Parent Advisory Council Meeting 1/21/06

Present: Walt Warner, David Haines, Alice Chartrand, Sylvia Lowry, David Zellinger, Midge Vreeland, Paul Meyer, Wenda Hunter, Betsy John, Erica Judd

Here are the topics we discussed:

1. Quality and Availability of Medical Services/Health Care at the MSSM

• The contract the school has had in past years was expensive and did not provide good coverage, so Mr. Warner terminated that; the school still has priority status at the local health center.
• Since mid-November, the school nurse (Meg Robinson, RN) has lived close to the school (on Trafton St., which is considered “on campus”) and has been on call 24/7.
• She lives in a duplex, one half of which is the health center, the other half is where she and Chef Tom and their children live.
• Our school counselor (Penny Sidiqui, MSW) is also on call 24/7, and her services have already been put to good use at night by depressed students.
• We went over specific concerns stemming from a few parents’ experiences, and Mr. Warner provided his perspective and his plans including:
• need for voice mail for nurse in case on other line or cell not working
• Round-the-clock coverage
• Greater accessibility of the school nurse
• Greater choices for medical services outside the school
• a pediatrician is reviewing policies and all daily meds.
• Daily meds are given by RI's under supervision of nurse
• Acute pain meds given by nurse who is on call for this
• Meg's hours at the dorm are 7-10 m-f
• the health center is the infirmary (it's not where they routinely see the nurse, nor do they see a doctor there)
• A full health and wellness curriculum (including mental health) for all students as part of their residential life experience
• mini-seminars for the students on appropriate health issues, presented by nurse Meg
• Parents are encouraged to help their student contact the school nurse directly (day or night) if they call home with with illness or pain.

2. Residential Life

• Two new Residential Interns have been hired, and both are doing very well: Lorrissa Powers (sp?) is new on the girls’ wing, and Josh Duclose (sp?) is new on B-wing.
• Training sessions for RI’s which have or will include a wide range of aspects of their jobs, from CPR to how to manage being both classroom and dorm mentors
• RIR17;s have already completed CPR training.
• Workshops for RI’s with Mrs. Sidiqui for training re identifying warning signals of depression, drug/alcohol use, suicidal tendencies, etc.
• Mr. Warner is working with staff and students to come up with a solution to what he sees as unhealthy lifestyle choices, particularly sleep habits, of some MSSM students
• Publications have been ordered for the purpose of students’ research regarding what events are happening around the state and beyond, so they can plan weekend activities

3. Academic Programs

• parents expressed a desire for MSSM to offer higher level foreign language courses.
• Mr. Warner is working with the adjunct language teachers now with a goal of introducing AP levels for the fall, hopefully.
• In addition, language teachers will be interviewed at an upcoming job fair in Boston
• The art teacher is to offer 3 arts consistently, regardless of cost for the respective course, definite for the fall semester (noted photography, woodcarving, portfolio)
• We expressed a commitment to high quality of instruction.
• We were very pleased to hear that Mr. Corrigan is back on a part time basis and has committed to being there in the fall as well.
• Mr. Warner is in conversation with some other outstanding past-MSSM faculty about teaching again at the school; no refusals yet!

4. Budget and Enrollment Concerns

• We expressed our wishes that admissions standards not be compromised in favor of economic needs:
• (even though each student costs more than we pay, the State has made it clear that they expect increased enrollment; admissions figure does have economic impact)
• Mr. Warner has observed that such a compromise does not work anyway since students who are not able to meet academic demands are soon gone
• the school took a chance accepting some who might be at risk, of whom some have actually done well,and visa versa, others unexpectedly have had trouble.
• For this school year, had budgeted for 110 students and started with 105 including 45 returning from the previous year.
• Goal for next year is 120 students.
• Interest, applications, attendance at open houses are all increased significantly over last year.
• a parent suggested that extra recruitment efforts, including faculty efforts, be made to attract especially outstanding students.

5. Parent letters of appeal to Legislators

• Ready to go ahead with the form letter we had prepared.
• Linda McLaughlin will send them out to all parents.
• (Later, at the meeting of the board of trustees, we were encouraged to wait for the outcome of the upcoming meeting with John Martin and others in early February)

6. Communication with the School

• Systems are antiquated. Mr. Warner does not receive all of his emails nor all of his voice mail messages.
• I requested that the main phone number include instructions on reaching a live person after office hours. (Mr. Warner has asked staff to do this.)
• One parent requested that the school nurse have a second phone line to increase accessibility. Mr. Warner said he would look into it.
• Also requested voice mail on her phone in case the second line or her cell are not available when parents need to reach her.
• Mr. Warner will ask Meg to create a sheet for parents/students of emergency contact #'s and procedures.

Important information for parents from the 1/21/06 board meeting:

• There will be a room and board increase next year to close some of the gap between what it costs the school per student and what we pay. We will still not be paying the full cost, but we will be paying $100 more per month. There is assistance available for families who need it! The state law provides for reimbursement of the difference, and the school is asking for those funds, so stay tuned for the results.
• The school will be starting a “pre-self study” in preparation for possibly requesting accreditation by the NEASC. Because the process of accreditation is long and involved, this will provide some benefits of the process prior to the official commencement of the time period allowed (about 18 months?).
• Finally, if you pay the school with a credit card, you will begin to be charged the fees associated with that (3%?). If you are one of the parents who is using their credit card because the business manager didn’t have the ability to take payment by ACH, do not despair. That is being investigated, and you will be given opportunity to make alternative payment plans before being charged any fees.

All the best,
Sylvia Lowry