001Hilarious. So, here we go. Uh, welcome everyone to the uh, Townage Board of Education uh, meeting for Wednesday, April 16th, 2025. As we always do, if you join me in a pledge of allegiance, uh, we'll start our meeting and I will remove my hat. Uh, pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. There we go. Thank you. Y uh let's see who's here. Uh Mr. Hostettler, could you do the roll call? Davis here. here. Here uh want to welcome the guests both online and here in person. Really do appreciate it very much. Uh before we get too deep into our agenda, we'd like to take a moment here and just little change of
002pace. We have a special guests uh in the room tonight and would like to take this moment and turn it over to uh Mrs. Becky Miller, uh, president of TTA. I understand you have something to talk about, present, and and her sidekick. And her sidekick, John. So, we are happy to have some visitors in the back, Tammy, half Shaw and Lauren Stone. and they green light. Becky Miller, I teach at Tomage Elementary School. And I'm John Bryan. I'm also at the elementary and we have our um union president here and I am the vice president. And we wanted to thank you for allowing us to have this time to present to Tammy Habashaw and Lauren Stone the Northeast Ohio Education Association Positive Image Award. and um they received a check for TTA for $150. If
003you don't know about their rummage sale, their free rummage sale um is a very positive activity they do. They've done it for two years. The second one was over the top with donations. They had a table with Tomage Blue Devils donated shirts that people weren't using anymore. TTA spends 250 on diapers. This guy with his own money does a lot of uh food donations. Um but their hard work is very much appreciated and we thought that they deserved a positive injury. I know they don't they didn't want any we took pictures last year and I know they don't want it but we really appreciate what you do for the community. So, um, we wanted to present them with, uh, this is from Northeast Ohio Education Association, a certificate and then the check will go in
004and along with the 250 that TTA donates. So, that'll be $400 that you'll have for diapers this year. Okay. And one thing I'd like to add, too, this is selfless. This is all from their heart. There are no strings attached when people come needing. And I think there's going to be a larger need more than ever. If you look at the Can you put that picture back up? I mean, this is last summer, so they're getting around now to start asking for donations. And a lot of uh staff volunteered and helped you this year, I think, and at the end they donate what's left. Um, so you guys are going to come up and accept your award, y ladies. So, it's a Go ahead. so appreciated because this is what the idea of two women
005can have an impact on our community and we actually get people from other places as well. But this is from the bottom of our heart and the bigger heart of NEOA um who want to say thank you that for being our tales positive image award winners and they only gave six awards out this year. Usually there's a lot. So you were among six people. But keep doing what you're doing and we'll be by your side always. All right. Thank you. [Applause] Thank you. Thank you. And we also wanted to just to say we like celebrating our teachers as well. I know we have the good news about what's going on with students and what's going on, but you know it's our jobs to help celebrate the teachers as well. So that's what and this is
006a huge success from those two ladies. So thank you. Wow, that was nice. That was great. I don't know how we follow that up, but congratulations again. All set. Here we go. Well, let's keep going forward. Uh again with uh the invitation for for visitors uh if uh visitors who are here if you would like to speak after the meeting uh following the basic agenda that we roll through there'll be a moment set aside for you and we'll explain how that works when we get that far. So but again we're glad you're here this evening. Uh moving on. Uh approval of last meetings minutes. Uh it's recommended that the board of education approve the minutes from March 19, 2025. Uh minutes from all meetings can be found online in a digital form and uh we
007need a motion and a second. I'll make a motion. I'll second. Um any discussion, any changes, edits? I saw nothing when I read through them. So, uh we're good. So, Mr. Hosteller ask for a vote. I Next up, financials. Uh, it is recommended that the board approve the financial reports for the month of February 2025 as presented. And I would need a motion in a second. A motion. Second. any discussion, anything that we saw, nothing uh from your side of the table, any interest. I will bring up one of the reports that I do is a a comparison fiscal year to date for this year and fiscal year to date from last year. uh and this is the time of year I want to caution you uh can vary a lot because this is the
008time of year when we are collecting real estate tax advances. So if you were to look on on this uh report there's almost $3 million difference in real estate taxes. I think it's 2.9 million, but that's simply a a variance of advanced collections that the county has forwarded to us. Happens twice a year and this is the time of year for the spring collection and then again in July and August we'll get advances before we get the final settlement and that's when uh that number can vary from year to year. So, it's just a timing thing. our real estate taxes are not going down or going up either uh to any large degree. So, I just wanted to let you know that if you're seeing a difference, always look at the real estate revenue first
009and if that's I noticed. Yeah, it's it's a timing thing from year to year. So, thank you. Any other questions on anything? Very good. I would ask for a vote. Mr. Lowry, I Mr. Davis. Hi, Mrs. Ross. Hi, Mr. Pastor I Mr. Fers I moving on uh in lie of transportation in consideration of the factors established in uh article 3327 uh.02 O2 the townage board of education declares the impracticality of transportation based both on the number of pupils being transported to non-public school and also the cost of providing transportation in terms of equipment maintenance personnel and administration for the students uh per the attached list that was part of the agenda. I would ask for a motion and a second. I'll make a motion. I'll second. Any discussion of anything? Is that the total number
