LSAT Meeting Notes
September 11 @ 7:30 am
Attendance: Sean Dillon, VanNessa Duckett, Taeneress Griffin, Patrick Koontz, Maria Maya, Elizabeth
Nelson, Helene Payne-Chauvenet, Norah Rabiah, Cody Rice, Rebecca Sanghvi, Corrie
Schoenberg, Abby Sparrow, Shannon Von Feldon, Susan Wall, Kenyon Weaver,
Corey Schoenberg
1) Principal Payne-Chauvenet update
Principal PC shared that Maury’s big areas of focus this year include continuing work with closing the achievement gap, the modernization, and social emotional learning.
2) Presentation by Cody Rice on John Walker Maury
Cody Rice compiled information that shows that John Walker Maury, the 15th mayor of the City of Washington and Maury’s namesake, was a slaveholder, reporting five slaves including a boy and girl under 10 years old. Boone Elementary, formerly known as Orr Elementary and a DCPS school in southeast, recently changed their name once learning their namesake was also a slaveholder. The LSAT discussed considering a school name change and will look into the formal DCPS process for changing the name of a school.
3) LSAT’s role in support of social emotional learning
Principal PC shared that Maury has adopted Second Step as the social emotional learning (SEL) program. This program supports the principles of Responsive Classroom. The program takes place once a week for 30 minutes in grades K-5 and every day in the early childhood classrooms.
In the Panorama Survey administered last school year, parents, teachers and students (grades 3-5) identified “perseverance” as an area of need for students at Maury. The PTA will be providing speakers throughout the year to address this topic. The Maury Math Team will be using the work of Jo Boaler to address perseverance and goal-setting in math.
4) Academic Goals for SY18-19
The Academic Leadership Team is in the process of finalizing the academic goals. We will continue to work on closing the achievement gap between black and white students in ELA and math. The SEL goal will focus on building student perseverance.
5) Maury Village construction exposure
Kenyon Weaver shared how the SIT has been working with DGS regarding testing of water and soil in Maury Village. They have determined that hand washing is a safe and effective practice for limiting exposure to lead.