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Butterfield's focus has been on delivering explicit, interactive, sequential, integrated, and multiensory instruction that follows the Spalding method with fidelity. Professional development remains a key priority in ensuring high quality instruction across our campus. All teachers have completed Spalding One training with many having achieved or currently working toward Spalding 2 certification. During the Spalding One training sessions, teachers learn why the Spalding method is effective, as well as how the elements of sounding, writing, reading, spelling, and vocabulary are incorporated into this multi-ensory step-by-step method of instruction. Upon completion of this course, teachers are then qualified to teach the Spalding lessons in their classrooms. Spalding 2 training focuses on effective strategies for reading and writing. Our focus is on developing precision in instructional technique to maximize student outcomes. Teachers also benefit from individualized professional development and ongoing coaching, allowing them to continuously refine their practice and meet the unique needs of their students.
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And the median earnings for our students falls at 36,724. The reason that that's important, you also have in front of you a fact sheet that I provided to you. Upon completion, our data shows that they get roughly, and this is this is an approximation, and this is an average, about $9,000 increase to their income. That's a huge increase compared to where they start. These are our programming locations this year. So, we're operating our family literacy programming out of Ellsworth, out of Park, out of Haztown, Morris, Shelter Rock, Sally Ruff. We're also holding programming at the library, at the high school, and then at our two locations at 10 and two Crosby Street. We also have our virtual action. the partnerships that we have this year. We're partnering with the American Jobs Center which is part of the workforce investment board. Um the Yukon Extension program, the regional workforce board, Milford adult education, Read to Grow, which has been instrumental in our family literacy programming, CT State Community College, and then the family and community engagement center.
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Call vote. Miss Marquez. have a second and I'm gonna go ahead and take a roll. Call vote. Miss Marquez. have a second and I'm gonna go ahead and take a roll. Call vote. Miss Marquez. >> Nicole Marquez: bit, I ahead and take a roll. Call vote. Miss Marquez. >> Nicole Marquez: bit, I ahead and take a roll. Call vote. Miss Marquez. >> Nicole Marquez: bit, I >> Sophia Carrillo: Mr. Jones. vote. Miss Marquez. >> Nicole Marquez: bit, I >> Sophia Carrillo: Mr. Jones. vote. Miss Marquez. >> Nicole Marquez: bit, I >> Sophia Carrillo: Mr. Jones. Ms. Gipson McLean. I think she's unmuting herself. All right, we'll come back to Miss Gipson McLean. Miss Ayres. All right, we'll come back to Miss Gipson McLean. Miss Ayres. All right, we'll come back to Miss Gipson McLean. Miss Ayres. All right, we'll come back to Miss Gipson McLean.
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You know from your own uh your own yards that landscape and irrigation improvements are a constant uh constant event in the in the life cycle of a home and other sports facilities, potential projects, renovation to our existing facilities. This other one uh by statute you can do debt refinancing. You're aware that we've done I think in the neighborhood of um 15 million in escos um and that comes out of M. So we had a debate early on in the conversation that talks about do you go out for an M override and a bond or just a bond and and the issue of going out for an M override is uh you wouldn't be able to maintain the tax rate like we could with a bond. It would be a tax increase. So then we wanted to take a look and say is there a different way to to get what we want to get with uh out uh making sure that or by making sure that we still take care of our community and so we have a a debt that's associated with the ESCO work and that work got a lot done in our schools uh and we pay for it on M.
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In addition, our teachers analyze student work samples to ensure equity and maintain high expectations within and across grade levels, promoting consistent and rigorous learning for all students. Literacy is deeply embedded in the culture of our school, extending beyond the classroom to engage families and reinforce learning throughout the community. Events such as literacy night on October 29th and Spalding University on December 3rd offered meaningful opportunities for families to connect with our instructional practices and support their children's development at home. At these events, parents learned more about research-based practices and were given tools and strategies to help their children learn to read at home. Additionally, we maintain a strong instructional focus through ongoing initiatives like the weekly Spalding tip of the week, which is shared in our family newsletter and our daily phonogram of the day, which is shared during morning announcements. Incorporating our academic focus into these social platforms is an intentional and effective way of communicating our goals, our focus, and the connections between positive experiences and learning to read.
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Where are we headed? So my goal is to continue expanding our partnerships. We know that those partnerships have not only brought us in funding, but it's built our ability and our capacity to service more people in the community. We're looking to enhance our family literacy programming and our workforce development programs. This summer, we're going to be doing a bigger overhaul of our family literacy programming to greater align it to the academic skills and the school improvement plans of each school that we're going to be operating out of. So that um while there will be certain core components that we will include in those family literacy programs, uh if there are specific indicators or measures that that a specific school is focused in on for improving for next year, we're hoping to tailor some of what we're doing in those family literacy programs to those specific schools.
