THE BOARD COMMUNICATOR

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.
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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.
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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