010of kids that are not in our district that are going to private? That's a total number of kids that go to private schools that we do not provide transportation to but are required to by law. So we do also provide some some school some schools we have enough students that we do provide transportation like CVCA for example is a school that we provide busing. So they would not be on this list. So o overall we're looking at 38 kids 12 12 schools that don't fit the parameter of what you're talking about like CBCA. That's right. Okay. Very. Is there any reimbursement from the state for that effort or No, there is. Yeah. the transportation there's a transportation line item in our school funding budget but there's also when we file our T2 report at the
011end of the year we provide them with a dollar amount that we've spent in transportation in li of so there is a percentage that comes back to us not the entire amount but a percentage yes anything else I would ask for a vote Mr. Pastor I Mrs. Ross I Mr. Davis I Mr. Lowry I Mr. affairs. I next up recommendations from the superintendent. Um it is recommended that the board of education adopt policies of which there are 21 new ones that we have reviewed uh as listed uh here as as attachments. And I this is a second reading I believe. And I would ask for a motion and a second. I'll make a motion. A second. And along with these uh policies uh from last board meeting uh when we did the first reading uh
012we had decided as a board that we would have two of our members do kind of a deep dive into them uh to see if there were any questions. Uh they came up and I would like a report for the public. Okay. uh Chad and myself uh thoroughly uh evaluated these policies. Uh we made a list of them. We had a few questions which we contacted the superintendent. Uh he answered our uh questions of of uh basically it was educating us mostly. Uh and I feel very confident that they're good policies and we should go forward with them. Agreed. It was a good meeting. Very productive. Everything's fine. Very good. Yeah. Uh, any questions, discussions from your side? Nothing. Good. I would ask for a vote then. Mr. Perelli. I. Mr. Davis. I. Mrs. Ross.
013Hi. Mr. Lowry. I. Mr. Fairhurst. I. Next up, resolution to adopt the Department of Education Workforce Special Education Policies. It is recommended that the board of education adopt by resolution the DEW special education model policies and procedures. Uh resolution and link to model policy are attached and we have reviewed them. Uh I would need a motion and a second. A motion. Second. Uh any questions on anything that we you read or reviewed? I'll let uh Mr. It's pretty uh pretty complex. So I'll let Mr. Zean give an overview of what what this is all about. Um yeah, in simple terms, um annually we're required to give assurances to the Department of Education and Workforce that we uh follow policies and procedures set forth either ones that we adopt the state's policies or we set our
014own in practice and submit them to the state uh to ensure the education you know supports and services for students with disabilities. Uh that generally takes place in November. Uh but this year the state came out with updated uh policies and procedures uh updated model policies uh so that they've asked districts um by May 30th to to notify them that the board has adopted the resolution um to accept the model policies. So what this resolution does is uh it provides that assurance. We'll upload this. Um there are some instances as you'll see in the if you saw in the policy there's there's four statements in there um where um there was recommendations in there that we uh strike some of the language in there because of either redundancy um or unnecessary statements um in the
015model policies. But outside of that, we're asking that the board accept the model policies in full. Um, I can answer questions about those if you needed that. But those four areas, but otherwise you're adopting the model policies on any questions, comments. Good. Any questions on it? I would ask for a vote. Mr. Lowry, I Mr. Davis, hi. Mrs. Ross, I Mr. Pastor Elli, Mr. F. I. Next up, uh, leap agreement. Uh it is recommended that the board of education approve the contract between LEAP and town city schools for the 202526 school year. Uh the agreement is attached and I believe you you generally approve this annually about this time of year. Uh they usually get that out to us a little bit ahead of time. Um it's a standard agreement for the 2526 year and
016it just provides for us what the daily rates are and what the factors are around our partnership. Um, presently we do not have any students attending the LEAP program. Uh, and we're not anticipating any for next year, but by setting up this agreement, it provides us with the opportunity should the IEP team think it necessary. Um, we have the framework. Yes. Okay. Yep. That's what this is. Anything? Nothing. I would ask for a vote. Professor Hi, Mrs. Ross. Hi, Mr. Davis. Hi, Mr. Lowry. Hi, Mr. Frist. I next up, out of town overnight trips. Uh, it is recommended that the board of education approve the out of town overnight field trip for Chase Watkins to attend the national uh business professionals of America conference to represent Talmage uh I believe in uh Orlando, Florida, May
0177th through the 11th. And attached is the letter of details explaining everything. Um, I need a motion and a second. I'll make a motion. Second. Any comments? I mean, it sounds exciting to me. I think we should all go. But, uh, this is sounds pretty. Do Do we How How often do we send somebody to the nationals? Not Not every year. That is for sure. It's not It's a rare. So, congratulations to Chase for his hard work here. There was some fundraising uh done to help uh support this uh trip, including the Thomas Schools Opportunity Foundation. So, um you know, we're we're excited to give Chase this opportunity. He's earned it. Great. We're we're excited to vote on it. So, I ask for a vote. Mrs. Ross. Hi, Mr. Davis. Hi, Mr. Lowry. Hi, Mr.
