MCCPS Board of Trustees

Minutes

Academic Excellence Committee Meeting

Date and Time

Wednesday February 5, 2020 at 7:30 AM

Committee Members Present

Jessica Xiarhos, Matt Cronin, Peter Cohen

Committee Members Absent

Ellen Lodgen, Emily Westhoven, Kimberly Sullivan, Michael Condon, William Sullivan

Guests Present

Meg Upton

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance and Guests

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

Jessica Xiarhos called a meeting of the Academic Excellence Committee Committee of MCCPS Board of Trustees to order on Wednesday Feb 5, 2020 at 7:37 AM.

C.

Approve Minutes from 1/15/20

II. Academic Excellence Committee

A.

Update on December's Action Items

B.

Dissemination of Academic Excellence to Staff

Criteria for Excellence Departments debrief- 

Math/Science - wondering where we're going with this document; visually math is not impactful, so what can we add?

criteria- where can we implement this in the curriculum, rebuild/reorganize what we do.

Is there a timetable on this? (September 2021 - cohesive plan that involves so many things - letter grades/Exhibition/"Gatewaying"/new Principal)

Floating the idea of grade bands (4 + 5, 6+ 7, 8) 

Upper School - 6, 7, 8. concentrated efforts here. What does excellence mean in Upper School
Committee talks about the what - working groups talk about the how. 

Upper School Working Group - What does a graduate look like, Criteria for Excellence, Power Standards, Practices in each Subject


Messaging around what we stand for - not here to teach to the test, community based approach

End Goal - MCCPS Criteria for Excellence

Details - schedules, events, retention 6 to 7

Concern for balancing details and big picture


Math/Science department to bring a draft to Upper School
 
How do grades connect to this?
What does excellence mean to a parent?

C.

Next Steps

III. Closing Items

A.

Action Items

Meg - parent's perspective - Are parents happy with the feedback currently being received on student progress? (With Kim, think of questions to ask on survey). 

 

B.

Adjourn Meeting

There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 8:26 AM.

Respectfully Submitted,
Jessica Xiarhos
Documents used during the meeting
  • 2020_01_15_academic_excellence_committee_committee_meeting_minutes-2.pdf