Recap of 9/18/07 Meeting

Tom Ferenc asked for help with the Yearbook Club. We need an advisor. A suggestion was made to contact the Rotary Club for assistance. The former advisor, Melissa Palmer, will be out for part of the year on maternity leave but is willing to work with someone and will provide the action plan. Parents of seniors are encouraged to brainstorm. The job would entail selling ad space and working with the existing computer program. Pam Nelligan was suggested as a contact for photography, as she is doing school photos this year.
---Side-note: We are in debt to the publisher from last year’s book and have approx 50 yearbooks leftover. The possibility of having the senior table sell them for half-price at this weekend’s Sale on the Green was put forth.

Linda Waite went over the Climate Study from 2005. She explained the history of the project and some of the findings. At this point, most line items that were suggested solutions have been adopted and the current administration is looking to the future and working on the larger goals of building trust among staff and increasing student expectations. Some of the things currently being implemented as a result of this study are the Virtual High School (VHS), High Schools on the Move (link on GM Parents website) and a 30-hour course for staff from the National School Reform called “Critical Friends”.

Tom outlined some of the steps he has taken since coming to GM. His goals are to improve student learning…to become a professional learning community interdependent with teaching…and to emphasize the social/emotional aspect of learning. He has made an effort to be visible in the school at all hours, learning the names of many students, and visiting the classrooms on an informal basis.

A discussion about the Anti-Bullying program ensued. Tom considers this part of social/emotional learning. He explained that part of the impetus for our adopting a program comes from a legal settlement that was made with some GM parents but that it should have been implemented in any case. He is now in the process of investigating different options for programs to follow and will set up an exploratory committee when he is further along that road before he makes any final decisions. Several parents emphasized that the program must be pervasive and especially involve the staff, as well as contain common sense.

Several other topics that were briefly discussed were the Middle School, more communication to parents regarding programs such as VHS and guidance issues, individual learning plans for each student at GM, the email list for GM and the need for more school spirit.