001Oh, I um good evening everybody. This is the uh citizens advisory committee, April 29th, 2025. Present Dr. Chanley, Dr. Langman, uh myself, Miss Fabiano, Miss Alvarez, and Miss Ratner from the board of education, and Mr. Moraldo from administration. Um our agenda is pretty light, but at the last meeting we did not we weren't able to touch on the topic that's here and it's feebased enrichment summer programming and how it fiscally operates and then how it has evolved and potential future expansion of these programs and and I've added and more programs if we can get them going maybe through our committee if possible. So now I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Moralda who actually was quite involved with these programs in the summer and he can explain to us what we're doing. He's the
002supervisor of these programs in that regard. So it works out perfectly. It's perfect. Yeah. Great. Thank you. And then I'm just going to ask uh if we could share the screen here um so you guys can see and then our viewers there any viewers at home. Thank you. Um so uh you can pop the next one sir. So, um, going back to, uh, the the dark days of the pandemic, um, the which feels like forever ago, thank goodness, but it really wasn't that long ago. uh the state solution uh to helping uh potentially remediate some of the challenges brought about by the pandemic and the shutdown of everything was to uh distribute monies to all the school districts in the state to uh and and really gave us the authority to direct that funding in
003a way that best met the needs of our learners. And this was done uh pretty early on and uh it was announced to us right around this time I want to say as we were getting ready to come back to school. And just for a little context uh at that time uh we were still not in school when we decided we were going to try to do something like December. We were home um and and and we had a very we about to uh get ready for a partial return. Okay. and masks were still mandated indoors and I want to say pretty close to outdoors at that point because we there was a time I remember being outside for a concert and we're all outside with masks on. Um it was crazy and but those
004were the guidance that we had at the time. So we knew that uh heading back one of the challenges that we had in Monroe was that our kids we were going to welcome all of our students back to school in September and try to normalize things. Um and that was really that third thing to say. On top of that, um, some of the feedback we were getting by both the data that was being produced and and some of the the subjective feedback feedback provided by parents, staff, and students was that our kids were actually doing quite well comparatively. Um and you know we all probably had our own personal stories but when compared to our peers not only in our factor group but also regionally Monroe uh did very well uh both measurably on by
005variety of metrics but also internally as an organization navigating the challenges uh of that lockdown and I think there's a couple reasons for this one our district and I have to give credit to people that are no longer with us long as we're out of in the state as well had the foresight to commit to a a digital approach to learning. And this this goes as far back as to when this high school was opened and we made the decision to go to a one-to-one initiative. So our students were adept on technology for almost a full decade. Would that always look by the one to one initiative? That's correct. Yep. Um and and you know just because we're not onetoone in the middle schools or the elementary schools uh that should not understate the commitment
006to instructional technology that is taking place in those bills not just at grade levels but you know we've gone as far as to make sure our cluster classrooms have iPads and and you know where the argument didn't necessarily warrant one we still applied that the the commitment to digital learning when appropriate. This is all before the pandemic. Couple years after that, um, we decided that digital learning was going to be a pretty important skill for 21st century learners. This is before we even knew what synchronous and asynchronous learning meant. And, uh, the former principal at the high school and, um, administration uh, here at the central office uh, green lit an idea for us to design and implement a digital learning experience through our personal finance and economics course at the high school. And while
007we didn't do a full commitment to virtual learning, we brought the kid into the media center, designed a virtual learning experience for them, but under the supervision of teachers because we knew that kids weren't ready for surprise surprise, spoiler alert. Uh we we didn't think that they were quite ready for full digital learning. That went on for about five years before COVID was even the word that we used. So that kind of set up the Monroe student at least from a 6 to12 standpoint at an advantage comparatively to other districts that were just figuring out hey Google classroom might be helpful in our society. So we had a we had a heads up and then obviously the staff and our tech department our leadership navigated us through that terrible time period. Now while we were
008all doing these wonderful things in Monroe, the state was not good luck the rest of the municipalities and the state tried to provide them with financial support um through the esser grants and monies were distributed and uh in there were you know the easy decision would have been take that money dump it into some classroom kit some learning centers maybe some more technology maybe some software call it a day and tell the teacher hey go right and that that would have been very lazy approach right But um keep in mind while all this was going on, we were still not getting funding from the state. We were still ringing our hands over how are we going to sustain the growth of this municipality from an academic standpoint. Not just from an infrastructure standpoint, but also
009with to the insatiable desire for 21st century programming. They're just as expensive. You know, I go back to the Witch for most traditional technology program offer. That program can't survive with a 2% growing. It can't because the lumber's too expensive. You know, the technology commitments that we have particularly for for high, you know, not just high-end learning, but high-tech learning to all learners, special ed included, it's not sustainable without abading something else that already exists. And we don't want to. So, we said instead of investing into stuff, we're going to invest into the people and you know, and so, but mainly people. So, we launched, not only did we launch the summer enrichment program because we were watching frustratingly as all of our students were enrolling in private organizations and summer camps and things that
