The SWS LSAT & Advisory Team met on October 5th for a productive meeting. Highlights of that meeting follow:
- Principal Burst is working on SWS’s achievement goals for this academic year. He will present them to the Chancellor on Monday, November 2nd. Last year, the school met four out of five goals and only narrowly missed on the fifth.
- We are still waiting on DCPS to complete promised security improvements to the building, including locks and other updates. The LSAT will send a letter to DCPS staff responsible and request a meeting for follow-up.
- We are also waiting on updates on the HVAC project, and will send a similar letter and meeting request.
- Our communications committee has prepared a new school website and selected an electronic directory and communications platform to pilot over the next few months. Look for more updates soon!
- Finally, we had an involved and occasionally challenging discussion on diversity in the school. We talked about experiences and concerns of our families and our children, and about opportunities to collaborate on a supportive, positive, and inclusive culture. We came up with several:
- Our Recruitment Committee has plans to promote the school to a more diverse community as part of the lottery process, and to draw on a wider pool of applicants during the faculty hiring process. If you’re interested in supporting this work, please contact one of our Recruitment Committee co-chairs by email: Caroline Alder Pierson, Tanya Talbert, or Kashawna Watson.
- A group of teachers and parents will convene several times over the coming months to work on the issue. Some preliminary ideas are covered in the attached minutes, but we welcome all participants. The endeavor may well turn into a committee of its own. If you’re interested in joining in, please email me directly and watch for proposed meeting dates to circulate in the next few days.
The next LSAT & Advisory Team meeting will be Monday, November 2nd, 5:30 – 7:30 pm.
— Dave Stevenson, LSAT Chair