Something like that. >> As the schools improve, they will make that bar higher. Correct. >> So, long story short, we have a moving target. I know that's hard to believe with the Department of Education, but that's that's what we have right now. So, Mr. Mr. Conan can't read that real good. So, Mr. Conan has his own cheat sheet right here. You >> want me to leave that or you want to put it? >> It really doesn't matter. I got to go tomorrow to get my glasses adjusted prescription. But, uh, building on what Michelle spoke about, there's not a ton of difference. Uh, fourth through six. I just want you to be aware of a a couple terms that you're going to you're going to hear more frequently. As Michelle said, the iLearn remains kind of the core um data that we build off of in in determining what our school grade will be and we'll have a a score scholastically whole group in ELA and math.
These next awards recognize excellence and serve as a reminder that excellence does not develop overnight. It is cultivated over time through dedication, hard work, and a commitment to growth. We'll start with college book awards that are sponsored by some of the nation's most respected colleges and universities. These institutions, thanks, JJ. These institutions seek students who excel academically and demonstrate leadership, character, service, and a commitment to improving the world around them. Each recipient was nominated by Brookfield High School faculty and staff with selections made by administrative team. First up is the Bowden College Book Award. Bowden College seeks students who combine intellectual curiosity with a commitment to serving others and improving their communities. This award recognizes a student who exemplifies those qualities through academic achievement, innovating thinking, and leadership. This year's recipient is GRETCHEN JAMES. IF ANYBODY knew Gretchen, she is so red right now. Congratulations, Gretchen.
Um, this is the uh, as I was saying, the the draft regulation that goes along with this policy that articulates everything that um, you know, people need to do when they feel that a a case of abuse or neglect has risen. How long have we had this policy before updating it today? >> Um, I don't know. Let me let me look at the uh Carol, can you pull up the old policy and check the date on that? But the um I mean obviously it's been state law, the DCF mandated reporting. >> Yes. So the the um contractor as I was saying before is highlighted here in the red. Anyone uh contracted by the board to perform a service who is regular contact uh with children. Um other examples besides the two that I already gave uh those are the largest scale but sometimes districts contract with folks who come in and provide specialized services.
So you might have seen them two periods in a row, but one was a study and one's a lunch, but we really minimized that. Um, so we didn't we were better able to tell who needed to be there when they were there. And then student activities and our Mustang Way pitched in um and came in big time with all of the incentives for excellent attendance. Um, and really, you know, whatever ideas the dean team and I had, we've tried to figure out a way to make it work. Um, we definitely are more well informed now about what's what's a hit and what's a miss um and what's what to try again. >> Uh, so to start thinking about things that happened at North, I would be remiss not to give a shout out to all the people who were able to contribute to that. Um, this was my first year in this role and it was interesting for me to learn about how much I can ask people and how much I can dream.
A lot of kids are getting old. This is some of the stuff we all get for breakfast. It's a lot of preackaged not very good for you. Doesn't give you a lot of energy. Nothing like that really. Like there's cereals, the muffins. I really don't eat the breakfast at all because of the options. So, I really don't know a whole lot of them. But, and then this is some of the lunch things. We offer nachos. We have um the chicken pizza. Um not a really lot of things. And there's also the creates which they switch sometimes, but it's the same like wings, Asian cuisine, low quality I would say and it's only limited to one. >> Can I add anything about the chicken sandwich? >> Oh yeah. I a lot of times the chicken sandwiches the inside of them are literally cold but they're still frozen.
Every student will contribute towards that score. Um in addition to the things that she mentioned, uh we can earn growth as she described and there's different levels of growth. There's one year of academic progress and this is this is um primarily for those kiddos that that scored below proficiency. We're not just going to throw them over here and say, "Okay, we're not going to mess with them." They still contribute towards our whole school goal and the DOE is going to give us credit for the improvement that those kids make, the strides they make. So, there's going to be a difference if they get one year of academic progress. I like to think of it as growth. It's easier for me to understand that way. you'll get X number of points contributed for that kid. Um you'll get accelerated progress if there's more than one year of growth or improvement for that individual.