010called themselves summer learning experiences, but again, we we had a lot of other assets to offer that these organizations didn't. Um, and when they were showing up in September, with all due respect to our competitors, we were reteing, reaclimating, and doing a lot of adjustments based on some people call it lumber summer learning loss. I saw I see more like summer learning hijacking, right? And and we were seeing it particularly in critical areas like instrumental music um definitely in computer science and robotics and uh and we were also hearing frustrations from the consumer. Why am I spending x amount of dollars sending my kid here? Why can't we do something like that? You know, this these are stuff, you know, even from the adult school argument and stuff like that. But this was our opportunity
011and uh uh Dr. layman um came to us the supervisor team and said what if we instead of adjecting learning loss we turn it in we still we still adjust learning log in a minute and we'll talk about that more tomorrow night at curriculum committee but um the uh let's use this as an opportunity not just to get kids excited about coming to school because let's not forget these kids were home they haven't worked in a group they don't work on a group project like none of these kids ever you know when when those second graders and first graders walk through the doors that first summer. That was the first time they w stepped on the school period. So we also we had that opportunity to get the kids safe, comfy, and normalized in the
012school. But at the same time, the stadium was a lot of fun. And we said, let's put this into people. Let's get them retrained. Let's get them comfortable on the new technologies and let's reinvent programs in perpetuity. And we started off and that's exactly what he did. for that. It started off as MTSD summer and what it evolved in is MTSDES, which is kind of the name we use for the parent organization for lack of a better description that oversees all of our enrichment efforts, not just in the summer and in um over the over over school year. So, Esther funded this exclusively um for the first year and three quarters. We ran out of money on a second. Go ahead. Next slide, please. All right. Um I don't know if you can if you
013could minimize that box. Sorry, Mike. It's kind of fun watching my reaction. I know. All right. The uh so on the left hand side there, it's kind of a busy chart. You can see this is where we started all the way on the left. We had a couple STEM camps, right? And I don't use we don't use that word anymore because it's not a camp. Um we had our music uh learning opportunity, not a camp. And then we had summer re remediation which was summer school, right? And and our summer school as part of our efforts, we did have kids that failed obviously. Um most of the problem is student engagement as you might imagine over the summer, but you know, when you have a kid that fails with like a 62 or is in
014the mix, right, or just didn't get to the finish line, you know, we we feel a responsibility as a district to to do what we can to get them to the finish line before taking them a year away from them. So, we launched summer remediation and we have passed every single student that participated in this program since its inception except for one and that's because the kid just said it on her. That's all right. Didn't work out. The um but uh since then these were the those were the first three programs we ran. The money ran out and we had to make a decision. The effort money ran out. We had to make a decision. Do we just pull the plug and say, "Hey, that was fun because we were starting to see the benefit."
015One, we were getting staff excited about content that they weren't necessarily excited about product. They didn't know about it. Two, we were giving them the opportunity to get trained on and dabble with new technologies, new systems and new learning, new ways to infuse new things into their existing curriculum without the well, how am I going to get this in during MJSLA craft or how am I going to do this and do all my other responsibilities. They did it at their own pace but authentically. And again, everything we did was aligned to an already existing curriculum or co-curricular program. The other thing that made this work, which makes us different from everyone else, is that we only hire certified teachers. And if they are not trained, we will train them for those. Our lead STEM teachers
016originated as a second grade elementary teacher and a sixth grade ICR teacher. They are now next week will be leading a team down to Dallas for the world competition. So what we've also done is through this model is we've deconstructed this notion that I can't teach this or this person can't teach that. It's something as as someone that supervised the electives my whole career something I felt very passionately about. Good teaching is good teaching. I could teach content to anyone if I gave them a pot of coffee motivated them and gave them the resources. You know teaching is teaching learning things learning content is not only content. And what this enrichment model has also done for our staff has given them the opportunity to take chances on content they didn't know that they were proficient
017in and then bring it back into their classrooms. So the money ran out and but what we did was we created a monster and we had we in a good way a good happy sesame street the um we created excitement. We were bringing programs into areas of the district that prior no longer were there. For example, middle school robotics, um now elementary robotics, uh theater beyond 6 through 12. Um a beginning band opportunity for kids that maybe weren't sure to join band, but they tried it out over the summer before they made that commitment. Um on top of that, our teachers are sharpening the saw, so to speak, all summer long. Instead of buffing tables, many of our teachers, especially our younger ones, are working 12 months. I would not want them working two months
