I think that we have to recognize more people and I'm using my hands a lot, right? But more people have phones nowadays. And I think that's a difference that um you called it a a bedroom community or smaller communities or whatever you want to label Ashlin. Ashlin is a cohesive community. Ashlin's a lot of people that get along. But the one thing we don't have, even though Michael Herbert does a great job with the newsletter. I read the newsletter every week. I'm sure everyone at the table reads the newsletter. He does a great job. We don't have I feel like a a robust dashboard whether it's an app or I know we're developing a couple of different things on the website but I don't feel like we have a lot of when I'm in town and I'm speaking to people or you know I'm at your local pub or whatever I'm wherever I'm at.
We call that the instructional support team meeting. Um, and so we're looking at how we can find those gaps and use the data to identify them and then come up with some targeted instruction. So, it's all been um going very smoothly and I think we've making very nice progress. Next year in this area um we will be adding to our data team meetings. This year we put in math. Um next year we're going to put in social emotional learning. So, it will look a little bit like what Warren is doing. So, it'll be very uh there'll be some continuity. We're also going to introduce uh flex block which is not new to some of the staff at Mendes, but it will be new in the form that it's going to take next year. We put together a scheduling committee and we talked about the many different ways you can go about working through an intervention block and I think we've landed on one um that I will be revealing to staff in June once we have it fine-tuned but I think it's going to be great.
Um, and so we um encourage people to um to to spread the word that um we're kind of trying to do our part here with our budget and we're asking the city council and the mayor to meet us halfway. Um the ad hoc redistricting subcommittee any report? Yes. Secretary Deniv, we met on May 12th at central office. We reviewed the configurations we worked on two years ago and received a report on three meetings held by the superintendent to explore new possibilities. Two possibilities were outlined based on the outcome of those meetings. Our next meeting will be Tuesday, June 3rd at the Greenfield Library at 6 PM in the conference room. Thank you. Yes. questions or comments for Secretary Denive about the ad hoc redistricting? Okay, thank you very much. And then uh please Secretary Den continue with your Massachusetts Association of School Committees mask division 5 report.
Um, and so we um encourage people to um to to spread the word that um we're kind of trying to do our part here with our budget and we're asking the city council and the mayor to meet us halfway. Um the ad hoc redistricting subcommittee any report? Yes. Secretary Den, we met on May 12th at central office. We reviewed the configurations we worked on two years ago and received a report on three meetings held by the superintendent to explore new possibilities. Two possibilities were outlined based on the outcome of those meetings. Our next meeting will be Tuesday, June 3rd at the Greenfield Library at 6 p.m. in the conference room. Thank you. Yes. questions or comments for Secretary Denive about the ad hoc redistricting? Okay, thank you very much. And then uh please Secretary Den continue with your Massachusetts Association of School Committees mask division 5 report.
Um, we get feedback that it's and I get it like I'm have a tough time as Tom Reville the dad showing up to a coffee hour and working. Um, so the hours are tricky. The the hard part initially we had them um in person and then co hit and we kind of went virtual and we tried to do like every other um and we found that the in person really it was tough for people to show up. Um, so we've been doing virtual in the morning. I tried some afternoon ones. We really had low attendance. Um, and so we're trying to think about how we we might be able to leverage that to be able to get more andor varied folks, you know, because I think it works really well for some folks, but I think especially, you know, based on who can attend, who is attending, and the feedback that we get, it doesn't always work for everybody.
Isn't that crazy? Everyone has their own circumstances, home life, learning disabilities and struggles and issues that they have to handle on their own. Most of them don't know how to handle it and need a helping hand to progress. On my basketball team, I have watched many girls struggle with their grades in the classroom and with their mental health. As a mentor to my fellow athletes and younger girls on my team, it has become harder and harder to watch so many of my peers and friends I love go down such a depressing path. All of us here have experienced in one way or another a teammate that has struggled to keep up, falls down, and unfortunately goes down a dark path. So, as a group, we all chose mentees to watch over, keep in touch with, and support along their journey. We all check in with each other, go out to eat, send a quick, how are you doing, check in, make sure everything is okay, because ultimately we're family.
We have Pastries with Parents on June 6th. Um, fifth grade wax museum in the MP also on June 6th from 8:30 to 10:00. We'd love to have you come by for that. uh PBIS inflatables experience. The kids um have earned that. Our our littles are doing that. Um the the bids, the third through fifth graders are going to the arcade and arcade 2 kiddos are doing inflatables, so that'll be fun. And um movie academic growth and achievement reward experience. And then of course TK and Kinder completion um on June 11th from 8:30 to 9:30. So as you can see like the end of the year is yeah coming in full swing. And I feel like I'm missing oh that's what you're not seeing actually. That's the blank slide that for some reason you don't see. Let me find it somewhere else. Hold that butt. Um, let's see.