018Perelli. Hi, Mr. Fhurst. Hi. Next up,ou with the teachers association. It is recommended that the board approve the memorandum of understanding with the teacher talmage teachers association to the roll over of a period of one year of the current master agreement. Copy of this memorandum has been attached for review. I would ask for a motion and a second. A motion. Second. Uh any questions if you've reviewed it from either side from your side? We mentioned this at last month's meeting as well. This is something that um was done before the last board meeting, but the the uh Townage Teachers Association ratified it after our meeting. So, we're um you know, we're again just so thankful to TTA for working with us and coming up with a one-year plan as we work through the the financial
019dilemma that face the district faces the district. So, I think this is a fair deal for the district and a fair deal for our teachers as we move through this. So, thankful. Anything good? Well, thank you for putting that together, working that through. Uh, I would ask for a vote. Mr. Lowry, I. Mr. Davis, hi. Mrs. Ross, I. Mr. Perelli, I Mr. F. I. Uh, next up, personnel items. I will ask uh for a motion and a second. Mr. Fris, excuse me, one second. I I I did want to comment before we leave the superintendent area. I left on here in notes about the final adoption of the 2526 calendar. Okay. I know you we had talked about striking it. I didn't know if you'd address it. Yeah, by all means, by all means. And
020I left it on the agenda here because I'm sure some citizens are wondering about it because u as as you know with the with calendar adoption, it's a 30-day um review for the community. So, we we have pulled it. Um and the and the reason is is there's there was a lot of questions and concerns uh if you remember with um taking away the Easter Monday holiday from the calendar. we we kind of did a trade uh and added a records day that would have been before the last day of school. It would be the Monday before the the last day of school. And um in in reviewing this with TTA, first of all, this those schedule changes were all part of our our 101year rollover agreement with TTA. In looking at this specific um
021situation, we think we found a solution to kind of bring back Easter Monday holiday and and um move that records day back to its original location. Um which is after the kids go home for the summer. Uh but we still have some work to do. Um so um that's why we pulled this here at the last minute. Um my intent is that we will have a final calendar for you next year as or next month as well as a draft calendar of the 2627 school year as well using a similar model and then we'll have to do the 30-day review again and then and finalize that. But I think uh our families will be happy to have some of these days back on back on the schedule for next year. Okay. Very very good. Yeah.
022Sorry about skipping over it. I No, I just wanted to comment on it at least. big pencil mark right through it. So, my bad. So, thank you for the explanation. I appreciate it. Uh, now we're moving on personnel items. I'm going to ask uh for consent to take as a uh a total motion uh 5.1 through 5.4 as one motion. Uh I need a motion and a second. A motion. Second. Is is there anything in here you'd like to call out or we're No, pretty straightforward. Pretty standard. Pretty straightforward. Okay. Very good. Uh I would ask for a vote. Mr. Lowry. Hi. Mrs. Russ. Hi. Mr. Davis. Hi. Mr. Paselli. Hi. Mr. F. Hi. Next up, central office report. Uh seems here that we have a special guest curriculum update by Mrs. Courtney Davis. Uh,
023you have the floor. All right. All right. I'm going to stay here. Is that okay with everybody? Okay. Well, you don't have to. Okay. Thank you. Okay. So, I will try really hard not to get into the weeds, which you know I tend to do. So this is really kind of a a 30,000 foot view of where we've been over the last this is my finishing up my fourth year in this role which is unbelievable but believable at the same time because we've um done a lot of work over the last four years without a doubt. Um, so my goal in this presentation is really just to kind of give you an overview of the curriculum initiatives. You've been in the know throughout all of these adoptions and all of the great work that our
024teachers have been doing throughout the last four years, but I wanted to at least highlight once again the growth that has been made over those last four years. Um, I'm going to focus on those initiatives. I'm also going to focus on the alignment with the Townage Way, which you see prominently displayed in this room and throughout all of our buildings. And as you know, last school year that underwent a facelift, so to speak, um, and became the Townage Way. Uh, but it is really become not just a document hanging on our classroom walls, but it has really been operationalized across the district. So, I want to highlight a little bit of that as well. And then uh also we'll talk about our ongoing focus on authentic and personalized learning experiences for our students. Um so
025we have essentially a framework for everything in this district at this point now. So as you know um and I've shared in the past we created content area content committees. So in addition to our lead teacher positions which as you know lead teachers at the K5 level are grade level specific at the 612 level are content area department specific. So in addition to those lead teachers who have been instrumental in the facelift of our Talmage way and really operationalizing it. We also have additional leadership opportunities for our teachers through the work of our content committees. So we have content committees for every content area across the district and over the last four years we have touched every single content area in the district. That obviously includes math, ELA, but it also includes health and PE.
