001All right. Good evening. It's uh 6:05 p.m. It's um Thursday, December 4th, and I'm calling to order the Graten Board of Education's uh communications committee uh special meeting. Um this is all remote. Uh in attendance we have um uh board members Adrienne Johnson, uh Jen White, and myself, Jay Whitoff, and we have communications uh coordinator Rebecca Bias and assistant superintendent um Ann Marie uh online. Um, and let's see. Uh, first order of business is to review the meeting minutes um of September 11th. Did anyone have any um corrections or clarifications that they wanted to bring up? >> I don't. >> Okay. No, I'm set. Oh, >> yeah. I thought they were um pretty comprehensive. Um, and so thank you for that. Um the next uh will be uh Rebecca's communications update. >> Good evening. Good
002to connect with you all again. It's hard to believe here we are in December. Um, I'm going to try to share my screen. And as usual, I just put together sort of a um short presentation to kind of follow along the agenda and guide our conversation. Um, so what I did um I did structure a little differently this time. I um looked to align um a lot of the items I was highlighting or discussing in terms of um you know some recent efforts and initiatives underneath the strategies of the communications plan. So we can see how this works and um we'll give it a go. Um so strategy one in the plan is engaging the community in understanding the mission of the district through um robust internal and external communications. So, um, some highlights on
003some things we've been doing and that you may have may have heard about some of these and not others. Um, we did create a district dashboard on the website, um, which is highlighted on the homepage and is a great landing spot for linking to all of the different, um, I guess, um, district assessments at the state level. Um, and they're all structured there very nicely so people can click through um, and find everything in one place that they might be looking for um, on the district. And then we have had um, certainly I think a a little bit more than normal maybe going on um, on sort of the legislative front if you will um, with the government shutdown recently. Um, so we were making sure that we were um alerting families and making sure
004they were aware of resources or impacts to the school district. Um, there were certainly questions around the school lunch and breakfast program um and whether or not that was impacted um as it stood at the start of the school year and um you know would there be any shifts there. So we were making sure families knew that you know everything was status quo there. We were highlighting um that um you know free and reduced lunch though that you know that very well might have been a resource for families who were impacted by the federal government shutdown. Um and so we were making sure we were getting that messaging out. And then we did have obviously election day we had the athletic field referendum. we weren't um allowed as the school district to um advocate for
005that or um persuade folks to vote against it. Um but we were allowed to publicly share the informationational text that they would see on the ballot. Um and we were allowed to do that on our public facing um system. So any system that um anybody in the community could access. So that meant we could post it on the website, we could post it on our Facebook page. We could not send it out via parent square because that is a more limited um platform that is only including our parents and isn't widespread access across the community. Um a lot of student assessments and information going out about that. Um including you know I think it was the day of our last meeting we sent out as NGSS reports um from last year. Amory has sent out
006a lot of communications explaining the different assessments that happen across the district from um literacy and math um and things happening on that front. And um a huge focus and priority for us especially um the start of this school year has been um strengthening our attendance communications. We've really been doing a lot um as have all of the schools on their um pushes to support and decrease um absenteeism levels in the schools. Um but to support that from a communication standpoint, we've been um streamlining templates. We've been creating district templates. We've been um really working on our letters and messaging um and adjusting the tone of those um so it's takes more of a a supportive partnership approach to working with families and parents than a um you know compliance accusatory approach um that can
007be scary and threatening. Um so we've been doing a tremendous amount on that. At the end of October, we sent out um student attendance reports. Every student in the district got a student attendance report that showed them which tier they're in in terms of um attendance, meaning if they're on track, out re at risk, or potentially um chronically absent. Um and those seem to be wellreceived. It showed the number of absences year to date. And then just before um Thanksgiving, we did um a message from Superintendent Austin that highlighted the um you know the holiday season and the schedule and encouraging folks you know to try not to um tack on extra days. We get a lot of time off around um the holidays particularly at Christmas time. So, um, you know, we wanted to
008let every remind everyone of the schedule and, um, encourage them to, you know, still make attendance a priority right up until we leave for winter break. Um we're working with all of the schools on um a lot of supports around attendance um and again how our communications um can be supporting what they're doing with their outreach um to families and making sure we're you know consistent across the district and um having um while they each want to take their own tone and approaches and some of the things they're doing um with some of the the district level letters and things that need to go out to families when particularly if they're at risk. Um we definitely want some similarities um there. And then our other big project this um fall has been impact aid, which
009I'm sure you've heard a lot about. Um so we've certainly been sharing a lot with families about the importance of impact aid um to the district's annual budget. Um but what's really exciting um this year for me for impact aid um is where we are with our completion rates this year based on our um our outreach and um it really shows growth in using our different communications platforms. So um last year our total impact aid completion was 66% and that included electronic and paper forms. As of this morning, our impact aid completion just online is 73%. Um, and you know, there's a couple schools that are very high, um, over 80% and some that are in the mid70 range. Um, and the the average does include all of our seven schools as well as our
010transition academy students, um, our students, and some of our other programs. So, it's really looking at all of our students in the district. Um so that's super exciting that um parents are getting more comfortable going into power school filling out forms using our online platforms. There's been a lot of work being done um to help parents get comfortable with those platforms and um help them use them. So paper forms for the parents who are still outstanding um they those parents have at this point gotten paper forms. So, we're expecting that completion rate um to jump up even higher. Um strategy two is um promoting our achievements um across the district, showcasing, you know, our students, our staff, our schools, everything wonderful that's happening there. Um you know, to parents, families, and the general community. I
