2025-10-6 Board of Education Meeting

001Good evening everyone. We're a little late. 7:05 Monday, October 6. Welcome to tonight's meeting. Um, I'd like to have uh Mr. Angley please uh take attendance. >> Joe Abdullah >> here. >> Victoria Salon >> here. >> Stephanie Kick. Jesse Leeman >> here. Angela Machulo, Alex Mcnautton >> here, >> Justin Angley here, Jen Pod >> here, >> Jane Sergeant, Pete Tagley, Mary Weber, Christine Widig. Thank you, Justin. Um, we are going to start this evening with a uh I can't see uh Mr. What is what? What? Oh, okay. No, I do that afterwards. Finally get it right. Jeez. I'm here to uh we're here to recognize Mr. Cava, our longtime board member. So, I'm going to say a little something about him. I know, but I have some I have such nice things to say about

002him. So, good evening. Tonight, we have the honor of recognizing someone whose leadership and dedication has helped shape this district in lasting ways, Mr. Greg Cava. Greg has served on the board of education for 16 years with six of those years as chairman. That alone says a lot about his commitment, but numbers don't tell the full story. Greg's impact is everywhere you look in programs we offer, the buildings we learn in, and the high standards we hold ourselves to. He's been a steady hand guiding our district's most important initiatives as the building uh as the chair of the building committee of the Agra Science program here at SHPOG. Greg uh has helped turn a vision into reality. Creating a program that gives our students hands-on innovative education opportunities is one of our community's most vital

003fields. He's also chaired the negotiations and facilities committees. Uh roles that demand patience, yes, patience, Greg, uh perspective, and a deep understanding of decisions uh that affect the people at the heart of our schools. Through every discussion and every tough decision and every late night meeting, Greg's focus has always been on people, our teachers, our administrators, and most importantly, our students. He's never lost sight of why we do this work, to create the best possible environment for learning and growth. Greg's leadership has been marked by passion and a relentless drive to do what's best for our community. He's left a legacy of service that will continue to guide this district for years to come. Greg, on behalf of the board of education, our staff, our students, and our entire community, thank you. Thank you for

004your vision, your commitment, and your unwavering belief in the power of education. We are deeply grateful for everything you have done for region 12 and for all of those who call it home. Congratulations and thank you for your 16 years of exceptional service. >> Thank you all very much. Now it's time for my 30-minut speech. No, seriously, you you I I appreciate you're mentioning patience because I was born with none and I have less now. Um June 30th of this year marked the end of my term on the board of education. It also marked 30 years in public service, 21 years as an elected public official and nine years as an appointed public official in two different towns. Uh I've had the privilege of uh serving though on the region 12 board of education and

005I will tell you that the that the business of the board is the most vital and important thing that we do and we all are to be commended for continuing to work hard and to do the things you have to do uh in order to make sure that our kids are are properly educated. So, I just wanted to say that of all the of all the positions I've held, of all of the offices I've held, none were more rewarding than my 16 years on the board of education. None were were more uh hardworking group of people that I've ever ever been with. So, I can't thank you enough, and uh it's it's my pleasure to uh enjoy my Monday nights off. >> Well, we hope you enjoy your beautiful chair. for sure. And I hope

006that you every time you sit on it, you enjoy at least on a Monday night and think of all of us as you go to bed early. >> Well, some might say that my my receipt of the chair is the most appropriate gift since an awful lot of time sitting down. >> Well, we're going to take a short recess to come and um spend some time with you. So, thank you. >> Thank you all very much. All right. Great. So, moving on the public comments on agenda items only. Is there anyone that has any public comment? No. No one. Okay. Moving on to the consent agenda. First is the uh special hearing uh the special appeal hearing agenda that was on September 11th. The um that is for myself, Angela, and Justin only. Uh is

007there anything on the appeal? Yes. eventually. There you go. >> I one change to make. I did notice that Michael Abraham is listed as a student and he is a parent. >> Thank you. Okay, that's it. We will make that change. Other than that, >> okay, so other than amending that change, >> someone make a motion. Great. So, we will amend that and that is approved. Moving on to the next the board retreat um minutes for uh sorry the agenda for the board retreat for September 20th. Anybody have anything they Alex I know that you like to comb through it. Darn it. Okay. So no we're gonna move on then. Yes. Okay. So, moving on. I don't think we do. There's no right. They're just adopted. If there's no change and uh the board of

008education meeting for September 22nd there uh anything on the consent agenda? No. Looks good. Great. So, then we will um adopt that as well. Terrific. Thank you. Moving on to the presentation for the class of 2025. Sophia, welcome. >> Um, tonight I will present to you the class of 2025 report. This includes an overview of post-secary plans, majors and career areas of interest, college acceptances and enrollment, academic accomplishments, students who have taken AP dual enrollment and honors coursework, community service and scholarships. broken down postsecary plan for the class of 2025. The total student enrollment is being 70 students were accepted to postsecary programs. This total includes students accepted to two-year programs, four-year programs, and vocational training programs. 59 students were accepted to four-year programs and 59 students attending four-year programs. 11 students attended two-year institutions

009or technical institutions. These include the Connecticut State Community College System and vocational training programs. Five students entered employment and three students took a gap year. Two students entered transition programs. These students met their academic requirements to graduate, but needed to continue to develop their vocational and independent living skills. Each transition plan is individually created to stren to the strengths, interests, and vocational preferences of each young adult in the transition program. The next section includes intended majors and career areas of interest in the class of 2025. I've listed the majors that our students entering post-secary programs are planning to pursue. Majors that were selected by two or more students are noted with an asterisk. These majors represent a variety of concentration areas and reinforce the importance of our continued efforts to expand the programming we offer

010in order to support student interests. Further, we continue to work on expanding dual enrollment opportunities that will allow more students to earn college credit while in high school. After our majors, you can see the list of college acceptances. So, these are all the schools that students applied and were accepted to. And below that is a list of the schools where they actually enrolled. I've also noted the level of selectivity according to acceptance rate acceptance rates for each school. This list represents 11 states and two countries. 65% of students attending college are attending an out ofstate institution. The school counseling department continues to support student interest in a variety of college programs by hosting college representatives for information sessions in our college and career center throughout the fall. This fall, we have already welcomed 26 college

011admissions representatives to our college and career center and have about 30 more visits scheduled to meet with our students through November. I'll next go through the academic section. We had 26 members of the class of 2025 as members of our national honor society. Three students were AP scholars, four students were AP scholars with honor, and three students were AP scholars with distinction. We also had the majority of our class of 2025 enrolled in accelerated coursework. 62% completed at least one AP course. 42% completed two or more AP courses. 72% of this class enrolled in at least one AP or dual enrollment course. 63% took at least one honors level course. And 43% took three or more honors courses throughout their high school career. In answering the call to citizenship, the class of 2025 contributed 6,981

012hours of service. Over 81% of the class exceeded the minimum 30 hours for graduation that's required. And this year's community service award recipient acrewed over 400 hours of service. For scholarships, the class of 2025 earned $165,000 in scholarship money. Chicago's 44% of graduates attending post-secondary programs received local scholarships. This section reflects the individual scholarship as well as the students who were awarded. This information along with all of the data reflected in this report will also be published in the class of 2025 graduate report. This concludes my presentation of the class of 2025 report. Are there any questions? Sorry, I have a few questions. Forgive me if it's on here because I'm not sure. But and when I ask this question, please know that I am asking this question not because I think it's the most

