Live reporting: School Committee - July 24, 2018

Present: Linden, Douglas, Bergen, Schultz, Zub
Absent: Feeley, Scofield


1. Routine Business
a. Review of Agenda
no changes

b. Citizen’s Comments

i. In the spirit of open communication, “the School Committee will hear public comment not related to an agenda item at the beginning of each regular School Committee Meeting. The Committee will listen to, but not respond to any comment made. A Committee member may add an agenda item to a future meeting as a result of a citizen comment” – from Policy BEDH

None

c. Superintendent’s Report
Dr Ahern
summer programs underway,extended school year and LifeLong Learning
Music ensembles performed on Friday, amazing to see them come together in so short a time
Math Academy, applied problem solving, design thinking, demoed a programmable robot; math also applied to art works they did

in process of bringing on new teachers, welcoming 6 new administrators as well; orientation held last week; administrative mentors also participated last week

MASC Executive Institute Joyce and Lucas participated, Dr Ahern was away and unable to attend. Dr Scott McLoud was one of the keynote speakers

facilities update - play grounds at Jefferson, down, construction should begin shortly, part of capital budget last year

DPW working hard on a variety of things in the buildings

concession stand underway and on schedule

Joyce to present on digital learning at a conf in Boston coming up this week
other FPS personal also scheduled to present


2. Guests / Presentations
a. Best Buddies Donation – Mr. Glynn and Tyler Glynn
presenting a donation from a concert held on July 8 in Foxboro

after some technical difficulty, a video of the concert highlights was shown

playing BBC - Franklin on Aug 2 at 8:00 PM


b. Educational Study Tour Finland/Germany – Dr. Ahern

traveled with about 30 educational leaders from around in the USA
traveled to Helsinki, Finland and Berlin, Germany

"What does educational reform look like in Finland, the top country in the World for Education?"

MA is the top state in the US, comparison of Finland with MA

Dr Ahern presenting on her trip

a close up of the slide shows the details that Dr Ahern talked to

youth soccer players watching a World Cup game in an open square

teacher recruitment is a key focus, they go for the top 20 percent students to get them into the teaching profession

schools are starting to see some diversity

standardized testing is more evaluation and not puntative

shortest time on learning of major countries, no correlation to PISA scores

with 30 students in class, the teach did have a co-teacher

promotion of native language through tutors or parents is a focal point

"feeling validated with what they are doing and is already underway here"

Tim Walker had taught in MA, moved to Finland and shared his insights on both

45:15 ratio of instruction to break time

school visit photos

reflections, next steps, and implications

Q - are they wrestling with substance abuse too?
A - they do have some counselors to support students, help is provided but not needed for stress; boys seemed to be disengaged from learning - they are looking to address. Drugs are present but don't seem to be in the same arena as here