2008 World Cafe Reading

Reading World Cafe community conversation took place on February 27th, 2008 at the RMHS Field House. Organized by citizens and community leaders, and supported by a wide array of local organizations and businesses, this event was open to anyone who lived or worked in Reading. Discussions covered the following:

What Can Reading Also Be?
What do we want for the future of our town?
What dreams, opportunities and dilemmas are present?
What steps can we start to take to get what we collectively want?

Following simple guidelines, participants were invited to discuss key questions in small groups, share insights and perspectives, and discover what is commonly believed, desired and valued by our community. Emerging ideas were harvested from the discussion, identifying dreams, opportunities, dilemmas and the next steps for getting what is collectively desired.

Reading Dashboard

School administrators and parents in Reading, Massachusetts are doing something proactive about the pressure to do more with less. In July, 2003, a small team of parents with strong backgrounds in business management, consulting, and information technologies (IT) came together with the Associate Superintendent of Schools to create a tool that would measure the return on investment (ROI) of their town's greatest asset, its school system. More...

Or link directly to ReadingDashboard.org

Enrichment

Do you know what enrichment is? Do you know how enrichment enhances your child's learning? Did you know that enrichment is fully funded by the PTO's. Enrichment rounds out your child's educational experience in Elementary and Middle school. Enrichment activities are designed to ground traditional classroom learning with hands on experiences, and have included field trips, guest speakers, resident artists, musical performances, readings, dramatic activities, instillations and other forms of curriculum enhancement. The enrichment coordinators in each of the schools (there is not one at the high school) are FULL-TIME volunteers. Roberta McRae, the enrichment coordinator at Birch Meadow, came to our last PEP meeting and gave us an informative overview of enrichment and its importance in education. See Roberta's letter for details on this important topic!

The enrichment coordinators in each of the schools are:

Leslie Haley - rhaley4@comcast.net (Barrows School)
Liz Krugman - jonkrugman@prodigy.net (Joshua Eaton School)
Katherine McKie - katherinemckie@hotmail.com (Killam School)
Roberta McRae - ramcrae@comcast.net (Birch Meadow School)
Karen Flynn - flyingflynns@aol.com (Parker Middle School)

Feel free to contact them with any questions. Each of the coordinators maintains a year long enrichment calendar which details all outside speakers, musicians, artists, programs and field trips that the enrichment program sponsors. They would be happy to share this information with you.

Links

PEP Mission & Goals Statement.

Other Links:
- Reading Dashboard: ReadingDashboard.org
- Reading Public Schools: reading.k12.ma.us
- Town of Reading: www.ci.reading.ma.us
- Reading Public Library: www.readingpl.org
- Reading Technology Fund Website: reading.k12.ma.us/rmhs/library/techfund.html

Archives:
- See the Spring 2003 plans for the Barrows Elementary School Renovation.

Upcoming Important Dates:

Date	Event	Notes/Links

For more information: ReadingPEP@verizon.net

Parents for Educational Progress is a civic organization dedicated to keeping Reading parents informed about our public education issues.