Minutes
Quincy, Massachusetts – March 16, 2016
Regular Meeting of the Quincy School Committee
Regular Meeting
A regular meeting of the Quincy School Committee was held on Wednesday,
March 16, 2016 at the Coddington Building. The Superintendent called the roll
and the School Committee members present were Mr. James DeAmicis,
Mrs. Kathryn Hubley, Ms. Barbara Isola, Mrs. Emily Lebo, Mrs. Anne Mahoney,
and Mayor Thomas Koch, Chair.
Chairman Presiding
Also present were: Dr. Richard DeCristofaro, Secretary; Ms. Laura Owens, Clerk;
Mr. Nicholas Ahearn, Mr. Michael Draicchio, Mr. John Fagerlund, Mr. John Green,
Mr. Edward Holmes, Ms. Rebecca McInnis, Mr. James Mullaney, Deputy
Superintendent Kevin Mulvey, Mrs. Maura Papile, Ms. Madeline Roy, Mr. Keith
Segalla, Mr. Edward Smith, Mr. Stephen Sylvia, Mr. Lawrence Taglieri, Ms. Judy
Todd; and Quincy Education Association President Allison Cox.
Mr. Bregoli was absent.
§
There was a moment of silence for Steven Sullivan, security officer at North
Quincy High School who passed away today. Also Peter Boyle Adams, a
descendent of two presidents and a friend to the City of Quincy.
§
Regular Meeting Minutes Approved
3/2/16
Ms. Isola made a motion, seconded by Mrs. Hubley, to approve the Regular
Meeting minutes for March 2, 2016. On a voice vote, the ayes have it.
Executive Session Minutes Approved 3/2/16
Ms. Isola made a motion, seconded by Mrs. Mahoney, to approve the
Executive Session minutes for March 2, 2016. On a voice vote, the ayes have it.
§
Open Forum
As no one wished to speak at Open Forum, School Committee went on to the
next item on the agenda.
§
Superintendent's
Report
Dr. DeCristofaro introduced Executive Director of Career & Technical Education
Keith Segalla and the Career & Technical Education Student of the Year, LaQueen
Arias, a Quincy High School Senior and member of the National Honor Society and
Math, Science, and Foreign Language Honor Societies. Ms. Arias is a Broadcasting
major, captain of the cross-country and track teams, and a state qualifier for
javelin. Ms. Arias thanked her teachers, especially Mr. Green; the Broadcasting
program enhanced interpersonal skills along with technical knowledge.
Quincy High School Career & Technical Education Department Chair Rebecca
McInnis introduced the Skills USA District Medalists for 2016. Quincy High School
Skills USA students competed in fourteen areas at this year’s district event and
silver and gold medalists will go on to the state competition. District Medalists: 3-
D Visualization & Animation: Bernardo Teixeira ~ Silver, Chris Lopez ~ Silver, Ben
Parrish ~ Gold, Norapat Rerngkasetkig ~ Gold; Advertising Design: Jessie Zhu ~
Silver, Joyce Zhang ~ Bronze; Information Technology Service: Vincent Tran ~ Gold,
Dash Chin ~ Silver; Computer Programming: Brian Rooney ~ Bronze;
Internetworking: Ryan Dang ~ Silver; Robotics and Automation: Aniruddha Doke ~
Bronze, Ryan Foy ~ Bronze; Technical Computer Applications: Devin Chan ~ Gold,
Andrew Szeto ~ Silver; Telecommunications Cabling: Michael Fernald ~ Silver.
After a brief recess, Dr. DeCristofaro continued the Superintendent’s Report with
Inspire Quincy, featuring the Special Education Motor Skills event at Squantum
Elementary School, Kindergarten Parent and Child Days at Wollaston,
Merrymount, and Lincoln Hancock; Atlantic Middle School Science and Geography
Fair; HYPER Robotics; NQHS Drama presents Godspell; and QHS Drama presents
Guys & Dolls.
Dr. DeCristofaro reminded School Committee that Quincy High School’s
graduation will be Monday, June 13 and North Quincy High School’s graduation
will be Tuesday, June 14. In case of rain, the graduations will be held in the school
gymnasium on the scheduled date.
Upcoming Parent Academies will be Healthy Choices Family Night on March 24 at
Central Middle School at 6:30 pm. On April 4, Brain Boosters for Breaks will be
held at the Clifford Marshall Elementary School, focused on resources and tools for
parents to use with students over school and summer breaks. This is a drop-in
event from 6:00 to 7:30 pm for parents of students in Grades 1 through 5. In mid
to late May, there will be a Welcome to Kindergarten Parent Academy, date and
location to be announced.
Upcoming Partnership Events include the Credit for Life Fair on March 24 and the
Partnership Recognition Breakfast, April 6.