026It includes uh world language. It includes every every aspect of what we do. So um believe it or not now this is our first year in terms of establishing that cycle of review which was also really important throughout this work is we wanted to do the work on a um over these those three years with our content committees. But we also then wanted to reconvene those content committees to review the work that was done and make sure that we're still on track, that our framework is still in place, that our resources are still meeting our needs. So within all of this work, this is the first year that we've um reconvened our math content committee um just to review our math framework, review our resources, make adjustments as needed. Um so just kind of keep
027that in mind. This is the first year of our cycle of review. But, uh, as you know, a lot of extensive work was done around ELA. Um, and I, like I said, I won't get in the weeds, but the board has access to this presentation, and within it are links to our ELA framework, our math framework, social studies, etc. You have access to all of those documents. But those frameworks were established through the work of our content committees. So that is represented across every grade level in the district. Um and it provides another leadership opportunity for teachers who maybe are not lead teachers. There's no um requirement in terms of years of experience because we wanted to get as many voices at the table as we possibly could um and different voices at the table.
028So the ELA content committee established that ELA framework. As you know, we did a largecale K12 ELA adoption and um we moved forward with Wit and Wisdom at the K5 level, Amplify ELA at the middle school level and my perspectives at the high school level. And I have to give a huge shout out to our teachers who that was a that was an undertaking and it was a shift for many of our teachers. Um but they embraced it. they have um embraced the challenge of learning something very new to them. Um we were really intentional about creating opportunities for them within their grade levels, giving them release time, um having them work with the ELA consultant from the ESC as well to support them because that is um implementation of a resource like that is
029resources like that I should say is a huge undertaking. Um and we have over and over again made sure they understand that the intent is that we're implementing those resources with integrity. Um we some of them are more scripted in nature and when we say we want to implement with fidelity a lot of times that is interpreted as I need to be reading from this script on this time or at this time on this day. And we really wanted to make sure our teachers still felt like they had autonomy and professional judgment and that they could also um incorporate so many of the authentic personalized experiences that we we believe in for our kids. So it's been um it's been a marriage of the two of those that um has provided some opportunities for growth
030and and good discourse and conversation. Um but again that was a huge undertaking for our teachers. Um through that we have strengthened our tier one instruction which is instruction that all of our students receive and as a result of that that has really helped us to target our interventions with students much more than we were in the past. Um, in the past, we were arguably trying to intervene ourselves out of a tier one problem. So, by strengthening our tier one and providing common resources for our teachers, we've strengthened that core instruction and we're not having to intervene with as many students because we've strengthened what they're all getting, if that makes sense. So um so that's obviously one of the benefits of of the work that has been done. I mentioned already professional development and
031coaching. Uh we've really made that a priority for our teachers. Uh math content committee went through a similar process actually three years ago my first year. Math was the first content committee that we convened developed that math framework which is essentially when you are have time to look at those framework those frameworks it essentially outlines and you'll see commonalities across every content area because we believe in authentic learning we believe in productive struggle we believe in all of those things as a district. So you'll see some commonalities across those frameworks. Um but those were are really about what do we believe in? what should math education look like for our students? What should ELA instruction look like? You'll see a lot of interdisciplinary references as well um to make the learning more authentic. Um so,
032math content committee actually re reconvened this year. We took a look again at our math framework. We've tweaked it a little bit, but that is a link to the most updated version of our math framework. Um, we had a really really great conversation and and broke it down to what do we want to continue doing, what's working really well, what do we want to start doing, what things can we um improve upon, and are there any things that we need to stop doing? So, it was really good conversation across the K12 math content committee and really productive. So, we have an action plan moving forward because that committee is going to continue to meet into next school year as well. So, um science and social studies, we also u developed those science and social studies
033frameworks. You'll notice of um I love these pictures. I had to include some smiling faces in here. That's you recognize anatomy and physiology. Um, so our science uh and social studies frameworks were developed. Um, and believe it or not, we'll reconvene our social studies content committee next school year um into the 2526 school year and so on. Um, but you'll notice um a strong emphasis on inquiry inquiry based learning approaches, hands-on um and real world. doesn't get any more hands-on than I there are no pictures of the actual dissection, but that is that is post dissection. So, they're all smiling. They they enjoyed it. Um, but that is the epitome of of hands-on real world application um in those two pictures. And again, as I mentioned before, a lot of you'll notice a lot of
034cross uh disciplinary projects that enhance critical thinking and authentic learning. As you know, we did um expand STEM offerings. Um Rich Day has really spearheaded the um STEM and robotics happening here at the high school now, which has been unbelievably popular. And um our middle school program continues to grow. Um and we're sparking a lot of great interest at the elementary level. Um Emily Fleming does a fantastic job of that intro to STEM at the elementary level feeding into middle school. Chad Nash and Alan Miller are phenomenal. Um and then Rich obviously is doing amazing things up here. We now have a robotics club at the high school which we didn't have before. So, um, very popular offering at the high school and a lot of that could not have been possible without the CTE
