Attending:  Lauren Poster – chair, Andy Reichsman – vice chair, Gussie Bartlett – Sec’y, Francie Marbury – Principal, Steven John.  Members of the public: Julianne Mills, Jen Carr, Cathy Pell.

The meeting was called to order at 6:15 pm.

We had a discussion with the Meetinghouse staff about the future of pre-school in Marlboro.  It is a likelihood that Meetinghouse will not continue next year.  The numbers and research conducted by the Meetinghouse staff seem to suggest that at this time a Marlboro pre-school is not viable, even if housed at MES.

Cathy Pell and Julianne Mills left at 6:50pm.

We discussed the report from the WCSU Governance Committee, which brings up the idea of disbanding local School Boards, creating a unified School Board across the SU’s districts. A number of plusses and minuses were brought up by Steven and Lauren.

We reviewed the minutes of 1/11/09.  Lauren moved that we approve them as updated.  Gussie seconded the motion.   The motion passed.

We reviewed the minutes of 1/28/10.  Lauren moved that we approve them as updated.  Gussie seconded the motion.   The motion passed.

We reviewed the minutes of 2/2/10.  Gussie moved that we approve them as submitted.  Lauren seconded the motion.   The motion passed.

Gussie is going to send out letters to current tuition-paying students, informing them of the increase in tuition as voted on in the January meeting.

Lauren moved that we allow a preschooler to ride the bus with their Junior High sibling to attend Meetinghouse School, contingent on receiving a waver from the parents holding Marlboro harmless from any liability.

We adopted Policy F5 Student Records.

Lauren moved that we approve Policy E9 Comprehensive HIV Policy. Gussie seconded the motion.  The motion passed.  It will be posted and adopted at the next meeting.

Lauren moved that we approve Policy F27 Pupil Privacy Rights: Student Surveys. Gussie seconded the motion.  The motion passed.  It will be posted and adopted at the next meeting.

The meeting adjourned at 9:03 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Andy Reichsman

Pay Orders:                         #15            1/15/19            $  49,694.06

#16            1/29/10            $  47,000.57

Next meetings:

Our Guiding Principles:

Students’ will be at the center of our decision-making

We will keep to the agenda.

The chair will estimate the amount of time necessary for each item

and act as timekeeper during the meeting.

Every voice is heard as discussion goes back and forth.

Decisions will not be made hastily.

We will ask ourselves, “What other information do we need

in order to make a thoughtful decision?”

Decisions/discussion will be recapped before moving on to a new item.

Items requiring action will be identified and we will note who is responsible for each action item.

Follow through will occur before the next meeting.

We will use e-mail judiciously to communicate between meetings.

Implementation Guidelines:

Meetings will be held on the second Monday of each month with the fourth Monday

kept in reserve, if an additional meeting is needed.

The chair will send out the agenda the Thursday before the meeting.

The meetings will start at 6 pm and go no later than 9 pm

Marlboro School Board

Principal’s Report

Monday, February 8, 2010

Student Learning

NECAP scores – see Principal’s Report to Town below

Winter Workshops and Workshop Showcase

Professional Development

School Reform Initiative conference, Jan14-16

Courage and Renewal for School Leaders, Feb 5-6

MES development of continuum re writing expectations

Margaret Maclean here March 15, April 16

Policy or Regulation Implementation

F27, E9  approve

F5 adopt

Preschooler on bus

Buildings and Grounds

Applying for round 2 of Energy Efficiency Grant

Kitchen upgrade (summer work)

Finance/Accounting

Enrollment/Staffing

Student enrollment – 86

New student in Primary (next year’s enrollment will be 24)

Informational items

Articles presented by Steven and Gussie

My report to town

MARLBORO SCHOOL PRINCIPAL’S

2009 ANNUAL REPORT

Marlboro School District enrollment as of January 15, 2010:

Kindergarten    9             1^st Grade    12      3^rd Grade    10        5^th Grade     5       7^th Grade    9

2^nd Grade   8                4^th Grade     12        6^th Grade     11     8^th Grade    6

High School students:

9^th Grade   9              10^th Grade   10        11^th Grade   10                   12^th Grade   11       Ungraded   3

Marlboro Realms of Learning

Communication

Problem Solving

Personal Development

Civic and Social Responsibility

Knowledge

The state of MES is good.  In the past year our student numbers have held steady when many schools are experiencing a decline in enrollment.  Despite challenging financial times, we have been able to offer a strong and varied program focused on developing the Realms of Learning listed above.