And whereas the Beressa Union School District recognizes its administrators and the effectiveness of the leadership team. This year the state proclaimed the week of October 12 to 18 uh 2025 as week of the school administrator. And whereas Beressa Union School District recognizes the importance of its teachers by joining the state in proclaiming May 5th to the 9th, 2025 as National Teacher Appreciation Week. And whereas Beressa Union School District acknowledges its dedicated classified staff by recognizing the designated week of May 18 through the 24th, 2025 as classified school employee week. And whereas the board of education and the Beressa Union School District wish to commend all employees for their unparallelled contribution to the lives of students as mentors and as examples of character who continuously provide exceptional education and who work tirelessly to provide distinctive learning environments to meet the needs of all of our students.
So I think that for kids, you know, as they try to figure out who they are and where they want to be um that also is helpful for them to see that questions now. Let me let me just add really quickly. So we we spoke a lot early in the presentation about the intervention and how wonderful and important that is, but there's also like if you look at these numbers, the enrichment pieces there as well through the block schedule. I think that's really important to to note um that like Eric mentioned our AP exams have gone up um as well as our dual enrollment courses opportunities for um all students. And so, um, again, the block schedule allowed us, um, something that, as Gail knows, we were really, really wanting for a long time was how do we bring intervention and enrichment to our campus on a six period day?
It is now the time you've been waiting for to turn your tassel. Uh before Wait, don't do it yet. I'm gonna have I'm gonna have Valen EMTT do it. So, Valen EMTT, uh Ava Kushy, and Jiu, would you please join us up front? Class of 2025, would you please stand? [Applause] [Music] We have the great privilege of announcing to all of our families, friends, and staff on the behalf of Academy School District 20 that we are now graduates of Pine Creek High School. Please move your tassels from the right to the left to signify the end of this great journey. Congratulations, class of 2025. Congratulations graduates class dismissed. Junior attendants will dismiss you by row graduates. Well done. You guys go first. [Music] Graduates, please exit using the right. Good job. la. [Music] Happy. [Music] My king. [Music] Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] Thank [Music] you.
Any questions? All right. If there's no questions, then we will um I'll take a motion. I move to approve the budget changes to 2425 annual expenditure budget. I second. Okay. All in favor? I I mot I motion carries five to zero. Okay. 8.6 discussion and consideration of approval of an agreement with Apache Junction um Unified School District for a redundant network link. So, this conversation with AJ uh came out of uh I think probably three or four months ago, we had fiber across the valley that was uh split. Uh that took us down, took a bunch of school districts down. Um we're working with the county for redundant loop. Uh however, it's going through federal funding and so it's been slowed to federal grants. It's been slow to to take place and so we don't have it yet. Uh in talking, uh Mr. Rutco was talking with AJ and what they do.
Perfect. Thank you. That is all of my questions for right now. I appreciate you. Um it really is. I am so happy right now. I am just so I got goosebumps. Okay. And ESSPTO like we're working. Yes. Okay. That was it. Okay. Is there any other questions? Yeah. Yeah. Um it's not going to be as long as that. I promise. So, can you just ex explain to me what the listening sessions with stakeholders look like and how much participation you had in that? So, on average, we probably had about five parents show up to our parent advisory committee. We had them about once or twice a quarter. um and we sat down and listened to any of their feedback and then provided we did bring ud doll shame in to do some presentations. I had raising special kids come in and do a presentation for them.
I don't feel a lot of people engaged technologically with what we have going. I don't think people are on necessarily like an Ashlin app or they're going to the website. And I think we have to really reook at or re-engineer um how we're doing technology in terms of apps and engagement. Most people are nowadays engaged on our apps. There's people right now that are watching this that are going back and forth on an app. So, we just have to be honest about our community. as it gets younger hopefully and we um have more revenue coming in, these residents are probably gonna um be benefit from engagement through either an app or some type of technology that would be more like a dashboard. Okay, Brandy. Um so, you know, we need to hit on the community engagement and kind um part of it is the newsletter which has like a huge reach.
So that is the equity piece. Uh the other piece of the equity is the work that we were doing with adaptive X. We um did work with them through about November. We looked at all of our behavior data with an equity lens to to see how we were treating kids um you equally and we did a protocol at one of our faculty meetings where we talked about what we wanted to start doing, what we wanted to stop doing and what we wanted to keep doing. And since December, the communication with adaptive X hasn't been so great. So we're going to try to reframe and figure out how that's going to go for next year. Social emotional learning. So for the last two years, we've been as a school doing the community learning where the children go um in cross grade levels once a month and they meet and they do some sort of group activity.
