001Good evening everyone. We're we're going to call things to order. Welcome to the board of education business meeting of Tuesday, June 2nd, 2026. It's 7:01. And please join me for the pledge of allegiance. Thank you. I pledge algiance 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. Joining us this evening, we have board of education members Marcus Haimey, Diana Carpio, Jasmine Prey, Mary Ellen Flity Ludwig, board president Howard White, Ashley Gulas, Sherry McCriedi Pritchette, and Garrett Oliver, and of course our superintendent Dr. Estraa, and myself, Mayor Smith. Uh I'm going to go ahead and turn it over to uh Mr. White and Miss Gulas for the spotlight. >> Okay, we have a few spotlights tonight because
002these are we have May and June in all of our spotlights. Um so our first spotlight is National Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2026. The Norwok Board of Education is proud to recognize May as National Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander, A&HI Heritage Month. This month is a time to celebrate the vibrant cultures, diverse histories, and invaluable contributions of the fastest growing racial groups in the United States. Though the population of Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders in the Norwok public schools community is relatively small, their presence enriches our school community, and we are proud to honor their heritage, histories, and voices. The observance of a NHPI Heritage Month began as a week-long celebration in the late 1970s and was extended to a full month in 1992 through an act of Congress.
003In 2021, President Joe Biden formally expanded the celebration to explicitly include Native Hawaiians, recognizing their unique place in the history and cultural fabric of the United States. The month of May holds particular significance. May 7th marks the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants to the United States in 194 1843 and May 10th commemorates the completion of the transcontinental railroad railroad in 1869. an achievement made possible largely through the labor of Chinese immigr immigrants. We also take this opportunity to reflect on the complex and often painful history shared between the United States and many Asian nations, particularly as the US and the world commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. These historic milestones invite us to honor those who served, to
004remember the lives lost, and to recognize the far-reaching consequences of war. These conflicts not only shaped foreign policy and global relations, but also profoundly impacted Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities. Many families were displaced or im or immigrated during or after these wars, and generations have carried the weight of these experiences. Today, we continue to build bridges of friendship, diplomacy, and economic cooperation with nations such as Japan and Vietnam, transforming once turbulent relationships into partnerships built on mutual respect and shared goals. Despite these contributions and ongoing efforts toward unity, the 2026 status social tracking of Asian-Americans in the US index report found more than one in five Asian-Americans reported being insulted or harassed because of their race in the past year. That reality only strengthens our resolve to ensure that our Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific
005Islander students feel safe, seen, and celebrated in our schools and throughout our community. By declaring May as National Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the Norwok Board of Education encourages all members of our school community to engage in learning about the rich heritage and enduring legacies of a A&HPI communities. From their advancements in science, technology, and civil rights to their influence in the arts, cuisine, and beyond, these communities have long been integral to our nation's story, and they are vital to our shared future. Sharing the next spotlight. >> Next, we have Caribbean-American Heritage Month and Immigrant Heritage Month 2026. The Norwalk Board of Education is proud to recognize and celebrate the month of June as both Caribbean American Heritage Month and Immigrant Heritage Month. June is a month is a time to honor
006and uplift the incredible contributions of Caribbean Americans whose roots and impact stretch deep into the story of our nation as far back as one of our founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton, who was born in the Caribbean. Since 2006, when President George Bush officially proclaimed Caribbean-American Heritage Month, communities across the country have come together to recognize the vibrant culture, history, and achievements of Caribbean Americans. We also take this month to recognize immigrant heritage month, a celebration of the generations of immigrants who have come to the United States in search of opportunity, freedom, and a better life. Since 2014, the I Stand with Immigrants campaign has encouraged all of us to reflect on the vital role immigrants play in shaping our communities, economy, and shared American history. Norwalk Public Schools is committed to protecting and supporting all students,
007no matter where they or their families come from. We know that nearly all of us have roots in immigration, and that is something to be proud of. This June, the Norwok Board of Education invites everyone in our Norwalk community to take a moment to reflect on their own heritage, to learn about others, and celebrate the diversity that makes America and our schools so special. Sherry, the next spotlight is Jewish American Heritage Month. The Norwok Board of Education proudly recognizes May as Jewish American Heritage Month. We take this opportunity to celebrate the rich history, cultural traditions, and significant contributions that Jewish Americans have made and continue to make to our nation and our local community. Jewish American Heritage Month was first proclaimed in May 2006 by President George W. Bush following a bipartisan resolution in Congress
008and strong advocacy from the Jewish Museum of Florida and leaders in the South Florida Jewish community. The month of May was chosen in recognition of the successful 350th anniversary celebration of American Jewish history held in 2004. Led by a coalition of respected historical institutions here in Norwok, we are committed to ensuring our students learn from and honor this history. In our seventh grade classrooms, students engage in a four-part inquirybased unit titled the Holocaust Inquiry. Is it ever too late to remember? Through this powerful curriculum, students explore critical questions about memory, justice, and human rights. These lessons are more than just history. They are a call to empathy, reflection, and action. Jewish Americans have long been a vital part of the Norwok community. Their voices, values, traditions, and achievements have helped shape the cultural fabric of
009our city and our schools. During Jewish American Heritage Month, we recognize and honor those contributions while standing firmly against anti-semitism and all forms of hate. By recognizing Jewish American Heritage Month, the Norwok Board of Education affirms our commitment to building a school community where diversity is honored and everyone belongs. >> Mental Health Awareness Month 2026. The Norwalk Board of Education proudly recognizes May as mental health awareness month. This is a time to reflect on the importance of emotional well-being and to recommmit to supporting the mental health of our students, staff, and families. Our focus on mental health remains strong. We know how vital these services are and how much our students and families rely on them. We are dedicated to continuing this work even as we navigate new challenges. On May 2nd, students from all
010four NPS high schools took part in the Nora Walk for Mental Health and Wellness Fair, where they proudly represented their schools and shared how they care for their mental health through extracurriculars, peer connection, and school-based activities. Their leadership reminds us that raising awareness starts with listening, sharing, and showing up for one another. Throughout the year, many of our schools also host their own mental health and wellness fairs, often organized by student groups committed to supporting their peers. These events help connect students and families with resources available both within the school community and through local organizations while encouraging open conversations about mental health and reducing stigma. Across our school, students have access to mental health care through our health centers, school counselors, and social workers. These professionals provide critical support, helping students manage stress, build resilience,
011and stay on track academically. We thank them for the compassion they bring to their work every day. We're also grateful for the community organizations that continue to work alongside us. Their partnership is essential and we are committed to maintaining access to these services so that our students and families continue to receive the care they need wherever they are. Since 1949, Mental Health Awareness Month has encouraged people across the country to learn more about mental health, recognize the impact of trauma, and celebrate the journey of healing. That message is as important now as ever. You are not alone. You matter and support is available. By declaring May as mental health awareness month, the Norwalk Board of Education affirms its deep belief in the importance of mental wellness for every child, every family, and every part of
012our community. >> And last but not least, our final spotlight tonight is Pride Month 2026. The Norwalk Board of Education is proud to recognize June as LGBTQ Pride Month. By proclaiming June as Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer pride month, the board of education welcomes and supports all students, staff, and families, no matter their gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation. The board of education and Norwok public schools administrators, educators, and staff are committed to providing a safe, respectful, and inclusive learning environment for all. We believe that encouraging greater acceptance and support for all youth, including those who are or are perceived to be LGBTQ, will make communities, schools, and other settings safer, better places for all students. Pride Month is celebrated each year in June to coincide with the events of June 1969 when
013patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in New York City resisted the persecution to which el LGBTQ Americans were commonly subjected. This moment in history is regarded as the beginning of a movement to outlaw discriminatory laws and practices against LGBTQ Americans. Today, LGBTQ Pride Month celebrations include parade pride parades, picnics, parties, workshops, symposia, and concerts attracting millions of participants around the world. In NPS classrooms this month and throughout the year, students discuss LGBTQ people and their struggles to achieve equality and justice in all aspects of their lives. They are learning about important LGBTQ people in history and reading literature that features LGBTQ people. Noral Public Schools is proud to be participating in the Triangle Community C Center's Pride in the Park event for a fourth year in a row. The district will organize an arts
014and crafts activity for participants to reflect and celebrate their unique selves. And it's not written here, but Pride in the Park is on Saturday, June 13th at Veterans Memorial Park. Um we hope to see you all there. The Norwok Board of Education remains steadfast in its commitment to supporting and protecting the rights, well-being, and dignity of LGBTQ students, staff, and families. We will continue to support policies that uphold equity and inclusion, ensure protection from discrimination and harassment, and foster a learning environment where every individual feels safe, valued, and empowered to succeed. By recognizing June as LGBTQ Pride Month, the board of education encourages all students, staff, and families to learn more about the challenges that the LGBTQ community have faced throughout history, as well as the LGBTQ Americans who have contributed to and shaped culture,
015business, government, and other aspects of society. We encourage all to join us in creating a welcoming culture of awareness, acceptance, and inclusion for all. Thank you. That concludes this tonight's spotlights. Thank you Sherry. Thank you Ashley spotlight. We're going to go on to the public comments. At this time we have five that's in house not sure online. So as you come to the podium I'm going to ask for you to give your first last name and your address. And please limit your comments to three minutes as well. >> Oh yeah. And for those online, can you please raise your right hand as well to pick something up as well? Um, so as we move forward, let's just be mindful for those are at the podium and please respect their time, respect them speaking as well.