018elsewhere. I want them working 12 and working with our students and contributing to our programs. So, the program evolution took place naturally when the effort funding ran out. We had to break the news to the public that we would now have to assign a fee to these programs participation. Now, our fees um are very strategically selected. The idea of these programs is not to draw a profit. Now, do we want to take a loss? Of course not. But the idea would be a sustainable ongoing programmatic growth that honors our MTA contract but also allows us to deliver these programs with fidelity and in a sustainable way. I can't I will not, you know, Dr. Layman and I talk about this regularly when we talk about new program introduction. We want to introduce a a program
019that we don't think we can support moving forward. Um and the enrichment model has allowed us to do that. Um we we're very explicit with parents that participation in these programs does not have any condition on advancement or selection for any type of program or honors program. This is strictly enrichment. You do not earn credit. You do not get style points on your transcript. The students that we market these programs to are students that want an extended learning opportunity in a content area that they may or may not be interested in or may be curious about. Um, so you can see in the middle column there the immediate impact that we had when the revenue dried up and we decided to source our growth to the public. And why we think it works is because
020the only the new programs that we launch are those that are discussed at length collaboratively with the stakeholders in the community. and that's why we're here tonight. So, most recently this year on the right hand side of our most recent program evolutions which will go live this summer, many of which have already gone live. As you can see, what started off as a simple STEM camp has taken us into 12-mon high rigor computer science robotics instruction beginning in grades four. Um, it's led to the launch of the MTMS robotics curricular and co-curricular program. We've expanded art, culinary arts, theater, and now in what we're calling our third phase, we have we're launching a preschool this summer. Not just a daycare, a preschool. Remember, these are not this is not baby. And we're offering extended enrichment
021opportunities for our youngest learners gauge age two or grades K, excuse me. Um, if you look at the top there, that shield with the overly dramatic side viral, uh, whatever those things are coming at it, this summer, thanks to the feedback we received from the uh, from the community and our staff, we will be piloting a our district's first free medical program, which is something that has the community's been asking us for for a couple years. But the reason we didn't roll it out right away is because we wanted to make sure we could do it in a way that is sustainable. And this program will line up uh nicely with the new program Miss Thrust is introducing to the middle school in the advanced science program next year. So everything we do is aligned.
022Summer advancement is something that community has been asking for for near decade and for the first time in this school's history. You know, I don't know if you guys know this how many students we sent to Petty over the summer to get men and you know why and some and Petty sometimes would even hire our own teachers to work there. you know, these types of of things we have to say like what do we do? So, uh and we know that there's demand for for this type of learning and we this program sold out within two weeks. Um again, now when our students leave us for the summer, we know that they are in the care of certified, trained, handpicked teachers that we know are going to meet the needs of these students in the
023con in the construct of summer learning. Now, keep in mind, we are not advocating that every student move to school for 12 months. So, I wouldn't have been that kid, you know. I'll tell you right now. But is it better them on their iPad or going to some learning center that may or may not be taught by a certified staffman? I don't think so. In my experience, and I think that our patrons are great. In fact, 62% of of of parents that register for these for these programs are repeat customers. Um what's mostly exciting about that is that that means 48% right or might be offsets obviously wherever you are the um you know the rest of that that half are people that want to track that we have new programs every year and that
024bas that's basically uh driven by the feedback we get from supervisor principles parents and students you can hit the next slide can I one thing in there you can go next slide that's fine so there was an interest in the late you know 2017, 2018, 2019 of summer programming. But whenever from a district level we look to do something, we have to allocate funds for it and there's a risk to it. If it's something new, is it going to be successful? And if it's not successful or doesn't break even or you know, whatever it is, that's something we have to consider. So we leveraged the summer the funding we were required to spend in the during this the learning loss learning recovery piece for two years to establish a business model or a model that
025we could take chances because we were funded to do this to say let's do this and see what the enrollment is and every time we did something we applied the a fee or the lens of will this carry through in two years when we were out of money, will this be something we can sustain moving forward because again, we didn't want to do something that we couldn't kind of bring forward and I think that was a barrier to the district before we had this opportunity. So, it's kind of making what is it lemonade out of lemons and uh you know that was a tough time for us. We saw the need to positively expose the students to each other in the school over the summers getting us back into schools and it was an opportunity
026for us to behind the scenes establish a model that we could extrapolate from and uh you know you're going to get into the next step of sponsorships and community. That was part of the conversation once we got going to say how else can we supplement or or uh connect and expand these programs besides just assigning a fee, right? Because anytime we run something, there's a break even cost. Then we figure out how many students we what price we want to hit, how many students going to take to break even, and we try and find that balance. You know, 10 students versus five students. The costs change and stuff. So we we've actually in in not all programs, but for the second straight year, we've actually reduced the the fee of many of our programs this
