Live reporting - Arts Academy Q&A

The video that was shown during the presentation:

Franklin, MA - Franklin Arts Academy from Steve Sherlock on Vimeo.

Q - How will you handle the grading?
A - They will met the regular course program. We are arranging to visit the Boston Arts Academy tomorrow to further explore some of the details behind that.

Q - Is it positioned for students who want arts as a career or for those students who struggle with the traditional curriculum?
A - Both.

Q - Where are others doing this?
A - There are many others, this is not a new concept. The Boston Arts Academy is the main one. There are others. Tolman High School in Pawtuclet, RI.

C - Mullen, we have talked about creating communities at FHS and it is continuing to grow so this is a great step. I am excited to see how this plays out. It is really impressive that this is teacher driven.

Caple - the team is very good, it is not just lip service, the real work is being done by the team and others whom we need from time to time.

Roy - Thank you for having the opportunity to work with you. I am delighted to be able to sit at the table and see the energy around the room where folks are trying to improve the education for our students. In the Globe, there was an article yesterday about a surgeon who is exploring using music in the operating room and it is improving his performance. Recalls Daniel Pinks book: A Whole New Mind.

Story of Rosanne Walsh suggesting to read this book 3-4 years ago when budget cuts were being talked of. Rosanne is on the committee now.

Sabolinski - Thanks to the team, this has not been without controversy and they have been very courageous doing this.

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to the website to view the video

Live reporting - Franklin Arts Academy

2. Guests/Presentations

a. Fine Arts Academy – Mike Caple, Marushka Waters

Franklin Arts Academy

View more presentations from Steve Sherlock.

_ the video will be added to this posting later_

"budget neutral repackaging of the curriculum"

Proposal to start in Fall of 2010 with the Junior Class at that time

• Creative Literacy
• Humanities
• Mathematics and Science

Example of math and science combination: to study the parabola of the basketball free throw and explain it with a video production.

Example of humanities: read "The Sun Also Rises", study the art cubism and Picasso that was being done at that time, the post WWI period.

Students would apply for this program.

coordinated with guidance counselor and special education liaison, teacher to be assigned as a mentor to the student to accompany them through the program.

Live reporting - School Committee Meeting

Attending: Douglas, Cafasso, Rohrbach, Mullen, Roy, Trahan, Glynn

1. Routine Business

Citizen’s Comments - none


Review of Agenda - add some policies for first reading to Discussion Only Items
Minutes: I recommend approval of the minutes from the Open and Executive Sessions of the November 17, 2009 School Committee Meeting. motion to approve - passed 7-0
Payment of Bills Mr. Glynn motion to approve bills - passed 7-0
Payroll Mrs. Douglas
FHS Student Representatives

• Winter Sports season underway
• peer mediation program starting
• "Light up a Life" fund raising effort underway
• Winter Music concert Weds 12/9 at 7:00 PM

Kudos to the football team for a great season
Jeff may suggest to the Town Council to schedule election for a sports night. 7,000 attended the game for 2 hours when the election over fourteen hours drew only a little more than 3,000

Correspondence:
1. Budget to Actual
2. NEASC Letters to and from FHS

East of Shirley concert - Dec 12

For those listeners of the Franklin Matter's podcast, the last several have featured the music of the group East of Shirley. They are playing at the Harvest Cafe in Hudson, MA this Saturday evening.

The Facebook event page can be found here.

East of Shirley's website is here


Note: By way of disclosure, Michael Clark, the lead singer/song writer, have worked together at Fidelity Investments and are good friends. I feature their music simply because it is good music.

FRANKLIN HEALTH DEPARTMENT H1N1 FLU CLINIC ANNOUNCEMENT

The Franklin Health Department will be holding the first in a series of H1N1 flu clinics for Franklin residents on Thursday December 10, 2009 from 4:00 to 8:00 PM at the Franklin High School.

Due to limited supply of vaccine, the first round of vaccine administrations will be provided to the following persons on a first come first served basis, consistent with Massachusetts Department of Public Health and CDC guidelines for vaccine administration:

    * Parents and care-givers of infants less than 6 months. 
    * Children aged 6 months up to and including Kindergarten.

Please be advised, the Health Department has received nearly 70% of our vaccine allocation in the nasal spray form.  Because this is a live attenuated vaccine, this formulation is only for healthy individuals aged 2 to 49 years of age.  

All individuals to be vaccinated in the 2-49 age groups without a contra-indicated medical history will be administered the nasal spray. 

Due to limited supply of the injected form of the vaccine, it will be reserved for children less than 2 years of age and others as medically indicated.