Quincy Public Schools students and their families are invited to the Picnic in the
Park at the Adams Historic Site on Saturday, April 30 from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm.
This community event is a collaboration of the National Park Service, Planning &
Community Development, and Quincy Public Schools. Building on the success of
last year’s Farm to School Expo, this event will feature local food and family
activities in the beautiful setting of the historic site.
The Middle School Swimming Championship will be held on Saturday, April 2 at
9:00 am at the Lincoln Hancock pool
Principal Academies for elementary and middle school principals have included a
two-part Professional Learning Workshop on Instructional Focus on Mathematics
for effective teacher feedback to enhance student learningtegies. On June 2, the
final Principal Academy of the school year will have an ELA focus on Close
Reading.
Dr. DeCristofaro noted Home-School Connections were shared with School
Committee from Atherton Hough and Squantum Elementary School.
Dr. DeCristofaro announced the Point Webster Middle School Great Race 5K
Run/Walk will be held on Saturday, April 30 at 9:00 am.
§
New Business
Digital Learning Teams
Dr. DeCristofaro introduced the Elementary & Middle/High School Digital
Learning Team chairs, Senior Director of Curriculum & Programs Madeline Roy,
Quincy High School Science Department Chair Edward Smith; Director of
Elementary Curriculum & Programs Erin Perkins; and Principals Nicholas
Ahearn and Stephen Sylvia. These Digital Learning Teams support the
development and expansion of digital learning and literacy to reach all students
in all content areas throughout the district. The elementary team goals are to
work with teachers and principals to (1) maximize their use of Aspen as a
communication and collaboration tool with parents, teachers, and students
regarding grading and curriculum and (2) increase the use of digital learning
tools within the classroom. The team will do this by assessing the use of tools
already in place and recommending professional development to support the
increased use of digital learning tools to enhance the curriculum. Towards the
accomplishment of the goals, all staff have been trained in Aspen fundamentals
and grade posting. Voluntary training has been offered for the Aspen
Gradebook. Further trainings will be offered on the use of Aspen Pages and
sharing Curriculum maps through Aspen. For Goal 2, a survey was developed,
administered, and the data analyzed to create recommendations for Professional
Development. The Digital Learning Team will collaborate with the Technology
Planning & Training Team in developing this Professional Development plan.
Mr. Sylvia said that the collaboration of staff around the city is amazing to be a
part of. Of the 255 respondents, 95% said they had at least a basic knowledge
and 54 offered to assist with planning and providing professional development.
65% of respondents use technology in their classrooms at least 50% of the time.
Mr. Sylvia thanked Mayor Koch and the School Committee for the additional
technology appropriation that brought even more resources to the classrooms
this school year.
Mr. Ahearn reviewed the new Draft Digital Literacy and Computer Science
Standards from DESE for Kindergarten through Grade 12. The strands are:
Computing and Society; Digital Tools and Collaboration; Computing Systems;
and Computational Thinking. These standards emphasize a focused and
coherent progression of knowledge and skills. Mr. Ahearn shared an example of
the progression of a standard through the grade levels.
Ms. Roy shared the Middle/High School Digital Learning Team goals: (1) to
identify and support educators currently using digital learning lessons and
educational technology across the curriculum to strengthen the learning
experience for all students in the district; and (2) to provide support to teachers
and administrators and assist with the design and implementation of digital
learning lessons and activities using existing educational technology. In terms of
progress towards goals, an online survey was developed and administered;
survey data was analyzed to identify strengths and needs for digital learning
practices. The Middle/High School Digital Learning Team is also working in
collaboration with the Technology Planning & Training Team to provide training
and professional development and supporting teachers and administrators in
their efforts to share, promote, and demonstrate various digital learning lessons
at Math & Literacy Nights and PTO/PTC/PAC efforts.
Mr. Edward Smith shared the results of the Middle/High School staff and
administrator survey. Respondents were from all curriculum and academic
programs and academic support programs, 189 total responses. 80% of
respondents rated themselves as intermediate or above in terms of educational
technology skills. Respondents identified areas for further training and
professional development. Again, many educators offered to lead training for
their colleagues.
The team collaboration resulted in the creation of a Digital Learning Library,
where resources are compiled on the Quincy Public Schools website, over 100
resources which are searchable by grade level, content area, technology, and
other key words. Thanks to Michael Santoro, Michael Gendron, and Paul Griffith
for the work in organizing the resources in the searchable format.
Ms. Roy said the team members have consistently advocated for the needs of
their colleagues and their buildings. From the survey, needs for teacher training
was prioritized for Aspen Fundamentals and Gradebook and ENO Boards.