013important because I don't, but just out of curiosity. Do you have it listed on how many that are going to the most selected and selected? I know you have it listed, but do you have the total of how many students are going to the various >> So the list that you see of the students where they enrolled. >> Yep. >> That is where they actually enrolled for the fall of 2025. >> Yep. And those universities that were noted as selective and very selective, we only had one student that at each of those institutions. >> So you don't have a total? >> Not a total cumulative on the report. >> No, >> because that I would love to see that next year added as included. >> Um I do have a few other questions if if

014nobody else minds until that's okay. Um, just out of curiosity, is there a total number of and I know that this is just I know it it runs the gamut just because I have kids that have already that went to schools and applied so I know it varies but in terms of the students is there a and I know that they have you have um um I always say naviance but that's right right? >> Yeah. So, and I know that they go on there, but is there a a um a checklist, so to speak, like the good old like old school checklist that you use with each student, a physical checklist that's in their file that you use as a sort of list to sort of as an expectation that you sort of use for

015each student. In other words, to say, "Okay, so Susie, how many what are the schools that you want to apply to?" And I know you you can use the the Naviance to sort of see the schools that they want to go to, but sort of your the guidance department's expectations of each student's expectations so that you as a guidance department meet your expectations for each student. So in other words, like obviously each student is going to be different in terms of how many schools they applied to, but in terms of what schools they applied to. So if they want to apply to four schools and maybe two of them are less selective, some are selected and maybe there's a reach school. Like do you encourage them to sort of have a stretch school to go

016to to to apply to even if They're not comfortable with it, but you encourage them to. >> Absolutely. So, we have a number of different experiences by grade level >> that we ensure each student is exposed to. So, we have a mandatory one-to-one meeting with every student every year, but often we see them more frequently than that. We have um lessons that we um deliver in the classroom. Um we also have conference worksheets for each grade level so that they're developmentally appropriate and then depending on um what direction the student is going >> we might do additional career assessments right >> help them figure out what direction they want to go in and then help them research what level of education do they need of course >> to pursue depending on that career right >>

017um and then depending on you know what they're looking for in a post-secary program whether it's you know primarily the academic major or if they're also looking uh at um you know participating in activity that might require them to cast a wider net in their search. When all of that has when all of that's been parsed out, right? Right. And then you're and you're done with that and you're and it's it's crunch time and you're in your senior year and that all of that's been parsed out and you're sitting there. >> Is there a time when you say to them, "What's your stretch school?" And whatever that make whatever that configuration is is there a stretch school that you say to them what's your stretch goal >> we don't I guess deliberately make them select

018a stretch school >> not make not make but encourage them >> we definitely guide them to make sure that their list is wellrounded. So if we have a student we have them assess their candidacy. Okay what are your what is your GPA? What are your SAT scores? What are the list of schools you're looking at? Now, do you um does your do your credentials align with what they're looking for an admitted student? So, they can assess, okay, is this a mid-range school? Is this a safety school? Is this a reach school? And then we ensure within their list that they have all of those levels represented so that we know that they have options and they have um schools that really are going to be a good fit for them, which is the goal, >>

019right? And I and I guess for me it's a catch and I'm only speaking from my experience and so what when I'm saying this it's not because I think that it it matters for us on our report card at all but I do think that there's some uh it does matter in terms of being able to encourage our students more to to uh apply to those stretch schools. Not because I think and and I think there's lots of factors, right? Finance is a huge factor. Um but I also think applying to that stretch school doesn't necessarily mean they have to go, but there's something to be said for being able to still keep that whether they get in or whether they don't, but encouraging them to do so. They may get in and not be

020able to go, but still being able 20 years from now, having that letter, their acceptance letter in that box might inspire them 20 years from now to pull that letter out and decide to go. I still have some of my acceptance letters that inspire me to go. And so I I just think that sometimes we forget the impact that it makes down the road. And I and I understand all of the variables that we try to consider and to be really um careful, but I think sometimes we get to be so careful that sometimes we're too careful. And I I I worry about that. Not because, and again, it's not because I worry about what we look like, but I also worry that we're so careful that we limit their possibilities, about how they see

021themselves. And it's not about uh the highest selected school. It's about their possibilities within what they can do. And that concerns me. And so I just think that that's something to consider. And I think that if we possibly create a checklist that stretches not just them, but maybe all of the all of you to stretch them. That's something that's really important because I think sometimes if we pull ourselves back and we pull them back a little bit. I think sometimes we I don't know. I just think it's something to think about. Thank you. >> Yes. Considering what Jen just said and I'm wondering if there's a correlation between that kind of perspective taking on you know the impact of reaching um I want to ask your perspective on the possibility of trending. I don't normally

022like to compare classes especially for us because we have such small cohorts and each cohort can can be dramatically different in their interests and their capabilities. Um, but just looking back at last year, we had a similar number of students. 77 graduated last year, 80 graduated this year. We had twice as many students attending two-year institutions or technical institutions. Um, and last year we had slightly higher, 91% accepted to post-secary education and more accepted to four-year programs. Are you seeing a trend year after year of desires and differences of what their post high school education wants or needs are are looking like? I know we've discussed this kind of backend on what courses we're offering, whether we're stressing the importance of SAT scores or not. Just looking at SAT scores last year and this year,

023they look pretty similar. So, I'm wondering why there's such a big jump in students, the percentage of students not attending four-year and wanting to attend two-year. Are you seeing trends? Can you attribute that to anything specifically? >> It's hard with the percentage points because we have such small cohorts that if you have a fluctuation of two or three students in one category versus another, it appears more dramatic in the percentages. >> I hear what you're saying, but this is like twice as many students. So, like I get that like if we're talking about two to five, but 11 students out of 80 is a pretty high percentage and last year we had 77 students and half as many. So, like I I like I always take that into consideration. So, I'm glad you're bringing that

024up because that is important for us to know. But in this case, it's not a small percentage point. >> I think it definitely fluctuates. I'm seeing more and more in recent years students starting off at two-year with the intention of completing a four-year degree um because we have articulated pathways now in the community colleges um so that students get direct entry into the four-year public institutions so more students are taking advantage of that. I think that's an important point to bring up and if we could differentiate that is there a way to add that in saying someone is attending a two-year institution with intent to carry on like can we look at that because I do think that like part of the reason we do that now or that we're seeing more of that is

025financial decisions as well. So I think that is an important distinguish distinguishing characteristic to add in. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. I just want to piggyback on that, Stephanie. Um, I know for a fact I have, you know, friends and family members all over the country to save money in this economy, they are going to a local community college. They're getting their gened classes out of the way and then for their junior year, they're transferring out to uh, you know, a a bigger university so that they can get their degree from that university. Um, I do see that. Um so that would be important that would be something important to put into your report so that we can see that. So that was excellent. Um I do have um I have many questions but

026I will not ask many questions. Um but do you have starting freshman year do you have I'll go back to a checklist. Do you have some sort of checklist that you start with these students and you say, "Okay, you know, this year we want you to start, you know, take your PSATs and you want to strive for this, you know, attend this afterchool program and whatever." And um you know, do you have that for every year, freshman, sophomore, junior, senior? >> For example, our freshman, we're meeting with them right now. We meet with them throughout the first quarter. Um, we have them reflect on how the school year started, how their transition is going, um, how they stay organized, how they're managing their time, what subjects do they find they're strongest in, what subjects are

027they worried about, um, what careers might they aspire to pursue. It's early, but we like to know so we can help guide their class choices. Um, we talk about extracurriculars. If they're not involved in something, we review options based on their interests. Um we talk about you know their family structure, what are some challenges um that they might experience in or outside of school and we document all of that and we build on that from year to year. Okay. Um and thank you. And then fast forward to your present seniors or your juniors, it could be either or. um when they are feeling the pressure and the stress of getting their applications in, making sure everything is in in Nviance or whatever it is, uh making sure that they are writing the correct essay and