016We as a board hear and understand where you guys are coming from. Our job is to listen, not to respond to. Right. Thank you. >> Okay. Um, first on our list is Jennifer Ferman. Good evening. Um, is that not good with the microphone? So, hope this is the right distance. Hello, my name is Jennifer Ferman and I live at 141 Northrup Road, Bethany, Connecticut. I am speaking to you all today as a member of my labor union CHC district 1199 and as the president of our healthcare workers united in the Norwok public school system. I wanted to start by saying that I love my job and the students I serve as an occupational therapist. I am proud to serve the students of Norwok as an occupational therapist. Every day I work with students to help
017them develop the skills that need to they need to participate successfully in the education in their education gain independence and reach their full potential. Supporting students, families and school staff is work that I care deeply about and that is why I chose this profession. As you know, we are currently engaged in negotiations for our next contract. We appreciate the time and effort that goes into this process and we recognize that we are there are many competing priorities facing the district. At the same time, we believe it is important that the voices of the employees who provide those services are heard directly. While negotiations have been underway for several sessions, we have not yet had the opportunity to engage with the board members directly during this process. We would welcome your attendance at the future sessions
018so that you can hear firsthand about the experiences, concerns, and ideas of the professionals who work with the Norwok students every day. We are also deeply frustrated with how this how little you have contended with our proposals. Over a month ago, at the start of this process, we provided you with numerous proposals that we feel would not just better our working conditions, but better serve the students of Norwok. You have outright rejected the majority of those proposals offering no significant feedback, counters or rationale be beyond maintaining your managerial discretion. We understand that not every proposal will ultimately be adopted, but we hope for meaningful dialogue about the issues we have raised and the reasoning behind the district's position. The members of our union are deeply committed to the students and families of Norwok. Many of
019us have devoted years and in some cases decades to serving this community. We remain committed to working collaboratively toward a fair contract that recognizes the value >> oh value providing highquality services to our students. We will not stop fighting for a fair contract. Thank you for your time and consideration. >> Thank you. >> Um next is Diana Kabuchia. Hi, my name is Diana Kapucha. I live at 37 Fran Street. I am here today in my capacity as a member of the CHCA District 1199 and as secretary of our healthcare workers unit in the Norwok public school system. I've lived in Norwok for over 50 years and have dedicated 15 years of my life to serving Norwok families as a school nurse. I want to echo the remarks of my colleague and union sibling, Jennifer Ferman,
020and demand that the board treat us and our union with respect, not dismissal. We show up to every bargaining session ready to share our perspectives and help you and help you understand why it is that we're bringing forward our proposals. We tell you about those proposals will impact us personally as workers and members of this community and how they will better serve the students we treat daily. You don't show up at all. Your responses, which always come through your lawyer, are grounded only in your desire to hold on to arbitrary powers without any consideration of what it is or isn't working for us and our students. Additionally, I want to express concern regarding the atmosphere during our negotiations. Some of us have been made to feel uncomfortable about our participation in this process with intimidation
021and even harassment during our working hours. It's important that we feel empowered to advocate for ourselves and our students without fear of negative repercussions. Our commitment to improving con conditions for ourselves and our students remains steadfast. We will not be scared into complacency anymore. We hope to see a collaborative spirit in our future discussions and look forward to your active participation in our next negotiation session on June 8th. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. >> Next is Emily Gomez. Hello. Good afternoon. My name is Emily Gomez and I live at 500 West Avenue. I'm here on behalf of the Healthcare Workers Union. I'm an occupational therap sorry, I'm an occupational therapist and I want to begin by saying that I truly love this town, its people, and the families I serve. I have
022worked as an OT in the district for this past three years and have tried to be an active member of my union because during my time here, I have seen our district lose outstanding therapists who genuinely care about our students. Many have left due to burnout and various other reasons. The needs of our special education populations continue to grow and the demands on our schools have increased, especially with the addition of the prek programs. However, our current contract does not adequately support the professionals who provide these essential services. I respectfully ask the board to consider a request and work with us to develop a fair contract that supports that supports both staff and students. Thank you for your time and consideration. >> Thank you. Next on the list is Lin Moore. >> Hello everyone. I'm
023Lyn Moore. I reside at 813 Foxboro Drive, Northwalk, Connecticut. I am here tonight to provide some reflections on the district's budget uh process. Rule number one, please discontinue the word right sizing. Use the vocabulary that reflects the process which is downsizing. Some schools, including Norwok High School, according to the demographics, will lose students. We are scheduled to lose 88 ML students with an overall reduction of 118 students. The finance department's response to downsizing was that Norwalk High was to give back approximately 500K to the district to balance the budget. Yet, even with the loss of students, there was not a loss of category. Our category as most schools in this district is high needs. With the loss of 118 students, Norwok High School did not automatically become a nonh high need school. Rule number two,
024please be clear with the board of ed and the public. Share with the public and the board of ed the exact dollar amount that a school andor department will be asked to involuntarily uh cut. Do not make it sound as if there is no price tag uh to uh the schools. Rule number three, do not assume that schools and/or departments do not have pressing academic needs. At Norwok High School, we need an additional business teacher because we cut one position in that department last year. Students want business classes but due to the uh decrease in enrollment uh we cannot since we are obligated to almost 500k to the district cover a business teacher. We need a second band teacher because we have more than 300 students enrolled in band. But again, those positions cannot be
025filled because of the downsizing to our budget. >> And rule number four, please look at the uh non-UN unaffiliated positions in central office. There are positions that can be reduced as we shared in the last budget cycle. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. >> Um and last on our inerson list is Marissa Lazo. Good evening. My name is Marissa Lazo. I live at 5 Honey Hill Lane. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. Um, I'm here to advocate for downplaying the use of technology in all Norwok public schools, eliminating it entirely in kindergarten through 2 grade. Um, I won't restate the email that I sent you all on May 7th because I trust you've read my thoughts there. But I want to finish telling you the story that I started in the
026email about my visit in April to one of the the elementary schools here in Norup where we're considering sending our daughter. At the start of the visit, the principal explained that technology is not used in kindergarten except for state testing. He then took me to a kindergarten classroom and as we entered the room saw the kids running around the room with iPads in their hands. We were both surprised as this went directly against what he had just told me because the students definitely were not practicing for state tests. The teacher explained that there were only 20 minutes left before recess, which was not enough time to start and conclude a new activity and so they were playing educational games. To me, there was a lot wrong with that picture. If those kids couldn't just go
027outside for 20 minutes of extra recess, where are the physical puzzles in the classroom that they can play with? blocks, actual hands-on interactive toys they can free play with together if they have 20 minutes of free time. I don't think testing should be done on screens in the first place, especially in elementary school. But the excuse, for lack of a better word, for having onetoone tech in classrooms is clearly not working, and I think you should be aware of it. The physical presence of these devices in the classroom is simply too tempting both for students and teachers and can potentially become the easy fallback option or what teachers know will get the kids to respond to because we all know how kids react to screens. So even if the protocol is it's only there for
028state testing, you should know that that's not what's actually happening on the ground. If we zoom out, the problem here in my opinion is that kids are being starved of their childhoods because we adults think that being techsavvy is more important. Are there any cumulative positive impacts of this having this amount of technology in schools since around 2010 or so? If so, what have been the costs? We need to think critically about this because all around the country and the world, adults are now waking up to the largely negative impacts that unrestricted and improperly placed technology is really having on our children. It's not making them more prepared for the job market. It's not improving their test scores at all. In fact, it's the reverse is happening. It's not helping them learn foundational executive functioning,
029social, emotional development, critical thinking skills, even though they go more to to more schools than previous generations. >> So, I'm here tonight to advocate for significant changes to our district's technology policies modeled off of those being put into place in the Los Angeles Unified School District for the upcoming fall of 2026 school year, the details of which I outlined in my email on May 7th. I'm urging you all to do what's needed to protect our children's childhood because once that's gone, it can never be given back. They can always learn how to do a PowerPoint, how to take a test online, any number of things involving technology. Thank you. >> They're very smart. So, thank you for your time. >> Do we have anyone online? >> Okay. Good evening. This is Mary Jordan speaking from
030the on behalf of the Norwok Federation of Teachers, 9M Avenue. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. The district is has requested us to save some of Norwok public schools money by asking us to change our insurance. There does not appear to have been the same level of review of non-essential spending in the budget, including catered meetings and other food expenses for adults. In February, we filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking more information about those expenses, as well as copies of NPS contracts with privatized contractors and providers of various private services. So far, the NFT has received nothing that we requested back in February. We have been responded to and told that the information has not yet provided because central office is busy with the budget process. Quite frankly, we would think that
031the budget process should include a close review of non-essential spending. This naturally requ raises the question of whether other major expenses including travel and conferences have also been carefully reviewed. To be clear, we are not against travel. We love professional development and even a decent lunch during the long meeting day. But when difficult financial decisions are being discussed, we believe non-essential spending such as catered meetings should come before cutting employee healthcare. Also a note about walkthroughs which are later in the agenda. There is a value in walking through a classroom with a checklist with a group. You can see the classroom setup, see some of the lesson, the interactions at that moment and superficial behaviors. You can measure aspects of compliance. You cannot measure the relationships, the growth, the individual circumstances that may be contributing
