MINUTES OF 10/20/08 MEETING

* Parents of seventh-graders are having a positive experience with the Middle School. The new staff has been well-received. They enjoyed the open house, especially the photos of the teachers and administration. The one thing they noted lacking was a sense of community. They feel they drop their children off at GM in the morning and are disconnected from the school after that.
* The school website was discussed. There is more to Powerschool than just access to grades and attendance. We would like to hear more about this at a future meeting. Apparently the focus is on full utilization of Powerschool right now, rather than appearance of the website. Parents did note the use of more photos recently and the updated art dept area.
* The math curriculum is being examined at the school. There is some concern about bringing it into the 21st Century. Some very good math video games exist that would appeal to students. We would be interested in hearing about other methods being examined.
* We would like to help out with the auditorium renovation—pulling out the old seats around Xmas time. We will invite Fritz, who is coordinating this, to attend our next meeting to explain what needs to be done and how we can help. Parents would like to make it a festive atmosphere so volunteers would be more likely to come forward.
* We discussed getting more parents interested in attending our meetings. Next month we will put an item in the Beating Drum at CAES and see about a similar item for Cavendish. Also flyers around town, such as Lisai’s, would be helpful.