Okay. On May 6th, um, Ann Stacy and I traveled to the UMass Club and State House in Boston to attend the MASC, that's Massachusetts Association of School Committees, Day on the Hill event. We joined forces with Ammerst, Sunderland, and Hadley school committee members to discuss increasing chapter 70 funding, special education, transportation costs, rural school aid, and charter school sending tuition. We met with senators Eldridge, Olivera, Domenico, Lewis, and Kumifford. And we met with representatives Gomez and Cabraw. The next possible steps are a planned event at the Delaney House in October hosted by our division 5 chair to invite legislators to have a more in-depth conversation about these issues as well as photo ops and dinner with other school committees in our Pioneer Valley area. We'd like to thank Jesus Leva for coming with us to support and arrange many of the meetings we attended. his help was invaluable and thank you to member childs for driving us all the way to Boston and back.
Okay. On May 6th, um, Ann, Stacy, and I traveled to the UMass Club and State House in Boston to attend the MASC, that's Massachusetts Association of School Committees, Day on the Hill event. We joined forces with Ammerst, Sunderland, and Hadley school committee members to discuss increasing chapter 70 funding, special education, transportation costs, rural school aid, and charter school sending tuition. We met with senators Eldridge, Oliver Vera, Domenico, Lewis, and Cummifford. And we met with representatives Gomez and Cabraw. The next possible steps are a planned event at the Delaney House in October hosted by our division 5 chair to invite legislators to have a more in-depth conversation about these issues as well as photo ops and dinner with other school committees in our Pioneer Valley area. We'd like to thank Jesus Leva for coming with us to support and arrange many of the meetings we attended.
So, we're trying to figure that out so we can get feedback from as many people as possible and like conversations with people like that's sort of the point is you know we try to present some stuff people ask questions and you know it's a chance just to have conversation yeah it's a good it's a good communication vehicle it's a good thing to do I how many people do you usually get it depends I would say a low is usually like seven or eight and then a high would be like 30 so it depends okay yeah in the basketball game on Sunday yes sorry and we're going so we got the season opener for the Connecticut Sun. Um, and that's on Sunday. So, super excited about that. Sure. It's 5:00. All right. Thank you. Um, chairman's report. I got nothing. Um, well, John Paul regret, but I had a question.
In particular, I have a quick story to share with you all. There's this girl, and we're going to call her Susan. She's a bright, talented teen that always felt like an outsider during high school. She struggled making friends and would spend most of her time alone. Her parents were divorced, working several jobs, and her mom never understood her reluctance to join clubs or participate in social events. It never pushed her to participate. Susan craved a feeling of belonging beyond that of her very busy family. So, one day, Susan decided to go to a girls basketball game. It was a rivalry game and knew many people would be in attendance. While watching the game, she noticed how close everyone on the team was. From the pregame huddle in the locker room to the chemistry while warming up and smiles on everyone's faces while playing the game that they love.
Cool beans. Where did it go? Cool beans. She sent me a slide. There it is. Oh, nope. I'm not telling the truth. Anyway, she did this really fantastic. She got this cool beans grant. And so they were cooking in her classroom with cool Oh, here. Is this it? Yes. Awesome. Okay, let me try casting this this awesomeness right here. I love it. Cast. There we go. Love it. So, um she applied for a Cool Beans grant and the kiddos are learning um how to make the world healthier, greener, and kinder. Um so they are cooking, engaging the senses. They made a fiesta bean dip with pinto beans and um had a great time. So she applied for that grant and they send in money so that they get to do a variety of experiences in the classroom. Mrs. Huddleston, sorry, Stacy Huddleston, fifth grade. Important information.
And whereas all employees of the Beressa Union School District are committed to their profession in providing high quality programs and services to the children, setting exemplary standards, serving as role models, and motivating and promoting success for all learners. And whereas it is timely and appropriate that we recognize this extraordinary endeavor exercised by our community of dedic excuse me of dedicated educators and employees. That we set aside a moment to express gratitude for their place in our students lives. That we appreciate the unique gifts of those who impart knowledge and integrity. and that we la the individual and combined efforts of all those whose work is serving students. Therefore, be it resolved that the board of trustees of the Beressa Union School District recognizes all its employees for their outstanding contributions in educating the children of Beressa by declaring the month of May as employee recognition month.