011would say um that this is a is a priority strategy um in terms of wanting to see some growth here um and increasing some of our storytelling about our district um and showcasing our students um and staff and families. Um but on the on the positive fronts, you know, Superintendent Austin did go to the RTM meeting um recently and shared um some district up updates. Um, we will be distributing um to families their elementary report cards. I apologize, that probably should have been on the previous slide. Um, we're currently working on a district newsletter um to share a lot of highlights with the entire community. Um, and that is expected to go out next week and we're looking to publish that three times this year and hoping to bring that up to four times next
012year. Um we've been doing a lot of work with the mentor program which is a really important program here in the district um and uh can uh help students on a lot of levels. Um so working with mentor um director Jen Anthony on some of those um efforts uh to help spread the word because there is currently a waiting list of mentees um who want to be paired with a mentor. So we're looking to attract more mentors uh to the program. Um and in fact we just arranged today for the day to come out um I think next week um to um chat and photograph um some of the mentors and mentees who are working together and who've provided those um permissions. And then we're really looking to work with some community partners, some of
013the businesses in the communities like Fizer and EB um to really see if this is something that they might uh be interested in helping us promote um as you know sort of a a good corporate citizenship program. Um there's obviously been a lot um with promoting and sharing what's happening at the high school with the manufacturing career pathway and robotics. um and that has um translated into some media coverage um about the career pathways. We've also had some great media coverage on the magnet programs. Um and then I did just call out here that um you know coming up in really starting in January, we're going to be um hugely focused on promoting early childhood opportunities and there's a lot in the works with that right now. um our new student registration, particularly kindergarten registration
014for next school year. Um and also the magnet lottery for next school year. I couldn't believe when I was actually typing 2627. Um and I just wanted to show um quickly these are some of the recent articles um from the day. um these first two um Graten Middle School learning uh students um gained some exposure to um learning debate skills and then this learning outside the classroom was um Katherine Kaskk's uh steam day. It was the first of three steam days that they're going to be doing this school year and those were both on the front page of the day and then the building skills and filling jobs was um on the front page of the region section. um the front page and and um I think all of these were also um you know
015what we refer to as above the fold um so really high visibility um for anyone who's getting the paper copy of the paper or seeing um the e-aper online because um certainly really eye-catching visuals. So, it's nice that we've had um them really covering several of our schools. Um you know, we have Grant Middle, CK, and Fitch here. Um we actually had a reporter out at CB photographer from the day at CB today. So, hoping that that um hits the paper tomorrow. Um so, looking to certainly keep getting all of our schools um some great coverage in the press. And then um su uh superintendent Austin had sat down recently um actually it might have been um as far back as September um but they do have a longer lead time um the Connecticut examiner
016um and that was a great story. wonderful picture here of our transition academy who when that reporter came and sat down with her um she took the reporter down to um the TA and um so that um did uh you know feature Superintendent Austin a little bit and her Navy roots as the headline suggests and then did talk about the career pathways and um at Fitch um but then you know highlighted uh transition academy our magnet schools a little bit of everything. Um, so I already mentioned we're expecting some coverage hopefully for CB. Um, I mentioned we have a photo op already planned for the mentor program. Um, it's a nice story especially this time of year when we're talking about giving uh the gift of time to students. That's um sort of our campaign
017um that we'll be continuing with um through the new year. And then um next year the lieutenant governor is having her coding challenge um kickoff and that's a live stream webinar um that's being live streamed into classrooms across the state and they are um doing that from uh Graten Middle School classroom. So we certainly expect that Graten Middle School um will be you know called out and featured in some of that coverage since she'll be there. um strategies um three and four are combined on this slide. Um so allocating you know our district resources to really help support successful implementation of communications. Um obviously resources are always tight. Um but and and know we we don't have a uh a full um you know communications department per se. Um but we are um certainly trying
018to do a lot of staff training and building our capacity that way and help build staff expertise across the district. Um I'm really sorry my computer just pinged that it's about to lose its charge which it had it full charge a little while ago. So just going to look for a charger here. Um so um you know we're doing a lot of targeted training on resources um on features of like parent squareear and other tools. I think I'm good here. So yeah, a lot of um sorry about that targeted training on the um you know different skills um different features of our different platforms really some best practices as it pertains to very specific initiatives whether that's attendance or impact aid. We're creating um some universal templates and things that can be um used by
019all of the schools where they can go log into parents square. They can find a template in there that they can tweak and adjust um you know make sound like their own but still again have um some consistent language and things um for across the district. And then um up again uh upcoming here, we're looking to really create a district um events calendar um that could be helpful for um parents, but more so to help support um internal workflows and allocation of resources for covering events. And um again that that kind of ties into our previous strategy of wanting to uh make sure we're showcasing um you know as many of our schools and students as we possibly can and then creating and implementing feedback opportunities. um you know there's really a lot of layers
020to this whether it's online or in person um through forms or other in-person um things. So, you know, certainly our communication platforms um and I have a little data on this on the next couple of slides are really being maximized to um engage with parents, have two-way communication. Um and then we also have um that coupled with in-person opportunities like our parent teacher conferences which are you know providing the face toface but the online is helping and allowing for um ongoing communication very easily between families and teachers. Um I know Superintendent Austin and um Amory are going to be visiting PTO meetings throughout the school year. Emory, do you want to jump in and chat any further about that or do you would you like to wait? Sorry about that. I just wanted to make
021sure that I was unmuted. Can you hear me? Okay. >> Yes. So um we are have been working with the principles to uh see when we can have opportunities to speak at PTO meetings. But I think the other thing that I wanted to share that we've been doing is we have um been uh taking I guess taking turns but um we've been rotating through the different staff meetings and so we have uh we've been at a staff meeting each month starting in October but I that will work go all the way but I believe through May in which we are calling them like superintendent forums but Susan and I um sometimes we go together and sometimes we go separately depending upon sometimes those are like um we're signed up for two um like during the
