School CouncilOttoson Middle School |
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School CouncilOttoson Middle School |
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About School Councils In GeneralWhat is a School Council?Each public school in Massachusetts has a school council. The councils were created by the Education Reform Act of 1993 to provide an opportunity for parents, teachers, and community partners to share ideas and influence decisions that shape and strengthen teaching and learning in their local schools. The Role of School CouncilsThe primary role of each school council is to gather information related to the quality of teaching and learning at its school, to formulate specific ideas that can improve the teaching and the learning, and to presents these ideas to the school principal and the school committee. In this role, the council can be viewed as a conduit through which parents, teachers, and community participants can formally influence decisions affecting their school. The members of the council have the responsibility of becoming familiar with both, the budgetary constraints, and the established goals of the district. They need to work in cooperation with the school committee and the school administration. Massachusetts Department of Education has
published a handbook that explains in detail the role and
responsibilities of the councils. To view that handbook,
please click on the more button. Membership RequirementsCouncils are composed of three groups of people: (1) parents or guardians of students attending the school; (2) teachers; and (3) other persons drawn from such groups or entities as municipal government, business and labor organizations, institutions of higher education, human service agencies or other interested groups, including those from school-age child care programs. (High school councils also include student representatives.) The size and composition of each council is determined by the principal, but the law requires that the number of parents serving on a council be equal to the number of teachers (including the principal), and that the number of non-school members not exceed 50% of the entire council membership. Parent members are selected by the parents of students attending the school in elections held by the recognized parent-teacher organization (PTO). Teacher members are selected by the teachers in the school. Non-school members are recruited by the principal. Council members serve three year terms, although parents may end up with shorter terms if their children leave the school before the three years are up. The terms are staggered, so a few new members join the council each year. About Ottoson School CouncilMembership DirectoryTo access the membership directory of the
Ottoson School Council, please click on the more button. Meeting MinutesTo view meeting minutes for the
Ottoson School Council, please click on the more button. How to joinIf you would like to join the Ottoson School Council, please send a letter to the Ottoson principal stating your intention of becoming a candidate. You should also include a short political statement indicating why you are interested and what your credentials are. Such statements can then be used by the principal to prepare a ballot letter. If you are a parent/guardian, please consider joining at least three years before your last child leaves Ottoson, so you can serve a full three-year term. Elections are held at the beginning of each school year, usually at the time of the Fall Open House. Meetings are open to the publicAll School Council meetings are open to the public. The meetings are generally held the second Tuesday of each academic month (September through June) and run from 4 to 5:30 PM. They take place in the Teachers' Conference Room next to the main office. Please consult the school calendar. Council SubcommitteesIn its role of gathering information and formulating ideas related to the quality of education at Ottoson, the current Council is looking at three broad areas: academic excellence, communication, and facilities. To more easily handle these areas, the Council has created three corresponding subcommittees. The subcommittee on academic excellence looks at various issues that directly affect academic performance. Some of the primary issues are: class size, recruiting and retaining of qualified teachers, professional development, tutoring and special programs, integration of technology, administrative support, and communication among teachers. The subcommittee is reviewing relevant data and is coming up with specific suggestions and meaningful evaluation methods. The subcommittee on communications has two objectives: (1) to learn what parents/guardians, teachers, and the community think could be done to improve teaching and learning at Ottoson, and (2) to facilitate effective communication between school and home, in both directions. We believe that a good home-school communication can significantly enhance the learning environment, both at school and at home. The subcommittee on facilities understands that the physical environment can have a substantial bearing on how well students and teachers work. Most of us are accustomed to air conditioned offices and laboratories. The classrooms at Ottoson lack air conditioning. The subcommittee is collecting temperature data in selected classrooms, and interviewing affected teachers and students to get a quantitative assessment of the problem. Another recent project of the subcommittee is the installation of directional signs throughout the school building. Finally, the subcommittee is involved in an ongoing monitoring and understanding of the use of computers and other technical equipment by students and teachers. Current Activities and Prior AccomplishmentsThe primary role of the Council is to formulate school improvement ideas and to submit them to the principal and the school committee. In the spring of 2002, Arlington School Committee organized a joint meeting of all Arlington school councils to provide a broader forum for presenting their ideas, with the objective of generating a common set of district-wide goals. This year, and in the subsequent years, the Council will continue submitting improvement ideas and will participate in the periodic reviews of the district-wide goals. As a representative of parents/guardians and teachers, the Council is asked from time to time about its opinion on various issues. It has a unique advantage in that the equal representation of parents/guardians and teachers results in a balanced exchange of views on subjects affecting both parents/guardians and teachers. This produces healthy debates on budget constraints, social events, homework, MCAS, and many other important topics. Besides submitting ideas and expressing opinions, the Council undertakes various specific actions that directly affect teaching, learning, and communications at Ottoson. One of its bigger ongoing efforts is the drafting and editing of Student Handbook, Parent/Guardian Handbook, and the Faculty Handbook. Another ongoing effort is to facilitate effective channels of communications with parents/guardians, including contribution of material to OMS News and the web site, and a consistent use of Ottoson letterhead. A teacher on the Council, with Council's active participation, was instrumental in creating the S.T.A.R.S. (Students Taking Action and Responsibility for Success) program. This is an in-house suspension intervention program that places a student having difficulties in particular aspects of their school experience in a quiet, controlled environment, and provides an intermediary that can communicate with teachers, counselors, parents, and administrators. A subcommittee of the Council undertook the task of designing signs to be placed outside and inside the school building, and was fortunate to solicit the advise of Sharon Stafford, a parent volunteer and an expert in this field, who has donated an enormous amount of time to produce an excellent design. Regrettably, funding cutbacks placed the design on hold. A significant accomplishment in soliciting opinions from parents and guardians was a parent/guardian survey conducted in 2000-2001. To see the report of the results, please click on the more button below. Parent/Guardian Survey 2001To see the report on the results of the
parent/guardian survey conducted in 2000-20001, please click on the
more button. Do you have a suggestion or concern?If you have a suggestion or concern related to
the quality of teaching or learning at Ottoson, please let us
know. You can either e-mail or telephone one of the council
members. For membership directory, please click on the more button. You are also welcome to come to any of the School Council meetings. These meetings are open to the public and are held the second Tuesday of each academic month from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in the Teachers' Conference Room next to the main office. Please consult the school calendar. |
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This page was last updated on Wednesday, April 09, 2003 |