The Brandeise University Book Award honors the students whose academic accomplishments are matched by a commitment to civic engagement, social responsibility, and community involvement. Tonight, we are proud to recognize Sarah Bush. Congratulations. In case you're wondering what some of those side conversations are, they're realizing their yearbook picture is up here and they're debating whether they liked it or didn't like it. And if it's up there, it's not up there. So, um, buckle up. Up next is the Brown University Book Award. So great communicators have the ability to inform, inspire, and lead. The Brown University Book Award recognizes a student whose written and verbal communication skills distinguish her among her peers. Congratulations to Payton Lancaster. Up next is the Columbia University Book Award. Columbia University recognizes a student whose commitment to academic excellence and intellectual growth has set her apart from her classmates. Yes, you can put this on your college resume.
uh teacher of the hearing impaired. Um you know uh and that they're they're not a substitute. Uh they're a regular in the building. Uh speech and language pathology sometimes is a contracted individual um who comes in and provides us. >> The last update to this policy was 2019. We've had it since 1996. I was wondering how often we have to um update this kind of policy. >> Yeah, there was 96, 2002, 2004, 2009, 2012, 2015, 16, twice in 2016, 2019, and then now >> I guess whenever the law changes. >> Is that usually because the state has added or >> Yeah. >> changed things? >> Yeah. And and obviously here you could see like the contractor was a big piece of this. So >> yeah, >> I can imagine something unfortunately may have taken place that prompted them to make that change. >> Would the service be considered contractors as well or not regular contact with students?
Uh, so when we're thinking about Infinite Campus and I would, you know, start a conversation with Travis or Phil and say, "Uh, so I was thinking about this and then, you know, within a week they could turn that stuff around." Um, so still learning so much about Infinite Campus, like we're continuing to build in that. Um, and it was it was really encouraging and people would take your ideas with enthusiasm. So Travis, Phil, Jim, Tony, Ryick, everyone who made those things happen. Uh it was super important for us because, you know, at the very beginning it was so much of us trying to get Infinite Campus off the ground. Uh much like, you know, flying a plane while building it. So at the early onset, you'll see we started with uh community education and also making sure that we had people be informed about what was changing and how it was changing.
>> And is this just the high school? >> Um I don't know actually. I think the middle school and elementary are similar but we didn't like really put what they had because we couldn't go there. >> Okay. So we want to talk about the importance of why important obviously the students well being we want to like make sure students are advancing like academically but they're also being taken care of physically and mentally and nutritionally. Um, a lot of students rely on school as their primary source to do. They have food in their house and stuff where athletes as I mentioned earlier or I don't know. Okay. Athletes uh if they're physically active, it's really vital for them to have a lot of fuel and nutrition throughout the day. Um, the health impact poor poor food choices can contribute to like negative impacts on self-regulation, behavior, and other health problems.
And then you'll get excellence in academic progress if the student goes from not proficient approaching proficient up to proficient. So different levels uh of bonus points. Think of it that way. Does that make sense? That's up through sixth grade. For seventh and eighth grade, what is different is that we're bridging the gap uh sinking in with the high school now. So, we're going to still address those things just mentioned, the ILARN scores, the individual growth scores and attendance for all the kids. Uh and attendance was described as uh being proficient if if each kid was was there 95% of the time or more. So I think that comes out to about 10 days of absence, about 10 a year. Uh in addition at the seventh and eighth grade level, kind of the conduit into high school, we get credit for our school grade if all of our seventh graders completed um a graduation pathway.
LUCY SHERIDAN The Cornell spirit is defined by scholarship, citizenship, innovation, and an appreciation for diverse perspectives. This award celebrates a student who embodies those values. Congratulations to Lily Elsa Boss. Strong character and meaningful contributions to the school community are hallmark. marks of this award. Dartmouth College is proud to recognize the just recently minted 200 meter class doublem girls champion McKenzie Gray. I can say that cuz she's not Endeott College Book Prize. Academic achievement, leadership, and engaged citizenship define the recipient of the Endicott College Book Award. This year, we are proud to give the award to Natalie Broadhurst. Up next is the Harvard Book Award. The Harvard Book Award honors the students whose academic accomplishments, character, and involvement beyond the classroom distinguish her among her peers. It is our pleasure to recognize tonight Maria Andrade Perugan. This award celebrates the most regarded characteristics of a John Hopkins student.
>> I I that's a good question, Mark. Um that's something I I'll pursue with Emily um to confirm. They don't have regular contact with kids. >> Usually they're usually after hours, right? >> Yeah. That we don't like our uh our maintenance personnel do all the work during the day. And at Treasure High School, it's a combination at night. At the other buildings, um they're sporadically on site at night for a cleaning. you know, obviously you're more likely to have more kids there at Cheshire High at night. Um, so I don't know. That's a that's a good question. And I I don't know if that's part of their contract, their requirements, or if it's something that um want to make a note to Emily right now. Uh, and I I'll follow up on that with you. >> Thank you. >> Sure. That's a good question. Um, and then our last U policy for tonight, I'll just pull up and then share screen with you real quick.