Because we have a talented and dedicated teaching staff, because we are small, because we have a well-informed and supportive school board, and because we have a community that takes pride in its school and volunteers many hours of help, we are able to meet the needs of students with flexibility and creativity.  Last spring, when it became evident that the 3^rd-4^th grade would be quite large, Emma Hallowell was hired as a co-teacher for one year.  This allows for more small group and individualized instruction as well as the opportunity to expose students to the passion and enthusiasm of this fine young teacher.

Elissa Maclean has joined us as the Spanish teacher and we have been able to expand Spanish instruction to the youngest students.  This makes a great deal of sense based on what we know about young children’s ability to learn languages.  Elissa brings both a great deal of teaching experience and a desire to continually improve her instruction.  She is using an approach know as TPRS, which involves students in generating stories with specific vocabulary and working with these stories in a variety of ways that require listening, speaking, reading, and writing.  Our current Junior High will be well prepared for their field research in Costa Rica this spring.

Last year the Hogback Conservation Committee reached out to MES to explore ways to use the Hogback property as an educational resource and to nurture our students’ sense of stewardship for the environment and especially for this special piece of land.  In June, the entire school spent a day exploring Hogback with the generous help of talented community members who led activities such as cellar hole exploration, trail building, kite flying, tracking, and poetry.  As the teachers have become more familiar with the area and the many resources available, they are incorporating Hogback studies in their curriculums.  Many thanks to Bob and Nancy Anderson and Carol Berner for making this happen.

Another focus this year is on creating a culture of kindness through the development of social and civic responsibility.  We have worked with Kim John Payne, a consultant whose “social inclusion” approach has helped us to implement new strategies for positive behavior as well as reviewing and refining what we have found to be successful.  Parents are an integral part of this work as they have expressed concerns about teasing and put-downs and are reinforcing the work being done at school in their homes.

We also know that when children have useful, authentic work and when they have the opportunity to help others in a way that makes a difference for their community, they have a sense of purpose for their schoolwork and they feel better about themselves and treat each other better, too.  Here are some highlights from the classes.

Last Town Meeting the Junior High brought a proposal for writing a grant for photovoltaic panels.  They received the grant and Gary MacArthur installed the panels over the summer.  These same students took their concern for green power to Washington, D.C. in May, speaking with Representative Peter Welch and staging a small demonstration on the Mall.  This year they are working with students from Marlboro College to learn about the ecosystems at Hogback.  They are also visiting area nursing homes where they interview residents, including Marlboro homeowner Fran Nevins, and recognize the rich stories each of these elders has.

The 5^th/6^th grade continues their community history project having now interviewed over forty citizens of Marlboro about work in our town.  These interviews will be archived at the Marlboro Historical Society.  Cape Cod was the destination for this year’s field research and parents, school board members, and teachers were impressed with the high quality of the students’ reports afterwards.  At this writing they are studying light, a unit which engages them in the scientific process as they make hypotheses and design experiments to test them, and creating shadow puppet plays of myths, which our new art teacher, Linda Whelihan, is helping with.

The 3^rd/4^th grade is studying the waste system and surveyed the school to find out where our recycling program was not up to snuff.  They then wrote a proposal to rectify the situation and presented it to me.  They are also visiting Hogback regularly.  Each student has adopted a tree and is learning about it from all angles – painting and writing a poem, as well as learning botanical characteristics.

The Primary class organized a food drive to resupply the Deerfield Valley Food Pantry shelves.  They are also studying about birds and flight and have visited Hogback to take a birding walk with Marlboro resident, Bob Engel.  This time of year is especially exciting for the youngest Primary students as their reading is improving by leaps and bounds.  If you stop by school, we’ll find a student to read a book to you!

The kindergarten provides many opportunities for all of us to help them become happy and contributing members of the school community.  Older students come down as interns and helpers.  Now these youngest students are in the midst of studying the human body.  By creating bodies with all the important systems, playing in the fantasy area set up as a hospital, and reading and discussing books, they are developing quite an in-depth knowledge of the body.  Just ask the Junior High students what they remember from this study!

As we move into the second half of the year, we are pleased to be making progress on our Action Plans goals of 1) improving math learning (see Test Scores) and 2) supporting our learning as educators and 3) improving instruction in writing by participating in a Critical Friends Group where we learn from sharing our collective expertise.

We invite you to stop by and see us in action.  Friday morning All School Sing is a great time to visit.

MARLBORO SCHOOL TEST SCORES

Below are the 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 results from the NECAP (New England Common Assessment Program), a standardized assessment which measures student learning in reading, writing, and math.  Students in 3^rd-8^th grade take these tests every October.  In October, 2009 fifty-four students participated in the assessment.  Writing scores were not available as of this writing.  The improvement in math scores is notable.

Our second graders take the Developmental Reading Assessment in May.  The number of students taking the test is too small to allow for confidential reporting of school achievement.  Individual student scores are available to parents in the office.