028and applying to the right schools, hitting that stretch school. Are you aware of the stress that these seniors are experiencing? And if so, how often do you meet with these seniors to count, you know, to yeah to check in and to really say, how are you feeling? And are you stressed? Is there anything that we can do for you or do you rely on those students, junior, seniors or whatever to come to you? So, we do have an open calendar so that seniors can set up meetings whenever they need to. Um, however, we also will chase every student who doesn't come to us independently and most of the students that I've met with I'm meeting with weekly until they get their applications in. >> Okay. >> So, we have a lot of contact. Okay. >>

029I will sit with kids and help them fill out their application if they're feeling overwhelmed and they don't know where to start or they're stuck. Um, so we really meet them where they are. Um, we have some students who come in, they have a set list. They've known since junior year what they where they want to enroll and we review their choices with them and we reflect on that. And then we have other students who have no idea where to start. And so we go through a checklist of what they need to be doing in the college process and we support them every step of the way. >> Okay. And how many counselors are there? >> We have three high school counselors. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. Do you encourage a minimum number of

030campus visits before students apply? >> So, we encourage campus visits. It's not always possible depending on the family. There are virtual visit options, virtual information sessions if students can't physically get on a campus. Um so we do you know between having admissions representatives come visit our um coun rar and counseling center as well as encouraging students to go out to schools open houses um signing up for information sessions and tours. You know we try to get them as much exposure um so that they can make informed decisions when they're applying. I >> think some navians might alo offer this but they indicate which colleges take into account demonstrated interest. Yes. which would mean a visit to a campus and signing up and you encourage all of that. >> Yes. >> For them. Okay. >> How

031many uh students take the PSAT in 10th grade? >> All of them. October. >> Yes. >> Right. Now, >> we we offer the PSAT in fall and spring of freshman year, fall and spring of 10th grade, spring of junior year, and then the juniors take the Connecticut SAT in the spring of junior year. So, they have five PSAT practices before they take the SAT. And do you know how on average how many take the SAT? Let's say twice or even more than twice. >> I don't know that number offhand, but I can get that to you. This list doesn't delineate those who are accepted in the early decision or early action round versus the regular decision. Is there a encouragement to apply early? >> Yes, we have many students applying early action. Um fewer applying

032early decision just because that is a binding commitment. Um, but many of our students are applying for early action deadlines this fall. >> I would just wonder maybe for the future you could indicate how many got in early, you know, who are who are going to these enrolled schools. Um, also for the essay writing component, for the personal statement and then for the supplemental essays, is that something that, let's say, the English department helps students with or do you lead workshops and help them revise and edit their essays? So, we do um an essay writing workshop in spring of junior year with every single junior English class. And then our 12th grade English teachers do a tremendous job supporting students in finalizing, drafting um those essays in the fall. Um and we often have students

033who will come to us and ask for feedback on their essays as well. >> Great. Thank you. >> You're welcome. I would um love to explore the possibility of maybe seeing as I look to our financial um the possibility of um seeing if we could create some kind of um funding maybe for students that would um want to apply to a stretch pool and maybe see if we could do some kind of um exciting funding for a application fee. I don't know if we can. I'm just throwing this out there because I don't know if this is a possibility. So, you could say no and I we could do it next year, but what an possibility of doing some kind of um uh um fun sort of thing where we could say if there's a

034stretch school that you would like to apply to that maybe um we could pay for that application fee for them so that it would maybe encourage for a little excitement for our seniors to maybe consider that for next year. So, I I think I don't know if we could do it this year because I know it's a very last minute thing, but I think it could possibly create some excitement for our students that are applying and maybe create some excitement within your department to be able to be creative about ways to do that. So, that's something to think about. I don't I'm sorry that I put you under a hot seat, but it's >> No, not at all. I think it sounds great. And we can talk about what that looks like and what kind

035of funding is necessary. >> Yeah. Okay. So something >> we do have um ways that we support students with financial need. Um often if we do outreach to an admissions office. Yeah. >> Um explaining a student's circumstance. They'll give us a waiver code. Um also students just might by default right by their their income levels might >> be eligible for waiverss through the common application and for um sitting for additional SAT testing sessions. So there are ways if students demonstrate financial need. Yeah, >> that we we look for resources to support them. >> Well, there's another way that we can be be creative to for every student who's applying to a school that maybe we can also encourage them to apply to a school that may be outside of their comfort zone too that we

036can maybe do that too. >> Yeah. Great. >> So, I'm going to move on to presenting the class of 2025 profile. The profile serves as a way to convey a picture of our school community, student accomplishments, and the academic experience here at Chapag. It gives context to where our students come from when they're applying to post-secary institutions. So, we're going to be looking at this two-page document in the back of your packet. At the top of the document, you will see a description of the school community and student body. Each year we update the details of our enrollment which includes a breakdown of our high school population and aggracience academy students. Below the community description, the Chicago Valley core values are noted. There are also details about the facilities on campus and more detailed information

037about the Agra Science Academy. At the bottom center of the page, we provide details of academic commitment recognitions. Students have the ability to earn points in each course demonstrating their commitment to learning. And these points are noted on their official transcripts. On the bottom right of this document, our grade scale and GPA waiting process by course type is outlined. Looking to the back side of the profile, there is more information on academic expectations at Chipog, as well as descriptions of our community service, senior project requirements, and supervised agricultural experience required for all students in the Agra Science Academy program. Below that section in the center of the page, there is a box with a breakdown of the percentage of our students continuing their education. Out of 80 students, 87% were accepted into post-secondary programs. This

038includes vocational training or certification programs, two-year colleges, and four-year colleges. 74% of these students were accepted to four-year college programs. We also have noted in this section the total number of community service hours performed by the class of 2025, which is also highlighted in the class of 2025 report. And below that, we have the average SAT scores earned by the class of 2025 on the digital Connecticut SAT in the spring of 2024. Along the right side of the page, you will see an updated list of our accelerated coursework. All of our advanced placement, dual enrollment college courses, and honors courses for core academic areas are listed. There are also links provided at the bottom right corner of this document to view course syllabi as well as a comprehensive program of studies outlining all high school

039courses and descriptions. Below the accelerated coursework, we have included information on our seal of biiteracy. Students earn the seal of biiteracy on their diploma by taking advanced language studies and sitting for a proficiency exam. 12 students in the class of 2025 demonstrated their proficiency in two or more languages earning this by literacy seal. And the last section of the profile at the bottom of page two highlights some of the activities and accomplishments that occurred last school year here at Chapag including the Harvard Model United Nations conference, our athletic achievements and awards earned by our Aggra Science Academy. both at the state and national levels. Does anybody have any questions about the school profile? >> Um, this isn't necessarily specific to the class of 2025, but it just got me thinking since you mentioned it before.

040um our graduating students are taking the PSAT like on average five times or so before they take the SATs. Are you seeing strong correlations between those free scores and their SAT scores? Are you seeing any trends on how their performance is impacting their overall score? Um I our our SAT scores I think year after year have been pretty consistent and I know they generally fall pretty much right in like the national average. So I think we're as far as you know performing against the nation we're kind of right there in the middle. Um, but just wondering if you're seeing anything else at those pre- levels as we get closer to taking the SATs if there are things that you're seeing that are impacting or could be done differently or are you know what your thoughts

041are on that? >> We do generally see improvement the more practice a student has. I think Carrie Snon's actually going to be going to do a deeper dive into those scores. Oh, great. Come on. I just want to circle back to your weekly check-in meetings that you have with the students. Um, you have a weekly meeting with each student. Is it a required meeting? >> No, not a required meeting. It just depends on the students need. So, we have an initial meeting and then we invite students to return. For some students, if they have a lot of leg work to do and they're especially overwhelmed, we will consistently schedule a follow-up. >> Okay. Because I I thought before you said you have weekly follow-up meetings. >> A lot of the students do have weekly meetings.

