Franklin Matters

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Live reporting: Action Items

3. Discussion Only Items

2015-2016 School Committee Meeting Calendar – DRAFT

July 26th should be the 28th, was corrected on a version but not the one in this package

2015-2016 School Calendar Consideration – Additional PD Safety Training.

Would the school committee consider adding 1/2 a PD day to an existing one, to provide a full slot of time for the special training, one for pre-k to 5, and one for 6-12

1/2 day counts as a day, if scheduling a full day run into the full 180

instead of trying to have an hour here or there, better to have the full school team at once

would be able to look at the adjustments necessary but wanted to check with the School Committee first

would bring the calendar back for the next meeting

Columbus Day is also a bargaining line item
there is a new K-12 school survey coming out to help gather current data

will bring back a suggestion to bring back some dates

4. Action Items
a. I recommend appointment of the Superintendent to the Board of Directors, Bi-County Collaborative.
motion to approve, seconded, passed 7-0

b. I recommend appointment of the Superintendent to the Board of Directors, ACCEPT Collaborative.
motion to approve, seconded, passed 7-0

c. I recommend approval of budget transfers as detailed.
motion to approve, seconded, passed 7-0

d. I recommend approval of the request of Nancy Schoen for a recurring field trip to Canobie Lake Park in Salem, NH on June 12, 2015 with middle school music students as detailed.
motion to approve, seconded, passed 7-0

e. I recommend the acceptance of three checks totaling $488.77 for in house enrichment at Franklin High School:

1. Great American Opportunities - $99.20
2. Chipotle Mexican Grill - $139.57 – Student Activity Account for Ultimate Frisbee Club
3. Norfolk DA – Operation Graduation, 2015 All Night Party – $250.00

motion to approve, seconded, passed 7-0

f. I recommend acceptance of four checks totaling $4,000.00 for FHS Scholarships:

1. $1,000.00 - Peter A. Baglioni
2. $1,000.00 - Mr. & Mrs. Peter Coppola
3. $1,000.00 - Franklin Country Club
4. $1,000.00 - Friends of the Franklin Library

motion to approve, seconded, passed 7-0
O'Malley made a special 'shout out' to the Friends of the Franklin Library as a group that should be more well known for doing the good work they do, including funding the summer reading program

g. I recommend acceptance of two checks totaling $3,148.50 from the Parmenter PCC for field trips.

motion to approve, seconded, passed 7-0

h. I recommend acceptance of two checks totaling $1,320.00 for district wide in-house enrichment:

1. Franklin Music Boosters - $1,100.00
2. BJ’s Wholesale Club - $220.00

motion to approve, seconded, passed 7-0

i. I recommend acceptance of a check for $362.08 from the Davis Thayer PCC for Supplemental Curriculum Materials.
motion to approve, seconded, passed 7-0

Live reporting: School Wellness Advisory Council

Sally Winslow
affectionately referred to as the 'SWAC"

a standing committee
wide variety of groups represented
administrators, educators, students, community members
3rd full year as a group
goal to bring the 'local wellness policy' into compliance

meet four times per year
assessment, and goals to meet needs
present to the School Committee (as is this tonight)

multi-disciplinary approach to provide support for students

Goals for 2014-15

mental health
physical activity
nutrition

in year 2 of developing curriculum
work to ensure social emotional curriculum across the grade levels

first year with middle school guidance counselors

high school, developed and delivered 4 seminar classes to each grade

decrease in nurses visits seen as a result of the work done in middle and high school

BOKS program

partnerships with other community groups
Patriot Place, Adirondeck Club

increases in both formal athletic and physical activities

multiple garden models being worked to tie in academic curriculum as well as healthy eating habits, and understanding the food life cycle

MetroWest Health Survey data just came out

O'Malley
a comprehensive and well developed program
unscheduled visits can be the most important visits
need to be careful with setting the goal and reporting accordingly

Sabolinski/Winslow
data had been gathered and strategies developed to work with the student and either get them back to class or to the right resources for help

Trahan - kids needed help to figure out how to cope, it wasn't to prevent visits, those visits are open and available

kids need explicit instruction on what to do and how to deal with something with it comes up; coping skills

O'Malley
we have trained councilors, let them make the decision

Jewel
some of the students learn in different ways
how are the teachers dealing with students that have different ways of learning?