027year. again because we look at our when we when we assign fees to our programs we have to cover the cost of the staff uh and believe it or not there's actually very little consumable costs to these programs and that's what makes this so I'm going to give you an example then we'll go into um uh the sponsorship and how these factors so this summer we're launching the we're calling it the Monroe MTSC med it's a premedical uh unit that we're parsing it into grades four five and then six um it's aligned ing the stress curriculum and the series that she's anticipating rolling out. But part of the launch of this program is going to be acquiring uh we haven't seen the deal yet. So we're acquiring a we're we're thinking about acquiring a specific
028piece of technology that we will use to help deliver this program lines up to what we want to do. But when the summer ceases, we're not just going to put these these devices in a shell. I say seen in June. They will be distributed to teachers very strategically that you know and or shuffled around much like we do our robots. The robots that we used over the summer don't get put away at the end of the summer. They go to fourth and fifth grade and they teach them in grade level units and things like that. These are assets that did not have that that Miss Graiano at Apple did not have to consider in the center. And so not only, you know, in this day and age, the idea of installing a massive new initiative
029to a large elementary school like this small budget would reflect a probably an absurd crooked number on your budget sheet of increase, we would never be able to pass it on the same. But when we can leverage programs that the community is is asking for in an aligned way through our teachers and through assets that are in line with our curriculum, we have essentially identified a way to circumvent what previously have been budgetary constraints innovative program development. And this is very exciting because when you think about the things and I'm going to be very honest these programs that we've rolled out over the last two years would not have been possible without going to a bait in us and we don't want to be we don't want to rob Peter P and that's where this
030next part comes in. So program sponsorship um you can pop over please. So years ago um even before when I was in this current position um we would come here not at this meeting but I don't remember what committee was but we would talk about ways to generate revenue for the district and the district constructive policy was selling stadium banners. this it's this thousand bucks a pub whatever it was and we were doing okay and and and we were selling banners and we were finding oh you know I don't know if I want a banner I want it and even when if and we had a threshold of we could you know even if we met our threshold of $30,000 right as you know it would have been it would have been very appreciated in
031the general fund budget but it's really not going to move the needle into any existential it's not going to replace the need for shaving, right? So, we started looking about how we could use the this this new opportunity to directly impact students, teachers and learning. And so, what we did was we started to offer direct aligned partnership, sensible partnerships to support these enrichment programs. So, we we use the revenue to help support our growth um in the enrichment model. And so because when I went to and I I'll say them because they've been a multi-year partner um Mrs. Kumar's Indian cuisine right down the street right fantastic partner one of the original partners of our district there is more utility in them with being associated with our culinary enrichment program which prided itself on being
032culturally responsive accessible to all learners than hanging the banner in the state and that was just that's just their position and to me that makes a lot of sense. So now what we've done is we've built their sponsorship into the execution of this program and and a portion of that sponsorship allows me to scholarship students into that program. So to me the value to the district stadium banner versus programmatic endorsement sponsorship and more importantly partnership of that organization. Plus we let a handful of young boys and girls come to the camp for free because they had financial disadvantages. that type that is the benefit of the private sponsor sponsorship that has been driving the programs. Banners are always are an add-on value for us. Um another example is the recent partnership we made with Monroe
033Ed Foundation. Um the benefit for the MEF was banners on right but the benefit was that they were now associated with an event the first and only event that brought together alumni industry professionals and and uh you know power brokers in the community. So what we what we're learning and what we're trying to capitalize on is the fact that uh there are many organizations in uh whether they be for-profit, nonforprofit that want to support these programs, maybe not in the form of an increase in their tax bill or a referendum, but they and we learned this during the referendum campaign that there are plenty of people that want to help but just in a different way. And and we are grateful. I mean some of these partners you know you have seen they keep popping
034up and and word's getting out. Now the other thing that's important to understand about solicitation and the selection of partners, every single organization we enter into agreement with is deadly and and we turn down sponsorships. And I know that sounds crazy sometimes, but if we don't believe that they meet the ideals or the values or the core principles of this district, um, you know, again, we just the type, you know, I would refer to the booster club maybe or or the local PTO. It's just, you know, we're very careful with who we align with and and that's important because if we're going to put an organization's brand next to this school district, we have to make sure we feel really good about it. And that was one of the things that we are very proud
035of. And the other thing that we're really proud of, our sponsors are exclusively from the Monter Jamesburg communities. And I believe by doing that, and again, I wouldn't dismiss someone from outside the community. But that just it just codifies that partnership so much more. It just it strengthens the commitment and and you know these partnerships are beyond just handing over a check. Uh these partners come in and speak to our students. Um the the photo at the bottom of the page there, many of them have appeared on our professional panels. Most of this is volunteer. We're getting the value that we get from the partnership is definitely we're making all you can hit the next slide and then I'll I'll we can chat. All right. So here's see if you can dissect this thing here.