Voluntary trainings range from integration of iPad tablets and Apps, Learning
and Teaching Coding; Intermediate Aspen Gradebook and Teacher Pages;
MimioTeach Notebook; ENO Board Technology training, and eInstruction Big
Ideas Learning. Coming later this spring will be training on Google docs,
Flipped classrooms, and Blended learning.
Quincy Public Schools will celebrate Digital Learning Week April 11-15,
spotlighting digital learning champion educators across the district. Voluntary
professional development activities, such as a Digital Learning Academy for
elementary teachers which will feature Skype and Think Central. The Digital
Learning Resource library will also go live during this week.
Mr. DeAmicis thanked all of the presenters, such an extensive report.
Technology is continuing to evolve, changing every day, great to see that
teachers are engaged in this. For Aspen, are we making efforts to ensure that
more teachers will be trained in the Gradebook feature.
Dr. DeCristofaro said a new initiative called “Gradebook 100” will focus on
working with Middle School teachers with a goal of 100% usage for assignments
and sharing information with parents. The initiative would then move on to the
high school teachers. Mr. DeAmicis asked about the 21st Century Technology
classes. Mr. Segalla said approximately 50 students per term at each school are
taking this class.
Mrs. Mahoney said that the access to technology has continued to grow through
her years on the School Committee and she is glad to hear about the Aspen
Gradebook initiative. Mrs. Mahoney mentioned the Hour of Code initiative,
would like to see this exposure to computer science integrated into instruction.
Mrs. Mahoney asked to see classroom teachers sharing digital learning at a
future School Committee meeting. Ms. Roy said that the middle schools
librarians participated in the 30 Hands training program over the summer and
have implemented coding as part of media curriculum. Some elementary
schools have implemented coding, as well as the high school Business classes.
Mrs. Mahoney asked for clarification on the Digital Library, the lessons will be on
the Staff Academy section of the Quincy Public Schools website. The site utilized
the Google search engine to filter based on search criteria. These are in-house
resources, but future exploration could include sharing outside links. Mr. Smith
said that there is a submission form for teachers to share additional resources
with the Digital Learning team for inclusion in the library.
Mrs. Lebo thanked all for the presentation and Mayor Koch for the technology
appropriation, the usage is impressive and the level of training is great to see.
The wrap-around model of Professional Development is the best way of staying
on top of this changing technology.
Mayor Koch thanked the presenters. Dr. DeCristofaro said the number of teachers
willing to share their knowledge with their co-workers was very impressive.
§
New Business
Overnight Travel
Mrs. Hubley made a motion to approve the Overnight travel of the North
Quincy/Quincy High School HYPER Robotics Team to the FIRST Robotics District
Championship in Hartford, Connecticut April 13-16, 2016. Ms. Isola seconded the
motion and on a voice vote, the ayes have it.
§
Communications
Upcoming meetings were announced: Regular Meetings on April 13, 2016 and
May 4, 2016 both at 7:00 pm at the Coddington Building; and May 18, 2016 at
Central Middle School; Subcommittee Meetings for Special Education on
Wednesday, March 23, 2016 at 6:00 pm; Teaching & Learning on Monday, March
28, 2016 at 5:00 pm; and Budget & Finance Quarterly Review on Monday, April 11
at 5:00 pm.
Mrs. Mahoney noted that Dyslexia legislation will be on the Special Education
Subcommittee meeting agenda and requested an update on the Special Education
pathways at both high schools.
§
Reports of
Subcommittees
Mrs. Hubley noted that all Subcommittee meeting minutes are posted online at
www.quincypublicschools.com.
Facilities & Security
Mrs. Hubley reviewed the Facilities & Security Subcommittee Meeting held on
March 9, 2016. Mr. Walter MacDonald and representatives from the OPM and
architect presented on the upcoming Accelerated Repair Program projects at
Merrymount Elementary School (roof) and Beechwood Knoll Elementary School
(windows, doors, roof). City Solicitor James Timmins and Mr. Tom Kerwin from
OPM Joslin Lesser presented an update on the Sterling Middle School project.
Subcommittee Meeting
Minutes Approved
As there were no corrections to the meeting minutes the March 9, 2016 Facilities
& Security Subcommittee Meeting minutes, the minutes were approved as
presented.
Mrs. Mahoney asked about a quarterly update for any facilities issues, was
concerned about a water fountain at Quincy High School. Mrs. Mahoney
suggested adding this to the next Facilities Subcommittee meeting.
Mr. DeAmicis noted that the Green Team at Quincy High School has been working
on fundraising to purchase a more efficient water fountain for the last few years.
§
Adjournment
Ms. Isola made a motion to adjourn for the evening at 8:30 p.m. The motion
was seconded by Mrs. Hubley and on a voice vote, the ayes have it.