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Miss Ayres. >> Hilda Juarez: That. Miss Gipson McLean. Miss Ayres. >> Hilda Juarez: That. Miss Gipson McLean. Miss Ayres. >> Hilda Juarez: That. >> Sophia Carrillo: Did you say >> Hilda Juarez: That. >> Sophia Carrillo: Did you say >> Hilda Juarez: That. >> Sophia Carrillo: Did you say I'm his nurse? Okay, thank you, >> Hilda Juarez: That. >> Sophia Carrillo: Did you say I'm his nurse? Okay, thank you, >> Hilda Juarez: That. >> Sophia Carrillo: Did you say I'm his nurse? Okay, thank you, mistakes, and McLean. Are you >> Sophia Carrillo: Did you say I'm his nurse? Okay, thank you, mistakes, and McLean. Are you >> Sophia Carrillo: Did you say I'm his nurse? Okay, thank you, mistakes, and McLean. Are you back on? I'm his nurse? Okay, thank you, mistakes, and McLean. Are you back on? I'm his nurse? Okay, thank you, mistakes, and McLean.
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If we were to go ahead and refinance the debt using the bond what that does is essentially free up a million dollars in our M budget. Therefore, we would need to go out. It's not going to be the same as we went for 10% override because a million dollars isn't 10%. But it gives us a little bit more capacity within our M budget to go ahead and and take care of things like raises for for staff. Uh and so we we think this is a very positive way to uh refinance the debt we have with the ESCO uh and free up capacity that would help us uh with our employees. Um, and so it's just I've done it in another district I've been in and it's it's a good way to spread the debt but take it out of uh out of the secondary tax rate versus the M budget.
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These efforts reflect our commitment to fostering a rich literacy centered environment for all learners at home, in the classroom, and throughout the school building, throughout the school day. Systematic progress monitoring of students reading skills is essential to our instructional approach. By collecting and analyzing data in real time, we are able to make timely informed adjustments during during our weekly collaborative meetings. The data you see here is a snapshot of a grade level's mastery of the phonograms, which is one quantitative measure that predicts reading fluency. This data shows that 88% of these students have mastered the phonograms, which is a direct correlation to their reading growth. The impact of our literacy efforts is evident not only in student data but also in the voices of those who experience it firsthand each day. The following testimonials from a paraprofessional, a teacher, and one of our students at Butterfield highlight the meaningful progress being made through the implementation of the Spalding method.
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And then continuing to increase access to flexible high school completion programming. One more student testimonial. I want to just I'm going to read out that last sentence because that's what really gets me. This programming life this program was lifechanging for me and my family. How many times do we hear that from parents? I have a comment please. I was telling I was talking with some friends and I was mentioning you have to learn English to get ahead and they took offense at that. It was it was just so bizarre. So bizarre. It helps them. I find um for the for the adult learners that I that I work with on a daily basis um they recognize the importance of learning English. That's why they're there, right? Um, I mean, you saw the data about 77% of our adult learners are employed. That means at the end of a 8 or 9 or 10 hour workday, they're spending 2 and 1/2 hours with us, 3 hours with us.
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Are you back on? >> Katherine Gipson-McLean: mistakes, and McLean. Are you back on? >> Katherine Gipson-McLean: mistakes, and McLean. Are you back on? >> Katherine Gipson-McLean: Well. back on? >> Katherine Gipson-McLean: Well. back on? >> Katherine Gipson-McLean: Well. >> Sophia Carrillo: I'm sorry >> Katherine Gipson-McLean: Well. >> Sophia Carrillo: I'm sorry >> Katherine Gipson-McLean: Well. >> Sophia Carrillo: I'm sorry you're cutting out. We couldn't Well. >> Sophia Carrillo: I'm sorry you're cutting out. We couldn't Well. >> Sophia Carrillo: I'm sorry you're cutting out. We couldn't hear your vote. >> Sophia Carrillo: I'm sorry you're cutting out. We couldn't hear your vote. >> Sophia Carrillo: I'm sorry you're cutting out. We couldn't hear your vote. >> Katherine Gipson-McLean: Over you're cutting out. We couldn't hear your vote. >> Katherine Gipson-McLean: Over you're cutting out. We couldn't hear your vote. >> Katherine Gipson-McLean: Over to my side.
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And then we've talked at both project management contingency. The one thing I would say about project management, uh, that will be to some degree on a case-byase basis. So if we're buying a bunch of buses, um, we don't need a project manager to help us buy a bunch of buses. If we know what buses we're looking for and we go through the the proper procurement, there's no need for project management for that. If we are doing a larger project that requires construction, then you're going to go ahead and need a project manager. So, even within the project management, uh we don't know what that final dollar amount will be. There's a couple different ways to go at it. You could do a firm with project management. Uh they tend to be a little bit pricier. Um but the other ability would be to say can we have an individual that we could put on employment temporarily two three four five years and pay them a specific amount for them to cover the project management.
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Their words reflect the confidence, growth, and excitement that come from having a strong foundation in literacy and access to effective research-based instruction. At Butterfield Elementary, we believe in cultivating a culture of excellence where literacy and steam go hand in hand. Our dedicated teachers, engaged families, and motivated students are driving this success, and we are excited to continue expanding these opportunities. Thank you all for your continued support in making Butterfield Elementary a place where students thrive.