036Here's how it works, right? So let's start off in at 11 o'clock there. Okay. So that's us MTSDS monopatrick enrichment services and the revenue from the sponsorship. So we we take in the revenue right and from the tuition from the students and the revenue from sponsors and then we push it into obviously our staffing. Okay. So this is where the magic happens. So once we make our determination about who's going to be working what we're going to be working with we then get into we forecast. and see resources and technologies get distributed, trainings and integration takes place. Now that is happening as we speak. So our staff is now especially with the new programs we are find we are making sure it lines up with our curriculum and we are modifying our units to get
037ready for our July launch because again we we cannot and we will not offer anything in the summer that may contradict or undermine or even usurp the scope and sequencing of our existing curricul. So these this is a very careful process. There's a lot of training gov involved. Again, a lot of our training gets funded by the revenue. So again, we we know what our we're dealing with. We have zero based budgeting. So once we distribute those technologies and materials, which this is this is like Christmas day for this get stuff in now. And what's nice is we take June and July to get get used to it. Then we decide how it's going to fit into our school district. We run it over the summer. Then you can see in our after action there,
038we work counterclockwise here. I'll come to you guys with after action. on we'll talk about program mapping and to find out how we can take these resources and these units and blend them with existing curriculum. So overnight we are updating overnight over the summer we are updating our curriculum equipping the teachers making sure they're trained and we have not touched the budget. We have not hijacked the day-to-day of the the teachers and we're giving our kids a competitive advantage over the summer if they so choose. Um so that that is kind of like the flow of our operations. Um last year we had just about 48 people that receive employment from this service which is a huge winner for our district to to reinvest into our and that doesn't even count the amount of training
039we protected. Um and we get bigger every year. We get smarter every year and uh we get more efficient every year. And uh let's see what I got. One more. All right. So, what's next? All right. So, what are we here? Go ahead. Mike, please. So, you know, I know that that's not a very thoughtprovoking or groundbreaking what's next, but it's the truth. You know, if you if you you know, the premed thing came from a conversation in the in a hallway. The Lego League came from a gentleman that decided to come into my office and say, "Hey, we should have Lego. um yeah we'll investigate it but this this is our play our our sandbox. So when we talk about program development alongside of what we normally do already, which we think we do
040very well, this is what we do. And and um the other benefit of these of this enrichment program and we can partner up the community is that a lot of our accreditation with postsecondary institutions requires a professional steering committee. you know, which you know, when we first talked about setting up this committee, you know, my interests uh selfishly were, oh, okay, I can use these professionals that we bring in to help Spotify. So let's say when we walk away from here, you know, Miss L, I know you're even, you know, your family has been a part of these programs for a while now and this runner obviously. Um, you know, a lot of the feedback we get are programmatic development comes from parents and uh especially the younger parent because they know what they want.
041They would like, you know, they had a little bit, hey, I'd like to see a premed program by the time I get to high school. Okay, but I got to start now. And and we figure out what the funding is going to be. We try to source it through our existing programs and through strategic ledger sponsorships and we continue to grow and I don't have to ask the principles for really peing line ite um but this only works because we have stuff and I am not put arm twisting high school kids or college kids try to get them about 12 bucks an hour. you know, we we invest in this program like we've invested in school districts. Normal and I think that's what gives us an edge and um we do have some students that
042come from out district. I'd like to see that increase. I would like to see more students come to this school for summer learning and and and other summer experiences rather than elsewhere because I do believe we could do it better. And uh and you know, as a compliment to the teachers, I think the results speak for itself. So, we're really excited about this year. Our website is already up and active. Registration for the summer is live. But, um, you know, right now is the time to be creative. So, I guess the the ask I would have the committee would be to, you know, report to your constituency, send us ideas. You know, if you think that is, you know, perfect example about not all ideas stick. I met with several parents about installing a logistics
043and supply chain management course. I know it sounds so exciting, right? It's also one of the fastest growing industries in America, especially now if they're going to bring manufacturing back, right? So, we sat there and said, "How do I get kids excited about this and get them learning about it pretty early on?" And the answer was, "I don't think I we're going to have to make it high school, which is what the state wants." So, yeah, I mean, so so can fly. You know, we're looking at the CAD class right now and we have a very small group of kids that want to be civil engineers or they think they want to be civil engineers in sixth or seventh grade and they maybe they don't know. So, we have to pay attention to see are
044we getting a little too ambitious with maybe some of the things we offer and sometimes we do. You know, we made a decision to scrap the beach club book bash. Not because we didn't think it was viable, but just because it was just not getting the turnout that we liked. So what we did was instead of having it as a standalone event, we blended it in to the existing event and we made a book club beach- reading room for kids that need to learn 30 minutes in between. So So it's so not everything has worked. Um right now our summer remediation program is working for passing kids, but it's it's not a financially viable u model. So tomorrow night we're going to be presenting a solution to that curriculum. So you know I don't want
045you to think it's it's it's just repeat. We do look at this critically. Every year we will present an afteraction report to the board uh to let them know what worked and what didn't. But um as far as new program implementation goes, specifically at the elementaryaries and middle school, this summer program and the year-long enrichment model has really been the catalyst that we led through all of it. And sometimes, you know, it's important for me to have this opportunity to tell the public that it is so much more than just a summer camp. I cringe even when my staff says, "Oh, what what time is camp this week?" I No, we don't call it that because it's not that. You guys are not camp counselors, right? You guys just did 60 hours of Project Leader
046Way core training. Like, give yourself some credit. And we hold ourselves to that standard, too, which um so that's basically the the mindset. Um kind of the mission and vision. Uh and we want to keep growing and we want to keep expanding and getting more people involved. I have a quick question. You mentioned not only Monroe students, but are you getting them from Jamesburg to sign up? We have had students from Jamesburg. Um, we've met uh at our most recent meeting with uh Dr. Peek, I'm sorry, supervisor, Dr. Bani and Miss D. Miss D. Um, we had discussed that. We've gone as far as we could to translate our materials for them. I know they have their own services. It's some of our media heavy stuff. Be annoying. Um, I have reached out to Dr.