022month of November I believe that we were a double book so I took I went to forget which one I went to I went to I believe river and Susan took >> uh GMS and we've been going to staff meetings and so we kind of use that as an opportunity to um attend staff meetings and we basically use that time to provide um staff with an update about what's happening in the district. Uh we talk a little bit about budget priorities. Um we give them an update. We talk a lot about what we're calling the cradle to career initiative. Talk a little bit about um our desire to use Mary Morrison as an early childhood center and what the vision is for that. We talk about um the manufacturing center that we'd like to build
023at at Fitch High School and and the opportunities that that will bring to students whether they um you know are interested in you know using that as a launching pad for exploring um you know a career in manufacturing or they just want to dabble in that before they go to college and you know maybe go into a career in engineering. And then we give um and then we you know provide an update on variety of other topics that are happening in the district. And then we provide um teachers with uh or the staff that are in attendance um with an opportunity just as an open forum. Ask us anything that you want to ask us about. And that's been very well received. In the past, um Susan has used um not staff meetings, but has
024gone into schools and has done like smaller focus groups, so to speak. And um that has had, you know, depending on the building, sometimes she um she gets a lot of, you know, people to show up at those those focus group meetings and sometimes, you know, it's very few. So, we wanted to try something different this year and so far these staff meetings have been uh wellreceived and so you know we've enjoyed participating in these opportunities and um you know we're looking forward to especially as um budget season kind of continues. We have obviously haven't really officially started yet. We've just um have started this process where you know the the board has identified their priorities. Um but as it ramps up, we're obviously thinking that um the staff will continue to have additional great
025questions for us about the process and you know what things are going to look like in the future and we're looking forward to um having more questions from you know PTO members and and and parents as that process continues as well. Um so that's that's that. >> Thank you. Um, I did, um, you know, polls and surveys would certainly be a big part of this. We have not conducted any polls or surveys as of yet this year. Um, but I'm sure, you know, we will do, um, a few, uh, at least probably one. Um, certainly there's the culture and climate survey, which is the big survey that happens every spring, but typically we have, um, you know, a a survey around a particular topic or something. We're trying to glean some insights. um on and
026then we are evaluating and talking about some additional community form opportunities and I have a little bit more on that um in the uh family engagement portion of this if that's okay. And then our last Oops. Um, so I did since we were just talking about um engagement and um two-way communication between families, I did want to pause and just show you some data that I had grabbed yesterday. Um so as of uh yesterday you can see that in the district um between uh this is districtwide between parents and um staff teachers um administrators there's been 72,776 direct messages and um just over 11,000 um threads. So it does look like it takes a dip here in December, but that's only because um we just started December. So that will go up. Um but what
027I think is interesting is is the number compared to last year. Um you know, we're certainly well past um the last year was 18,000 threads. Um you know, we're not we're only a third of the way into the school year. And you know, at this point, we'd be on track to exceed um the usage of this direct messages by the end of the um the school year. So, um I think that's great that parents are, you know, taking advantage of um the opportunity to stay in more frequent conversation and contact with um their child's um staff or um teachers. And then a few other features that I took a quick peek at. And compared to last year, um you can see auto notices is something that we're actively using this year. um compared to last
028year um significantly more at this point. And those are um really like personalized messaging. Um so it may include the students name, the parents name instead of sort of a mass blanket email. It's really a lot more personalized. Um and that can be um a very helpful strategy for um reaching parents um and connecting with them about their child. Um, secure documents, we've already exceeded last year, so we're using that tool very well. Um, forms and permission slips are being um, used significantly more. Um, you know, we haven't exceeded last year at this point, but would certainly be on track to. Um, comments, we've only we've almost already hit um the total comments for last year. Um so that's great engagement between uh you know families who are asking questions and you know whoever uh
029created the the post or the message is replying to those families. So again that's creating a great um two-way dialogue. Um and this is volunteer hours. Um so while this is certainly the 701 from last year I'm sure is not the total volunteer hours for last year. It's just the volunteer hours that were being captured. um in the Parent Square platform and the um number of um you know it it Parent Square does allow for tracking um volunteer hours because it allows for parents to sign up for volunteer hours through the platform. Um so that does provide a nice measurement um tool. Um so folks are using that as well. So, um, a lot of good features, um, being interacted with there and being used, um, that hopefully is creating more dialogue, creating more two-way
030communication, um, and interaction. And then our last um, strategy that's in the plan is, um, you know, communicating news and information in a crisis and being prepared to do so. Um, making sure that, you know, we're being clear and timely. Um we ha we haven't had a well I guess we have we certainly have had emergency situations um this year we've had you know three significant um situations involving staff or students um that we had to be very sensitive with our messaging but also you know in some cases communicate an early dismissal or school closure um that was unusual for this time of year or prior to the winter for season. Um so we are um you know always looking at our crisis. The district obviously has a full crisis plan um that's very robust
031and includes communications as part of that. Um and we always try to be sensitive and and timely and uh collaborating with whatever parties we we need to whether it's um you know mental health professionals or uh police support. Um, as you may know, the one of the schools did have um a lockdown situation a couple of weeks ago um that was quickly resolved and there was no um active threat, but um you know, we're always um prepared to um help and support with those situations. Um so that's it for that portion. um before we jump into the next um I'm not sure Jay if you would prefer if we get through >> [clears throat] >> um this next portion and then do questions or how you'd like to approach >> uh I don't know does
032anyone have any questions at this stage that they'd like to bring up about what we've seen so far uh Jen >> it's really quick um you had mentioned volunteers for the mentor program how many um people are we trying to recruit if you have that number handy if not >> I believe um last I had numbers which was about two weeks ago I believe we're looking to recruit approximately 20 to 25 more mentors I believe we have at at that point we the program had a weight list of approximately uh I think it I think it was 22 students were on the wait list at that point in time who they um she was seeking a match for >> Okay, great. Thank you. >> And uh Adrian, >> uh you're muted, Adrian. >> All right.