Sabolinski/Winslow
there is the instructional support team
as well as special education assistance as needed

Jewel
I want to encourage students to excel where they can and to do really well
to push that level where they normally would

Sabolinksi
absolutely, we have some gifted students in the schools
we use whatever is available to help
enter the course of study where they are pushed to succeed

Mullen
would like to see something on guidence in the next couple of months

Live reporting: Oak St Update

b. Oak Street Elementary School Update
– Corine Minkle,Kathleen Gerber

a brief snapshot of the year in review
trying to tie it all together in pictures

lots of slides depicting various scenes in school day
small group learning
anchor charts
art integrated with other academics
math workshop
K students with a whiteboard
math games and exploration
brain gym training in between academics
stations to warm up for gym
every classroom uses technology
standards based
common planning time for grade levels
families came to to participate in math morning
'fancy day' for 3-4-5th grade concert
about 90% dressed in fancy black/white
Halloween candy collected for troops
4-500 pounds of candy just from Oak St
Spaulding Center does a disability awareness for 5th grade
'read across america' outside readers
partnered with the Y, BOKS program for 4-5th grade students
from Plimoth Plantation Jeffrey came in to talk about Indian life
Science day
'best buddies' partnered with FHS and Dean
EMC project on 'mini empty bowls', bowl purchase raised money for Franklin Food Pantry
morning wakeup for Channel 5

O'Malley
it is difficult to find out what is going on in school, based upon this, there is a lot going on at Oak St
the collaboration working in and connecting within the community, I give you an A+

Jewell
I like with what I have seen is that the same techniques are used at the high school

Q - how is attendence?
It is well represented, when students are involved. With a parent only evening, it is more challenging
99% of faculity and students were in red/white/blue
standing room only

Jewell - If the parents can't come, invite the grandparents?
We do and many of those come, if their parent is not there, they are at least paired with someone

Jewell - are you comfortable with the level of questions for PARCC
The students like PARCC because they can use the computer
it is a learning curve for everyone as they were tailoring the questions
some were hard, some were easy and some were just right

Live reporting: School Committee - May 26, 2015

Present: Douglas, O'Malley, Rohrbach, Clement, Mullen, Trahan, Jewell
Absent: none

1. Routine Business
Citizen’s Comments - none

Review of Agenda - none

Minutes: I recommend approval of the minutes from the May 12, 2015 School Committee Meeting.
motion to approve, seconded, passed 7-0

Payment of Bills Mr. Clement
motion to approve, seconded, passed 7-0

Payroll Mrs. Douglas

FHS Student Representatives
Correspondence: none

2. Guests/Presentations
a. JF Kennedy Elementary School Update
– Joan Toye, Ashley Bodkins
Ann Williams, Kate Merten

6 Chromebook carts at the beginning of the year and 4 more carts just recently
technology used extensively throughout the school
Chromebooks especially valuable

Creative Arts Fridays
scope and sequence developed during the summer as a standards based unit
coordinate the schedule for poetry, art and technology all on Friday
spend about 45 minutes with each class
the poetry is integrated so it doesn't feel like a separate unit
"we read like writers and write like readers"

PCC funded enrichment program with a poet in residence
Elizabeth Gordon McKim, poet in the oral tradition

coffeehouse at the end of year to celebrate poetry and art and music

inserted video clip of students with their comments on the poetry workshop conducted each week

Mystery Skype
found other 4th grade classes interested in Skyping through Twitter
the SKype session is limited to ask yes or no questions only and then try to identify where they are located

learning how to work together without actually being together in the same room

make their art, take a phot, upload to the system, edit the file to add text
only help needed is to print (which is due to the way printers are set up)

student created a video on how to solve a math problem
integrating math and tecchnology

during the snow periods, they tackled a 'blizzard poem'
wrote it, uploaded and shared with the class