047Vistler in Cranberry. Um, and uh, I've also had not done any direct mailing to any other districts, but we will probably do so after May 15th. We'd like to give them honor student early access. Thank you. Where can the public go if they're interested in being a sponsor? Um, well, they can go to the MTSDES website or they could contact uh our staff at communitym. Um, or they can reach out to me directly. Um I I get a lot of leads from the athletic department. Um a lot of a lot of times like the parents will reach out to the teachers now because they're familiar with our model and uh they'll say, "Hey, my thumb and fell works out of this place." Reach out to them. A lot of times we run into red tape
048though with like anything's franchise they're paying to work with. I'm going to take the money but then they got to get approvals and stuff. So do you ladies know what the Ed Foundation does? Everybody's familiar with the Monroe Ed Foundation. Okay. If you want to explain that or me explain it, whatever. You probably will explain it better than me. Yeah. Um Monroe Ed Foundation is a bunch of bunch a group of um community members that have gotten together and raised funds. And what they do is I think now this is how I did it when I was in a different district. They give grants out to teachers and I don't know if they have forms whether they go in, you know, 500,500. I really don't know that I can speak to it. Yes. Can you?
049And I know that they we were at a comedy night the other night and they've had a fundraiser actually tonight. I think it's Romeo's whatever money whatever you order 10% goes to them and they give back the money to teachers in grants for programs that they maybe could not afford to put into the into their class but after writing up um the curriculum and how it is. Right, Dr. There's a there's a process they do to apply for a grant. The grants are kept at $2,000. how however many grants are given out are a function of how much money the foundation has available to give. Um and they sponsor bringing an author in. A lot of things come up right after the budget's passed, you know. So they something comes in for a perfect event
050something here. Yeah. So just a few a few weeks ago um we ran the career connections night which featured many of our private sponsors. Yeah. And that was funded that the MEF picked up the tab. So we that's not something we budgeted for at the high school. Uh and so what we did was we said, "Hey, this is a great, you know, when the MEF came to us and said, "Hey, we'd like to make some make some horrible sponsors, some effective players, I got an idea. Let's kill two birds, one stone." And we we always won the one thing anyway. Um and so they came in and they allowed us to execute that event. Um the MEF is currently funding research uh for a bunch of students in our honors engineering design and development class.
051Um so what they do is the uh the students came up with a list of materials and items that they would need to conduct their research and help with that. So that's another example. So that their their their contributions range from just general grants to very specific, right? Am I saying that correctly? That's correct. Very targeted. Um uh and what's nice is that the teachers when they apply they get an opportunity to talk about Exactly. And then if it's that good, I know where when I was on if it was that good, it would went across the say it was fourth grade teacher and she brought this program and with uh her grant money and it was so excellent that they we put it across all the fourth grades in the district. So, you know,
052whatever. Excuse me. If there's the money to do it, right, if there's this is a long time ago I'm talking about, but that's what we did a long time ago if it was that good of a program. I mean, some of the teachers, you know, they don't have the backing. There are some grant um things um donors choose or Jones, whatever it is, what they're called. And you're you're right. It's just we don't use that in Monro, right? I know we don't, but there are I mean, my daughter uses it in New Brunswick. There are other examples of where teachers can get grants, but with an ed foundation, it's zoomed in on Monroe. Just to piggyback off that, I think the education foundation is the prime example of what a partnership would is a perfect
053example of a partnership that stems from the community. Um because it's not just a business, right? And um it's it's not a business partnership, but it is a like you said the Savannah group of community members who rely on uh donations that come in from the community so that they can support our students. So um they do have, you know, fundraisers and things like that, but they're also they on their website where individuals can go and know donate individually to the um to the foundation. And it is an upandcoming foundation. um it was debunked for a few years and is now they're trying to revitalize it and bring it back. So I definitely think it's one of those areas where um the most immediate impact could be felt because that money will go any donations
054will go directly to the foundation and that money will be turnkey directly back into our schools. Can I um so I actually I wrote down my questions. You asked one which was about Jamesburg because I think it would be great. I know we tried to increase our, you know, collaboration with them. Um, I did want to compliment the administration to know when Katie and I had started four years ago, a lot of times like this was coming out later, especially because we didn't know what money was available, but you know, parents are making their summer plans and so it's hard sometimes to get that schedule. Um, so then I guess the two questions that I had I guess there were three others too. Um the first is the um weeks that are used in terms
055of the classes. Is that something based on the staff availability or um is there another way that's determined? But I'll give you an example. So I was looking at the first Lego for my son because he would love to do that. A lot of our programs that will take place in July, which is when Monroe wreck is running. Um, and a lot of the township organizations have their programs. Um, I don't know. I don't have trouble filling that program itself, but I don't know if there's other there might be more participation. Um, yeah. Uh, and and just to remind you, we have 10 more minutes. Um, I'm going be honest with you, I I don't take Monro into consideration with commission. um and because it it it wouldn't work. Um I have to work around
056the teachers availability, but also I have a commitment to the high schools to be clear by a certain date in August because they resume their activities at a certain um and the building facilities have to be Yeah. Not only not only that you have marching band, you have coaching um right? Yeah. In terms Yeah. Yeah. So we actually that's the thing that I didn't mention. So this program also plays a big significant role to support even though it doesn't it doesn't run as as function of ESY. The fact that the program is happening and that was available until you're there allows us to really leverage the existence of the program and and sadly it only helps ES5 students that are here but it's been we you know we don't like to brag about it. the