033Sorry about that. I had to scroll through screens. Um yeah, so um one thing um I I was um happy to hear about the um the calendar um the district events calendar. I'm wondering um last year as a parent um I I don't know if it was a mistake, but for a little while um parents could see the full calendar for the year. And I'm guessing that the district probably doesn't want to put the full year calendar out too early because too much is going to change by the time we get to certain things. Um so I can totally understand that. But I'm wondering um for that district calendar um if it's possible to maybe have um some columns under notes so that parents maybe have the whole year calendar but but when we don't
034know when something's going to happen in November like conferences or something like that maybe there can be like you know coming up in the end of you know October conferences you know time to be determined or something like that so that parents can kind of prepare a little bit ahead of time. Um, you know, because in some some schools, um, we might only see a week's notice or even less than a week's notice historically, and I know that's been getting better. Um, but that way, um, parents, and I'll speak for specifically myself on this, um, just have some time to kind of get it get it straight in their head so they can um, plan a calendar that that sometimes goes weeks out. Um, so I'm I'm wondering if that sounds reasonable or if that's
035something that we're we're working on. Are you referring to, you know, certainly like the district calendar from the perspective of like days off and even the days of the spring conferences are set at this point in time, but are you talking more about um like seasonal events and things like that? >> Yeah. Well, if I were to talk about just the high school, um a calendar that came out early in the year that would um say, "All right, well, this is back to school night." you know, something that Well, I mean, I guess that's maybe a little too early before you're ready to put the calendar out, but events like that that would say, "All right, this is back to school night." Um, this is going to be when conferences um the there's um I'm
036trying to remember what the night is called like that starts about a week into, you know, back to school, I guess, is probably for ninth graders, but then there's um what do we call that? uh like a week into the >> like an expo night, but that just happened a couple of week like last week or the week before. >> Um >> but yeah, the start of the school year night. I know what you mean. >> Yeah. So, but I'm talking about like all of those type events and and obviously like the plays and things like you know the the you know some of those events we're just not going to know. But um maybe if some rough guideline or you know some rough dates um could be given ahead of time just so parents
037know what to expect and it's not a surprise when they come up you know if there is only a week's notice because of whatever reason so they knew they knew that that event was coming. Um so I just kind >> for a long time um you know as far as being able to plan ahead from the parent standpoint. Um um and I'm I'm really happy to hear that the day is um you know coming out to talk about the mentor program um and that the day is going to cover that and and also the um you know Susan being um highlighted as far as you know military um is fantastic to hear. Um I mean she is certainly an asset when it comes to you know military communication and and u military you know all
038that we have in our community for the military. Um, and let me um Oh, I guess my next thing can probably fall into the next category, so I'll wait. I'll wait to talk then. >> Adrian, it's Jen. Do you think like maybe three months out, like maybe a year's too too long on like a compromise? >> Well, I would let the district make the decision on that. I mean, I'm I'm just um from my end, I've seen things come out where I kind of knew that they were coming um just because I'd been in the district for a long time as a parent. Um but then I'll get a notice that it's coming in a week and I'll be like, "Oh, you know, um and it might come in parent square or something like that."
039Um but if it were on a calendar, so I could just kind of have the whole calendar view. Um, so I can in my head could plan out further so I'd know to be looking for it, you know, or know that all right, this is coming up in my schedule. Maybe I should reach out reach out or maybe I should check and see if there's been an update or something like that. So I I think, you know, it's great to have as much as possible, but but I would, you know, I understand that there's a lot changing in the district. So I would let the district make the decision on on what's reasonable from their end. Okay, great. Yeah, I that's certainly a request and something we can have a conversation about with the the
040schools and um and yeah, regarding the day, we've had we've been very fortunate. We've had a lot of great coverage. the the day sometimes has a a slimmer staff and that can certainly vary week to week um based on what they um what their advertising budget is like that week. Um and then that determines um pretty much how how deep the paper's going to be and if um if there's going to be uh you know if a story might have to get cut or if it might just make the online edition and not the paper edition. Um but they are uh certainly um great to uh work with and um are always happy to come out and um you know when the the staffing allows and cover the school district. Um so um lots of
041there are lots of great things happening on the um family um and um community engagement front starting with parent teacher conferences which were held in October across the district and um very strong attendance. I think these numbers were shared uh either last week or the week prior in boardnotes, but I did want to highlight them again um as we look at this topic sort of from a comprehensive standpoint. And like I said, you know, I think family engagement, you know, can have those online pieces and that that interaction digitally and then there's the in-person. There's a lot of layers to it. Um which is good. Um so elementary schools um have certainly the highest um typically attendance um for parent teacher conferences. Um I don't think that's probably a big surprise. Um so all the
042schools had over 95% attendance. Um which is fantastic to see. Um and um and then Graten Middle School at the different um three different grade levels also very strong. You can see it was strongest at sixth grade. Um, which again makes sense. The kids are transitioning into middle school. It's a huge transition year. Um, and probably a little more um, you know, uh, desire for parents to u see how their child's doing and connect and get a feel for the school and all of those things. And um this off teams um is referring to um the sixth seventh grade numbers are all of the I'm sorry this should be sixth seventh eighth grade not ninth grade um sixth seventh eighth grade um numbers and are for teams and then the off teams is like parents
043who chose to um meet with maybe a specials teacher or a language teacher or um some other elective teacher. Um so I think 60% is still a really strong number there um because um you know there's there's some specials or electives where you may schedule a conference um and others um you know I think in the past like language has maybe had um higher signups than say um health or physical education or art. Um so and then um Fitch we do see um slightly um lower numbers there. Um average conferences per teacher 4.1 um with about 17% of um you know their time slots um filled. Um again we know that parent engagement is typically going to be a little lower there. We're looking um you know for the students become a little more independent
044there. Um but there are some um expectations where teachers are required to um reach out to the parents um depending on their academic grade um and you know try to have some communication with that parent. Um we are hoping though to see this go up for the spring conferences. Um most of the elementary I believe all of the elementary schools and graten middle schools are using parent squares scheduling feature um which you know when you get the message that there's conferences you can then say oh yes I want to sign up and click on a time slot and you know you're going to get an automatic reminder on your phone for that. Um and it makes it very easy versus um the um the approach here this fall was um you know an email did