042Not every single student. Not every single student needs a weekly meeting. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. You're welcome. So, I know that and a lot of them are changing um as of next year, but since COVID through 2026, a lot of the schools are either not requiring SATs, SAT optional, not taking them at all. And same with ACTs. Um do we So, it's kind of a two-part question. Do we require our students to all take the SAT? >> Yes. Okay. >> Connecticut requirement. >> So, I'm sorry. Is it a school requirement or a state requirement? >> It's a state requirement. >> Okay. Um, so there's probably not much we can do about that. But do you think that we are getting hurt in that if you have a kid who says, "I'm going straight

043to employment or I'm going to a trade school or I'm applying to six colleges and every single one of them is SAT optional and I have no intention of submitting my SAT score because I do not test." Well, are we hurting ourselves, you know, hurting our stats for shap. And is there some sort of way around that? Can you do you get a can you get a waiver? Because because I would assume those kids aren't studying because those kids are going, I'm taking this because they're making me. >> The the good thing is we do embed practice into our program. We reflect on which areas students are performing or not as performing as strongly. Um and our department heads really look at that data and make sure that that is being covered in classroom content.

044Um and we encourage the students regardless of what they think they might be doing in the future to do their very best so that they have the most options because if they do come across at a later date an institution that does require those scores, they're going to wish that they had done their very best, right? So we we want them to make the most of that opportunity. Certainly students who feel like college isn't for them and you know know that they're going to be entering the workforce upon graduation might not score as high as a student who has that motivation. Um but we try to relay the importance of that because they do all have to do it. I'm just wondering, do we encourage college recruitment um people to come into Shap? >> Yes,

045we do. So, we have um over 50 representatives that have attended or are scheduled throughout the fall to come in schools all over the country. Um we also encourage students if there is a school they're very interested in um that is not on our list of coming to Ship for a visit we can do outreach. So most recently we have a student interested in engineering and he's looking at a school in Colorado and our college and career coordinator reached out to them and they're sending a rep to us. >> That's great. Thanks. Just going back to Angela's point, um is there a way to distinguish amongst the students who have submitted SAT scores in applications? um that may help kind of >> so when we sit down with a student who's considering whether or not

046to submit their scores if they have a reach schools on their list if that score does not match right that 50 middle 50% average for that school they are better off applying with just the transcript but there might be other schools on their list where their score does meet that middle 50% range and it does benefit them to submit so it varies by student um whe >> so even like within a student >> not across the board it's going to depend on each school's criteria. >> Right. Right. Right. So that's not going to give an accurate reflection of which students were you know either challenging themselves or not because even per student they may or may not be submitting to school. >> Do you encourage any students to take the ACT instead of the SAT?

047>> We do. Yes. >> Are those numbers also compiled like the SAT numbers are? >> They're not just because we don't have a large amount of students who take them. So, we don't generally publish those results either because it's such a small number of students who try both. >> Who try both or try one or the other? >> Well, they have to take the SAT. So, the ACT would be in addition to >> they have to take the SAT because it's a state mandate. Okay. All right. Sophia, when you um you talked about reach school, so if you have a student and they say, "I'm applying to these six schools and does the guidance counselor uh knowing, you know, this is their SAT score. Here's their grade point average. They tell me they want to

048go into, you know, be a veterinarian." Do they suggest to them, "Well, you know what? I'd like to see you shoot a little bit higher. Why don't you try TUS or why don't you try, you know, University of Nebraska? Um, or do they just simply say, you know, these are great. I think you'll get into all of them. You might want to you might want to hit a reach school and then the kid doesn't know what a re you know what reach school are you are you suggesting I strive for. >> We encourage them to challenge themselves. We can do searches specifically on reach schools and we go through the college search engine in Navian's big feature also has a great feature in College Board. Those are two of the um platforms we probably use

049most frequently. Um and we can find based on not only their academic program but the size of the location. Do they want to be in a suburb? Do they want to be in the inner city? So like we put all of that criteria in and then we help them search so they can expand their list. >> Okay. So is that part of the initial meeting that where you sit down and you say okay do you know because we're a very small school do you want big school small school? Do you want to be in the south? Do you want to go 10 hours away from home? Do you take all of that into consideration and then >> so that starts junior year >> junior year >> really hashing out the criteria um and then going

050into senior year some for some students it's redoing that piece but then also getting into the actual application process the deadlines and those pieces of the application that they need to work on. >> Okay. Thanks. >> All right. Another question. Um, for how many students do you support, you know, additional uh getting accommodations for extra time? Is there of the ED graduates? Are any of them ever entitled to extra time or accommodations on the SAT? >> Yes. >> Is that a large number or a small number? >> We have about 30% of our student buy on some sort of academic plan. Um, I can't tell you offhand how many get testing accommodations, but it is a significant number. Hold on. Um, do you encourage students to take the SATs more than one time? >> Yes.

051So, if they are looking at schools that require certain score and they're a more competitive school, it is going to give them an edge if they have strong transcript in addition to a score that is within the middle 50% range, they should absolutely take it again. >> Okay. So, if you have a 100 students and uh 60% of them got below a 1,200, would you um call those students in and say, "I I would highly recommend that you take the SATs again," or do you say to the entire class, "We recommend that you take it a second time. Really those conversations happen in the individual meetings because we don't want to put pressure on the group in its entirety if there are students within that group where the testing situation can be very anxietyprovoking and

052it might not be the best use of that student's time. So when we talk to students about having to take the test again, it's more on an individual basis. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Anyone else? Thank you. >> Thank you so much. I have it somewhere here. I think you can use one of these microphones and just stay where you are here. Okay. Okay. Right. Right. Um, all right. Well, good evening and thank you so much for inviting me to share the results of the state's required testing for our district. I'm going to share the results from last school year 2024 2025. I have some slides up on the screen um that'll sort of display what I'm talking about. Tonight, we're going to share results, comparisons with other districts, and some of our plans for

053improving So on this slide right here we see um just sort of an overview of the different types of assessments that we give. Not just the statemandated assessments that are given once a year. You see those at the bottom of the screen. But of course we use daily classroom based assessments. We regularly use curriculum based assessments. You know end of unit or chapter tests, final projects. We also have some district required assessments that we give two or three times a year. Uh you might have heard students talking about taking a STAR test or taking the Dibbles. Um the ERA is the independent reading assessment that is given in elementary school, part of our new reading program. Horizon is that PSAT um like assessment that students start taking in 9th grade. And then of course the

054PSAT. Want to just point out that last very last assessment you see down there in the bottom on the right. Um this is part that this the dibbles K to three new this year as part of the right to read leg legislation and the Connecticut State Department of Eds focus on the science of reading. Districts are required starting this year to administer and report results from a short list of K3 reading assessments. In region 12, we have chosen to continue with a screening test that we have been admin administering for several years. The dibbles. Dibbles stands for dynamic indicators of basic early literacy skills. As I receive more information from the department of ed about reporting the results, I will share with the board and eventually share our district results from these assessments too. So,

055we've been using the dibbles, but now the state is requiring us to do some sort of screener. We are lucky that we were already using one that was a state required test. We're going to keep going with it. Okay, Ben, ready? So, the first test we're going to look at is the SAT. As we were just discussing, this this is a language arts and math test that's required to be administered to all juniors each year in the spring. In addition to SAT day, which is when the test is is administered during the school day to all 11th graders, students are also able to take additional SAT uh tests on other dates as it's offered. The state department of ed collects student performance data for SAT tests that are taken at school. So, the data we're