035equipment grant, which as you recall was $300,000, um, in grant funds to get, um, computers, um, touchscreens, furniture. It really made that, um, hub possible. And I love that it's located right there and and very central because I think that's been instrumental in sparking interest among other uh students here at the high school as well. So um obviously we continue to value um collaboration with local businesses and our community partners. Um we have community partners in speaking to our civic civic engagement class regularly. um our adulting class that we added which was is been hugely popular as well. Um so we continue to value those partnerships. Um as I mentioned before introduction of new technology which was made possible largely um in in part because of that CTE grant um additional music offerings. Joe Coleman
036is teaching that school of rock course that we added here. We also thought much more flexibly about our high school schedule because we found that um our block schedule was creating um an unintentional barrier for our band um and thus impacting um the numbers that we saw in our band. So, we thought very flexibly about that fourth block. We're going to continue to think flexibly moving forward at the high school with our block. just thinking creatively and kind of maximize not moving away from the block schedule but maximizing the block schedule so that we're not inadvertently creating any barriers for our students. Our students shouldn't have to choose between band and an AP course. They should be able to do both. So those are just ongoing conversations. Um and kudos to Mark Horner and our
037counseling team who are really thinking outside the box in terms of making things happen for our kids. um college and career readiness that continues to be a hot topic and has really changed the landscape of of high school um education and what that looks like. As you know, we have less students physically coming to our high school building. Um which is a blessing, but also something that we want to make sure they're still feeling connected to our school community. So, um, we have made an intentional effort to expand CCP offerings so that they are actually coming here and we have staff here that can teach that way. Um, and for those of you who don't know, you'd have to have a masters in your content area to be able to teach college credit plus. So,
038we wanted to make sure we were bringing staff members on who could do that so that our kids were getting the benefit obviously of free college credit. I mean, no one wants to argue that. Certainly, we have kids who will graduate in the class of 2025 who are already sophomores and potentially juniors in college, which is amazing. So, we're we're definitely not fighting against that. We're embracing it, but at the same time, we want to make sure our kids are feeling connected to our school community. So, we continue to think about ways that we can expand offerings and get our kids here earning that college credit. Um, but also we've expanded AP. We have AP seminar now in our ELA department which has been um really popular. Um, my son is actually in that class
039right now with Mr. Hungerford and absolutely loves it. Um, a kid who I wouldn't expect to love it. He absolutely loves loves it. So, it's pretty awesome. Um, also, uh, the development of industry partnerships. Um, that continues to be a focus through our career tech programming. um but also through our you see pictures here from our our job fair um and just preparing and that the other one is one of our CTE programs. So we just continue to to embrace college and career readiness um at this level but also expanding that to the middle school because we definitely find that uh we can't wait until they're coming into their freshman year to start to have those career and college conversations. Though needs those need to at the middle school level and ultimately at the elementary
040level start to think about that as well. So exposing our kids earlier at the middle school level so they have an understanding of the 29 amazing career tech programs we have available in the six district compact um and getting them out into the community to see different careers. Um the career night middle school does a great job with the career night as well. um professional development. We have been blessed over the last several years with those professional development days um and a professional development committee who has input into what those days look like. Uh as I said, we have a framework for just about everything we do at this point in the district. So, we do have a professional development framework that just acknowledges what we value and and what we appreciate. Part of that
041is just feedback from staff, making sure we're tailoring their professional development to their needs. Just like we expect them to um provide personalized learning for our kids, we want to provide personalized professional development for them as much as possible as well as the adult learners. Um we continue to provide workshops on best instructional practices through those professional development days. Coaching and mentoring programs have been really fantastic. Our um consultants from the ESC are phenomenal um and they are in our classrooms. They are providing um in real time coaching for staff. They are meeting with grade level teams to improve best practice. Um so they our consultants from the ESC have really been invaluable in in the growth that we've seen as well. And then obviously collaboration with um educational partners. We have as you know
042over the last eight years been working really closely with a group called partnerships for authentic learning and leadership. They were instrumental in drafting the original portion of a graduate which is now the townage way our directional system which is posted there as well. Um and working with our K12 steering committee around um authentic learning. John is one of the members of that K12 steering committee from the beginning. Um that K12 authentic learning steering committee. Um and so we've been working with them over the last eight years. And what we have done over the last four years is really been um intentional about building um this out so that it's sustain sustainable for us. And while we love Kathy and Ellen from Partnerships for Authentic Learning and Leadership, we they're not going to be able to