All individuals to be vaccinated are to present a completed consent form.  No vaccine will be administered without a completed and signed consent form.  All school-aged children will receive a consent form from the School Department in the coming days.  A downloadable consent form is available on the Health Department website as well.

All residents will be asked to produce a valid driver’s license or other identification at the time of registration.  Please enter the clinic via the High School Field House entrance.

The Franklin Health Department will continue to hold additional H1N1 flu clinics in the coming weeks until all the high priority groups have been vaccinated.  Once the priority groups are vaccinated, vaccine will be available for all residents until our supply has been exhausted.

We ask all residents to please be patient and to anticipate some waiting, as we institute our large-scale public vaccination plan.

David E. McKearney, R.S.
Public Health Director
Franklin Health Department

Franklin Board of Health

Bruce Hunchard, Chair
Paul Cheli
Donald Ranieri, JR.

 

This was posted on the Franklin Town site. You can download the consent form from here.

In the News - Bellingham split tax

 Note that the split tax rate in Bellingham was changed to increase the residential rate and help businesses. Franklin doesn't need to do this, everyone already pays the same tax rate.

Selectmen voted unanimously last night to give businesses a slight break on property taxes.

The board raised the tax burden on homeowners from 89 percent to 90 percent as it tries to find a balance between the homeowners and businesses.

With the shift, taxes for homeowners will be set at $11.92 per $1,000 assessed value, up from last year's $10.44. For the "average" Bellingham homeowner, with a home valued at $275,984, this will yield a $105 yearly tax increase, selectmen said.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

In the News - update on social media suspensions

In the post over the weekend, when I advocated for establishing a social media awareness, I referenced an article from Mendon where students were being investigated for creating a Facebook page. The Facebook page sought violence against one of their middle school assistant principals.

The developing story line is update in the Milford Daily News today:

Five Mendon students suspended due to threatening Facebook page

from The Milford Daily News Homepage RSS by Krista Perry/Daily News staff

School Committee Meeting - 12/08/09 - Agenda

1. Routine Business

Citizen’s Comments
Review of Agenda
Minutes: I recommend approval of the minutes from the Open and Executive Sessions of the November 17, 2009 School Committee Meeting.
Payment of Bills Mr. Glynn
Payroll Mrs. Douglas
FHS Student Representatives
Correspondence:
1. Budget to Actual
2. NEASC Letters to and from FHS

2. Guests/Presentations
a. Fine Arts Academy – Mike Caple
b. Metrowest Health Update – Michele Kingsland-Smith

3. Discussion Only Items
a. 2010-2011 School Calendar Options - Maureen Sabolinski
b. H1N1 – Sally Winslow
c. Healthy Futures Summit – Maureen Sabolinski, Roberta Trahan

4. Action Items
a. I recommend adoption of Option One of the 2010-2011 School Calendar.
b. I recommend approval of Remington Middle School’s request to declare the listed books as surplus.
c. I recommend acceptance of two checks ($25.00 & $53.30) totaling $78.30 from Adirondack Vending for the RMS for supplies.
d. I recommend acceptance of a check for $300.00 from Fidelity for the Annie Sullivan Middle School for in-house enrichment, supplies and supplemental curriculum materials.
e. I recommend acceptance of a check for $1050.00 from ASMS PCC for buses for field trips.

5. Information Matters

Superintendent’s Report
a. NEASC
b. Grant Update
c. FHS Facilities
d. Enrollment Comparison

School Committee Sub-Committee Reports
School Committee Liaison Reports

6. New Business
To discuss future business that may be brought before the School Committee.

7. Executive Session
Contractual Negotiations

8. Adjourn

message from the Franklin Citizens Rail Committee

Three important things to do on Tuesday December 8, 2009:

1.       Vote


2.       Log on to the Franklin Rail Trail web site www.franklinrailtrail.org and sign up for membership to support our organization.


3.       Attend the next meeting of the Franklin Citizens Rail Trail Committee. It will be held Tuesday evening, December 8^th at 7:30 PM, in the Odd Fellows Lodge on W. Central Street in Franklin. Agenda attached. 

In the Globe - gift policy

School superintendents across the region are penning letters this holiday season to parents, cautioning them against going overboard with gift-giving to teachers, principals, and other staff members.

That means no pricey gift certificates to spas or fancy restaurants, no hard-to-get tickets to the theater or sporting events, no fine wine, or anything else valued at more than $50.

