Curriculum Council Meeting Minutes October 28, 2008

Meeting began at 7:03 pm

In Attendance:
• Michael Parent • Penny Mascarelli
• Brian Palumbo • Andrew Schmidt
• Ryanne Foley • Mike Weber
• Dan McCabe • Andy Hoffman
• Joe Materia • Anna Collard
• Kathy Maynes • Scott Wisniewski
• Genny DiTrani • Carol McDonough
• Rich Chiandusse • Tom Montuori
• Liza Frangiosa • Jolie Kurz
• Cari Koblitz • Meredith Glaser

Outline of Curriculum Council

• Mrs. Maynes and Ms. DiTrani proposed the following changes to the council outline:
• Fix spelling errors in philosophy section
• Contingencies for course initiation that will allow the faculty who would like to propose new courses
with a better idea of how long a course proposal could or should sit in the council.
• Council members agreed, with the incorporation of the proposed changes, that the structure and design of the
council was acceptable.
• Mr. Parent will make the changes to the council outline and submit to the members on November 11.

Review of NJ High School Redesign Final Report

• Several council members commented on the state's presentation. The state could not give definitive answers
about special education testing, state-curriculum, or what happens if students can not pass the proposed exit
exams.
• Mr. Parent reviewed the state's NJ STEPS final report. Some aspects such as the state's timelines for exit
exams were reviewed.

Sub Committee Discussion and Selections

Mr. Parent proposed the creation of four sub-committees so that the council could tackle more than one proposal and
so that the members could take an active role in the development and discussions of curriculum changes, edits, and
deletions.

Specifically, Mr. Parent lead a discussion on the following proposals and sub-committees were designed. The proposed
courses are not anticipated for implementation until the 2010-2011 school year. Members chose their sub-committee
memberships.

• Financial Literacy: to study and design an Economics/Financial Literacy course (2.5 credits minimum) as
directed by the state of NJ
• Sub-Committee Members: Hoffman, Montuori, Palumbo, Weber, Wisniewski
• Freshman Seminar: to study and propose to the council a 5 credit course for all freshmen students. The
seminar course may focus on writing, technology, humanities, research, or other ideas.
• Sub-Committee Members: McDonough, Glaser, McCabe, Maynes, Foley
• Option Two: to study and propose to the council Senior credit-options that will allow credit earning for non-
traditional courses.
• Sub-Committee Members: Kurz, Foley, Parent, Materia, Mascarelli
• Pathways: to study Mr. Parent's proposal to organize courses into four pathways within our school. Proposed
pathways were discussed (Business, Industry and Technology; Science, Math, and Engineering; Arts &
Humanities; Liberal Arts)
• Sub-Committee Members: Chiandusse, Frangiosa, Collard, Schmidt, Koblitz
The sub-committees will work independent of each other but report their progress to the council when requested.

Future Meeting Times

Mr. Parent proposed that all future meeting dates be kept as scheduled, but that each sub-committee would elect the
time for future meetings. The sub-committees will convene on November 11.
Meeting concluded at 8:25 pm