045go out encouraging conferences and but if you wanted to have a conference with your students teacher um you needed to connect with the teacher either via email or phone call. Um, so we think that using that scheduling feature might make the process a little easier and might make um more parents apt to sign up because as we all know it's easy. You get an email and you're like, "Oh yeah, I want to do that." And then you forget and it doesn't happen. Versus if you, you know, just could see available times right away, fit something into your calendar that could um work for you, then, you know, you schedule it and it's it's there and you're done. I saw that um Adrianne had a question. >> Yeah. Um when it when we talk about the
046um parent teacher conferences at Fitch um I I went to them and and I did feel like there were actually more parents there than I'd seen in the past. Um which I thought was a positive. Um one thing that um at least I think is a change from previous years, I know last year we didn't have a fall conference at Fitch. Um but the loss of teaching time because I know at the elementary schools it's really important that we get the parents in and physically sit down with the teachers as much as possible but at Fitch I think it's you know I you know obviously we want to get those numbers up as much as we can but but it would be unrealistic to think that we're going to have anywhere near the the response
047as we do with the elementarymentaries. Um so my concern is that um it seems like the um the staffing at Fitch we we kind of did the same thing as far as times. So we opened up a lot of time slots but in doing that I think we either have two or three half days at Fitch now that we never had and missing those days especially when we talk about like the I IB and AP classes where they have so much material to cover. Um I'm a little worried about you know just losing teaching time for conferences that really aren't that well attended and and likely um I mean obviously we all want to see more you know better attendance at conferences but I'm just wondering if we need to give that much um give
048that much time up for conferences. Is it is it is it worth it to to lose that much class time for conferences? Um, and I'd be curious to see if the I know you may not have the answers to that, but but if there's any ad answers from the administration, um, you know, about that. Is that is that really worth it to lose to lose those those half days in high school? >> Yeah, I don't feel like I have um an answer and I'm not sure historically how that came to be. um where uh because I do recall as well that there was a time when you know the elementary schools had um the half day and the middle school but the high school did not in the fall. So I'm not sure historically um
049how that progressed um but can certainly bring that feedback back. >> Yeah. And and I've I've heard that, you know, from the building, you know, from staff in the building, too. Um that we are losing a lot of time. And um I I just don't see why it isn't like it was a couple of years ago um where we have one night and we didn't lo we we didn't end up in half days because of conferences at the high school, but now it seems like we have I forget if it was either two or three half days, but that's just a lot of a lot of classes to miss for for students, especially if it's twice a year and we're you know, so we've added four half days at the high school that we never
050really used to have. I've definitely made a note um as I'm making notes. So, I've made a note to um share that feedback >> um on that. >> Yeah. Maybe Matt could get back to us uh about what changed and and how they're going to do it in spring. >> Yeah. Um, so this these next few slides I'm going to go through pretty quickly or um, but I really wanted to show you the depth of what has been happening um, across the district um, in terms of family and community events. And I think it's clear that families are feeling really connected to their schools um based on what has been offered and attended. Um certainly all the schools have had their back to school meet and greets, picnics, open houses, the parent teacher conferences we
051just talked about, veterans day celebrations, you know, PTO, booster club meetings, all of those things. I did reach out to the schools and got some feedback. Um, and this is certainly not a comprehensive list. Um, but this just shows you um, sort of the creativity that's going on behind the types of events that are happening. Um, you know, Katherine Kolki had three great events. Um they also did a great job sort of reinventing the back to school open house which is something we've been talking about um and really making it an interactive and fun community event for the families. Um they've had some other fun events. Um their cookies and PJs event is coming up next week which is a literacy event. Um Charles Barnum had a great literacy event. Um they had their student
052discovery expo um where students showcase their um the work that they did in their discovery clusters which are their magnet theme clusters. Um you know students sign up for a different cluster each trimester um and create something and parents and families were invited to join um I think they had over a hundred families come out during the school day for that event. Um both of those schools had a stargazing event um with a um famed amateur astronomical society um and about 65 families attended those um you know two uh events combined. Um so a lot of things going on from an enrichment standpoint, literacy, um science, um just some fun and um so that's great to see. Uh, Mystic River has had their day of play where they had a lot of parent volunteers. They
053had a math game night where families played games and then got to take some resources and games home which at our last meeting when we were talking about family engagement, we were chatting about um, you know, wanting these types of things to provide an asset, to provide a resource for families. um um to not say you're not doing this to to provide some value. Um and um so that's great to see. Northeast Academy had their literacy night camp read some more and they've been doing that for years. Um they have a couple of winter concerts coming up, their orchestra concert, their um chorus concerts. They also did an adult books and banter. They did a a book club for parents um centered around book. I think they um had a very full group for that
054was my understanding. Uh Fames River also did a fantastic job again sort of reinventing the um back to school night. Um they had about 500 attendees which is just incredible. Um, you know, families got to visit the classrooms, you know, chat with the teacher, meet with the teacher, hear about some of the curriculum, but then really go explore the spaces, um, interact with some of their partners and their community, um, you know, their community partners. Um, so they're doing a great job. They have um a storyteller um coming out and then they have what they're calling their themes night um in March um which will be reading, math and science. Um so, you know, the schools are all doing their um sort of literacy or math nights in different ways. Um, but really the the
055net that we see here is they're all doing um just some really engaging, fun events um for their families and really trying to build that sense of of community um with their their students and their families and their partners. you know, Grten Middle School, again, you know, um some of the typical things we see, the orientations, back to school nights, parent teacher conferences. They've had um a trivia night. They had um they're known for their Veterans Day assembly where they had um over 40 veterans from the school community um come in um and participate, which is great to see um those community members. um they have um quite a few um plays and um seasonal events coming up. Their concerts and things. Their schedule is just jam-packed with those coming up. Um and then of