032to what you are viewing. Walkthroughs can sometimes be seeing dog and pony shows and they may focus on the same classrooms time and time again. We urge you to find other data sources as well and to reconsider the wide use of walkthroughs. Thank you for your continued attention to these and other matters. >> Thank you. That concludes the public comments. So for those who have the opportunity, thank you for stepping up to the podium and expressing your concerns, your issues. And again, like I indicated that that's something that you know, we heard where you're coming from. We respect where you're coming from as well. Our job is to listen and respond, not to respond, but again, I just want to take this opportunity to say thank you as well. Now, I'd like to move along
033to the next um report, which is the board chair report. At this time, I'd like to take the opportunity to most importantly say to Dr. Australia, her team Lunda and the rest of the team also to the mayor Robert Smith also to the uh board chair myself to the common council president Josh Goston and to a to bet to say thank you. Thank you for the opportunity. Thank you for the push as well. One of the main things I know that you know our goal was this 6.5 you know but unfortunately it didn't pan out the way we expected. However, however I just think it's very important that you know one of the main things that we need to just be mindful is the work ethic that went into that and your communication and the
034togetherness that it takes. So I will once again take this opportunity to say thank you to you guys and thank for everyone that participated and approve of our budget for year 26 27. Thank you. The next thing I just want to talk about is the summer food program. That's a collaboration with um the NA public school will participate in a federal funded summer food program starting July 6. Children 18 and under will be able to pick up nutritional free meal of charge. These are the locations that those uh locations will take place at. Ranberry Elementary School, Race Baptist Church, Kendall College and Career Academy, Fox Run Elementary School, Ponis um STEM Academic, Concord Magnet School, Ryan McMahon High School, 46 Concord Street, and West Rock Middle School as well. So, I just want to take
035this opportunity to acknowledge that as well and move along to our next item on the agenda, which is the superintendent report. Thank you, Chairperson White. Um, good evening everyone. Thank you for joining us today. I have a number of items that I would like to share with the public as well as the board. Many of which are um celebrations of uh the work that we've been doing this year. And as June is today is our last uh business meeting, it's a great opportunity to kind of highlight some of the great things that are happening across our organization. As many know, our uh program around my sister's keeper and my brother's keeper has been going on for a number of years. Uh when I uh initiated this work, it was with the vision that um particularly
036black and brown children that were underrepresented and not uh well served by organization had a place where they could um have a mentor person that they could go to for additional supports. So, I would like to call um Lashante and Q um forward who have been um instrumental members of uh the district community that have helped led this work on um the district's behalf. And I would like to also thank Miss Fyo for um leading this work because this work is under um her department. But I thought that there was no better way um for the board to hear the success of this program um than from Leante and Q, but most importantly from our scholars um that can speak about their experience. So I'll turn it over to you. >> Good evening all. Thank
037you uh Dr. Estraa and the board for allowing us opportunity to speak. Um really tonight's not about us. about the the uh young people we have with us. But just to give you some background, this year we focused on mindfulness both in MSK and MBK, but also um the power of words. So the words you hear from these young people um will share the lessons they took from the convenings we had and um the workshops we conducted with them. >> Nope, I do not want to add to that. Well said, Miss James. Um I think you will enjoy hearing from our scholars NBK and MSK represent. >> So the first speaker um first u these students were invited to submit a um a proposed speech and we had a a panel of mentors who read
038them. MSK. I recuse myself because actually uh my daughter submitted a speech and she was selected as the MSK keynote speaker at our end of the year banquet. So for the MSK speech, I would like to present to you Kennedy James. >> Hi. Um I'm Kennedy James. I'm a freshman that attends Brian McMahon High School. I've been in MSK for three years since seventh grade. And my speech is called How Deep Can a Rock Go. You can throw a rock into a lake, but you'll never know how deep the that lake is. You may not understand what this means now, but keep this quote in mind for a moment. For the moment. I've always been a bright kid. I love science. I had a passion for books. And I had a light that couldn't be
039put out. But one day, it did. When I was in fifth grade, I gained a new insecurity, having a big forehead. Being 10 at the time, I didn't understand why people criticize that part of me, but it doesn't feel good. As the year went on, insecurities pried on. You're such a nerd. So, I started answering fewer questions. You're too tall. So, I started to slouch and have bad posture. You're annoying. So, I dimmed that light that was supposed to last forever. After getting through COVID and starting seventh grade, I came to Roten. I was this awkward tall kid who was anxious all the time. I struggled with math but was strong in other subjects. I barely knew how to make friends and I was around other around kids who already knew each other from the
040previous year. But that's when I started msk. It was the camping trip of 2023 and I felt like I was the most awkward girl there. However, I eventually made a friend. Even though I had friends at school, it was hard to make friends with girls who were like me because I wasn't exposed to many girls who shared my background. My mom was the one [clears throat] who forced me to give up my phone and make friends. And I'm grateful for her doing that. I didn't realize it then, but I do now. It helped me get over my anxiety and slowly gain confidence. Once I started 8th grade, I started to feel more like myself. I was still fighting battles that I hid from everyone else because I was used to being the rock for everyone
041I love. As I went to these convenings, I slowly learned more slowly learned my lessons. In January, we learned about the strate strate sorry strategic advocacy through music. This specific convening hit home because I was a musician. I played four instruments and I never really thought about the power of expressing myself through music. It also changed how I analyze songs now. But most importantly, it als it taught me how to ask for help and it was okay to lean on a shoulder whenever I felt like I was falling apart. In March, we discovered girl power and confidence. This this convening helped me gain my confidence back. It taught me how to make goals and affirmations and it also made me think about what I want to do in the future. Now I'm a freshman about
042to move on to sophomore year. I'm doing better mentally and I've grown over grew over the past three years. I just needed to find a pl I just needed to find a place for all this hurt I had inside of me because I was b I always bottled things up. But this year was extra special to me because it helped me realize how loved I am and that there were ways to I could cope with my anxiety and anger. I can do breathing exercises or just talk to my mom more. We did an activity in March where we wrote positive things in sticky on sticky notes and stuck them on each other's backs. I didn't realize it, but I had about four sticky notes. People said that I'm the sweetest person ever. I'm talented, but
043there's one sticky note that touched me. You brighten up the room every time you walk in. It almost it was almost like a specific compliment was talking to 10-year-old me. The same girl who was called annoying or a nerd a nerd in class. Over the years, I've learned that it's okay if people don't like you. It means that you're doing something right. It als it it's also okay if you're struggling mentally. There's always someone to lean on, even if it seems like no one cares. You never know how much you mean to someone. Lastly, remember that quote I said in the beginning. If you don't get anything out of this speech, remember this. Every time you say a hurtful thing to someone, you don't know what it does to them. You don't know if you
044started a new insecurity or if you impacted them mentally in a way words can't explain. A simple are you okay goes a long way. If you're angry or upset, there are ways to cope with it, but bullying isn't one of them. It t it doesn't take much to be nice to someone, but it's exhausting to be mean to someone without no cause. Thank you. So I would like to quickly introduce um Noon Kai's 10th grader Huaku Ediman who has been in MBK since sixth grade. He's what I like to call MBK OG. Um he's represented this program since day one. And even in sixth grade we knew he was a star. So uh quite cool. Let's get it. >> All right. Good evening members of the board of education and administrators. My name is Kauin
045and I'm a 10th grade student and a proud member of my brother's keeper. When people hear about programs like MBK, they often think about meetings, trips or events. But for me, MBK became something much bigger than that. It became family. I joined MBK in sixth grade. And over the years, it has given me a place where I know I belong. A place where I never have to worry about fitting in. a brotherhood of young men from different schools across our city who still support each others like brothers. Through MBK, I met people who became real friends even though we went to different schools. I met mentors and role models I could trust and talk to when I needed advice, not just about school, but also about life. One thing that makes MBK special is that
046it pushes us to grow in ways we don't always expect. Before MBK, I had never been camping before. During our retreats in Camp, Connecticut, I got the chance to try completely new experiences, including activities that forced me to face face my fears. I was nervous, honestly terrified. But because of the encouragement around me, I pushed through it. That experience taught me confidence and resilience, and it showed me that growth happens when people believe in you before you fully believe in yourself. MBK also gave me opportunities I may have never had otherwise. Because of things like soccer, I don't usually get many chances to go on big trips or vacations during the summer. But through MBK, I've been able to go on retreats, visit new places like Boston and Washington DC, and create memories that I
047would honestly never forget. But MBK is not only about trips or events. It's about the growth, support, and immense development. At every meeting, we start off with mindfulness and breathing exercises. At first, I thought it was just something we did during meetings. But over time, I realized I was using those same techniques in life when school started getting overwhelming and stress started to build up and even before my own soccer games. MBK also became another reason for me to keep my grades up and continue pushing myself academically, even during difficult moments. Having mentors and people who believed in me made me want to work harder and represent MBK in the right way. I remember Mr. Q, our leader, encouraging me to take my AP exam. I doubted myself. Sometimes all a student really needs is
048somebody who reminds them that they are capable of more than they think. And beyond academics, MBK helped me connect deeply with black history, culture, and identity. It gave me the opportunity to learn more about important figures, movements, and events that shaped our history from the civil rights movement and sacrifices of leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. It also led to conversations about black excellence, black excellence, leadership, and perseverance today. It made me more educated, more aware, more proud of who I am and where I come from. So today, standing here in front of all of you, I don't just represent myself. I represent a program that changes lives for students all here in Norwok. MBK gave me mentors. It gave me confidence. It gave me experiences. And it gave me guidance.