043support us forever. and we wanted to build that sustainability within. So, we've trained local coaches. We have two local coaches in each one of our buildings who are there as coaches to support teachers whether whether it is designing a lesson if they come to them with a a lesson plan and they just want to think a little more authentically about making some real world connections whether it is Chad Nash re reaching out to his many contacts um and helping a teacher from the middle school um make those connections with a community partner. Um, the possibilities are endless, but those coaches are really going to be instrumental in moving us forward and building and creating that sustained work across the district for years to come. Um, and they, like I said, those coaches and our steering
044committee have been um, they are have been imperative to the work that we've done in terms of authentic and personalized learning. Also, Jake Miller has been a great asset to us. Jake Miller just uh joined the ESC as a consultant this school year. So, he has been a personalized learning consultant for us. He's also a tech guru. Um he pretty much knows everything there is to know in terms of um and and a really great instructional leader. So, he's also providing some instructional coaching opportunities for our staff as well. Um which has been well received by by our staff as well. Um, and I wanted to also mention that through our work with Partnerships for Authentic Learning and Leadership, we have been able to create um, connections with other districts, um, Upper Arlington is a
045great partner um, Fairbanks, other districts who have a similar Porsche graduate, um, and believe in providing authentic personalized learning for students. It's been great to create those connections across the state and talk about ways um that we can make learning more authentic. For example, there is um Upper Arlington uses the the ELA program that we use at the elementary Whiten Wisdom, but they also have a portrait of a graduate very similar to ours. So they were helpful in terms of helping us marry those two and they're they've been more than willing to share all of their amazing work that they have done. Um so just creating those kind of regional partners has been pretty awesome. Um and we've shared you know it goes both we've shared a lot of great things with them as well
046but um it's important to learn from each other. Uh so I mentioned that uh we have worked really hard to make sure this is not just a document that hangs on every single one of our classroom walls. Um but we've worked really hard to make sure it is living and breathing in all of our classrooms and our lead teachers that I mentioned earlier um that leadership infrastructure has been hugely beneficial in making that happen. So, um, and I won't get too far into this, but if you, um, Kurt, if you could click on that link though, the Towageway continuum, this has been kind of a labor of love, um, that our lead teachers have been involved in. If you see on the left each of the core competencies that are reflected in blue on the
047Talmage way the four C's obviously collaboration creation and innovation communication um if you'll scroll down Kurt. Yep. If you keep going. Yeah. All of and um I mentioned collaboration. All of those are reflected there. The four C's along the left. And then we drill down even further to what does that look like and what are students doing if we are providing opportunities like this in the classroom and the character traits that you see in yellow on the Telmage way empathy resiliency productivity and self-directedness. those if we're providing the this level of experiences in our classrooms, those are the character traits we hope that our students are gleaning from those experiences. So, like I said, this has been a labor of love. You'll see in the um the column then to the right um after kind
048of it drills down, it gives you some sample activities. And then what's happening then in that blank column is each of our lead teachers are taking it back to their professional learning communities which is either their grade level andor department and they are creating a running list of those shared experiences that are happening within their department andor grade level and that reflect these four C's that you see the core competence competencies that you see here. Um, so we'll have a running list of those shared experiences across every grade level and content area across the district, which is going to be pretty awesome. You've heard me refer to the Talmage targets. Those will be the Talmage targets. So, and then the next steps in this long journey will be how are we tracking those? um whether
049that what kind of student portfo what will our student portfolios look like that can travel with them um from the moment they step into a kindergarten classroom to the day they leave us um in 12th grade. So there's a lot more work. It's a journey. Um, and we'll never have fully arrived, but we u we definitely want to think of the best way that we can highlight these amazing experiences that will be happening from the kindergarten through 12th grade. So, that'll be kind of the next steps of our lead teacher. If you'll go back to the presentation, please, sir. Thank you. Um, okay. All right. And we're back. Um so I mentioned the continuum that we just took a look at. Also through that has been the development of rubrics and assessment tools that um
050will measure those core competencies. That's really um the next step in our progression in operationalizing this. Also, there will be professional development to support um embedding these competencies into our lesson planning and then obviously the ongoing expansion of experiential learning opportunities that align with the Talmage way. Uh you've heard me refer to personalized and authentic learning over the last four years in an um an in-depth way, but the highlight of personalized and authentic learning is really around the development of student choice and student voice in their instructional activities. Um the implementation of projectbased learning experiences across grade levels. We have great examples of that happening throughout the district. We also we've had some of those groups come and present to the board. So you and Chief, you are very much involved in one of those
051amazing projects. Um yeah, which is pretty awesome. So we have great examples of that across the across the district. We have large scale examples and we have smaller scale examples, but all are worth celebrating for sure. Um I highlighted a couple of those in some of these pictures like the broadcast journalism class had the idea of the the spring sports um media day. Um and that was one example of a very student-led experience. Um an idea that sparked from them and they executed it. Um we also have amazing things happening in terms of across the um K8 campus. We have a lot of middle school students coming to the elementary serving as mentors, helping with academics. Um, you name it. Um, the partnerships have been pretty great. And also the builder club. Um, Chad Nash
