4K and Reading-- the MMSD, as of December 9th

Happy Snow Day!!!

You guys better thank me! I handed Superintendent a check under the table at Monday night's board meeting. Am now accepting donations to reimburse.

Just kidding. Wow-- I can't remember a day before this when school was actually canceled the night in advance. It was sure nice, though, to go to bed knowing for sure there was no chance we'd have to go to school.

Since I have the day off, and since my Calc 2 homework or research on Millard Fillmore (the world's boring-est president) don't look like such a good idea, I've decided to instead write a little bit on Monday's meeting.

It was surprisingly intense! We discussed 4 year old kindergarten, and heard several day care providers from the community urging the MMSD to reconsider how much they will be reimbursed. Basically, when 4k starts next year, some of the 4 year olds will be within a MMSD school building, and others will go to a community day care center. But now the education will be free, and the district and these community providers are joining forces to make it happen.

4k is really exciting, since it provides a great opportunity for four year olds to get a head start with learning before they get to kindergarten. It's also a promising step towards eliminating the achievment gap. Right now, we're smooting out some rough edges-- deciding whether to start with all of the buildings and teachers, or whether to "phase in," starting with 1/3 or 2/3 the amount of resources, and then increase it in the next few years.

However, though there's still some negotiating to go, the 4k plan seems to be on its way. Another issue that involved a lot of intense discussion was the district's Reading Recovery Program.

Reading Recovery is a program for first grade students who are really struggling with reading. Targeted at the lowest 20% reading level students, Reading Recovery provides very intense one-on-one training every day which, when continued throughout the year, has very good national results of getting kids back on track.

However, in the last few years, RR in the MMSD has had less success than the national average (42% students finish the program versus around 60% nationally). This lead the district to worry and evaluate the program. At our meeting, we discussed schools that had experienced success with reading recoverey, and other ones that had not. The team that evaluated the program has recommended "full implementation" of reading recovery at schools with the most needy children, which would hopefully increase the success rate at those schools. However, due to limited resources, Reading Recovery can not be implemented at every school.

School Board members have expressed a desire to evaluate not only the RR program, but to take a comprehensive look at ALL of the reading programs in our district, to see which are working and which are not. Reading, as most will agree, is the single most important step to ensure students a continued successful education.

More to come! Let it snow!

Student Senate

We had an amazing Student Senate meeting last Tuesday. For those of you unfamiliar with the group, Student Senate is open to any and all MMSD high schoolers. We meet every other Tuesday to discuss student-related issues in the school district, and ways that we, as students, can get more of a say.

This year is an extremely important one for the future of students. Last year, under the leadership of the new superintendent Dan Nerad, the school board and community embarked on a process called The Strategic Plan. Though it sounds kind of technical and formal, the strategic plan is essentially the "paper copy" of all of the goals for our school district--- what we want to acheive, and how we're going to do it.

A big theme in the process last year was the achievement gap. Why it occurs, and how we can work to close it. As you can see from the mission statement (top of this webpage), closing the achievement gap and providing OUTSTANDING EDUCATION TO ALL STUDENTS is the purpose of our schools.

Sounds impossible, right? Well, the strategic plan is broken into many sections, each of which have specific goals and ways to implement them. Three of the "action" plans are: Staff to Student Relationships, Staff Retention (how we hire/keep our teachers!) and Curriculum.

At Student Senate last week, we broke into groups and read these plans, learning how the district plans to improve relationships within schools, hire qualified and diverse teachers, and provide a stimulating and contemporary curriculum. Wow, that's basically everything that determines whether or not students have a good experience at school (Yeah, okay, all that AND the caliber of the cafeteria food).

We had some really great discussions in our groups, and while we found a lot we liked in the district's plan, we also found a lot we thought could be improved. Sometimes, the language was vague and we felt the plan's goals were misaligned. The group I was in that dealt with Relationships thought that communication was the key to this goal. We feel that our schools really need to teach both students and staff how to communicate so they can better express what they need to help their instruction and learning.

We'll continue our discussion next meeting, December 8th, at 6 in the Doyle Building on Dayton Street. Anyone is welcome!

Thank you!

The election results are in. I will be serving another year as your board representative! I wish to extend a great thank you to all who voted for me. This next year I'm hoping to really up the student involvement in Student Senate and in front of the board. If you're interested, message me on Facebook, join the Madison Student Senate group, or come to one of our meetings on Tuesday nights. 

Good luck to everyone on finals and congratulations to our graduating seniors.

-sarah

Vote Sarah Maslin for Student Liaison

On November 1^st, 2008, Madison high school students joined forces to rally for support of November 4^ths referendum vote. Holding brightly painted signs and shouting “Save our Schools--- Vote Yes!” the enthusiastic group of students drew a crowd, including newspaper and television reporters. More importantly, the student-led campaign contributed to the success of the 13 million dollar referendum, which passed with a 68% yes vote.