049But most importantly, it gave me a family that I know I can lean on. And I know there are many young men like me whose lives can be changed from programs like this. Thank you. >> Um, any questions from the board to the scholars about their experience with MBK? Actually, if I could say something. Um, first I want to say I'm very impressed with both of you and obviously very impressed with the program itself. Um, you mentioned that you play four different instruments. So, I have a question for you. >> What are the four instruments that you play and which one best represents who you are? Um, the four instruments I play, I first started with the flute in fifth grade. Then I moved on to tenner sachs in eighth grade. And this year I
050started the meophone for marching band, which is basically a French horn. I always have to explain it, but it's a French horn for marching band. And then I started the piccolo this year too. And I feel like the best one, >> not the best one, but the one that best represents who you are. Um, okay. Wow. Um, I want to say like the top Well, can I pick two? >> You can pick two. >> Okay. Um, I feel like the flute and tener sachs really describe me cuz, you know, the flute is known as a delicate instrument, but the tenner sachs is kind of a little sassy in a way cuz as my mom, I roll my eyes all the time. But, uh, I feel like those two kind of contrast me. So, yeah. >>
051Thank you. Thank you. I just wanted to make a comment. Um, your confidence blams. Um, you could really feel your confidence. Um, there's something about you, young man, that feels very powerful. Um, follow that power. >> So, um, he already stole the question I was going to ask. Um, as as someone who went through the music program uh in the Norark public schools, um, I it is so wonderful to see uh the tradition being continued. Um, and I have to say I am looking forward to your uh I know the Piccolo is uh your newest, but I'm looking forward to your rendition of uh Stars and Stripes because I know you will absolutely kill it. to be clear. >> Um, first of all, I think it starts with the two leaders feelings. I think you
052guys have what you guys had implemented in the structure and the values that you instill in the students. It's I just think [clears throat] I can't explain how important that is, you know, to change our students. You know, there are students that are struggling throughout this world, but our students here know that are struggling personally to be able to participate and be involved in a program of this magnitude speak merits truly speak merits. And I know what you two students, you know, spoke on today, there's others, you know, but the fact that you have the opportunity to come here right now and express your experience and the sky's is the limit. But to the two leaders for the program, I commend you. I truly commend you and I say thank you. Thank you. >> Thank
053you. >> And it's a village, right? Because the two leaders work alongside mentors across the district that volunteer their time to um support our scholars. And I know they're not here tonight, but I think it's really important to highlight the village that's behind this program of the number of people that volunteer their time because they really believe in this work as well as the leaders that are supporting it um and the work that that it takes to to make this possible. There's also an investment, right, that the board um has made in this program. And I just thought it was important for the board to see the value of this work. Um because a lot of things change when leadership changes and I think this work is really important. And I hope that as I
054depart to new things that this legacy of what we've created, as uh many might not know, but My Brother's Keeper started under under the Obama administration as a way to elevate um black boys, black and brown boys. And um I'm so happy that we have been able to develop this here in Norwok and further extend it to our young girls. And I hope that this is a program that like our music program becomes a legacy in our community. And I I want to thank you, thank the both of you for your leadership, thank our scholars uh for being here and I wouldn't say the sky because I think there are many things beyond the sky as what you are able to do. So you are limitless and and keep up the amazing work. Thank you
055for being here this evening. Thank you. So, another program that um highlights um our scholars is the superintendent um student council. Uh we established this program. I've been working a lot alongside uh Mr. Pennington as well as other members of my cabinet and um bringing scholars across the the district. I mean many apply and I've never rejected one. At one point we had um some really large cohorts of students because I felt that all students should be able to have the experience. And this evening uh we have uh scholars here that are here in support of others, but also I wanted to recognize all of our our students uh that are participating in the council. and also have two um groups that wanted to present um the problem of practice to the board so that
056the board can consider um these challenges as they're making budgetary decisions and other decisions in uh the year the year ahead or or as you continue to make future decisions for the school system. Um so I want to start off first with the presentations we have. Um, can we have the first group that's presenting come up first? And when you come up, make sure to introduce yourselves. Hello everyone. My name is Laura Hoga and I'm a junior at PE Norwok High School. So today I'm going to be talking a little bit about this mental health program that I created in the superintendent student leadership council. And before I continue going into that little detail, I actually have a little video to show you guys before we start. Close your eyes and you're just going to
057write down a word where you guys feel the most stressed in your anywhere. >> My name is Blerta. I'm in 11th grade and I go to PEK. So the mental health project it's we started it here in PEK where we had mental health days and it was usually the boss academy kids who were like in charge of going to the classrooms and leading the activities. But this time what we did is that we brought it to a middle school which was like put on Steam Academy. But the way it kind of started out was that everybody was getting like kind of stressed out in schools because it was like test after test, homework after homework, then exams. >> The [music] high schoolers from PEK could teach us about mental health and basically how to navigate
058it >> and training for a day where we're going to teach regular students [music] how stress works and all that. Um, I hope that they take the fact that they're not alone in their stress. Um, there's a lot of times, at least in school, or at least I could been like, [music] I'm the only one that feels like this, whether it's really about trivial stuff like an assignment, a project, [music] not being late on my homework. >> It was just making it more known to everybody. So that way they had the resources, they know where they can go if they need somebody, but also being able to like teach it [music] to others with that confidence. It has become a passion for me. like if I wasn't in that student council, I don't think that
059I would have personally had kind of the opportunity to kind of bring it out more. [music] But I was thinking for next year to kind of expand it to more middle schoolers because I think instead of just like, you know, one middle school, it's kind [music] of like for everybody cuz like like I said, everybody should have kind of access to that no matter what age they are. It's kind of just having somebody to listen to you so they can understand how you feel and kind of [music] validate those feelings. Sometimes that's kind of all you need. We are the people that were here and we're passing this down [music] to you. Like you guys are the new people and you're going to continue and you're going to do great and hopefully better than we
060did the size. That wasn't me. So, basically, like I mentioned before, I'm going to be talking about the program that I started off with in the program. So how this was created was that in the student council um I first started off with like a group before everyone kind of got like busy when it came to school is that we're trying to find something mental health-wise what we thought was creating stress inside of schools. So as a group all together we kind of spoke about what was stressing us out inside of schools and we came up with something with like assignments tests or etc. So because everyone was feeling so stressed, we talked about the different levels of stress. With that different levels of stress, there was times where sometimes it was for example finals
061or you have exams where the stress was even higher than usual. And because of that, we wanted to create something where it was like more easier for everyone. So that way they had time to decompress, incrementalize whenever they had to go do something extra like stressful. So why this was created was first to normalize conversation around stress and mental health. There's a lot of students who get very stressed out, but they never really have a chance to talk about it because they never think that anyone else feels the same as they do. With this program, it kind of lets students to speak about the stress moments, like for example, in school again. And for them to see that they're not alone and that there's other people that could be younger than them or even older
062than them, possibly even their friends that also feel the same way. The second one is to build student leadership and confidence. So with this, for students to be able to speak out for themselves, to advocate for themselves, sometimes they need that push. And for this program, it gives them that push. So that way, not only can they speak about what problems that they're going through, but also to find solutions so that when other students feel the same, they also have that support for them. And the third one is basically just to make mental health conversations feel more comfortable because a again like a lot of people don't like to mention it because they don't think anyone else feels the same. This way people cannot only just mention it, they can continue to solve it. So
063what we did with Ponis is first we had the PEK students act as mentors and supervisors. So the Ponis students, they went through the actual program themselves. So we had a training day with them where we taught them the program. So they went in in it as students at first. After they went through the program, then they tried and they learned themselves on how to teach it back to their own peers. So it was peer-to-peer teaching and they were acting as teachers. So for them, PEK, they were there and they had to learn a little bit of how to communicate with these students because Pon students at the time since they're middle schoolers, we had their national junior honor society kids and their same ambassadors to be those teachers. But because they're more used to