056course they also do have some sports teams. And looking at Fitch, um you know, they had their back to school nights. They had their expo night with the my personal project exhibit and all the clubs and um sports activities fair. Um that was um sort of the parent night earlier during the school day. I believe the eighth graders from Grten Middle had come up um to visit the school. Um they had a great robotics open house recently showing off that new space. Um you know they have a lot of information sessions and nights. They have their um athletic info nights every um season. Um they've done early college experience nights and um FASA information nights and those are really hands-on help sessions for families um you know whose students might be enrolled in ECE classes
057and need to make sure that's all. So they're providing a lot of um support there um and then all of their other musicals, concerts, um academic nights, senior nights, you know. So there's certainly no shortage of events happening at the school level. And for parents who, you know, potentially have, you know, multiple students and students in different schools, you could see how their their schedule and calendar could be filling up pretty quickly. Um, and how keeping track of it all can also be challenging. Um, some things that we're talking about, um, we are talking about doing a community form in late January or early February. um looking potentially at the February TLI day um that evening, but that is yet to be um really firmed up and determined. Um but obviously there are probably some
058changes coming with um our early childhood center and looking to um um make that center over at Mary Morrison um and what that's going to look like um next year for potentially three and four year olds and increased opportunities. We have K registration kicking off in January um as well as our magnet lottery. There's always a lot of questions um around those things. Two years ago, we did a great night and we had a fantastic turnout. Um we didn't do that event last year, but felt like um this year would be a good time to do that um to sort of explain um what's happening um and the new opportunities that there are um or just help parents again, you know, if if they have a child registering for kindergarten and it's their first child
059embarking on that, um that's it's a huge step for both the parents and the child. So, um, welcoming them to the district and providing that hands-on opportunity is nice. Um, I did chat with Superintendent Austin today, um, and we were talking about doing, um, a community forum potentially around the topics of sort of safety and security both at school and at home. Um, we were talking a lot about social media. Um, um, so that was the reference to safety and security at home. um and and what's um you know what students are interacting with on their devices. Um so we're talking about that for winter and um think that that could be a compelling um and interesting topic to the community. We do always partner a lot with children's first resource or children's first graten
060um and they do have a resource fair um in March. We typically partner with them on a lot of K through eight or birth through eight um events um at the beginning of the school year and have done those um but they've had some staffing changes and so um I'm finding out what collaborations we anticipate having with them um this year in light of in light of that and um you know sort of what's in the queue and what we might want to plan um because those have been well attended and um partnering with them on those events has always been great and helps us get out into the community whether it's you know over at Brford Manor or um in uh one of the school buildings and typically they help provide some um maybe
061incentives to help um parents um come out um or you know provide dinner which are always um good draws for um families to um you know come out and spend some time with us and have some nice conversations and then um I know um you know one of the things maybe you want to touch on tonight was you know how what are what are the things we're thinking about um as we're talking about family engagement as we're um you know wanting to connect with families particularly families who um you know we're we're certainly pulling in a lot of families and having a lot of great experiences and communication. Um, but what about the families that we're not communicating with um right now or who aren't communicating with us or coming out to us? So, um,
062whether it's attendance or some of our other initiatives, um, these are, you know, really a list of things that we're trying to be very cognizant of. Um, you know, we're really looking at a lot of things with um the tone of our communications. Um, like I said, those uh attendance letters are a great example where we're trying to move from this required compliance legislative tone to partnership and building trust and support. Um, being more more human, more personable um, in our communications. Um, personalizing things to families. Um, again, being very aware of the tone, how those things can be perceived or interpreted. um and any barriers um whether it's language barriers or other barriers to access based on devices um or transportation um you know could be a whole whole host of barriers. So trying
063to understand um what those are what challenges are that you know families might have and and really trying to you know connect with them how we can be most helpful for them. let them know we're there to support them, partner with them, um be a team, um and and like it says, you know, really meeting them where they are. Um creating those opportunities for two-way communication. Maybe the first um communication is over text. Text is still um it's overwhelmingly the favored communication. Um, in Parent Square, it's there's a lot of research around text being uh the preferred communication in a lot of districts and being very successful for districts with families. It's very non-threatening. You know, sometimes somebody doesn't want to pick up the phone. Um, people don't pick up the phone as it is,
064but they know it's the school. Um, you know, a text can be, you know, can be a little more casual, a little more uh personable, a little less threatening. Gives them time to think about how they want to respond. Um, we're not catching them off guard. Um, and then like with those math nights and other events, you're really providing value and support to families. So, um this is kind of a a big bucket of just a lot of the things we're talking about and having conversations about and considering um as we're um writing letters, creating initiatives, creating things that we think might work. Um so that is everything I had under the family engagement umbrella. I just had um placeholders for the other discussion items on the um the agenda. So, >> all right. Well,
065thank you, uh Rebecca. You know, I think back to the original communications ad hoc committee back when Lee White was on the board and uh um trying to think who else was on that committee. Um, but you know, at the time they they talked about, you know, how can we get more uh press coverage? How can we communicate better, you know, the things that are going on in the district? And, uh, when we look at what you've accomplished tonight and and I hope that the entire board takes time to go through this presentation, um, it's just amazing, you know, what progress we've made from that point. Um and uh I just want to thank you um for everything you're doing to uh to really bring that vision um to the district. Um that was a
066big hole in in our um you know in in our in our vision at that time and uh this is just a testament to everything that uh you know that you've you've done to uh increase communications and visibility and engagement and so thank you for that and I will turn it over to Adrian. >> Yeah, thank you Jay. Um actually uh I had some questions coming into this and you uh answered most of them and it seems like we've been making uh great strides in increasing um like family engagement and communication. Um so I applaud you for that and um I I do feel like the communication in general is doing great. Um so I I really do appreciate um you know what you and and everyone else in the district's been doing to to
