nursing paper to make course preparation much easier. She noted that there is some uncertainty downtown regarding which standardized test will be used, which makes the school plans that have been submitted tentative. The superintendent has asked for a waiver from the school board and from NCLB regarding the test to be used in the Spring. He would like to have DC adopt the Massachusetts assessments and exame. If the board adopts those as the standard then the "new CRT test" will not be relevant.

Staff Development - Ms. Legall noted that the staff are trying to focus their staff development, including the use of Title II training funds, on skills and training that will help support teachers in middle school qualifications and licensure. Also under discussion has been the possibility of incorporating additional team approaches of interdisciplinary and cooperative learning into the curriculum, consistent with middle-school concepts.

Facilities: Ms. Legall has a meeting scheduled with Dr. Granthem on Nov. 16, 2004 to discuss the Deal facility. Still to be decided is whether modernization will be fully or partially funded. Partial funding would only allow for repairing the building.

Principal selection: Mary Giffin stated that the principal selection committee is gearing up to begin advertising for the open principal position. DCPS has said they are willing to work with the Deal committee on wording an ad specific for Deal. Under consideration is the use of PTA funds to hire a headhunter to facilitate the process. Any candidates found would then be directed toward the formal DCPS application process. Under discussion also was the principal selection panel. A panel was chosen in July 2004, which was a time when many teachers and parents were not available. Sentiment among teachers is reported to be that a new election should be held for teacher representatives to the panel. It was suggested that the subject be brought up at the next PTA meeting regarding the same for parent representatives.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 p.m.

MINUTES FROM LSRT MEETING – 1-10-05

1. Minutes were reviewed for the 11-15-04 meeting and were approved, with the exception of one minor correction.

2. Update on repairs – On a walk-through with Mr. Tom Brady, Chief Business Officer for DCPS, fit was noted that there were leaks in classrooms over the holidays and the boiler needed repairing. Patches were painted in Ms. Sweeny's room. It appears there won't be any further repairs this year.

3. Access for 9th graders to Wilson activities – Mary Froning – A meeting will be scheduled with Alex Wilson to further discuss the possibility of 9th graders having access to some of Wilson's activities, e.g. Foreign exhange program, Debate team, and Tennis, which are not offered at Deal. This was proposed by the PTA as a result of some perceived disappointment of 9th graders that they wouldn't be attending Wilson next Fall.

4. Computer room for Teachers – The Executive Committee will meet to approve a contingency fund of the PTA being used to fund a computer room for teachers, which would provide access to the internet and a printer.

5. Update on the Principal Search Committee – Jan. 31, 2005 is the closing date for applications for the principal position. DCPS says they will identify candidates by March for Deal's committee to interview.

6. Update on Metro fare card issue – Ms. Legall described the new procedure – students get an application in the office and then take to one of the Metro centers, pay there and then receive their SmartPass.

7. Master Schedule for next Fall – Ms. Legall reported that a master schedule is due in June for next Fall. The new schedule will be made up to accommodate more teachers working in teams with the same group of students. The goal is to increase achievement and add more instructional time.

Minutes prepared by Deborah Fox