064kind of just helping around the school instead of just actively participating and teaching, we had to teach the PEK students, for example, Boss Academy and Honor Society kids how to communicate with them because a lot of these kids were very nervous. So we had to teach them how to use proper communication and also to focus on leadership not for these kids to be therapists. So the Pona students what they did is that again after they went through the program they taught their own classrooms. So they had around two to three ambassadors and honor society kids inside the classrooms and they taught these kids through little activities. So for example, one of the activities that we did was welcome and stress check-in. So basically what students would do is that they would come in and then
065they would ask raise your hand questions. So it was kind of like how stressed are you feeling today? You could put up a number with your hand. Are you feeling stressed today? Why are you feeling stressed today? And then it would lead into discussions with that is just to show students that it's not just them feeling stressed or why they're feeling stressed. Everyone has the same reasons and sometimes you can connect with others because of that. Another one that we did was stress brainstorm activity. So basically what the students did was find common stressors inside of their lives. So for example, they could say something like, "I have too much homework. I'm feeling very stressed about it." or I'm so busy like doing some stuff at home I don't have time to hang out with
066my friends. Then there are these categories that we separated them into school, social, and personal. And then based off those categories, you would go to the one that you mainly had a problem with. So for example, let's say we had a problem mostly with school that you're very stressed out about. You would find coping skills based off of that category and learn how to maintain it inside of schools. So if we went with school, then you would figure out, okay, I'm stressed out in school because I'm behind on my work. How can you fix that? Who can you talk to? How can you get extra help? and they discussed it among themselves. So the student leadership in action, it's again the peer mentorship. So opponent students, they themselves led the entire thing. The PTA kids
067were only there to offer support when needed, but majority of the time it was just the pon students, they themselves, eighth graders, even some seventh and sixth graders being in charge and teaching others themselves. This was to give them more of like a confidence role because these kids are very good at this stuff, but sometimes they're not being pushed until they get to high school. With this thing, it gives them more of a push in middle school. So by the time they reach high school, they can continue to push themselves even greater and pull in more kids that were younger just like them. And then another thing that they did afterwards was a stress wall to like support shape. So after they used their sticky notes to write into categories of what they were stressed
068about, they actually made a shape, something kind of like that was important to them. Some people chose to do a little heart and they basically made a support where on the back of whatever they were stressed about they wrote a person they can go to talk to or a place they can go if they need a moment to relax. So the impact of this program is that students they practice coping strategies and they learned like mindfulness and reset techniques. They identified support systems and they participated openly in discussions so that way again they don't like like they know that they can talk to other people about it and also that they have ways of being for themselves in case they can't go to anyone at the moment. for the future goals of this. I personally
069wanted to bring this to more like middle schools because as I said in the video, everyone deserves support whether you're like, you know, like in still in middle school or going into high school, everyone still needs it. Cuz when I first created this idea, I originally wanted it to be a part like for like the whole district. And I feel like that's kind of where we're going with this in the moment. Next year, I want to expand it to different kinds of middle schools around the area so that way they have ideas of like where they can get support and how they can deal with any stress that they have. Thank you so much for listening. Please feel free to ask me any questions. >> Wow. [laughter] the fact that you put this together and
070not only that you put it together, you're looking out for your peers, you know, and how to better support the student base is amazing. You know, I'm excited to see where this can go. And the fact that you know you also indicated to move on to the middle school it's important that's important because that starts as well you know so to prepare them and get them set and have that support mechanism is very important so once again I want to just commend you and say thank you the work that you put into it and those are behind you as well thank you appreciate that thank you >> certainly very impressive to uh listen to the structure of it. I'm wondering how um first you had the idea >> and then how did you work with
071other students that were in in the superintendent's student council to to pull this off or did you work with your friends? How how did being on this student council push you forward? >> Yeah. So, first when I joined the student council last year, we started off with a little group, but it was mostly some seniors and seniors are very busy when it comes to colleges. So, some of them really had to like leave the group so they could focus on their own personal matters. So, when we first started off before they like didn't have as much time, we started off kind of just like looking at different stressors inside of the schools as to what was stressing us out. And then based off of that, we had like many ideas where it kind of started
072a little bit peer-to-peer, but we wanted to make it in a way that it wasn't like holding the school liable in any sort of way. So that way they could still help other students inside of the schools, but it's not like they're being acting like acting as therapists. So when we first started the program, I kind of like did it inside of the school, like inside of my own school first at PK Norwalk, and we had these mental health days. So usually it was held on half days and we would have different activities for each block, like for each period. So, for example, one time you could do like meditation and another time you could do something with like coloring or if you want to go outside. So, it would have different activities for each
073block. And I thought that was kind of nice because a lot of my friends at the time like we would use that time to kind of just catch up on like some extra school work or sometimes people just like they needed some time to relax because especially like I'm a junior right now and I can say for a fact it's a very stressful year. So during that time some students really just need that time to like catch up on things. So it gave them that kind of base. And I actually went to Ponis myself when I was like younger. So I really wanted to start off there because I already knew how supportive the community was and I knew that they would be very open. And actually they kind of brought the idea first to
074kind of like include both the schools. So basically I actually spoke with my friends and we kind of had other people join in slowly from our school from some are just like normal like high school students, others are boss academy and honor society. So we would just bring them in and they felt like very like happy to help out. So we would find our own way of like transportation going there like we would help out the students and they actually got to like know some of the students personally. So now anytime people were to ponus they're like oh my god I know you again. So it started off like that and then it kind of just continued growing more. >> That's just wonderful really reaching out helping others and you're helping yourself gain confidence and
075we all have stressors in our life. It's that's universal and to to be able to pull it apart and and give some structure to how to handle it. Uh it's just really wonderful. So, and you have a plan to go even farther next year. >> Well done. >> Thank you. um as uh someone who basically had to uh drag herself over the finish line um her senior year. Um taking more than a few AP courses and uh school uh extra uh classes on Saturday. Um that'll do that'll do that to you. Um I have to say I really appreciate what you're doing. Um, and I'm, you know, one of the reasons why I I signed up for the board was because of the struggles that I went through, um, you know, during my time as
076a student. And seeing you guys actually come together and help each other up through this is absolutely amazing and I so kudos to you and thank you for all your hard work. >> One quick question, Dr. So, how many other presenters are there? Um this evening we have two presenters. Well, two two groups. >> Two groups. Okay. Um first uh one of my daughters goes to ponis >> really >> and I already knew about this and I will say that the kids talk. >> Yeah. >> And they really enjoyed it. >> Good. >> So kudos to you. Um, the other thing is you set the bar really high. [laughter] >> Good luck. >> They're all outstanding. >> Thank you. I just wanted to add such an amazing um presentation you had, but also your leadership
077is amazing. Um, you have such great um qualities as far as and skills that you have shown. It's um evident in your program but also what you are showing here your collaboration um your resourcefulness you know um your planning and trying different things and if this plan isn't as productive then pivoting those are all amazing um qualities that are would just continue to make you even more successful in your idea of like helping others as my um my peers have said just like lending a helping hand and I al um Garrett kind of touched on what I was going to ask you but have you been able ble to receive any feedback from any of the middle schoolers. >> Yes. So, we're still trying to like send out some forms, but we have like just