056going to look at only represents the the tests that were taken at school and administered by us as a school. So, first we're taking a look at language arts data on the screen right here. This uh just represents different cohorts of students over the years. So, the juniors in 21-22, the juniors in 22 23, the juniors in 23 24 and then the juniors in 2425. The numbers represent the percentage of students in each year who achieved the benchmark score of 480 or higher in language arts. Um because our small class size, this is a point that Sophia made too, which I want to reiterate. Each student on this graph represents between one and one and a half percentage points. I point this out to remind you that only a few students performing at um above

057or below the benchmark can make a big difference when you're looking at percentages. All right, on the next slide. Yeah. Oh, go right ahead. What determines the benchmark score of 480? Is that a state or is that school? Is that national? That's So, these are going to be based on Connecticut benchmark scores. Thank you. So, the next slide, Ben, uh shows growth for one um cohort over time. Now, I just want to say this is a rough cohort. um meaning these are the current 12th graders, right? Our current seniors. This tracks their percentage proficient on a variety of tests in language arts. So in the fall of their sophomore year, their average score was 475 on Horizon. In the spring of their sophomore year, their average score was 524 on the PSAT. In the fall

058of their junior year, their score was 530 on the PSAT. and then in the spring of their junior year, their average score was 561 on the SAT. It's important to know it's a rough cohort comparison, meaning there may be a few students who were in district for sophomore year but then moved out for their junior year and vice versa. However, we don't have a large transient population. So, generally the kids who were with us in nth grade are the same kids who are with us in 11th grade. So, this sort of goes back to a question I think that you were asking Sophia about tracking growth over time and we can see that as we are using some of these pre-SAT tests, we are able to see growth over time because our teachers are doing

059a great job of really looking at that data and and finding out, you know, where are the weaknesses, what do we need to reinforce? Um, and that happens in both the humanities department and in the math department. Next slide we're going to look at is math. And similar to the other bar graph, these are different cohorts over time. These are our um juniors each year. 21 22 22 23 23 24 25. And this is the percent of students who met the benchmark score. In math, the benchmark is 530 uh tougher. Um and and again just a reminder each student on each bar represents anywhere from one to one and a half percentage points depending on the number of students who were in 11th grade during that year. And again on the next slide, same current

060current seniors and this was their growth over time from sophomore year to uh junior year um on the horizon and PSAT test sort of leading up to that last score on the right which is the SAT. So again you can see we are helping them grow um you know as we're administering these tests and using the results to to guide instruction. I think let's see. Okay, next slide is some compar the next couple slides are SAT comparisons. So these bars I'll just there's two of them but once I explain what you're looking at you'll see these bars show blue bars represent language arts percent proficient. Red bars represent math percent proficient. The top two bars are region 12 language arts and math. The second two bars right underneath are the state of Connecticut overall averages

061and then this graph represents our surrounding districts. So basically districts that are uh that generally touch our borders for the most part. A lot of them are very similar regional school districts. Some of them have aggracience programs too. So they offer an interesting comparison. Um, and as you can see, region 12 has some of the highest percentage rates of the students meeting the benchmark in both language arts and math in our geographic area. Um, just a little note, you'll see a missing bar for region one. There's no publicly reported uh percent for region one math because that number was deemed so small in their data that it could be personally identifiable information. So when you go on to these public websites and you look some of this up, you'll see on the graphs and charts

062some asterisks where they don't they don't share the data. And that's true in region 12. If you go look up region 12 data on the public website, you will see some asterisks in some places. And that's because our cohorts are so small that the state says if we report this number, there's a chance people could guess who those kids are. And we don't want to do that. So just so you know, there's some missing data there. Ben, you can go to the next one. The next one is our sending districts. So, this is the same graph SAT percent of students meeting benchmark um compared to the districts who send students to our aggra science program. And some of them are, you know, border they border our district too, but some of them are far away.

063Some of these districts are much larger than our district. Um but it's just good to sort of see where we fit among them. You'll see that we are, you know, we often in these in on this graph have more students scoring at the benchmark than most of the other districts on the graph too. Yeah. >> Is it a coincidence uh that the numbers for the surrounding districts and descending districts are the same? >> What do you mean? >> 86.4% 4% uh language, 53.4% math. >> That's because that top two bars are region 12. So that's going to be the same on both graphs. Region 12, region 12. >> But isn't aren't the numbers based on sending districts different kids >> for for each of the So the top two bars represent our students, region 12

064students, the kids who are in region 12. the bars. For example, like if you go three down and you see Bethl public schools, no region 12 kids are represented in Bethl public schools. That's how the Bethl kids scored. Uh >> ah I got it. I got it back >> like their high school. >> I got you now. >> Okay. And again, percentage is very different. You know, in Danbury High School, how many 11th graders do they have? Hundreds. So each one of their students is a tiny fraction of a percent. while we have students who are equal 1%. So, you know, you can't be thinking about numbers. This is strictly a percentage comparison. All right. And then the next screen is just um some I some thoughts and ideas we have about plans for improving

065our SAT. So, last year I presented some ideas that we had for uh improving our SAT scores. We are carrying on with many of those ideas. These represent a couple of new ideas, too. Things that we're planning to implement this year at Chipog, uh, to help our current 11th graders, you know, score their best possible scores on the spring SAT. We're going to move on to Smarter Balance. So, I don't know if anybody wants to talk ask any questions about SAT before we move on to that next test. It's not really a question, but I really like the idea of the math honors society students working with >> the other students. I think that goes a long way. Mhm. >> I will say that >> maybe more than anything else, >> Maryanne Omar, the the

066leader of the math department, has really worked >> hard in many different places to get those math honor society kids helping out even, you know, in middle school classes, um, and in different, uh, you know, freshman, sophomore, junior classes. Uh, I agree. She puts those kids to work for sure. they earn their math honor society certificates and it does go a long way. >> The Khan the Khan Academy uh also is can be very helpful. >> My husband uses that to this day >> with and and he's >> you know he he's been an engineer for decades. >> Yep. Yep. We're hoping to use that a little bit and see what it can offer us. All set. Yeah. Oh, you need the you need kind of maybe more of a comment. This is something that

067we've kind of been talking about over the last couple of years. I don't know. I I appreciate that there maybe some more slightly unconventional ways of studying for test prep rather than more tests to study for the test. So, I I don't know if there are better ways out there. I don't know if there are ways that we're thinking about that can improve again down the line either like mastery level understanding of concepts and whatnot that don't involve extra tests. Um so I I don't know just something to think about and throw out there. I see a couple other ideas and I appreciate that. um trying to get away from just overcheduling and again for plenty of our students that do have like testing anxiety and whatnot like a way to alleviate that or work

068or creatively work around that to help them out. So anyway, random thought there's there's always a benefit to doing some sort of true test prep because sometimes the language of some of these tests is so different from the way we work and speak about these topics otherwise. So there's there is some ex uh there's definitely some advantage for students having experience with testlike questions, but we all agree that it's more about the learning and improving student achievement overall, whatever the test score is. And so that means we've got to embed it in our day-to-day curriculum. It means um we have to think about how to do it in a way that promotes sort of an excitement and as an opportunity for kids to show what they know and not not just you know sort of

069drill drill drill to to raise a score. Yeah. >> And just to ask one more question. reminded me of what Sophia was talking about with um application processes that that now there are more and more schools that are dropping the SAT requirement as a whole. Anyway, um I don't know, it feels like there's just a tug and a pull between what we're prepping students for and requiring them to do and then what kind of higher education is asking of them. And I know there's the merging of that is kind of creating like a hazy kind of border, but I don't know how we're approaching that as well or if we're kind of waiting for that to come top down. You know, what what do we do to kind of anticipate the changing needs of students