We are required by law to report these scores as a measure of how well our students are doing.  We invite you to attend other demonstrations of student learning that are held throughout the year.

NECAP Reading

	Level 4 Proficient with distinction	Level 3 Proficient	Level 2 Partially proficient	Level 1 Substantially below proficient
2006	25%	59%	15%	15%
2007	15%	62%	9%	15%
2008	12%	58%	12%	17%
2009	15%	59%	15%	11%

NECAP Math

	Level 4 Proficient with distinction	Level 3 Proficient	Level 2 Partially proficient	Level 1 Substantially below proficient
2006	16%	43%	23%	18%
2007	23%	51%	16%	9%
2008	17%	38%	23%	21%
2009	21%	50%	10%	19%

NECAP Writing

	Level 1 Substantially below proficient	Level 3 Proficient	Level 2 Partially proficient	Level 1 Substantially below proficient
2007	12%	44%	19%	25%
2008	19%	31%	19%	31%

Superintendent’s Report for the Marlboro School Board

Monday, February 8, 2010

Note: I am obliged to attend the Townshend Board Meeting as soon after 7 P.M. as possible.

Student/Staff Learning

1. On January 28th, the WCSU Admin. Team met at Dover’s school all day.  We appreciate the welcoming staff and excellent facilities.  I hope Francie will share copies of the article by Dr. Yong Zhao that was the focus of our professional learning community (PLC) practice.
2. Commissioner Vilaseca released student performance results on New England Comprehensive Assessment Program (NECAP) exams taken last fall.  I heard his interview on VPR that day which may be available to download.  You may review these statistical summaries by school on the VT DOE website.
3. Francie may provide the Board with some preliminary findings for Marlboro’s students.  My compliments to you and your principal, staff and parents for supporting your students’ learning and achievement.

Policy/Regulation

1. Please take action on policies F27: Pupil Privacy Rights – Student Surveys, and G13 as you deem appropriate.  These are the only two mandatory policies that remain to be adopted for Marlboro.  (Gussie may have the latest information to correct me on this.)
2. I assume you completed this task, but a reminder just in case: Each school board, administrator, and certified office staff member will complete the WCSU Superintendent Evaluation form.  All evaluations must be returned to Rich Werner by Feb.1, 2010.
3. On January 2^7th, The WCSU Governance Committee recommended a “voluntary” K-12 unified union school district to the WCSU Board.  Please review the committee’s report as previously emailed to all board members.  My compliments to Allison Trowbridge, a member of the Windham School Board, on her summary of the Committee’s work.  Thank your Gussie for your dedicated work on this committee. The Board’s discussion was lively and engaging with Lauren and Gussie ably representing your district’s views.  The Reformer published an article 1/29/10 on the meeting and draft minutes will soon be available.  Rich Werner will appoint a new ad hoc committee including representation of all the WCSU school districts to further consider the issues raised by this proposal.
4. Pertaining to the issue of WCSU governance, the following bill is being considered: S.252 An act relating to creating regional school districts and no more than 16 supervisory unions

Introduced by Senator Hartwell

Statement of purpose: This bill proposes to replace existing supervisory unions with no more than 16 supervisory unions to be established by the commissioner of education and to require the merger of existing school districts into larger regional districts. It would require the commissioner to develop a governance structure for the supervisory unions and regional school districts.

5.   As all WCSU schools now have school-wide Title I programs, each principal must report to parents the percentage of classes taught by highly qualified teachers (HQT).  I am pleased to report that with the exception of L&G (90+%) all WCSU schools meet 100% HQT status.  L&G’s lower rating is entirely due to offering Chinese classes.  While I have some concerns regarding HQT requirements, my administration will continue to make every effort to see that all our teachers meet the HQT standards.

Finance/Accounting/Operations

Let Frank and me know if you need any additional information as you prepare for your Marlboro School District Annual Meeting on Tuesday, March 2, 2010.

Enrollment/Staffing

1. I am pleased to note that Marlboro students are now listed by name and grade level in PowerSchool.  Thank you Gail.  This will improve my state reporting capability and accuracy.
2. Every school in the WCSU is reducing staff to some degree for FY11.

Informational Items

1. The new governance WCSU ad hoc Committee tentatively meets at the WCSU Office on Wed., Feb. 10 at 7 P.M.
2. The first and historic Brookline-Newfane Joint School District Annual Meeting will vote on the FY11 Budget at the Newbrook Firehouse on Tues., Feb. 16 at 7 P.M.
3. I will attend the Moderators’ Town Meeting Warm-up in Montpelier on Wed., February 17^th.
4. WCSU In-service Day for all teachers at Leland and Gray on March 1^st.
5. WCSU Board Meeting on Wed., March 31 at 7 P.M.