078spoken to them like personally. And at first, like for example, like this is like during like the program, they were very nervous to present, which is like it's normal because like they're like kind of like young. You have to like give them like that little push. But for them, when they started like presenting, like this one classroom I went into, these two girls, they were doing amazing. There were like these two kids in the back. They were trying to like joke around. She went back to the teacher and she told them, "Split them apart." So he moved them around and then afterwards like she was very confident in teaching the room but they spoke with the kids afterwards and they're like no like it was actually kind of fun like we had some time to
079relax and everybody got to like relax for a little bit because they worked on a 2-hour delay schedule. So during that time they had like a two hours to decompress and then they were actually much more awake and they were much more like you know connected when they went back into their classrooms. So they were like ready to like learn. >> Are you interested in going into the mental health field >> a little bit? Yeah. >> Great. still explore it, but I kind of like it. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> There's your contacts already. >> Um, >> contact me. >> I wanted to say that how impressed I am that you started so young and everything that you've accomplished already that I can't wait to see what you will accomplish as you grow and
080become an adult. And this is only a stepping stone for you. And kudos. Thank you. >> And I just want the board to know that um she was part of a group and and she pulled me to the side and was like, I have this idea. Can I expand on it and I was like the sky's is the limit. Like we don't limit them particularly in the concert. We want them to explore what they're passionate about and this is a product of letting people letting them soar with uh their their passion and their aspirations. So outstanding work. >> Thank you. Yeah, that bar is here. [laughter] >> I would like to say something. Um, >> as as a counselor, I I set up um peer groups all the time and rarely do I see someone
081with such leadership. Um, so that's pretty cool. Um, this is a cool program because not only is it effective because it comes from peers, but it also saves the district money. It provides a free resource to all students which is cool. Um I just want to ask a quick question because I'm sure as you create these comfortable safe spaces >> things probably come out. >> Yes. >> Um what is is there like >> let's say something comes out with a student that's a little beyond your capabilities of handling. What's the recourse? Do you go like to the counselor in the school? Is there a resource available in these moments where stuff might come out that you guys might not be capable of handling? >> Yeah. So, basically when it came to like the high school,
082we just did it only in the high school. Majority of the times like kids don't really like say things because like if they were then you're supposed to kind of like go to your teacher or like like you said like a counselor basically any support that they do have in the school. And usually in the hallways we kind of have like social workers, we have like counselors and you can like see them walking around too. You can like catch them anytime you need them. And for opponent students, like I said before, when they're doing the peer-to-peer teaching, they're there to be as like support systems, not therapists. So if they were to hear something from a student, we every like uh PC student that was with them that was supervising, they told them like, "Listen,
083if something happens, like let me know or you yourself go to a teacher and tell a trusted adult. So that way they can find support systems inside of their schools and bring it to the students who need that extra like extra help." >> That's great. >> Thank you. And um the the within the student council, we had some of our um social worker and council support um staff working with groups. Some that are here this evening. If you could stand up because some of you helped us last year and some of you help have been ongoing support. Carol and >> so um they've been instrumental in in supporting the work. I don't know if you want to come forward and just highlight a little bit about your experience with our scholars >> and um the
084work that you do to support them in their projects. >> I just want to say how proud I am of her. When we first started this a year ago, sorry I'm a little short. When we first started this a year ago, this was her idea and what talking about mental health, she was the one that wanted to focus on self-care and how do we help ourselves and how do we gain coping skills and how do we do it for each other so that way it's we're all normalizing that this is an experience that we're all going through. All of the ideas came from Blur. I just kind of supported her a little bit, gave her some other things to think about, but this woman is going places, right? I've already tried to poach her myself
085and I can't say enough about her work and I just can't wait to continue to watch you fly. She doesn't need much advisory. It's really all coming from within her. So, it's a pleasure. >> Thank you. And Carol and Kimberly, I know you work with different groups. I don't know before they present if you want to highlight some of your experiences. >> Thank you for having us this evening. Coach Carol and Coach Kim to the superintendent council that we dubbed oursel. Um the students are amazing and as you'll see our group is going to go as well and they just the growth that they've had over the year and the work and they drive the work the work comes from them. It is their ideas. It's their work. Um just to watch them fly and
086grow is absolutely a joy for us. So we're happy to hear we're happy to be here just to to help them along the way and along the journey. >> Yeah, it's been an incredible experience. I think I've learned so much from them in that process of kind of where they see kind of the needs are, where the gaps are, and really problem solving together. So each group does an action research project. So they're identifying where they see a gap, bringing in data, and then thinking about like how do we then solve that. So I'm really excited for the college and career group to get to share a little bit about what they're identifying. Um, and you'll see some similar trends of thinking about this group blew me away in particular. I'm thinking about like the
087eighth graders, right? and thinking about like the word legacy often comes up um in the student leadership council of like how do we support those that are coming up in this system and how are we paving the way forward um not only for our peers but those coming up. So I'm really excited to pass it over to them >> and now to we can turn it over to the next group. They These are Good afternoon districts audience. We are the second group. We are the postsecondary plan. And before we start off with our lovely presentation, I would like to introduce our big and mighty group. Starting off with our name, our grade in our school. And if seniors want what is our post-secary plan? My name is Apollo Kawera. I am a senior at P
088Techno and I'll be attending the University of Connecticut as an equin science major. >> My name is Aran Slow. I am a senior at Brian Mcman High School and I'm going to Yukon Stamford for business data analytics. >> Good evening. My name is Matteo Valiant. I am a junior at Brian McMahon High School and I don't have a postsecondary plan yet. >> Good evening. I am David Smith and I am also a junior at Brian McMahon. >> Hi, my name is Mayan Arandulla and I'm a a junior at the Center for Global Studies. >> Good evening. I'm Mariel Maro Kija. I'm a senior at Norwok High and I'm gonna go to Southern Connecticut and study journalism. >> Hi, my name is Umei Gavara. I'm a senior at Norok High School. I'm going to Yukon as
089a political science major. >> Hi everyone, I'm Super Tus Gavara. I'm a junior at the Center for Global Studies. >> Hi, my name is Gia and I'm a junior at Brian McMahon High School. running um joining everyone tonight. I actually came straight here from my Yukon Stamford orientation where again I'll be studying business data analytics and being there today actually reminded me of just how important postsecondary planning is. For a long time I thought I wanted to go into medicine but after learning more about healthcare corporate and other plans my plans changed and I found a path that better fits my interests. Our problem with practice is as follows. To what extent do Nora public school students feel prepared to pursue their post-secary plans? As students ourselves, we understand how important postsecondary planning is, especially
090as students be as students begin thinking about life after high school. Our district uh already offers valuable resources such as career centers and school counselors. And with this project, we wanted to explore how prepared students feel for their futures and how we can continue strengthening college and career readiness opportunities. To do this, we conducted a study of students in grades 8 through 12 to better understand their perspectives, confidence, and needs regarding post-secondary planning. Student feedback helps identify gaps in awareness, accessibility, and support. Um, allowing us to better understand what is working and where improvements can be made. >> [clears throat] >> Uh so to start off our primary target was to focus on looking at the system that we currently have in place for to support the current students that we have um and what
091we can do to improve and make it easier and give them more resources. Um so for our demographic choice we really focused on maintaining our diverse district population as Norwok is one of the most diverse districts in the state of Connecticut. Um and we wanted to make sure that it followed the trends that were fit um with each of these demographics and was a broad and equitable representation of the students in the district. Um so for survey creation, we created a survey with different types of questions to gather data in terms of um multiple choice uh asking students to rate different or false statements. Um and this was distributed to all middle schools and high schools in the district. And we did this by contacting all school principles and having them share this uh with
092their students. So as Matteo talked about, we focused on high school and middle school and we wanted to bring a big focus on the middle school as from our experience they didn't have as much post-secary plans. So for our survey, most of the data as you can see came from the 9th and 11th grade and then slightly less at about 17% came from the eighth grade. So now that we have a little bit of an understanding of the variety of students that we received responses from, uh we wanted to highlight and break down just the the main the main things that we took away from the data. We had a lot of information that we gathered but um in front of us is just the the top things that we wanted to highlight for today.