057umbrella that kind of stuff. But it's been it's it's been a pleasure to you since you took him back on the back at any time. Well, really because we it wasn't easy. No, I think these program now I I just want to make sure that the the three ladies that are here right now. Do you ladies have any questions? Yeah, I think just, you know, I it sounds like the caliber of these programs are very different from Beck, but I can tell you just as someone who has an eight-year-old um and a one-year-old, I've been looking into summer programs very recently. This is the first summer that I'm actually looking into programming for him and a lot of parents do wreck. I mean, that's I think that's a very takes the whole I think that's
058a reality that we're faced with when we're looking at this program is how do we get around that? So I'm gonna be I'm gonna address this very bluntly and and because this has come up since we started um my words the we don't when our students come here they walk through they start learning and then they leave there's no hanging around trees you know there w works for some families right and it's a fabulous program I went there my whole life I worked there vicar it's this is just different. You know, this is not daycare. Yep. This is learn. Um and and I don't say that in a negative disparity to any other of these programs. It's it's we don't go beyond two hours for that reason, right? We don't want mom having enough time
059to get nails done or run errands or dad to go do his errands, squeeze it in so we can run errands. That's not the point of this program. You know, this is not supposed to be a break. You know, these programs don't exist to provide relief or a break. These programs are designed for students that want to learn something. Um, you know, I wrestled one of the reasons I waited so long to make the K to2 program 5 hours and to let parents think that's too short. Um, and it was because I I don't have an option for that, right? Um, and the other thing is, and this is the other one, I could never afford. So, you know, when you think about what that would cost to do, but and I and and then
060we get into this like philosophy stuff. I don't think kids should be in school all day in the summer. My colleagues agree. Um there has to be some semblance of summer day and um it allows the students to continue to engage in whatever else they have going on. We do tend to work around athletic camps a little bit um because many of those athletic camps take place through this building, right? So, so and and we've actually done a pretty good job of syncing up our schedules. So like if you go to a morning band lesson, you can make it down. That's the one time. That is the one. Yeah. So we we try to do that. But as far as as far as consideration of scheduling, the only consideration I make is I try not
061to run two third grade classes at time. So if you go in the morning third grade in culinary, you can go. If I start worrying, I gota be honest with you, if I start worried about those other things. Yeah. No, I mean they they have they have specialist camps also. But like to her point, like I'm looking at this now also, right? And so we have like that July 24th set, but then we're trying to figure out, well, how do we fill that end of July, beginning of August? Oh, yeah. It's a problem for a lot of parents. Like I wouldn't be able to do it because my wife exactly what we would want. It's just and listen, you can't do everything. Um the other question just that I had heard a lot and I
062know we talked briefly about this was the because we've started now doing the high school um enrichment. I for advance. Um so is there any potential future growth with that? Like I know having an eighth grader, you know, they're all here. Got it. I hope so. Um you know, they're um they've all talked about the financial literacy requirement, how they want to take a lot of classes, but you know, you can only take so many classes during the day. Um everybody has to take that as a graduation requirement. So I know that there have been talk that other districts sort of offer that over the summer. I don't know what Yes. Yeah. So 100% that's on the convers uh part of the conversation. Again, this is a strategic thoughtful roll out, right? Um and we
063also recognize that not every student looks for advancement. So we had a tremendous amount of success with the one course the two one subject two courses we offered. Uh both have sold out and I believe there is no weight list. Is that am I correct in saying that Mr. Maldo? There is no wait list. Um but we are at capacity. Correct. So we're sold out but everybody who wanted to come the road to do the uh advancement as a seat. But we also recognize that if we offered one or two other choices, there's probably a high probability that the students that are sitting in this course would probably take those other courses. So we're not necessarily going to sell out all the other courses. So we have to balance because maybe there's 150 200 kids
064that are going to consider advancement. Yeah. How are we going to balance them while maintaining profitability, sustainability or program? So that's why this is a you know dip your toe in the water. But our lens certainly has been on the elective side moving forward for potential next option. Um because when you look at say chemistry or something like that, that's that's a different piece than whether it's financial literacy or even some of our other electives. We ran a metric on and we could do this is we could run the most heavily requested electives that do not get run. So like when you think about how many kids want working with children is that example but that you know yeah piano is one of them. um some of the art class um the uh you know
065I I you know I look at like a lot of the civil engineering courses or some of those nuanced market like some of the courses that can't fit in your schedule because we have so many other things you have to get to just wait in a couple years computer science will be expired so that's going to even um but we also have to make we you know there are a lot of things that we keep in mind course sequencing coherent sequence of of courses particularly in the maths and science sciences, you know, we have to look at, you know, one of the things we looked at is will the kids is there is there a disservice to completing CAP by your sophomore year, junior year and then preparing, you know, we have to think it
066way through the steps and that's why um this was a big start for us and we're really excited about the teachers that are going to teach it. And we think it absolutely will get us excited about what's next. But this this one's a little bit different than enrichment because we got to be super smart about rolling it out because it could create some challenges down the road. What did you say the age group is for this one? Uh you must have completed algebra one at the high school. Correct. Now I'm I believe I'm making that face. If I get this wrong, Sue Gaffer is gonna run me over with a truck when I uh get Oh, at the high school. Yeah. So what basically what would whatever are you asking about high school about both?