070who are applying in the schools and what they're asking them to provide? >> I mean, Sophia could speak a little more to this, but I know there was a bit of a dip in SAT requirements after COVID. I think we're seeing a little bit of a back of an uptick on that. Now, schools for a while let go of SAT requirements, but I think in the last couple of years, we've seen a few more schools begin to require it again. However, that being said, the state is requiring us to give this test to all juniors. It's the statemandated test. We don't have a choice. So, we're going to obviously approach it as we always do in the most positive way that this is just, you know, a way for us to check ourselves how we're

071doing. Are there things we need to look at for the curriculum? You know, are there pathways that we're not encouraging students to take that maybe would help? We're looking at new course offerings. We're looking at so many different things because again, it comes back to the learning and the achievement of students even beyond the test score. I think in our minds >> is SAT aligned with the CCSS or do those two not talk to each other? >> Well, I think there's a question about that. I think some people question that. Uh they would college board would say yes, it is. Um, however, remember that the original purpose of the SAT is to predict success in college classes and college classes are above and beyond the common core. So, I I I can only report what

072College Board says. And uh and by the way, I don't think we think that the items that they're asking, the material that is being asked of students on the SAT is way outside the Common Core curriculum that we teach. you know, we see the the alignment. Have we done an item by item analysis? No. >> Yeah. I I really the uh going back to the Khan Academy, I like that because the kids can work by themselves with with with the Khan Academy and they can keep going over the same thing over and over and over again until they do understand it. And that I think they don't never have to be embarrassed about asking a question or working on it over and over again. And I I think that could be very important for some

073some of our students that that aspect of digital uh tech tools, you know, for students is so helpful that they can get instant feedback. Did they get it right or not? And then so many of them now are able to provide really like, you know, you didn't get it, try this lesson. You didn't get it, try this lesson. So, so it's can be very very helpful for students who need to hear things multiple times, which many do. Moving on to Smarter Balance. This um the Smarter Balance assessment is given to all students, again, statemandated tests in grades three through eight, both in language arts and math. And we're going to look at some very similar graphs, so I probably won't need to explain them as much. Uh this is this is percent proficient for all

074our third through fifth graders together. So if you take the third, fourth, and fifth graders from all three schools, put them all together in one group. This is year-over-year different cohorts, groups of kids, and the percent of those students who were proficient in language arts. This is language arts specifically. Um and again on this graph each student represents um about 08 percentage points just to get a sense of how much difference a few kids can make. And then on the next screen we're to look at six through eight. Again these are all the sixth, seventh, and eighth graders put together year-over-year in language arts. This is the percent of those students who were proficient. And um on this graph each student represents about 6 percentage points. >> Just a question Carrie. Yeah. >> This last

075year where in both cases there was a decline at the end. Is this attributable at all to the transition to ARC core as an instructional >> um I I would say perhaps in three through five uh because that's where ARCore was introduced. And I will say the year before so last year we had a brand new program. It's an excellent program. It's a knowledgebased program. Great vocabulary development. I think in I think it's going to strengthen these scores over time. However, and in first year is a first year and the year before they implemented our core when they were piloting a couple of different programs. This was before I arrived in the district. I do think there was some disruption to um some of the units of study because they were testing out different programs

076and then going back to their original program. So I I don't know that you could, you know, draw a direct cause and effect to that, but there are a lot of teachers who are thinking that that pilot year and then the first year of the new program there there may be some gaps. All right, moving on. The next couple graphs are now cohort graphs. So Ben, you can go to the next one. So this is um the growth for our current sixth grade students during their time in elementary school for language arts. Most of them were in our district for these three years, but there may be a few students who moved in or out. Um so you can see where they started in third grade on the Smarter Balance score proficient where they were

077in fourth grade and how they finished in fifth grade. On this graph, each student represents about 2.2 percentage points. So, one student makes a big difference when you're talking about percentages. You know, two students would be 5%. Four students is 10%. So, you just got to keep that in mind. um on these growth charts, which there's going to be a few more. Uh it's important to note that this data represents our current students, whether they were in our district in years past or not. Because of the data collection I can access that's sort of like um not public data, but um uh p you know uh password protected data, I can see how kids scored even if they weren't in our district in third and fourth grade. And I like to use those that data

078in the growth charts because then it sort of traces a child over time. Not so much when we're doing the different cohorts, but when we're doing the growth charts, that's the data I choose. And then on the next slide, you're going to see growth for our student, our ninth grade students when they were in fifth grade and then sixth, seventh, and eighth. Um, each student here represents about 1.2 percentage points. So that's four Smarter Balance, you know, four Smarter Balance tests over the years. Rough cohort, a pro mostly the same kids. Could be some kids who moved in and out of the district. And then we're going to take a look at math. So this is historical data for groups of third, fourth, and fifth graders over the last four years, the percent proficient um

079four different groups of students. And then the next slide shows you the last four years of performance on math for six through eight. So you can see again different cohorts over the years all the sixth through eighth graders together. And then a couple of growth charts coming up in math. Similar to language arts data here are the results for our current sixth graders in math. We can see over time there's been a change in the percentage of students who've met the benchmark. Uh and as a reminder this each student represents about 2.2 percentage points. So that's me that's uh current sixth graders and then the next graph is current 9th graders. Sure. Yes. Three or four. level three or level four. Yep. Yes, that is correct. I should have be clear about that. Yep. So,

080this again is growth data over time for our current nth graders in math. The percent of students who were proficient over the last four smarter balance tests. And then on the next slide, we're going to see the comparison graphs. These are the um surrounding districts. So the districts that sort of meet uh you know touch our borders all students in grades 3 through eight. Just let me say that again. This is all three through eight. Not just three through five or six through eight. This is all students 3 through eight. These are the percent um percent proficient students. Top two bars is region 12. Second two bars is state of Connecticut overall. So you can see we are well above the state percentages. And then I I picked Kent out of region one because um

081Husatonic doesn't give Smarter Balance, right? They're a high school. Kent is the region one town that borders us. So I picked Kent as the town to compare for region one, region 27, 14, and 15. And as you can see we are you know there are a few districts who score you know higher percent prof proficient in a few places but generally we are you know performing as well or better than most of the districts on this graph. And then the next one is the sending districts one more time. So the same um again region 12 on top, state of Connecticut the next one down and then all of the districts who send us students you can see how how what their percent proficient is on the Smarter Balance test for language arts and math too.

082And then finally a couple of slides about plans for improvement. So we are you know at the beginning of the year we're taking a look at these results. We start seeing these smarter balance results in June, but we don't have very much time to analyze them and dig deep into them until right about now. I'm about to go do um data review meetings with all of the elementary teachers uh next week and the week after. So we will dig a little deeper into all of these scores and see, you know, we end up going student by student looking for growth, looking for lack of growth, thinking about where that student is and what remember that first slide where I showed you all the other assessments we give. Well, we use a lot of that information

083to help us make decisions, too. But these are some some things we're planning to do for language arts. Then the next slide is ideas for improvement in math in addition to the things we were doing last year. Couple of different ideas. And then the last slide in this section is just sort of general plans for improvement of smarter balance scores. We're using linkit to review our data. I just talked about the data review meetings. We're talking we're using interim assessments on smarter balance. We have access to interim assessments that teachers can give and they can um analyze those for results. And that's it for Oh, one more. One more for Smarter Balance. Sorry, Ben. One thing we started, I think it was last year, Maryann, the prep rally at Shepog two years. uh they do