093So to break down the data a bit further and to really um show what what information influenced the next steps for success that are detailed at the end of this presentation. Uh one of the first questions that we asked was if students felt confident in their post-secary plans and in their knowledge of the college application process. And it was really insightful for us to learn that 30% actually feel unsure about what they want to do after high school and just 6% feel very familiar with the application process. And specifically when we were creating the survey as people before me have um explained we wanted to target middle middle school students and gauge their the support they were receiving in the planning process and the support that they perceived they were receiving. So, one of the
094things that we learned about the middle school preparedness is that 30% um did not have a person that they readily felt like they were able to talk to about the post-secary planning process. And this um influenced our goals and solidified our goals and increasing availability of post-secondary planning knowledge and also knowledge about the application process especially for younger grades, 8th grade, 9th grade, and maybe even earlier in middle school. And so a lot of our suggestions include those targeted expanding resources for um younger grades and in middle school students. And then um in our data collection, we also aim to understand like the diverse interests that Nor public school students have um specifically so that we can provide resources that target um the main areas of interest and that will be the most impactful. So
095from our survey we've um we we like identify the career career areas of greatest interest as the health and medicine field, the technology field and the business field. So tailoring new opportunities towards these three fields would be most impactful and most meaningful for the students of Noral public schools. And then one of the last pieces of information that we want to highlight um today is the post-secary plans of Noral public school students. So, 72% of students who responded to our survey are interested in pursuing a 4-year or two-year college or university. 6% are planning on attending a trade or technical school. 1% are interested in going into the military. 1% directly into the workforce. And 20% of students are still feeling unsure about their decisions regarding post-secary plans. Something unique about our data is we
096actually made two different surveys. We understood that we we are be giving these surveys from 8th grade to 11th grade and those are two completely different standpoints of their post-secary pan. Because of that we collected many different data from the middle school to the high school. Something we learned is the main resource for middle schoolers getting those informations are through their counselors. But something we realized from the high school is they feel very disconnected to the resource. given to them. So, middle schoolers feel like they're getting it all from their counselor, while high schoolers feel really disconnected to what they're giving to and what they're putting on their plates. A second important point was that middle schoolers were not yet familiar with the post-secary process of the college application. Some of them did not even
097know what college was. And this can be very important as they're the new generation that is going to go into high school. There should be a plan for um college. They should be more informed of what college is mo mostly because some of them can be first generation or some of them can come from a background that is not very informed. All middle schoolers should be more informed because uh high school is all about college and it's all about the readiness of their future. >> Um a lot of middle schoolers um report high confidence in their postsecary plan. This trend shifts when we look into the high schoolers with their lower confidence in a post-secary plan. Um this difference in between the middle school and high schoolers shows an increase in awareness among students of
098the steps they still need to prepare for in order to prepare their post-secary plan. Using this data, we can see that there is a need for improved support and guidance to help students develop a clear postsecary plan. So using all the research that we conducted, we came up with steps for success. Uh we want to place a big emphasis on the counseling websites that are available to our students. We acknowledge that we already have existing counseling websites that are really valuable resources, but we have a couple ideas ideas of how we can further improve them and make them even more valuable. One of these ideas is improving the um the resources for the career pathway. Being a member of the marine pathway at Brian McMahon has given me direct insight on the importance of these
099pathways in post-secary planning. And we believe it's necessary to show students all the pathway options available to them for their futures, what courses they need to take and what what these courses would look like on a timeline for their high school careers. We acknowledge that we have a very extensive program of studies and we're incredibly proud of it, but it is a really long document that oftentimes can become confusing. So, we believe that it would be incredibly useful to condense this document down and have a section on the counseling website that show clearly what courses are offered for each grade level for students so that we can easily communicate the choice that students have at their schools. We also believe it's important in keeping younger and all students aware of testing such as AP, SAT,
100ACT, and IB testing that would be beneficial for their post-secary plans and clarifying what these tests are and how they are used. We hope to we hope to keep students informed and allow time for preparation on significant tests in the college admissions process. We also believe that keeping middle schoolers and underassmen informed on the course prerequisites necessary for what they want to do after high school to ensure their options. Building on making college prerequisites clear to all of our students at Norark Public Schools. We believe that we should place a really big emphasis on the great resource that CT State is and specifically the high school partnership program that is offered to high school students across Norwok. As a high school student myself, I have taken part with this partnership that allows me to take
101two courses at CT State per semester, which has helped me develop my interest in different fields, explore my interest, and also get college credit earlier on. We believe this is an incredibly valuable resource for students because they're able to explore a variety of fields. CT has over thousands of courses that we're able to take and also at the same time get a lot of the prerequisites out of the way that might not be offered in the high schools as well. We want to create extracurricular news, a newsletter that would be delivered through student square, parent square, or even like a highlight reel on the counseling websites that make students aware of all the extracurriculars that they're offered, such as the leadership council. That this way students can get a lot of valuable experiences outside of
102just their academic experiences in high school and middle schools that help them prepare for their post-secary plans. We also want to acknowledge that there is already seminars for older high school students, but we believe it would be beneficial to extend it to younger students to keep them informed on the college process. As a daughter of immigrants and a current junior at Brian McMahon who's beginning the college application process, I already feel the weight of being unprepared and unpre uninformed on the process and believe it would be extremely beneficial to students in the same situation as me. We would love to have college admissions officers, seminars, alumni panels, and college post-secary workshops. Altogether, we believe that all these steps that we're suggesting make sure that each student is getting their personalized college and post-secary counseling done.
103This way, students feel prepared for their plans after high school in a way that is unique to them. Thank you so much district for listening to our group. If you have any questions, feel free to say. But thank you so much for listening to what we have to say as a group. >> The boys will be aware that this is two groups combined that have >> I walked in. I'm so I'm sorry I had to walk out when the first you first presented. Question. What would you like the board? What would you want from us? What would be your recommendation for the board? >> I believe since we talked about the next step for success, I believe allowing students to help improve the websites as we suggested would be incredibly valuable, allowing there to be
104more student input on what is available to us on these resources online and also at our counseling wings. Um, we would like to see there to be support for students being involved in creating the resources that are given to us. >> Thank you for that. That's I just think that's that's truly important. You know, student voice is always important, you know, and I just think that's something that, you know, when you talk about student achievement, that's a big piece right there, but it starts with you guys first. And I always felt and I don't sugarcoat that when it comes to decision making, we don't look at it from what the students like and I think that's very important. >> Thank you. >> And if I recall, you guys talked about also needing um additional college
105advisors and career advisors at the school because there's not enough and you always felt short changed. Can you speak a little bit about that? So, as Gia mentioned, a lot of Norok public school students are first generation college applicants. And we have had a couple of admissions officers counselors come in to give seminars, but I believe that having even more of these seminars throughout the year after school would be incredibly beneficial. We had one at Brian McMahon and CGS at the start of the year, but we would like to see this throughout the year and also in a bigger format. So all grade levels are able to get these resources, are able to hear these people talk. We also want more alumni to come in from our high schools to tell us about what they
106did after high school, how they achieved those goals, what challenges they might have faced, and how we can take their experiences and use that to guide our own plans. Um overall we believe that just having counselors coun like workshops after school I know we've had a couple IB workshops just workshops for students that allow them to seek guidance from their counselors their teachers and outside uh people to further prepare them is incredibly valuable in making us feel confident in our futures. I mean, I think that you all have incredible ideas and like these are great things for for us to hear and thank you. And it's funny when you mentioned the program of studies and how robust it is. We like, you know, we get that and we vote on it every year and every
107year when we get it, I can't read all of that. I so I think that you have such a good point about how to make that more accessible for all of you to sort of really track the path that you want without having to like really like scour that entire program of studies to get to what you need. It's incredible that we have so many offerings. But um and yeah, it's I there's so many unique paths and I mean I think of when I was in high school, I ended up going to music education and that process is is unique to other application processes and and I kind of figured, you know, I don't not everyone even knew how to help with that. I think it was like my choir teacher helping. So, you know,
108it's finding a way to help every person with the unique path that they might want to take is is really important. Thank you all for your ideas and for sharing. Great. >> And for me, um, the first generation hits because being the oldest of my family and my cousins and everybody, I was the first one that had to ask those questions, try to figure it out, and we have parents that don't understand. They can't speak the language. So, now that you mentioned this, tweaking it a little bit more to those types of resources. >> Could I ask, are you I'm not sure what your name was. Are you 11th grade or 12th grade? >> I'm a junior. My name is Sue. You're a junior. Okay. So, good. you're gonna be here next year and you
109can you can help spearhead but um so many of your speaking I I could hear you clearly I could feel your enthusiasm and also that sense that's kind of related to the first uh group that you want to help those behind you. You want to help the younger, the eighth graders, the seventh graders, maybe that you want to help them find their path. Maybe many of them don't realize there's a marine path. Somebody said they're on on that one. And um some might not realize there's a a medical path that of these things are so important to share and I think even more powerful coming from you than from us or you know the the experts >> um wonderful highlighting and wonderful kindness of spirit. I um I'm so impressed with you. >> Thank you.