067So it sounds like there's a couple of different programs advancement for credit. That's what we're doing. That's yeah that's new. It's just let's learn after school or let's learn in the summer. So to be clear algebra one if you take that in eighth grade you cannot take this for. All right here we go. We only have five minutes Mr. Moral. I know. But to answer your question uh succinctly, all students must have nept their counselor have successfully completed algebra 1 with a set state with a stated set of criteria. Then if they have permission from Miss Gasco and myself and the counselor, they can register for that. Yeah. So not only did like we didn't there was also a very strict gate to who we could because we like it's it's bad for everyone if
068a bunch of kids take this class and you especially for turning a fee, right? And there's no refunds. So like imagine that offers compensation. So the uh parents want their money but the um but yeah so that it is capped for instructional efficacy and uh we do want kids to be set up for success. So in in in the event that we denied a kid, it was one because they hadn't taken algebra one yet or two they maybe have completed algebra one. But right now maybe we wait till the fall just because we saw some things that we don't know if this model of learning might be best for you. But we're not making that determination. The math teachers and the counselors and we and we talked I talked to a couple teach uh students
069at the um student lunchon that Dr. Chanley has and the not the ones that are graduating because they were complaining like wish we had it before we graduated some of these courses because they want to take the summer courses and excel themselves but the there was a junior there and he said he can't wait. So, you know, I think I know which one you're talking about. Yeah, they're giving they're we're giving them such an opportunity to just um add to their resume and their college and their experiences in your own district and like like Dr. Dr. Mr. Moralda said and hired in our own our own teachers and giving them a summer opportunity and if I was gonna you know because I've had other districts reach out to me and ask you know for constructs
070and stuff they it let it it goes no further than that. The only reason these programs work is because we hire our teachers, right? The minute we start, well, maybe we can get, you know, this tutor to come in and we're gonna invest a lot of intelligent people out there. But we the fact that I can offer you the same teacher that's that just completed that Python training course a few weeks ago. That changes everything. And for from a leadership standpoint, you know, when I can't I I go still go back home teacher. I like what are you doing this summer? Well, I buzz tables. I said, what? I said, "That's a great job, but come work for me. And not only are we going to pay you your contractual rate, which you're valued at,
071but I'm also going to equip you with stuff you can take through September." So, it's kind of good experience. We've built our team, you know, we've added people to the initiative that a couple years ago never thought they'd be teaching Python to kids or premedical classes. And these are things I would not be able to do during the school year. We bring them in summer, we indoctrinate them, we train them, and then we send them off in September. and and then these people leaders in the building. It's wonderful. Very exciting. So, it's so good to hear things like that. That's continuous. It's been a pleasure to receive this program. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Moral. I mean, I don't know if you took a breath or a drink the whole hour, but God bless you for
072Well, I was told I had an hour to fill and I was the only item on the agenda. Well, you were the only item on the Well, and Dr. Layman, of course, always, you know, he's he always chimes in with his knowledge that you two two heads are better than me. Well, I have to make sure I'm not saying something factually incorrect. Yes. So it takes time. Um we are als we're going to end the meeting but we are also I talked to Dr. Chanley and thinking of um having this uh citizens advisory committee every other month because that way they can get more information to get back. Um this took a lot because last month Mr. Moralda we didn't get to it. Um but if what do you ladies think about that having I
073like your opinion on it having it every other month. It'll be the same duration like the hour. An hour. Yes. Awesome. Does that seem fine with all of you? We'll send out emails and uh we'll discuss it if we're going to actually do that. It's just something that was brought up to my attention tonight. And um I know it's a bad time cuz the next one would be June 3rd and I don't know with graduations and I don't know what's going on. Uh if we could skip it to July, but maybe we could take a u a a poll of who would be available and if not we could move it to the next month. Is does that seem feasible with everybody? And we're still hap, you know, through that email address, um, or, you
074know, obviously directly to me, uh, or to anyone on committee, you know, we're still happy to collect feedback and ideas, particularly the things that maybe we've talked about in the past. Um, maybe some things that you've heard from your groups and your communities. Um, and, uh, you know, to help us drive some discussion maybe into things that are are fresh on your mind as well. Okay. Thank you all for coming this evening and that's it's uh now 8:02 and the end of the citizens advisory committee. Thank you. Enjoy your beginning of your summer. If we don't see you, we'll let you know when we're going to have our next one. Okay. Thank you, ladies. Thank you.