THE BOARD COMMUNICATOR The Board Communicator is published following Board of Trustees meeting to inform the community of Board actions By Josiane Gaveh, Head of School Office Members Present: Laura Coughlin, Africanus Mensah, Olusola Ogundimu, Rick Petersen, Maurice Shines, Eva Turteltaub-Cavanna, Paul Weedon, Alberto Wilde. Apologies: Alhassan Andani. In attendance: HoS Dennis Larkin, ES Principal Julie Olson, MS Principal Megan Maher, HS Principal Geoff Smith, IB Program Coordinator/HS Assistant Principal Jeff Eller, College Counselor Heather Duffy Stone, Director of Advancement Cynthia Davis Hall, Director of Educational Programs Rebecca Caudill, Director of Finance Michael Tetteh-Achim, Director of Human Resource Louisa Mensah-Baah, PTO President Ghida Eid. The regular scheduled meeting of the Board of Trustees took place on Tuesday evening September 2, 2014. The following information below provides a summary of the meeting. Community updates by PTO President, Ghida Eid. • The PTO Coffee morning has been renamed "Your PTO Breakfast Forum” to reflect increased emphasis on conversations between parents on subjects that are of interest to them. • PTO was involved in the LCS picnic on August 30 by selling beverages and baked goods. Over GHc 3,800 was raised. • Teacher Robyn Harwood and Heena Vaswani will be representing respectively the Elementary School and the Middle and Secondary Schools on the PTO Executive Committee. • Upcoming activities: the PTO Bazaar on November 14. Parent volunteers are being sought to join the Bazaar organizing committee and run the Bazaar. Old Business Purchase of land for LCS new campus: The Board President informed the Board that the school has terminated a memorandum of understanding regarding a parcel of land. This decision was taken as a result of the government notifying the school that the land was not available. Board president announced the Board of Trustees will no longer pursue the acquisition of land for the construction of the new campus. The Board will focus on working with the architectural firm of NelsonH2L2 to create a master facilities plan to re-develop the current campus. The principal architects will visit LCS the week of September 23 to being this process with the school and community. New Business Board goals, Board Officers and the structure of Committees, and the Board meeting calendar were approved. Please refer to page 3 to view. LCS Board - Vote by email - Supplemental fee The resolution on the supplemental invoice was approved by the Board by email voting on August 25, 2014. The Director of Finance stated that the invoices were being prepared individually for each case and would be sent to parents on Wednesday September 3. Educational program update IB results and analysis by Jeff Eller, IB Diploma Program Coordinator, HS Principal Geoff Smith and College Counselor Heather Duffy Stone. The results of the class of 2014 set a number of high marks for LCS and is a tribute to the hard work of the students and the preparation and guidance provided by the teachers. The following impressive facts were shared with the Board: • 28 students out of 51 took the full IB Diploma exam, representing 55% of graduating students. • The pass rate for students receiving the IB Diploma was 93% this year; 25 students out of 28 earned the IB diploma. • With 24 points needed to pass out of 45 available, the highest score was 40. • LCS student were particularly strong in the areas of Theory of Knowledge and Extended Essay for which there is a full allocation of three points. Compared to the worldwide average of 3 % of the students who achieve full points, 25 % of LCS students earned full points for their TOK and Extended essays is truly an outstanding performance. • The maximum scores in several subjects, including in science, were obtained 13 times, another first for LCS. • LCS students, over the past four years, have now achieved the maximum scores in all of the subject disciplines. • Strong guidance from teachers with IB experience -some of which are IB examiners, improved articulation between the MYP and the DP programs and an analysis of the exam papers by the students, thus enabling teachers to improve preparation of students for the external exam are some of the factors explaining the LCS’ students’ ascending performance. Academic Programs Overview 2014-15 by Director of Educational Programs Rebecca Caudill • The processes for curriculum review and development are an important part of continuous school improvement at LCS. These processes fall into three main categories: i. evaluation of the current curriculum, ii. recommendations for further development, improvement and alignment and iii. Implementation of the recommendations for the improvement of the curriculum. • The review process takes two academic years and is completed by teachers and administrators and is reviewed by the Educational Leadership Team. 1 Once approved by the Board, the minutes of the meeting are available via email on request in the office of the Head of School. • • • Review of the PYP, MYP and DP programs of the Mathematics curriculum began last year and will be completed this school year; it will include the development of additional courses for grades 11 and 12, implementation of standards in grades 6-8 and the development of standards for grades 9-10. The review process for the Visual Arts program will begin this school year. The Middle Years Program is introducing a significant revision to the framework previously in place. The new framework is titled The Next Chapter. Detailed professional development and implementation plans to meet the MYP Next Chapter standards by January 2017 have been developed. Recommendations contained in the School Improvement Plan (SIP) will be used in guiding the process. Teacher leaders in each grade and subject area are being designated to take the lead in conducting the review. The next Board meeting will be held November 18, 2014 at the Middle School Library at 6.30pm. 2 Once approved by the Board, the minutes of the meeting are available via email on request in the office of the Head of School. BOARD GOALS, BOARD OFFICERS, COMMITTEE STRUCTURE AND MEMBERSHIP AND BOARD CALENDAR FOR 2014-15 SCHOOL YEAR 1- Board of Trustees Goals - 2014-15 a. b. c. d. e. Develop a 2020 strategic plan that consolidates and measures the LCS vision and school improvement plan. This two-year goal entails during 2014-2015 to develop and agree to Key Performance Indicators, targets and monitoring/evaluation process for current vision, and to develop a roadmap for the long term (2020) strategy. Adopt a master facilities plan linked to agreed optimal school size and long term financial plan. Achieve effective financial planning that contemplates short, mid and long term development of the school. Develop and institute a process to recruit, cultivate and nurture board of trustees’ candidates. Recruit and appoint a new head of school for the 2016-17 school year. 2- Board Officers - 2014-15 President: Eva Turteltaub-Cavanna Vice President: Paul Weedon Treasurer: Alberto Wilde Secretary: Rick Petersen 3- Board Committee Structure and Membership - 2014-15 Advancement Committee Chair: Paul Weedon Members: Eva Turteltaub-Cavanna, Andani Al Hassan, Cynthia Davis Hall Executive Committee Chair: Eva Turteltaub-Cavanna Members: Rick Petersen, Laura Coughlin, Paul Weedon Facilities Ad Hoc Task Force Chair: Africanus Mensah Members: Eva Turteltaub-Cavanna, Alberto Wilde, Olusola Ogundimu, Rick Petersen, Laura Coughlin Finance Committee Chair: Alberto Wilde Members: Eva Turteltaub-Cavanna, Africanus Mensah, Andani Al Hassan, Michael Tetteh-Achim. Others: Sharon Fisher Trusteeship Committee Chair: Olusola Ogundimu Members: Eva Turteltaub-Cavanna Others: William Olmstead 4- Board Meeting calendar: Board Meeting and Parent Dates - 2014-15 Parent meetings: o Parents’ Semester Meeting: November 24, 2014 o Parents-Teachers’ Organization Annual General Meeting: May 19, 2015 Board meeting dates o September 02, 2014 o November 18, 2014 o January 20, 2015 o March 31, 2015 o May 26, 2015