084a great fun pep rally as kids launch into Smarter Balance. And that's another place where Math Honor Society kids step up to the plate and plan a fun event to try to get kids excited about that. All right, we're going to move on to the last assessment, but any questions about Smarter Balance before we do that? >> Yeah. >> Um plans for improvement. >> Yeah. Are there I mean it just it seems like to me not having too much familiarity with this it seems like to me what we're doing is we're using standardized testing to help predict and have kids get better standardized testing results. Do we when analyzing data also make room for you know teachers anecdotal or empirical data a as well? >> Yes. When we do those data reviews, we ask teachers

085to bring classroom based assessments that they're doing, formal and informal. So that could be an endofunit test, but it could also be an exit slip that they gave, you know, for certain lessons. Um, we're also looking at the district assessment. So like the STAR test is a standardized test, but that gives us that's fairly good predictive um information around how kids are going to perform on the state tests at the end of the year. We give those in the fall and the winter to give us a chance to do some intervention, you know, and I'm when I say intervention, I don't necessarily mean kids are in in tier one and tier two and three intervention. I mean could be just classroom intervention, right? Like something teacher notices the whole group needs. So yes, all data

086is considered when we're talking about helping students. Yes, for sure. Including observations. All right, last assessment is next generation science standards. So this is a state required assessment uh in science. It's given to fifth, 8th and 11th graders. This is uh the data for the fifth graders over the last four years. We don't have any growth data because they skip years, right? So this is more about over the last four years these have these are how the fifth graders have performed you know um pretty significant consistency here. You can see the next slide shows our um eighth grade performance how eighth again percent proficient here number of the percent of students who were proficient in NPSS in eighth grade and then the last slide shows 11th grade and then um slide after that is just

087thinking about improving NGS NGSS we have interim assessments there that we can take a to look at and align with our curriculum. And um the science department is always developing project-based learning units that they think will increase student engagement which increases of course. And that is the last slide. I know that's so much information. It's it's a lot to take in, but I appreciate your >> Thank you very No, it's great. Thank you, Carrie. Uh, moving on to uh board uh reports and recognition. Uh board chair report. I'm going to make it short and sweet. It was brought up to me by a few people about the um niche uh um new uh report that came out for uh Connecticut and uh region 12. They got uh I think we got an a an A.

088We didn't get an A+, we got an A. Uh which is pretty darn good, I think. um which uh which was the the biggest uh achievement was that our teachers got an A+ which I'm really proud about which just is amazing and our our administration our administration got an A minus. So thank you to our um faculty. So that was really huge and um I think that it speaks volumes to how lucky our students are for um our teachers and our administrators. Thank you. And that's it. That's all I wanted to say. Short and sweet. >> Thank you, Jen. Just a couple of points in my report. Um Mr. Cobb would have loved hearing this, but he'll find out about it on our websites. We're doing more and more with the planetarium and as you

089know it's an you remember being in there the other week and it's an important tool for teaching and learning for sure but it's also part of our plan uh for family and community engagement. It's a great magnet to bring people into the school and uh Fo Hermans who's running it is going to have a uh some special sessions coming up on Thursday October 16th. This is publicized all over all of our websites. people can find the information and click to join uh a special program, Journey to the Center of the Milky Way, with live interactive exploration of the night sky. After that, everyone's welcome with a special um specially targeting elementary students and their families and senior citizens to come in um and uh have that planetarium experience and that's going to be published. Yes.

090while you were talking about Friezo, which I I wrote myself a a post-it because he didn't share this at the presentation and I don't think he told me he didn't share this with you either. So, when he um gave his presentation, I had I saw him the next day. He was in um let me get this right. he said in Birmingham, England a few weeks ago and he gave a presentation um to uh a a to um to 70 people uh for a planetarium um uh convention in Birmingham or Birming Birmingham, England. So he gave it to 70 people and he was a presenter for two for two presentations based on how to enhance a planetarium to to school based on what he's doing here at Shap which I just thought was pretty phenomenal and

091I told him I said why didn't you share that with the board and he goes I don't know he says I was already too chatty and I thought well that's pretty impressive so these 70 people that came to England to listen to him speak so that he could share and inspire other people and how they could create their planetariums to do all these amazing things. So, I'm sorry. So, I just want >> Oh, yeah. That's worth mentioning. He's very humble. uh uh you can click on our website and find all the details and it's octo but it's also October 16th 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. are the two shows and then afterwards some kind of encouraging to look at the real nice guy and it's $5 to come but um you can just find out

092how to do that on the website and Fizo is an amazing asset and a he's a he's a renaissance person as we said so thanks for highlighting that um people sometime people have been asking me about whether with all the um you know with the go the federal government shutdown happening and looming large in the news whether that has any impact on funding to local uh public schools and we don't get a large amount of revenue from that source but it does not so nobody needs to worry about that that money is still coming in. Uh I wanted to say um that I had a really nice experience not that they aren't at all but this one I thought was extra nice when I attended I go to the um Agri science committee meetings and

093one of them is the friends and alumni of Agra Science and Mary you were there correct me if I got this wrong but I picked up just a great vibe at this particular meeting about increased levels of student engagement and involvement and excitement about being part of the program as evidenced by the number of kids who are joining clubs seeking SAE opportunities ities asking for more um educational experiences. They say it's a a level of a vibe of excitement they haven't seen yet. So, I think it could be that the program continues taking quantum leaps and I thought it was a really good really good um message there. And then you all have uh in front of you again a little reminder about the a expo which is going to be big Saturday October 18th

094and then the next day on the 19th little bridge is our partner will have their horse horse horse show from uh 10 to 3. And um just a few personnel matters to report on appointments. Bailey Herren is the JV field hockey coach at at Chipog. Um Suzanne Jacob Machino is a building substitute at Booth Free School. It's a one-year position. William Levenus is the JV girls soccer coach at Chipog. Bailey Pody is a building substitute at Chipog. That's a one-year position. Melissa Rston Jones is a building substitute at Washington Primary School, one-year position. And Julia Sinatra as a literacy tutor at Booth Free School. Thank you. >> It's nice to see so many alum with Julia Sinatra and Bailey Haron, mother Bailey in nursing, which is great. uh treasures report, Alex. >> Um I'm going

095to include my FI FNO me meeting uh report here because we didn't have not had a meeting. Um the only three things worth mentioning or one the heating system um at uh Washington primary um has taken a turn for the worse. Let's put it this way. in the sense that it may cost us more money than we thought. Um, what we're going to do is we're going to just so everybody understands, we have a backup unit. There's two units, so if one fails, the other one can proceed. Um, we're going to test the units to see if they've outlived their life. If one of them is in better shape than the other, whether we really have to replace both or whether we can replace one and use the the better of the two existing ones

096as the backup, you know, what time frame. Anyway, I will report back with more data on this when we get it. Uh we just opened up the bids uh or Nicole opened up the bids just uh I think a week ago. Um uh as far as the good news is the audit is underway and according to Nicole we're way ahead of schedule on that. So uh that will get out off our plate hopefully sometime soon and next month we will start the budgeting process. Um, so, uh, always the gruesome budgeting process and that's all I have to report. >> Thanks, Alex. Uh, committee report, uh, Agra Science. Mary, >> um, we haven't had a meeting yet. Our next meeting was supposed to be scheduled for October 20th, and because I can't make it and I'm

097the chair, we're going to move that to November 3rd before our board of ed meeting. >> Thank you. uh curriculum. Justin, >> we just had a meeting tonight and couple of highlights. Um the board or the committee made a motion to approve Ban This Book by Alan Gratz and send that to the board for final approval. And we also made a motion to approve One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Keezy to um for board approval as well. The other thing we talked about, um, Carrie and her team did a phenomenal job putting together kind of like a one-page curriculum scope and sequence, um, highlight for what the elementary school students are doing, um, throughout the year. And we sort of spent the rest of the meeting sort of brainstorming or talking about ways