067increase that. I think it's going to be a benefit to um to our students and our families. So, so um mostly just thank you and I appreciate this um conversation tonight. >> Well, thank you. We have a we have a great team that, you know, we all work together. We collaborate a lot. We brainstorm. We share ideas. And like that sort of bucket I shared, we're we're having a lot of conversations around, you know, trying to do all of this well and do it right and, you know, do it in a way that um we can really connect with our families, um support our schools, um particularly in these priority areas like attendance, um you know, like impact aid with the budget and all of that. Uh, Ann Marie, >> thanks Jay. You know, I
068just want to um also compliment Rebecca as she said, you know, we have a great team in Grten uh and all of us collaborate and work together, but uh you know, Rebecca and I meet pretty regularly. And I just want to say that she takes such great initiative. She might come to me and and or attend a meeting and hear that we're working on something related to attendance. attendance is something that comes to mind in particular, but um in the beginning of the year or in the summertime, she heard that we were going to be putting out a big initiative related to attendance. She met with me and said, "How can I help?" Um I talked to her about a couple of ideas, you know, just kind of vague things and she took the ball
069and ran with it. Um and she continues to do that with things related to attendance or um just a number of things, you know, with with early childhood as as we explore the um Mary Morrison option. Um there's just been a number of things this year that um she has uh really kind of attacked and um just continues to impress me with um how aggressive she's been with um with really trying to increase uh family engagement. And so, um, I I just wanted to kind of echo everybody's sentiment about, um, how impressive she's been, uh, whether it's been trying to improve, constantly improve the website. I mean, in the last year, I think she's made remarkable changes and and upgrades um to our communications with families on on Parent Square and and making sure that
070we're maximizing all of the uses of Parent Square, again, to our efforts around attendance and really making sure that um we've had tremendous um improvements related to attendance this year. And I and I do feel that Rebecca has has played a major role in that. And um and again, you know, there are so many examples that um it it would be hard to identify all of them. So, uh I just wanted to make sure that I I give her that credit. >> Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Amarie. Um I I'm gonna defer to Adrian for a moment. The next item, um, would you say, Adrian, that that was has been covered or do you have any other followups? >> Um, so you're talking about discussion regarding formation of a parent community council. >> Uh, no,
071the update on community events and family engagement just because we did have that as a kind of I thought that that was the last slide. um that we kind of went through. So I think it it sounded like that was just part of um the presentation. Um, I guess I do have >> I just >> I do have one quick question for Rebecca. if um like on that you said kind of meeting parents where they are and I think you kind of already answered it by saying that we're trying to do other other things like maybe meet with them on Zoom or well I don't know if it was Zoom but um but online I think you had mentioned I I don't know what what platforms if it's Google or something like that but can
072you um can you just elaborate a little bit on on what we're doing there on you know reaching those parents that um we've had a traditionally hard time with and and I don't know if it's you geographically maybe because they didn't have cars to be able to get to the school or things like that. Um but um can you just elaborate a little bit on that? >> Yeah. On on reaching parents who are sort of disengaged? >> Yes. >> Yeah. Well, we're certainly trying to, you know, the schools are all trying to reach out and connect with them and we're providing um messaging just trying to start the conversation with them. Um you know, the schools are closest to the parents um in terms of understanding their situations, knowing if um transportation is an issue
073or other things. So we are looking you know to help guide them and understand from them you know what some of the the challenges are but it's we do want to be getting into the community in different places um like I said whether it's um the libraries or getting over to Brford Manor which we um do do a couple times a year um or other locations that you know transportation might be a concern. So, um we don't have all or I don't have all the answers um on that right now, but it's something that we're, you know, always looking to get more insights on from um like if we if we see an event that wasn't well attended, why why was that? um or are they seeing the same parents coming out and you know
074is this a group of parents who aren't coming out or aren't responding to messages or aren't uh signing up for the parent teacher conferences. Um so that's something we're definitely talking about and looking at and trying to understand and for every family it might be very different. Um could be work schedules, could be transportation. Um so it it is a challenge. Um it is it is tough. Um but it's something we just keep trying to make strides towards. >> I know that's pretty vague, but >> No, no, I Yeah, I I um Yeah. No, I I appreciate that. And I know that we can't, you know, we can't be 100%. I think seeing those numbers that in elementary school we're getting 95% turnout um from parents on conferences, I think that's fantastic. and and >>
075yeah, >> you know, really I you know, I was mostly cons I'm mostly concerned in the elementaryaries because I feel like um just like kids have to learn, you know, what school is and how to get as much as they can out of school, um we need to, you know, try to educate the parents at that early stages on how how important um their contribution, you know, in this whole process is. Um, so, so really with the elementary schools, I I I mean, I'd be curious to see if there's any way to track data on, you know, if there's, you know, if parents had a hard time with transportation, is there a need for us to try to assist with that in some instances? um you know, I'd be interested in that in the future,
076but I I don't think I think, you know, like you and the district as a whole has done a great job like in general. So, I don't want to be um I don't want to be kind of nitpicky on the last few things, you know, but but um but that's that was just a question. So, so again, thank you. Thank you for this. >> If I if I can add, we do want so I like I said, I reached out to the principles and was capturing information. We do want to start um we are starting a um district trying to really quantify um who's how many parents were reaching who's coming out to events. Um but that was my follow-up question for um you know the schools with some of the events and especially the
077schools that had multiple events um over the past couple of months. um you know, are they only seeing the same families? Are there families who aren't coming to anything? Um and like I said, what might be the barriers for those families and how can we get them get them out? And um you know it's it's important that we be positive with families and um you know sometimes it could be a simple you know hey we didn't see you at you know this event but we'd love to we'd love to see you at the next one or you know we missed you at this we'd love to you know see you at the next one. Um sometimes when people realize that they're missed or that you actually realized they weren't there um you know that that
078can make all the difference. And will we sometimes have families or who are simply disengaged? Um yes. But it's our hope that we can pull everyone in for something um throughout the school year that will be meaningful to them and that they view the school as a support and a partner um for themselves and their child. >> All right. Again, thank you. >> All right. Thank you very much. The the next uh item was from Jen and um discussion regarding formation of a parent community council. Just as a little background, uh we had a parent council in this uh district for many years. It actually started as the what they called the townwide PTO. And basically the um leaders and members of of each PTO would get together um and very often the superintendent or