While acknowledging that parents’ gift-giving gestures may be well-intentioned, the superintendents say that the state’s new ethics law forbids public servants, including teachers on public payrolls, from receiving gifts with value in excess of $50. Violations are subject to civil penalties, the superintendents warn.

Read the full article in the Boston Globe here

In the News - Choo Choo shop,

The Choo Choo shop closed

End of the line for the Choo Choo Stop

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Melanie Graham/Daily News staff

The photo from last week when I noticed the shop closed can be found here

Invitation to Candlelight Vigil for Climate Action - Boston Dec 11th 6:00 PM

From the Franklin Area Climate Action Team comes this info:

Friends, we are running out of time. The United Nations climate change conference in December will be the turning point in the fight for a safe climate. But even before the conference, President Barack Obama and the leaders of some other large nations have announced that they aren't going to reach any kind of legally binding climate agreement in Copenhagen--declaring that they need more time, despite the five years of preparation they've already had.

That's sad and it's dangerous--the planet is running out of 'next years'. But it does give all of us more time to organize a movement to make them respect the science. The planet doesn’t negotiate. We must convince the governments of the world to change our uses of nature to meet earth’s requirements for the planet to keep on hosting us like it has been doing.
So it's time for the next big steps. The world needs your help. You will need this to succeed.

There's a global mobilization coming together for the weekend in the middle of the Copenhagen conference--Dec. 11-13. Our collective message: "The World Wants a Real Deal" -- people all over the planet are demanding a binding global climate agreement guided by the latest science and built upon principles of justice and equity.

The global coordinator is www.350.org. The Massachusetts Council of Churches, Massachusetts Climate Action Network and several other organizations are sponsoring the Boston vigil on December 11 as part of this global mobilization.

Here in Boston, we will assemble for a candlelight vigil in Cardinal Cushing Park, next to Senator John Kerry's office. Sen. Kerry is leading the US delegation to the climate convention in Copenhagen. We’ve assured him, we support him – to do the right, and difficult, and necessary things.

Our goal is to focus Sen. Kerry’s attention on the urgent need for a science-based international climate treaty and on climate legislation in the U.S. that gets us back below an atmospheric CO2 concentration of 350ppm, the upper limit a stable earth environment can tolerate.

We will stand in solemn solidarity with the citizens of those nations who already die at an increased rate of 300,000 a year in (primarily) African countries and island nations because of climate change, and with citizens of big parts of America’s southeast who already face severe new hazards because of climate change.

What: Candlelight Vigil -- The World Wants a Real Deal
When: December 11th, 6:00 - 7:30 p.m.
Where: Cardinal Cushing Park, at Cambridge and New Chardon Streets.
How: Closest T stop is Blue Line Bowdoin Station coming in (closes at 6:30 PM). Government Center Station is 2/10 mile away. If you can, please bring your own candle and an empty 2-liter soft drink bottle “candle holder”.

For additional information on the Franklin Area Climate Action Team, please visit their website here

----

For an alternative to the Boston event if you are looking for something a little closer to home, there is also a candlelight vigil planned in Attleboro on Friday Dec 11, 4:30-5:30 at the corner of County and S. Main Streets. 

Join Clever Commute

If you use the Franklin Line - Commuter Rail you know that service sometimes can be less than optimal.

You can help alert your fellow commuters to what you know about the service, when you know it and generally that will be in advance of the MBTA getting around to posting one of their own alerts.

Conductor Josh, the guy behind Clever Commute says:

(1) If you want to send a real-time commuter "alert" to your fellow passengers, then send a subject-only message to MBTA-Franklin@clevercommute.com
(ALL of the info comes from YOU...the commuters)

(2) Did you know?
We have over 100 recent instances where YOU have provided information better and faster than any other source!
See http://clevercommute.com/blog/?cat=2

How do you join Clever Commute?
Visit their web site here and sign up to register your email address.

For more information on the service, visit the Clever Commute blog here

Senate Primary Tues Dec 8th

The primary election for US Senate to choose the replacement for the late Edward M Kennedy will be held Dec 8th. Polls will be open at the Franklin High School field house from 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM.

For information on the Democratic candidates:

What's the difference between the four Democrats?

from The Milford Daily News Homepage RSS by Dan McDonald/Daily News staff

and on the Republican side, Scott Brown is running against Jack E Robinson:

Brown says anti-incumbent sentiment a boost for him

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Julia Spitz/Daily News staff

Jack E. Robinson touts his moderate approach

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Paul Crocetti/Daily News staff

Davis Thayer Reading Challenge

Saw this sign out walking this morning:



Yea for reading!
Go Davis Thayer readers!