098that we could get parents, you know, to become more familiar with with that information. Um, so we brainstormed some strategies Thank you. Um at advance Joe >> nothing to report >> finance and operations. >> Nothing new report. Uh I'm going to propose that we get a new microphone system for the meetings. Get that on the budget. Um, labor negotiations. >> Nothing new to report. We haven't had a meeting yet. >> Policy. Justin, >> our next meeting is October 20th at 6:30 and then we do have, you know, further on in the agenda. I'll hold off on commenting now until then. Um, but a first read of policy 5114, the discipline. >> Thank you. uh strategic long range planning. We met earlier tonight um and Carrie Snowden uh spoke about the um work of the teaching

099and learning council specifically uh year two goals. Um, and she spoke about the um I'm just going to read a little bit about the um the uh strategic uh priorities of the commitment one and she really just kind of talked about the uh subcommittee of the powerful learning really allowing for the continuation of the work from year one. um and talked about commitment two and three, the use of the well commitment three really the use of student performance data to make informed decisions and modifications and um really just to touch upon all the work that the team has been doing um and just um continue to talk more over the next uh few months um about all the hard work. So, it's been really um exciting to hear about it. So, thank you Carrie for

100all of the hard work you've been talking about tonight. Justin, >> do we need to make a motion to bring the two books um ban this book and one flew over the cuckoo's nest? Do we need to make a motion tonight to have that for the next board meeting for the approval or would it be on the next would it be on the next meeting? >> I think Well, I think we have to we can make a motion to amend the agenda if we wanted to or can we >> I just I mean I just think if the board is going to approve it, maybe we should give the board access to all the documents that we had. >> Well, my sense would be too that we would put it on the next agenda because

101then we can have a conversation about it. The board if has any questions then we can have a conversation about it. >> But we don't need to make I guess so there's no no motion. It'll just be on the next agenda. >> Yeah. Okay. I think so because then it allows anybody >> right >> have questions about it. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Um yeah. So is that good? Okay. Yeah. Um old business none new business to consider for approval first reading of policy 5114 student discipline. >> Okay. Thanks. So you all have a red line version in front of you and this is the basic policy that lays out what kinds of things could subject a student to discipline and a lot of definitions that support those understandings. And there are no new

102sea changes or pivots or philosophies represented in this. It's just a matter that we adopt Shipment and Goodwin's model policies. They align to statutes and laws and from time to time if laws change or if things change in the world they update their policies. And this one's due for being updated for a couple of reasons. First of all, recently we added a new school climate and restorative practice policies, one on school climate and restorative practices. This has to be read in conjunction with those that triggers some changes. And then in addition, just as the world moves on, and you'll see in a minute, I'm going to try to summarize the key changes, some of it related to technology, some of other events in the world, you find that you have to update the policy so

103that it stays current. Okay? So I don't there's nothing really profoundly earthshaking in this but there are some ideas that would bring it into conformity and more more in alignment with other policies other law and the world that we now live in. Okay now it's a long document I want to take some of the burden off so I just took some notes and I'm going to tell you the key differences between the two versions. Okay the first is in just definitions. This policy um deals with the concept of artificial intelligence which is a relatively new thing. it hadn't been in prior versions. First, it defines it as basically technology capable of learning patterns and generating content. That's on page two. And then later on throughout the policy, it references artificial intelligence to say that kids

104have to use it properly. They can't use it when the teachers say they can't. They can't use it to plagiarize. And they can't use it to commit any disruptive offenses, which I don't think thankfully is a problem here. But in the world with AI now, you can generate these bots that can randomly call um swatting calls into schools and you know trigger the police or the fire department to show up. That's no bueno, right? So things like that are dealt with in this policy. Artificial intelligence is defined and then limits are set on it. And those limits don't impair our ability to use it to teach and to think as a tool to help students develop better critical thinking and certainly move into new technology. But it sets appropriate limits on the improper use of

105artificial intelligence. Okay. Another change on page two is there's a definition of what is a protected class and the notion of protected class harassment. So um a protected class is one marked by um historically oppressed treatment. So race, gender, creed, other similar things like that. And if somebody experiences mistreatment or harassment based upon membership in that class, it constitutes a separate offense potentially under this under this policy. Recognizing the fact that it's probably a little bit more malignant to school climate and student safety than other types of generic um harassment. Now, it used to be another thing that I'm going to tell you about in a minute is that this policy updates the definition of bullying to bring it into line with the current statute. The old definition of bullying had a provision that anytime

106you picked on somebody based upon those demographic traits, it was per se bullying. That definition is now gone. So I think this policy, this this is here, this protected class harassment thing is here to protect the idea that it's per se a problem if you um pick on somebody because of membership in that class. Okay. This policy also includes a more expansive definition of school grounds. beyond just the brick and mortar of the campus, but including environments that could be virtual. Now, we don't have distance learning anymore, but we do have students who participate in the virtual high school or other types of online learning experiences. And this policy makes it clear that anything that would be misbehavior or disruptive in the physical world is also disruptive in the virtual world. Um, and then the

107last definitional change is since the policy was first written, uh, cannabis has become certainly still not welcome on school campuses, but not illegal for everyone in the population, not illegal for adults in the population. Um, and so now in this policy, although cannabis is certainly a violation to have on campus, it can't trigger a more serious violation than having other similar substances like beer or alcohol. Meaning, it's not an arrestable offense anymore. it's dealt with under the discipline code. Okay. Then the other changes we're don't worry we're almost um are in the section three that actually lists the things that can lead to discipline. So in the first paragraph of that section three I added one word. This is the only word that doesn't come from shipment. It comes from me. And that paragraph says

108that you know you can't um assault or mistreat any person or faculty member or staff on campus. I added or animal. I just think because we're an Agra Science Center, we should have that there. Um, paragraph six adds that protected class harassment offense that I just talked about. Paragraph seven and in many other places when you see redline changes in the policy, references to gender are deleted. So, if it used to say the student will do this to her herself or himself, those kinds of things, that's gone now and it's just genderneutral language. Um, in paragraph 10, uh, it says that you can't use AI, as I said before, to commit infractions. Paragraph 15 defines with greater specificity, e vape devices. So, the things that kids use to vape, which are more technically advanced now

109than ever, and provides that they're not allowed on on campus. In 26, we see what it maps out actually bad use of AI, which is plagiarism, or to disrupt. In paragraph 32, there's a new bullying definition which now and there have been different iterations of bullying uh in different states. The latest definition here in Connecticut focuses on a perceived or a real power imbalance. That if one person is picking on another and one of them has more perceived or actual power in the culture of the school, then that automatically triggers um bullying. And it can happen by cyber bullying too. if it's done on electronic media. Um uh and then um there are some procedures that you'll see towards the end of the a policy that are a little bit different that administration has to

110provide timely and specific notice to parents of students who have certain types of infractions or discipline interactions. Um, those are the I know that's a lot, but um, hopefully the flavor of it is the big changes are to add new definitions of technology and how it impacts us, new definition of bullying, the idea of protected class harassment, the idea of cleansing gender from the document. Those are the big thematic differences in the policy. So, you know, you'll still look at it. You've got the red line version and the uh the current and the revised version and I'll take questions now. I think my hope is that you might be ready on a second read to consider it next time. You're welcome. Can I have a motion to approve for first reading? First Jane second. All

111in favor? Anyone oppose? Extensions. Moves on for first reading. Thank you. Okay, great. Um, can I have a motion to move into executive session for the presentation and discussion of superintendent's goals? Second. All in favor? All right. Thank you.