O'Malley - delighted to see the creative arts are integrated as well as they are

Jewell - concerned about teaching writing (the practical art, both the doing and reading of) when the computer is not available

How to communicate to the world, used the example of Franklin Matters

Williams/Merten respond

All poetry is done in a notebook first70-80% of the writing is done by hand firstit is not forgotten, it is an important skill to have

Rohrbach
thank you for showing us how creative you are using the systems

Merten
you might see 3-4 students with a chromebook, not eveybody using them
it is just another tool

Memorial Day Parade - 2015 (photo essay)

Here are the photos taken at the Memorial Day Parade as it made its way up Main St in Franklin, MA passing in front of Dean College.

https://plus.google.com/photos/101938843903614700481/albums/6152870241964330273?authkey=CLqQ_MT8g9TNNw

Community Health Survey - Open until May 29th

FYI - I did participate in the survey and it does take less than 10 minutes!

-------------

Dear Community Resident,

We are requesting a few minutes of your time in completing an important survey.

Milford Regional Medical Center and its partner organizations are conducting a community health assessment of the Greater Milford region to develop a new vision of how health and wellness programs can best serve area residents, and we want you to be part of that planning.

As part of this effort, we are asking you, as someone who also lives in the communities listed in the survey, to give us your feedback and suggestions about health services in the region by completing a 10 minute survey by Friday, May 29th.

All responses are anonymous. Your feedback is valuable since the information gathered from this survey will be used to inform future health programming.

Please click on the link below to take the survey. If the link does not bring you to the opening page of the survey, copy and paste the web address into your browser.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MilfordCHASurvey

Thank you again for your participation, and please feel free to contact Ellen Freedman at EFREEDMAN@milreg.org or 508-422-2627 if you have any questions about the survey or the larger assessment.

Milford Regional Medical Center

-------------------

Communities: Bellingham, Blackstone, Douglas, Franklin, Hopedale, Medway, Mendon, Milford, Millville, Northbridge, Sutton, Upton, and Uxbridge.

Partner Organizations:

Center for Adolescent & Young Adult Health Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center Family Continuity Inc. CHNA 6 Hockomock Area YMCA Tri County Medical Associates Milford Public Schools
Tri River Family Health Center

Trash/recycling schedule delayed one day this week

Given the Memorial Day holiday is one of the few where the normal trash/recycling schedule is delayed, be aware this is the week to delay one day.

The following are the only holidays where trash and recycling will be delayed:
Thanksgiving Day
Christmas Day
New Years’s Day
Memorial Day
4th of July
Labor Day

trash/recycling delayed one day this week

You can find additional information on the trash/recycling process on the Franklin webpage here:
http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_Recycling/index

Franklin High School hosting benefit concert on Tuesday, May 26

The Franklin High School “Tri-M” Music Honor Society and “Change for a Chance” club are hosting a benefit concert on Tuesday, May 26 at 6:30 p.m. at the Franklin High School Courtyard.

Suggested donation is $5 and all proceeds will go to the East African Center for the Empowerment of Women and Children (EAC) based in Takaungu Kenya. The EAC nonprofit helps people improve their own lives by empowering women and children, providing assistance to communities and providing access to resources and tools for change.

The concert, open to the public, will feature musicians, singers, bands and chamber groups from Franklin High School.

The Tri-M Music Honor Society is the international music honor society for middle/junior high and high school students. It is designed to recognize students for their academic and musical achievements, reward them for their accomplishments and service activities, and to inspire other students to excel at music and leadership.

Change for a Chance is a student club that organizes events to support local and international charities.

Tickets are available at the door on the night of the concert

Franklin High School

New Hope Virtual Fund Raising

What had been scheduled for June 6th is now going to be a virtual fund raising event.

The race goes virtual!

New Hope is an organization founded on the principles of strength and community partnership in the face of adversity. So, we’re taking our previously-scheduled race to the online superhighway!