As your 2008-2009 Student Liaison to the Board of Education, I organized the student referendum campaign. I attended dozens of board meetings, planned the student rally, and arrived at 6 AM to Capitol Square ready to persuade citizens. The success of the referendum, which saved our schools from millions of dollars of budget cuts, was the most important project I took part in—but only one of many.

I attend board of education meetings every week, sometimes twice a week, which are known to last up to five hours. I’ve created an online forum where I post board activities and events, for students to comment on and approach me with questions and concerns. As a leader of student senate, I’m working on a policy change to expand involvement in district wide student government.

However many achievements I list off, my message is simple. Madison’s support of the referendum proves how dedicated our district is to providing all students with an exceptional free public education. I strive to bring that same dedication to the Board and to this campaign. As your 2009-10 student representative, I will continue to put my time, my energy and my heart into fighting for you on the board. I promise to respond to student questions and concerns, and always put you first when making decisions: because, after all, school is for the students.

 

Student Senate Elections

A chance for all students to exercise their right for democracy! The elections for the student liaison and alternate to the board of education are coming up soon. 

What can you do?

• Run for one of the two positions: talk to your SLC principal or guidance counselor for information and candidate packets, or attend a student senate meeting-- you don't have to already be a member!

-Tuesday, March 17th, 6 PM at Doyle Administration Building: next student senate meeting

-Friday, April 30th, candidate packets due to Assistant Superintendent's office by 4 PM

• Vote in the election, which will be held the week of May 13th

School Board News, March 2

Hey, students! In case you weren’t aware, you have a high school representative on the MMSD Board of Education. My name is Sarah Maslin, I’m a junior at West High, and I attend the board meetings with an advisory vote to represent the voice of the students of Madison.

In the past couple months, under the leadership of our new superintendent Daniel Nerad, the school board has collaborated with teachers, students and community members in an exciting process called “Strategic Planning”. The mission of the process is to realign the goals and procedures of the district to achieve success for our students.

The board also recently renewed the contract for our district’s dual language immersion charter school. Congrats Nuestro Mundo for another five years! After this huge success, the district is starting to plan for dual immersion programs within other MMSD elementary and middle schools.

The administration is beginning to plan the future of 4-year-old kindergarten in the MMSD. Though still in the very early stages of planning, MMSD staff, Madison day care providers and community members are excited to embark on this process. Our goal? Providing all young children with the early childhood education to prepare them with the knowledge and skills needed to enter kindergarten.

My job as student liaison to the school board is to speak for the students. In order to do my job, I need your help! Visit my blog at http://studentsofmadison.blogspot.com to read about hot topics on the board, as well as to ask questions or make comments about your school or the district. Come to student senate on Tuesday nights at 6 at the Doyle building—it’s a great way to make friends, get volunteer hours and get involved!

Upcoming Student Senate Meetings

The informational meeting for the student senate election will be held on:

Tuesday, March 3, 2009 at 5:30 p.m. in room 103 of the Doyle Building (this meeting is prior to the next student senate meeting).

Also:  joint meeting with MSAN and the Asian American Association on Wednesday, March 11, 2009 from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. at Doyle in the Auditorium.

Student Senate

What can YOU do to get involved?

Students complain every day about nearly every aspect of high school: their classes and schedules, the food policy, what's unfair and unjust. Instead of complaining: do something about it! You could be a part of a huge effort to increase student involvement in the MMSD. 

Student Senate is in the process of restructuring the role of students in our district. Our goal is for every school to have an operating student council, which communicates with Student Senate: kind of like a Student Council, but with members from all of Madison's High schools. Student Senate will serve as a forum for students to express their opinions and concerns, which will be discussed and presented to the school board. 

Student Senate is a great opportunity to get involved in your school district and your community, as well as a hot item for a college resume. Plus, with fun people and pizza and soda at every meeting, it's a blast. 

Everyone's invited. We meet every other tuesday, for an hour and a half. It's a small commitment to make a big difference.

Check it Out, CLICK HERE!

Happy Second Semester!

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all did well on your final exams, and have had a good start to the second semester. The school board has been busy, as usual lately. Here's some of the hot topics:

• the 5 year charter for our district's bilingual school, Nuestro Mundo, was renewed at last Monday's meeting. Hurray for 5 more years of this amazing opportunity for young children to learn in both English and Spanish.

• the Superintendent, in collaboration with the board, district staff and community day care providers, are beginning to look into starting a 4-K program in the MMSD. This would provide an early education to four year olds, to supply them with the skills and knowledge needed to enter kindergarten. 

• The board submitted a request for a waiver for some of the time missed during the snow days in December and January. I'll post updates on the result of this waiver, as well as any changes in the school calendar or bell schedules.

• Community members from all over came together on January 29-31st to begin the Strategic Planning Process. The goal of the process is to realign the mission of the school board, targeted at student achievement and preparation for life outside of school. Check out the new mission!