079assistant superintendent would be there. They would discuss um things that were coming up in the district um with the PTO leaders with the hope they would take it back to their PTOs. Um, and it eventually got to the point where the attendance was so low that the parents actually disbanded it themselves. There there was no one that wanted to continue to volunteer to lead it. And so it it basically just um went away for lack of interest, not by anybody getting rid of it, so to speak. And in a way, for it to come back, I think we'd have to have, you know, some parent buyin. Um though at this point you know with with technology people can see um you know meetings such as this or or other meetings um and see statements from
080the superintendent and uh um uh other district leaders. Um so I I don't know if if there's a place for bringing something like that back. I just wonder and then I'll defer to Jen since this was her item to bring up, you know, whether it's something we should go to PTO's and and sort of discuss with them. Um, you know, because it would really have to it would have to have that that parent uh buy in. Um, and getting everybody together on one particular night um, you know, can be a challenge. But in any event, I'll I'll turn it over to Jen. Yeah. No, I was just thinking like um you know to bring engagement in would it be something that we could have where whether it's the board having a table um attending these
081events or just having the parents communicate between their different schools. I don't know if there's a benefit to that. um you know it was it was just like an idea that I had regarding um engagement and um you know I know Jay had mentioned before it sort of died out um so it was just a thought if you've seen it in other districts or if you're aware of other districts having it um whether you know Rebecca or Amarie um any thoughts on uh Amory. >> Uh yeah, my former district had a a similar uh I guess you would say similar committee parent committee in place. Um it was like a parent I guess I forget what it was exactly what it was called but they took all of the PTO presidents and got together with
082the um superintendent or myself uh once a month and um and and we met and um again I forget what the title of the group was called the committee was called um and um I would say that that was a it was tough because um you know monthtomonth it really varied in terms of the um the attendance similar to probably like any any PTO meeting. Um when when we had good attendance, you know, um it was it was good in terms of the superintendent and myself getting good feedback from that uh from that committee and um giving us good input and uh in terms of things that were going on from the parents perspective and um that was great. But when it was not when we didn't have good attendance, I think um people were
083frustrated and it was another meeting for them and um they weren't frustrated with us but they felt frustration with um their uh peers for not being in attendance and you know we weren't able to it it didn't seem like a productive use of time for them which I understood. >> Yeah. the as as I recall um the way that the the meetings went, we spent an awful lot of time after the superintendent would make their presentation about things that were happening in the district. A lot of time was spent among the PTO leaders trying to discuss how they could increase engagement and attendance at their own PTO meetings. um and um you know what strategies they were using in terms of you know offering uh uh child care um and and that sort of thing.
084So a lot of the meeting you know was taken up with with how to get them to go to that meeting and then on top of it for them to go to this meeting and so it it ultimately ended with just a few people in the room and nobody wanting to take a leadership role. uh to move it forward. There were absolutely no volunteers to move it forward and so it it just went away. Um however, you know, obviously we have new parents out there. This was years ago that it dissolved. Um so I mean I would be open to going to PTO's and and see if there's any interest in in reviving something like that. >> Maybe it could be remote too, you know, initially or I don't know what's better. I obviously in
085person is good but you know the remote feature is always help that helpful. >> Yeah. >> I don't know if we're like trying to do something that's not going to benefit any you know anything and maybe there's something else that's better out there. >> Yeah. I just think we need the parent buy in. Um Rebecca Yeah, I I think it I don't think it was last school year. I think it was this year before that that we did do an online meeting between all the PTOs and it was very much um it was like an idea sharing session. they more so I I think to sort of similar to what you were saying Jay they they shared sort of what they're doing for fundraisers and what's working for them what so I do think it
086was beneficial between the PTO's um when we had that online discussion and sort of brought all of them together um but then yeah they were talking about more so struggles of you know getting families out into the PTO meetings. Um my other question was going to be sort of I was wondering Jen what you were are hoping um would be like the end goal of this. Would it be for a collaboration between the PTO's or more so um an opportunity for parents to come out and have a discussion or provide feedback or input around a particular topic? I think the goal was just to get parents into my my thought, right? Um was to get parents into the school building to get them more engaged, you know, and as and then we get to meet
087them um as a district. And then I don't know, I just feel like if you if they know you and you know them more than likely, you know, like the kids will have better attendance, the kids will be more engaged, you know, but so that's what I was sort of thinking. Um, first came to light when I went to one of those cave meetings. I think I mentioned this a couple times at the board like once a couple board meetings where New London started um you know very small um and it wasn't just the PTO's it was with the parents and um it was really small and then eventually it just got bigger and then other community organizations starting having tables there so you could see um you like other types of services that people
088can attain and it just became almost like not just like a school event but almost like a community event and I was just thinking like oh wouldn't that be great to have that in Groten and Marie you might know more about it because I believe like the um the two individuals leading New London used to be colleagues of yours. >> They were in fact colleagues of mine and every time you go to one of their workshops um you learn about things that uh Cynthia and I did together. So I either have to call Cynthia up and tell her to not let her let you into her workshops anymore or uh or tell her that uh that she and I need to talk more often. >> Robin duplicate. Why not? If it's working in New London.
089>> For sure. For sure. >> Sounds like a field trip, Jen. >> Yeah, it does. Like I would like to know like um Yeah, I would be willing to do that like on one of their nights that they have their parent night or whatever it's called just to attend just to see it. um and interaction and you know so whether it's like five even if we just get five parents or 50 parents um it's a start somewhere so and I do want to commend um and Marie like how you and Susan um are um going to the meetings and getting involved and listening and and all of that. So, I believe that's more prominent now, or maybe it was in the past and it was just never um socialized, but um it's good to hear
090that that's taking place. Thank you. We really enjoyed it. >> All right. Well, thank you very much again and um I I really hope um you can share this document with the uh entire board and they'll take a moment maybe to review uh everything that you've accomplished um since we've um come to the end of the agenda uh unless anyone has anything else um we are adjourned. Thank you. Y thank you everyone. >> Thanks for your presentation.