Notes+5.20.08

PRESENT: Suzanne Hamilton, Melissa Noack, Claire Evrard, Chris Hill, Tom McDowell, Margaret Anderson, Lorrie Anderson, Deborah Johansen, Ted Hall, Brenda Michaelsen Norms for our work:
 * Engage in clear, open, honest communication among team members.
 * Be open to consideration of others’ ideas.
 * Be clear about how we communicate with teams.
 * Communicate the status of ‘items brought by staff.’
 * Balance whole-school perspective with advocacy for learning areas.
 * State clearly how decisions will be made.

NOTES: Suzanne took notes. 1. NWEA testing and the frustrations experienced by all involved in this round of testing. Will there be a formalized structure for gathering feedback about the activities during CEP week? Will there be a parent survey after sophomore and junior student-led conferences? How will we find time to discuss CEP and the other activities of the week? Decision: We will survey students and parents about CEP after they do their presentations, and we will survey staff. We will debrief the grade-level activities on June 11. Brenda, Claire and Suzanne offered to construct a survey. 2. Field trips seem to be popping up at the end of the year; they put pressure on all. The consensus is that this year isn't worse than in the past. 3. Deb worried about sophomores needing laptops through exams. This won't be a problem since laptops will be handed in to advisors as students complete their last exams. A first step may be to start with a discussion about Yarmouth core values and beliefs, then make the connection with our grading system. This topic connects directly with instruction and engagement; if students are engaged in learning they may be less inclined to fail to do their work. We decided that the best way to approach this is to form an ad hoc committee to work over the summer. This group can prepare a plan for examining the larger issue of our grading system over the coming school year. Ted sent out the draft of the leadership roles document to the faculty today. Learning Area Leaders will mention this at learning area meetings, but they don't need to take time to discuss it. We are asking for feedback by May 23. The next step will be to finalize the document at the next Leadership Team meeting.
 * Reviewed notes from last meeting.
 * Items brought by staff members for the leadership team to consider:
 * Review feedback from faculty meeting and decide next steps.
 * Finalize document outlining leadership roles and responsibilities to be ready for faculty input.

Updates --
 * Summer Curriculum Work: Allotments have been distributed to all groups that were approved for summer work.
 * Final assessments: A reminder that all students must have a meaningful final assessment during the exam period. Any exceptions should be checked with Ted.
 * Summer assignments for students: A reminder that any summer assignments need to be in to Ted by May 28.