052just does such an amazing job with that group of people. So, um, I wanted to make sure I highlighted those couple of images as well. Uh we continue to integrate real world challenges and community- based projects um so that our students can see the greater impact that learning the content can have on the community um on the state um on the nation for that matter. Um and then increased use of student portfolios. I mentioned that's going to be kind of our next step in what can that look like? How can students capture the great things that they're doing in during their time with us and hopefully take with them when they leave us? Um whether that be to a future employer um or a a future college admissions um so that they can highlight not
053just the academic um accomplishments that they have have made but also the amazing community impact that they have had throughout their time with us. Um and then also I mentioned earlier the training of our local authentic learning coaches and they will continue to support our teachers along this journey. So next steps we'll continue to um refine our curriculum. I mentioned our cycle of review. So we'll reconvene those content committees and continue to fine-tune everything that we do and revisit. Um, like I said, we've never fully arrived and the only way we're going to continue to grow is continue to reflect on our practice. So, we're going to continue doing that. Um, we're going to further operationalize the Talmage Way. Um, expand personalized learning for our students and strengthen the interdisciplinary and project-based learning opportunities that
054for our students. And that in a nutshell is all of the work we have done over the last four years, which is pretty amazing. So, shout out to our amazing teachers for that. So, wow. Wow. That's that's W. I don't know. You must have like a superwoman cape kind of tucked under your blazer there or something. Oh my gosh. So much going on. Well, thank you to you, the teachers. Oh my gosh. for walking through the curriculum and as you say, you're updating and and putting that all together. I guess that's why we we jokingly say you poundforpound, we're one of the best school districts in the state of Ohio. Oh my gosh, because of your work. Thank you so much. And any any discussion or any questions? I don't know where I would start
055with a question. My gosh, that was wonderful. Well, thank you again. Um, we're next down to I don't know how you followed that, but good stuff from the superintendent. I I don't know what you have up your sleeve. Yeah. No, I I I'll just say the work uh Miss Davis and the lead teachers and the curriculum committees have done has been extraordinary. If you look at the context of what has happened in the district over the last four years, you know, coming out of COVID, opening the middle school and the elementary school, we've put a put a lot on our teachers and um and and this this was huge. But this is not there's nothing more important than this work. This is this is the business we are in. And we have the best curriculum
056director there is doing it for us and leading the charge. and you have other school districts now wanting to come and visit Townage and visiting Townage to see all this great work that our team is doing. So, couldn't could not be prouder of uh of of Courtney and and the teachers and all the great work they're doing. I think we're very very blessed in town. Um so that's yeah, I can't I can't top that. I so I I I really just wanted to kind of um you know start getting excited about um all the things that that are happening in the district right now as we quickly I know there's a couple parents of seniors here on the board as we get ready for um kind of some life-changing moments coming up very quickly for
057for our graduates. So just a couple things to highlight over the last month. First of all, a big shout out to our Town High School team as well as Townage Police, Town Fire Department, and the Townage Rec Center. We did a fullscale reunification drill involving all of our students here at Town High School the first week of April. Could not have gone better. Just really proud of really really proud of how our kids responded and and the way they responded to it. And I I would tell you our staff uh learned a lot and and the police the police department learned a lot about how we would respond, the timing of things, where we could fit and how we could use the rec center in in the event of an event where we need to
058reunify at the rec center. So again, thankful to everybody that was involved in that. We're already planning our next event which will be a a reunification type of drill at Townidge Elementary School. So that'll as you can imagine have a whole different uh set of uh challenges associated with it as you move from kids that are you know 14 to 18 here to 5 to 12 there. So um we'll we'll um but we've begun that work already with with our police and fire department. A big shout out to our talented theater students, uh Allison Anderson, who was the director of Shrek. Just an outstanding outstanding uh musical this year, at least in my time. It's been a while since we've had the type of attendance that we've had. I mean, nearly full auditoriums for each
059show. Um, and and Miss Anderson, to her great credit, did a great job of uh engaging a lot of our middle school students. One of the biggest casts we've had in a while. Mr. Zean, you could probably tell me 30 or 40 students in the cast. It was a it was it was um it was it was extraordinary. So, just a big shout out uh to that and our our our musical and and theater programs are on the rise here in Townri schools. I switched there then to um athletics from from arts and music to athletics. Michaela Martusio um running 3,200 meters in 11 minutes and 16 seconds is pretty amazing. She broke the old record by over 12 seconds. Um and if anybody has been following the weather, it hasn't exactly been pristine conditions
060for uh breaking records. So congratulations to Michaela. um just just an outstanding job. And Michaela is sophomore, right? She's just a sophomore. So, um pretty pretty pretty bright future for her. She's she's already um you know, outstanding just outstanding cross country and and now a track star. Um and and I just want to also recognize all of our track athletes having a having a great season season so far in spite of some very cold and drizzly conditions. uh distinguished scholars was last week. I know a number of the board members were there. Just really proud of uh all of our 80 students here at Townage High School that achieved over a 4.2 GPA. Um, and what I celebrate about those kids is not only the fact that they're able to do the hard work and
