Morris School Council

The Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993 established School Councils in each school in the Commonwealth. The Morris School School Council normally has nine members (4 parents, 3 teachers, 1 community representative, and the elementary principal). The Council meets once a month to assist the principal in (1) adopting educational goals for the school that are consistent with local educational policies and statewide student performance standards, (2) identifying the educational needs of students attending the school, (3) reviewing the annual school building budget, and (4) formulating a school improvement plan. Whenever there is an opening on the Council, parents will be notified and may express an interest to be a member. All School Council meetings are posted at the Town Hall and are open to the public.

Next Meeting:

March 19th
Morris Library
6:00 p.m.

Meeting Minutes

MORRIS SCHOOL COUNCIL
December 18, 2012
(Meeting of November 13 was postponed)

Members Present: Liz Wiebrecht, Joan Goldberg-Munch, Sharon Kennedy, Shannon Gamberoni, Jodi Prunier, Timothy Lee

1. Review of Minutes from October 16: The minutes of this date were reviewed and accepted by those in attendance.

2. SIP Progress Update: Mr. Lee provided a progress update on the SIP Goal related to writing instruction. Examples of the action steps being taken include:
• Daily 30-45 minute practice in grades 3-5
• Consistent graphic organizers and pre-writing frameworks
• Ongoing practice with analytic writing
• Creation of a grade 4 scope and sequence for writing
• Reading Specialist performing demo lessons of Empowering Writers in Grade 1.

3. New Business: Attendance and membership: Mr. Lee announced that Jen Sacon has resigned from the council after 8 years of service. Mr. Lee shared that teacher negotiations had created a conflict for Mrs. Pollard who and would not be able to attend Council meetings until the conclusion of teacher contract negotiations.

4. Meeting Planning for 2012-2013: Mr. Lee scheduled the next meeting for the evening of the 22 of January at 6:00, one week later than usual due to a conflict with the winter concert. Thereafter meetings would be scheduled for the hour before PTO meetings as usual.

5. Adjourn at 6:58

MORRIS SCHOOL COUNCIL
October 16, 2012
6:00 p.m, Cameron Library

Minutes: Members Present: Liz Wiebrecht, Joan Goldberg-Munch, Sharon Kennedy, Shannon Gamberoni, Jodi Prunier

1. Minutes from September 18 were reviewed and accepted noting that Mrs. Prunier be added as in attendance.
2. Membership: The Council welcomed Shannon Gamberoni as a staff representative to the Council. It was suggested that the Lenox Business Partners be approached as a group that may be interested in providing a community representative to the Council.
3. The 2012-2013 School Improvement Plan: Mr. Lee shared some school data and history and identified four areas for school improvement:

• Improve educational outcomes for high needs students
• Improve student abilities in the area of writing
• Student Wellness
• Positive School Culture

Members of the Council supported these targets as school improvement goals.

4. New Business: None, (discussion of the school improvement plan occupied the entire agenda of this meeting)
5. Adjourned at 7:02

MORRIS SCHOOL COUNCIL
September 18, 2012
6:00 pm

Minutes:
Members Present: Karen Labanaro, Sharon Kennedy, Jen Sacon, Cynthia Schwartz, Marjorie Pollard, Joan Munch, Liz Weibrecht, Timothy Lee-GUEST: Julie Nelson

1. Mr. Lee started the meeting by welcoming the council back for another year and reviewing the role of school councils under state statutes.
2. There was a brief review of school council membership. Mr. Lee shared that Mr. Lou Senecal had resigned from the Council and a vacancy existed for a community member. Mr. Lee also shared that Ms. Shelhamer had decided not to continue on the Council and this left and opening for another faculty member.
3. Mr. Lee shared accountability and school performance data from the state department of elementary of secondary education. There was a brief explanation of the new accountability system being used by the state after the NCLB waiver of 2011. Mr. Lee reported the Morris was identified as a level 2 school and gave the school’s performance percentile. Successes and areas for improvement were discussed.
4. There was some discussion about school improvement goals for 2012-2013 and the following were talked about as possible areas of focus:

• Academics including writing and mathematics
• Positive School Culture
• Student and community wellness

The discussion of possible goals included a revisiting of the need for a new community survey-including inquiries to gauge parent interest opinions about an early morning activity/care program, transportation safety, and West Street safety at pick-up time.

5. Future School Council meeting dates were established for, October 16, and November 13.
6. Meeting Adjourned at 6:55

Agendas

MORRIS SCHOOL COUNCIL
January 22, 2013

Agenda 

1. Review of Minutes of December 18, 2012

2. SIP Progress Update: High Needs Subgroup

3. New Business: Parent Survey 2013

4. Next Meeting Date

MORRIS SCHOOL COUNCIL
November 13, 2012
6:00 p.m.

AGENDA

1. Review of Minutes from October 16

2. SIP Progress Update

3. New Business

4. Meeting Planning for 2012-2013

MORRIS SCHOOL COUNCIL
October 16, 2012
6:00 pm

AGENDA

1. Review of Minutes from 9/18/2012

2. Membership Review/Check-in

3. Reading of Draft 2012-2013 School Improvement Plan

4. New Business

To view our School Improvement Plan, please select the link below.

Morris School Improvement Plan 2012 - 2013