"It drives what we do"

The School Committee meeting Tuesday evening is partially covered in this article in the Milford Daily News. The District Improvement Plan was presented (as detailed) but there were other items on the agenda.

I did have the opportunity to work on the Strategic Planning Committee when the current vision and mission statements were developed. To see this latest iteration of the district plan build upon what was started then is heartening. The evolution of the planning process itself is good to see. No longer are we viewing multi-year plans, the plan will focus on a year at a time. Certain themes will carry from one year to another but they'll be able to re-focus to address the latest issues within that theme.

That the MCAS scores reflect only 20% of what goes on in the schools was one of the key reasons for this change in the planning approach.

"We wanted to take a step back," said Superintendent Maureen Sabolinski. "In the past, it has been really about our MCAS data; we decided to take a global perspective. We decided to look at a wide range of data … to articulate where we are going as a district." 

Part of this ideological shift stems from school officials wanting to spur success in all subjects, in math classes as much as art classes, as opposed to only those covered by the exam itself. 

Broadly, the core values in the plan include fostering the right academic climate, nurturing civic leadership and accepting more feedback from the community.

On the Parmenter modular units:
Essentially as these are the last of the leased units, the Town is dependent upon the contractor to remove them. Work was underway on Tuesday. They removed the cooling units from the roof of the modulars. They are scheduled to be removed from Parmenter by Friday. These delays will not be see in the removal of the other modular units as those are owned by Franklin and the DPW will control that schedule.

While there are population shifts from school to school, the district does not have a committee looking at redistricting until after the modular units are removed and the work on renovating Davis Thayer is complete. Both of these items will clarify the picture on what space is available and where the population exists within Franklin.

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x1803414278/Franklin-schools-improvement-plan-focuses-on-achievement-rather-than-test-scores#ixzz26FJRUcJx

For reporting on the complete agenda of Tuesday's School Committee meeting, you can find the link here:
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2012/09/school-committee-091112.html

School Committee - 09/11/12

The collection of reporting from the School Committee meeting held Tuesday, Sep 11 can be found here

• live reporting - closing
• live reporting - action items
• live reporting - policy review
• Live reporting - district improvement plan, life l...
• Live reporting - School Committee - 9/11/12

An Afternoon Tea with Downton Abbey - Nov 4th

As mentioned during the Life Long Learning update to the School Committee on Tuesday, there will be a "An Afternoon Tea with Downton Abbey" scheduled for Sunday, Nov 4th.

Additional details can be found in the following flyer:

Help the Baby Beats - Boston Heart Walk - Sep 15

From the Amante Family:

Welcome to the fundraising page for team Baby Beats. We have been raising money for the Heart Association since 2002! Just two weeks after Damian's third open heart surgery we attended our first Heart Walk in New York. 

Funds donated to the Heart Association go toward life saving research, techniques and equipment.

Damian has directly benefited from projects that were funded by the Heart Association.

We celebrate Damian and the victory over his struggles by raising money to support this important organization.

Please support our team by donating to the Heart Association! Thank you!

You can find the fund raising page here

In the News: cub scouts, Nutcracker

Franklin Cub Scouts slate sign up

by GateHouse Media, Inc.

Audition for ‘Nutcracker’ at Patti Eisenhauer Dance Center

by GateHouse Media, Inc.

FPAC slates open auditions for ‘The Nutcracker’

by GateHouse Media, Inc.

live reporting - closing

5.Information Matters
Superintendent’s Report
quiet opening all things considering, some minor transportation issues were resolved

there are modular units still at Parmenter
there was work being done on them today
they are supposed to out by this Friday!

The other modulars will be easier. These are the last of the leased units. We needed to rely on the company to remove them

transportation update - 
2810 riding, 1797 pay to ride
bus passes should be out, they need to be shown, replacements are $5
some requests in for stop changes in process, the Franklin Police have been involved to evaluate the safety of the proposed stops
there are a number of calls coming in, they are being answered in the order received so if not yet answered, they are getting to it

some requests for the waiting list, 34 on list, 
principals will be taking bus ridership counts next week so we will see what if anything can be done
the transportation office is closed on Friday

Primary reasons for changes in bus stops, attempts to reduce the walking from the students home to the stop

We are out checking out the bus stops, check the stops at different times during the day
will be working on a form for future bus stop change requests

Capital planning process started
come in late fall to formulate our request
getting some computers from Harvard, the quality is significant

FHS Project
official notification that the project scope and program plan as been accepted
not just a validation of the project but of the program overall

set up public tours, opening the buildings one night a year
the schools have signed up for a calendar
looking for school committee members to participate

Harvest Festival, Sep 30th
Sally Winslow will be covering the School Dept table
would School Committee members like to take turns?

Parent training
consistent with bullying program
Sep 19th 6:30 - Dr Englander
geared for parents, nationally recognized expert on cyberbullying
connect Ed message coming
at Horace Mann Auditorium


School Committee Sub-Committee Reports
none

School Committee Liaison Reports
none

New business
Trahan - 
Nov 3rd Casino night for FEF

live reporting - action items

4. Action Items
a. I recommend elimination of the following policies as discussed:

1. JICA – Student Dress Code
2. JICDA – Academic Honesty Policy
3. JICF – Gang Activity/Secret Societies
4. JIH – Interrogations and Searches
5. JKAA – Non-Violent Physical Crisis Intervention
6. JKAA-R – Non-Violent Physical Crisis Intervention Administration Procedures/Crisis Team Procedures
7. JKF-E – Memorandum of Understanding
8. JKF-R – Matters Involving Violence, Weapons, Hate Crimes and Drug Distribution
9. JLF-E – Child Abuse/Neglect
10. JLF-R – Statement of Child Abuse and Neglect

motion to approve, passed 7-0
these policies are replaced by what is in the school handbooks

b. I recommend adoption of Policy JFL Child Abuse/Neglect as discussed.
motion to accept, passed 7-0

c. I recommend adoption of Policy JKAA – Non-Violent Physical Crisis Intervention.
motion to accept, passed 7-0

d. I recommend acceptance of the donation of an OKI Color Printer valued at $150.00 to the FPS.   motion to accept, passed 7-0

e. I recommend acceptance of a check for $750.00 from the Hockomock YMCA from the Amanda Hartford Grant for Davis Thayer.   motion to accept, passed 7-0 


f. I recommend acceptance of a check for $1,125.00 from O’Charley’s Inc. for in-house enrichment at FHS.  motion to accept, passed 7-0