061get those um that high GPA. There's just a extraordinary group of kids involved in everything from performing in Shrek to Michaela happens to be a distinguished scholar, you know, strong athletes to um serving the community, leaders in the building. So, just really excited for those 80 kids and and want to shout out to them. So those those are kind of some of the exciting things that have happened over the last um month. So let's turn to actually I have one more and Miss Miller and Mr. Brian reminded me of how celebrating our teachers. I did want to bring to the board's attention um OEA magazine. So a popular magazine here uh for our teachers in the state of Ohio. Um Ann Hagadorn, our middle school um English teacher, uh had a featured art article in
062the OEA magazine this month. It was be it's a beautiful article. It's a beautiful article about the middle school student experience and she compares them to Caterpillar and a butterfly and it's be it's a beautiful article and very very well written. Um if it's not out already, I think Kelly might have put something out. We'll we'll make sure we get that out on social media so that our community can enjoy that as well. Did she already do that? Okay, great. Oh, great. Yeah, it's great. It's a beautiful, beautiful article by Miss Hagadorn. Okay, so let's talk about some of the fun stuff that's coming up. Um, as we celebrate, so April 26th, uh, we will is our Hall of Hall of Fame induction ceremony. So, uh, number I think there's seven inductees this year that
063we'll be celebrating on on April 26th. Um, and look looking forward to that. It's been a great event and thankful to Bill Johnson. Uh, and I know Ruthanne is probably doing most of the heavy lifting in his office as they get ready for that event. And, uh, it's it's been a nice nice to see that rejuvenation of our Hall of Fame effort. our um big shout out to our middle school um for Chicago and Washington DC trips that are coming up fast. So all of our seventh graders will head to Chicago first week of May and then the following week the eighth graders will head to DC. So thankful to them and and the parents and the chaperones and and the kids for um for getting ready for that event. So let's talk about our
064seniors. Um so it's it's going to be for the board. It's going to be a string of events that's going to come together pretty quick and our our community as well will be able to enjoy some of these items as well. So, our senior's honors banquet is on May 6th in the evening. Um then the following week, May 14th, is our senior giveback day where our kids do service projects in the community and then there's a big picnic to celebrate that day. The following day is the senior breakfast. Uh and then uh the students put on their caps and gowns and walk through all the buildings as the rest of the student body gets to say goodbye to our seniors. Uh and then and then that that's that's a Thursday. And then on um that
065following Sunday, May 18th, uh late afternoon is the parade through Townage. So, um, um, look, always always a great event and hopefully the weather cooperates on the 18th for that. It it typically has, so let's hope that continues. Closely followed by Tuesday, May 20th is um, the graduation at EJ Thomas. Um, excited excited for that awesome event. And then and then, uh, you know, just just a few days after that, the rest of our kids get a half day and they're out on May 23rd. So amazing things happening in in at Townage City Schools. We're very very proud of it all. And uh that's that's our report for this month. Wow. A lot going on. Uh real quick, uh any news on baseball? Yes, we uh got the weather slowed them down a little bit
066this week. Kind of this on and off and and the freezing temperature was a problem for the for the masonry. Um they said they won't start Monday um but they they look to start either Tuesday or Wednesday of next week putting the dugouts in. So very very thankful to Beaver for helping helping to make that happen as we work through our financial issues. Um as as the board knows um Beaver has been very very generous. They are willing to do this work and bill us later. So that enables um the PI the new PI money that was approved by the voters last November. It was approved in November, but it doesn't show up in our in our bank account right away. As you can imagine, has to flow in through the tax collection process. Uh
067Beaver recognizes that and um they're going to go ahead and get this project done. Hopefully get it done for may maybe get a get a game or two in in on the new field. Uh but anyway, they're going to bill us then in the fall uh once once our tax collections have had a chance to catch up. So, we're very very thankful for them and looking forward to getting that project done. That's great news. Was there I I didn't catch how the middle school robotics team did down in Dayton. Yeah, I think they ended up fourth place. I don't think they placed. I think they just were out just off the podium, but you know, and a good good strong performance by them, but they were there. Yeah, they were there. That's awesome. I was
068glad to hear that. So, anything else from anybody? Uh, okay. That concludes the the business part of the agenda. We have guests here tonight. Uh, and as we always do, uh, with guests, if you would like to address the board or have a question, uh, this is your time. Uh, all we ask is that you state your name, your address, keep your comments to two or three minutes or so. It's not a give and take conversation, but you tell us what's on your mind. Any any takers out of the big crowd? I don't see anybody. Okay. Very good. I'll take one. You'll take Okay, real quick. Go for it. John Bryan 900. I just want to reinforce what Court is saying about our curriculum. It is so refreshing that our directional system is showing authentic
069learning, problem based learning, all of this while we're being um hit with these mandates from the state of Ohio, which is completely the opposite. So, it's a big deal for me at least. So, when my time is up here in Talmage that we're still following this directional system because it's what need and this is how they need to learn. Right? So I think the balance of these state mandates of people who do not work in classrooms but will tell us this the way you need to teach. That's the big deal in my book. So thank you. Well said. Good. We're done. I would ask for a motion to close the meeting. I'll make a motion. I'll second. I ask for a vote. I I And that's it. That's a wrap. We will see you out
070in town somewhere. Thank you.