Uh so we started off by making weekly communications. Courtney sent a lot of those things into the community. Uh we sent out a chronically absent report each semester which was an interesting learning opportunity for everybody. Um as we well the we were understanding but the community was like well I these are excused absences and then we had the opportunity to kind of get them in the fold uh and allow people to understand what chronically absent really is. Uh we also did a projected attendance report uh towards the end for the last month of school. were saying if you come to school every day this could be your attendance. So just giving some people some encouraging there our encouragement there. Um to start the year we identified every student who was chronically absent prior to that and the alpha team supported by making either a dean, a counselor or a case manager make that initial contact.
And also breakfast matters. Like a lot of people label it as the most important meal of the day. So it should be healthy and protein rich, but ours are very small and not. Um and the result could be less sick days, better attendance, and better performance in class. I know this might take me forever to click off. >> Okay. And then solutions obviously we would reduce unhealthy options. So get rid of the highly processed foods. Um but sometimes we can include fun options like before break have donuts for breakfast. And um increase healthy variety. So add more options that have more protein like peanut butter, plant-based choices, meat options that are like higher quality. Um also fuller meals so we can provide larger and more balanced portions of meals. Um and prepare on site. So instead of having prepackaged We use more natural ingredients and prepare them in the cafeteria.
That's just a chart that each individual had to had to complete uh that kind of maps out the courses they want to take beginning in 8th grade all the way through 12th grade. And that's a continuous work in project uh process that the guidance counselors at the middle school will work with the student and the high school counselors will do the same when the kids bridge over to the high school. Does that make sense? We get credit for that and we did complete that before the end of the year. for all of our seventh graders. Uh and then the second thing is we're going to give individual uh points or bonus points to our eighth graders who successfully complete a high school level class with a C or above. So that's primarily those honors classes like we have biology and we have algebra. We also have a CTE course uh college and careers readiness at 8th grade that all of our eighth graders take.
Intellectual curiosity, strength of character, and a desire to make meaningful contributions to society. Tonight, we congratulate Allison Tren. This award celebrates the most regarded characteristics. Did that one already. Academic excellence and service to school and community are central to this award. sponsored by Sacred Heart University. This year's Sacred Heart University Book Award goes to Marley Nap. >> Yeah, Marley. That's right. >> Leadership, scholarship, and civic engagement are qualities that help strengthen schools and communities alike. St. Anselin is proud to recognize Danica Ginsburg for these SAME Tain University honors students who excel academically while demonstrating leadership and a commitment to public service. This year's Tain University Book Award goes TO ISABELLA MARTINEZ. LEADERSHIP IS NOT about having all the answers. is about creating opportunities, empowering others, and helping great ideas become reality. Sponsored by our school counseling department, the 21st Century Leadership Award recognizes students who embody those qualities every day.
Um, reflects our changes in the school structure. Again, its organization of instruction um, as you can see, it used to indicate that elementary schools contain grades one through six. um the the early intervention center um Humon shall provide special ed services. Now that was originally in 97. Things have changed since then obviously um where our elementary schools now also contain kindergarten um and our Barnum school will host house excuse me the early intervention center um and birth to three. And then Human is an alternative high school program. I'd prefer that over special education services because not every student who attends Human has been identified for special ed services. So this is just updating to reflect next year what our district will look like and it hasn't been updated in 30 years. So, um, we're past two. >> What, um, this is a knowledge question, not a >> what prompts us to change this now versus I mean, you made the comment not in 30 years and it had grade one through K or one through six in there, right?
So they were able to get them to buy into the engagement of the school year. Um you'll see that the tardy brigade was on that first slide. Um our kids affectionately renamed ours the tardy party. Um so you know we met them with with enthusiasm to have those conversations. Um that created uh the unaccounted student report was super helpful. Uh it allowed us to really partner with security and have them interface with students in that accountability. Uh so that is when things actually took a big turn for us because the teachers felt supported, the students felt seen and it was just all of us being invested in the same thing. Uh some of the other highlights here is that we automated recognition for positive engagement. Uh give a shout out to Tim Tilton who was our voice of positivity and the announcements and allowed students to receive these um different gifts and encouragement through that.
And we need to increase funding so you have to budget more for school meals for this to happen. And one idea we had was like a breakfast bar which would work for lunch too. Kids could like go through and take each item of like the food plate and add it to their tray as they're walking through. Okay, these are some examples of breakfast ideas. Um just like more organic or like more often organic fruits like avocados, blueberries. Um organic and cooked vegetables. Um freshly made eggs but like in multiple different types of forms peanut butter bars. Meat options with bacon, sausage, quality options like bagels, croissants, biscuits and like healthy dairy options. So yogurt with natural flavoring smoothies. >> Some lunch. Um mean better quality and bigger portions as well. More like side bars. I know when Miss took us to some of the different schools, they had sushi bars.