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That's a pretty big dedication, right? So, um, thankfully I haven't had that experience. Um, most of our learners are very excited to be with us and, um, up until last year, we had a weight list that was pretty significant. Any other questions? Rick, thanks so much for sharing all this with us. Um, have you guys set a date for graduation? We have. We just did last week, June 4th, and it's going to be at Broadview. It's going to be at 6:30. Thank you. Absolutely. Any other questions before I just go to the fact sheet for a quick moment? Okay. So on this fact sheet um you're going to see that in total uh we race has a budget of just over $1 million. That comes from three different sources. That comes from state aid, our cooperating districts. So we currently cooperate with seven districts that pay us to offer that service.
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Yeah. hear your vote. >> Katherine Gipson-McLean: Over to my side. Yeah. hear your vote. >> Katherine Gipson-McLean: Over to my side. Yeah. >> Nicole Marquez: He? >> Katherine Gipson-McLean: Over to my side. Yeah. >> Nicole Marquez: He? >> Katherine Gipson-McLean: Over to my side. Yeah. >> Nicole Marquez: He? >> Katherine Gipson-McLean: I'm to my side. Yeah. >> Nicole Marquez: He? >> Katherine Gipson-McLean: I'm to my side. Yeah. >> Nicole Marquez: He? >> Katherine Gipson-McLean: I'm really sorry. It's just I'm >> Nicole Marquez: He? >> Katherine Gipson-McLean: I'm really sorry. It's just I'm >> Nicole Marquez: He? >> Katherine Gipson-McLean: I'm really sorry. It's just I'm trying to pick up my kids and it >> Katherine Gipson-McLean: I'm really sorry. It's just I'm trying to pick up my kids and it >> Katherine Gipson-McLean: I'm really sorry. It's just I'm trying to pick up my kids and it keeps connecting to my car really sorry.
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What the final decision will be for that will depend on any number of factors once we get to that that point. We're looking at all options and figuring out what's best for our community, what's best for our district and and we will move that forward at that point in time. I like that um the esco we still the things that they have done. Are we still saving money at the things that they have done? Yes, we get a M andV maintenance and verification report annually from Very on the savings. Um where the savings will help us is a couple different places. Um uh if you didn't I got one in my mail. I live down the street. Um SRP is coming out with a rate hike in November. And so we will get that rate hike here at the district also. But due to the savings, we would hope that our overall costs would stay where they're at because the savings will offset the the the rate hike.
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And now I welcome any questions you might have. Hey, thank you. I have a couple questions. I love Spalding, by the way. I am I went from a non We love it, too. to a huge fan. So, in in three years, I think I've I've grown as a parent and um I understand it more now. I I was judging it before I really truly understood it. So, a couple things. Um the graph that you showed, yes, on ours, it gives different numbers. It says 23% are and then 77% and then yours had a different number. So, which one is correct? So those reflect um different points in time. Okay. So the most recent graph we wanted to highlight tonight but it wasn't ready last week when we um had to turn in the slideshow. So the one that you uh saw today, okay, is uh representative of our most recent data.
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And then you guys put in $375,000. Okay. The board the board currently contributes $375,000 this year. So through March, this number has obviously increased because we're in the middle of April. Leave service 1,334 individuals. Our per pupil cost is incredibly small for what these adult learners are getting. And these are people in our community, right? over 80% of them are Danbury public school parents, guardians, people that are coming home to kids in our school. Um, so it's we get a lot of bang for our buck with this program and it's a it's a game changer. It's a community development tool and it's a really powerful tool for our community. Any other questions? Thank you. Thank you, Rick. Before you leave the table, I just want to commend you on the work that you've done to increase the enrollment and to um really make the adult ed program a really friendly, accessible program that people want to come to.
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It's just I'm trying to pick up my kids and it keeps connecting to my car really sorry. It's just I'm trying to pick up my kids and it keeps connecting to my car instead of my phone. It is an trying to pick up my kids and it keeps connecting to my car instead of my phone. It is an trying to pick up my kids and it keeps connecting to my car instead of my phone. It is an eye. Thank you. keeps connecting to my car instead of my phone. It is an eye. Thank you. keeps connecting to my car instead of my phone. It is an eye. Thank you. >> Sophia Carrillo: It's okay. instead of my phone. It is an eye. Thank you. >> Sophia Carrillo: It's okay. instead of my phone. It is an eye. Thank you. >> Sophia Carrillo: It's okay. Thank you so much.
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Um but yeah, so we're still seeing the benefits of um of uh of the escos that we put in and the savings that we're getting both relative to solar as well as within the lighting and the water flow um across the district. I like the fact that um so with the M that that money goes away after seven years, right? Yes. Yeah. So, I like the fact that we can if we're doing a bond, then we can pay that off and then still have the savings that we were wanting with them, which I I like. Um, but that way it still frees up stuff for M, right? And it's and that free up freed up M is ongoing. I mean, it's it's in the budget, so it's an ongoing. So, it's not like it's a one time, oh, we made a million dollars year one and now year two, we got to give it back.
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