Notes from 1/15/2020 Special Board meeting
Trustees Siedman, Pfeiffer, Marcotte, Demmerle and Woods were present; Superintendent Carroll and Principal Stephens were also present. Superintendent facilitated the discussion with Trustees and audience; Principal Stephens took notes
Beginning Questions
The Board will meet to review/ flesh- out guiding questions for the Enrichment Program (Step 2 of 7)
1. What are the most important outcomes for our students?
Most important outcomes:
- Creative problem solving - Students be Involved in creative problem solving are happy, involved in life-long learning and kind to each other; be involved in arts
- Happiness - create a desire for long-term learning empathy
- Mission-Vision statement: respect for the world and others; lifelong tools and materials, learners to be creative problem solvers
- Safe and supported – inspired by whatever class they are in, encouraged that everyone is intelligent and have many learning styles
- Lifelong Learning and learn by doing
- Students have their own voice and visual learning ; how to communicate and relate to others; happy
- Communication – students find voice discover how to steward themselves and the world around them;
- empathy – educating hearts and minds to change the world
- Agree – motivated to be a participant and know that they make a difference and have a voice
- Leave as confident, critical thinkers and know that they are loved and supported; “happy memories”
- Leave with a spirit of openness to what is ahead of them and becoming a high school student and be unafraid of challenges; mistakes lead us forward
- Students self-identifying as an artist for the rest of lives
- Students work towards mastery so lose themselves in the experience and apply what they have learned. Part of a much bigger whole and realize how big and how small; stand on the shoulders of those that preceded us
2. What experiences do we think are important for our students to have?
- Enjoy projects and remember; relationships with teachers and each other
- Hands on learning and community projects; link in gardening, cob oven and environment and learning from mistakes – all encompassing; integrated
- Middle schoolers – develop a specific project that is reviewed by staff and they can execute project to build engagement opportunities to use more technology arts and tech combined
- Hands on learning and experiences that make students more in charge and more self-conscious of place in school/world
- Love arts and music, gardening, language, technology, ballroom dancing. outdoor trips are life altering and would like them to be incorporated into curriculum – offers life skills
- Experiential learning school – every concept connects with an experience that shows meaning in real world concepts paired with doing and understand interconnectedness
- Lines between subjects don’t really exist®should be integrated; all staff should be involved. Experiential outdoor trips; should not let these BIG outdoor trips go. Worried that with loss of teachers®programs will disappear – who will we find to continue these whole life experiences; things that make us human
- (JP) experimenting to work out and solve problems
- Mistakes help solve problems and keep at it
- Be able to make stuff, as programs disappear ®how will students learn to make things
- Community supported and involvement
- Fieldtrips have to be connected to curriculum
- When with students favorite experience is watching their satisfaction and pride when they create what they wanted
- When expose students to things like museums and large works of art are wonderful for infusion of their spirit
3. What level of choice do we think students should have in their enrichment classes or activities?
- Students K to 4,5 Having choice within the project/curriculum
- Middle have choice in subjects
- Junior high ® choose electives trimester have options reviewed by approval process
- No choice until 4th grade when students start to distinguish themselves
- Younger students try everything ® middle have choice
- No choice
- Offer choice to middle in classes offered to them
- No choice except project based learning
- Don’t know ® no choice, if must then middle school
- 3rd grade and below, no choice alternating required and then choice by project/trimester
- 6,7, & 8 choice or 7/8 if only middle
4. What courses or activities are essential for all students and should therefore be mandatory?
- All of it should be mandatory not every year but before our student leaves the school
- experiential
- technology
✓✓✓ Spanish
✓✓✓ Recess
✓✓✓ Art
✓✓✓ Music
✓✓✓ Experiential/field trips
✓✓✓ Technology
✓✓ Clay
✓✓ Wood
✓✓ Mixed media
✓✓ Dancing
Citizenship
Painting
Drawing
Latin for middle schoolers
Can combine art, music, tech- lots of opportunities to integrate; 8 years to get a dose of each
Some should be every year
Involvement in VAPA across all grade levels and years
Citizenship
✓ Students learn comprehensive, sequential curriculum k-8
✓ more integrated curriculum and embedded technology to connect disciplines
✓ Journalism & citizenship
✓✓✓✓ Mindfulness and meditation
Yoga
Garden/nutrition
Wellness center
5. What kinds of programs do we think are most likely to provide the experiences and outcomes we value for our students?
The meeting was adjourned at 6:30p.m.