110>> You did hit it. You did hit it. They >> Well, no, hold on. >> Um, no, I I just want to say um as as I'm sitting here listening to you guys, um, one of the great things about my life is I'm a I'm a mentor for the Grammys and for their Grammy U. And I hear a lot of similarities from you guys and what you're looking for and what you want to do that I hear from the people that I have as mentees where they wish there was someone who came in and said, "Hey, I was in your shoes. This is what I'm doing now. This is how you navigate this." Um, I heard resources, having a better sense of the resources and how to utilize them. Um, >> I'm impressed. >> Yeah,
111>> the bar. I'm I'm impressed. >> Well, I mean, >> I we can say that you're a little bit biased having a daughter who goes opponent for the previous one >> and a daughter that goes to McMahon for for this as well. True, true, true. Um, but I I think you guys put a lot of work into this. I think both groups put a lot of work into this and I will definitely keep an open mind to both. >> Um so um I I know I I may not look it but I I was a first gen generation college grad because um when my mom went to nursing school it wasn't considered a proper degree. Um actually her uh her counselor recommended that she become a secretary because she was good at math. So, uh,
112a little bit of outdated thinking. Um, but, uh, and my dad was drafted, so he never got to finish his degree. Um, and so it was one of those things. I know that there were so many things that were so overwhelming. Um, I know. Have uh have you cons do you have um for like uh people to help with uh essay exams and or the sorry not essay exams, essays? uh because I know that is a major uh component. Um trying to find is to is stick out from the crowd and also not use chat GPT to uh uh because uh I I know that that is one thing because so often you've got kids that have uh so many uh extracurriculars and everything and it's like trying to find that one thing that helps
113them stand out. Um, uh, what resources do you think you still need in that regards? >> Um, hello. When it comes to the essay process, I fully think that it's going to be a built-in process. what I'm hearing now from I go I attend Pekk and what I'm hearing now from juniors and sophomores as as teachers English teachers are actually taking um college essays from there from what they have from seniors that they have or from people that that they saw their essays and showing it to them basically guiding them and I think what we need is more of that. I think we really do need more of those teachers helping guiding students because essays could be a lot and it can be very stressful to figure out what you want to do and how
114you want to do it because of course you always see on TikTok there's these same results, same ideas and it can be all so much for a kid that's only 16 17. So we would love anything after school English teachers or even anybody that's majoring in that can major and help us in writing with these essays. We would love that. we need that success and that help to guide us through because I think the college application is a lot but figuring out what you want your paper to be, how you want your paper to be because it took me about 3 months to figure out what I wanted my college essay to be and then I got a text message last week that my English teacher used as an example because of her guidance. She
115told she asked me if she can use it as an example for the future for the I believe the class of 2028 to see what they want as their college essay. So I believe that more of that and more of teachers offering to help and guide after school even I don't know if they do morning classes on Saturdays but more of that would be helpful and be necessary for future leaders and for future people to help with the college essay process. I >> also want to quickly add um um Sue also kind of touched up on it about alumni. I want to emphasize like the importance of firsthand experience, bringing in students and alumni to explain the college process and those especially those who um go to these very collegiate schools and other people who
116want to follow them too. Um a really good example of this was in Brian McMahon we have a college boot camp during the summer. Um it's it's a weekl long process for incoming seniors and um within the in the middle of the week they bring in um Brian McMahon alumni who who are successfully going into college or even um technical and trade schools like that and I think me personally listening to those stories and listening to advice firsthand was definitely something that I could trust especially because it was you know primary source. So um I definitely want to emphasize the importance of bringing in people who experienced it and experienced it today. And then along with that, part of the boot camp was a essay workshop. So I know that CGS a lot of students
117benefited from like essay workshops as part of the boot camp. And I mean Nor public schools has a lot of great resources like these. But um I know that a lot of these um resources are they're kind of like happening in tandem with like the process as it as it happens. Like the common app opens on August 1st and I think these sort of boot camps are happening like at the end of August right before school starts. And I know a lot of students have um like anxiety or they feel like pressured because they're seeing things online and all this stuff, but the school hasn't ne necessarily introduced these topics yet. And we do have a lot of great resources um for when you're in the process itself, like in in the trenches writing your
118essays. But um it would be very beneficial to have like an earlier introduction as well as um like earlier boot camps, earlier um seminars and things like that for students. And then I know like this is like kind of a way after the fact, but talking about counselors and the need for more counselors, I think that the counselors that we do have are doing a lot of great work and meeting with students and all these things, but um a lot of times like counselors are introducing students with with information with information about pathways with information about courses or like catching um discrepancies in course schedules after the fact. students will select their courses and then meet with their counselors and then they'll realize, oh, if I actually wanted to uh choose this pathway or or
119take this take this set of classes, I needed to do this prerequisite maybe last year or maybe last semester. So, um while we do have a lot of guidance, sometimes it's happening um in tandem with like the process and sometimes it's happening after the fact. So I think that um improving or building upon that like guiding students before the fact like preparing them ahead of time would definitely be something to expand upon. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. To add on to what Maya said, I feel like it's important that counselors reach out in their in um students earlier years of high school because um I find that you know my counselors and other counselors started reaching out with um resources and other advice um towards the middle of our junior year, which I believe I
120could have used during my sophomore year or my freshman year. and I feel like it would help students feel better prepared when coming into junior year and feeling less overwhelmed with the college process. >> Thank you. Um and I have one more question. Um I'm sorry. >> Uh in the initial uh big picture you had put uh separately apprenticeship and trade school. Um, but when you're talking uh post-secondary plans, uh, uh, I'm guessing the, uh, apprenticeship was incorporated into the 6% of, uh, trade or technical school or was it a part of? >> Yes, the apprenticeship was included. >> Okay. I just Yeah, sorry. >> Thank you. I just if I could just make a comment because um hearing all of your stories is really inspiring. Um but what you guys get is that data
121is powerful and continue to collect data. Continue to collect data. Bring data to these meetings. Bring data everywhere you go. Let data say what you need. Let data say what what resources um you're in need of. And keep collecting data. keep collecting data so that you have the people's voices and not just yours. Um, keep up the good work. So a as part of their work I think um over the course of the time that we've had the student council one of the things that students have elevated is the concern around uh the college process determining post-secary education at all levels either apprenticeship trade schools um those students that want to go straight to the workforce. One of the things that we already started talking as um part of the academic team is how do
122we rethink this process to make sure that students start early on. If we look at private um institutions, they start this process as early as 8th grade in educating the families as well as the students and making sure that students even before they go into high school know what prerequisites are required for whatever path they want to go uh move forward whether they're sure or unsure it um there is a plan of action prior to entering high school that prepares them that that helps them be prepared to what is expected. So listening to the scholars feedback and all of the data that they collected um is something that the team has been um already brainstorming about how to do differently. One of our biggest challenges is that in order to do this work effectively, it
123requires people and because of there our budgeting limitations, we've had two consecutive years of trying to think about how to bring in additional people with expertise and doing this work but have limitations in doing that. So, as you're thinking about budgeting for 2728, thinking about how do we bring in additional resources to have adequate ratios of either counseling or um college and career advisors as part of the high school structure and even thinking about middle school that will effectively support the planning process um that goes beyond our K- through2 continuum, which is something that has come up a lot in our conversations with our Thank you so much for your presentation. >> And because of of the work that they've done, we have um certificates for the students that we would like to share. Do
124you want to see and maybe take a picture? And as can you come to the front so we can take a picture? Right in the middle. >> Ariana de Chow roll. Ardan rolls estabana. Omeica, Sue, Patruus, Guaa Maya Nandula, Matteo Valente. Maria Lara, Maria Delmare, Duk Villa. Hi Batista. Gia Patel, Shaliz Morabell, Rios, David Smith, And there's some that are not here this evening um because they have prior engagements. And if somebody maybe down >> well maybe the taller in the back and >> yeah and then put there's not any Sorry, two So, I hope the board is as impressed as I always am to see the C the student council students in their inquiry process. I'd like to move on now to the draft of the super of the superintendent goals for SY. >>
125I'm sorry. >> Good night, guys. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. So I was saying I hope that the board is as impressed as I am to the uh of the amazing work that our scholars to everybody who did with them um always with us. I would like to move now into um the superintendent draft goals for FY um 2627 and I'm going to ask um Mr. Pennington to join me for this conversation. So, some of the goals are a continuation of Oh, and um as well as Kimberly and Miss Fyo. Some of these goals are associated with work that we um have already um started and it's just a continuation. And then one goal is of uh work that will be new next year in mathematics. So I'm going to ask Miss Foes
126and Miss Dr. Ericson um to address goal number one with the board. when are they going to show the the slides? >> So, so for goal number one, uh we co-created this goal and this was a goal that is built upon last year's and the year before that goal. It's by June 2027 that 100% of our schools will implement the self-directed learner competency to support students in taking ownership of their learning, deepening the critical thinker and effective communicator competencies through school improvement plans as evidenced through district learning walks. And this work will also include the development of student AI literacy for ethical and responsible use with evidence and implementation gathered through feedback cycles. Um, essentially what we are proposing with this goal is that we keep to strengthen instruction around the practices that require students
127to think critically and justify their reasoning. Uh we want to make sure that we continue to strengthen student voice in their communication, making sure that plans include um methods by which students engage in discussion, and then we're going to start to build in the self-directed learner. Do you want to talk a little bit about the self-directed learner? >> Absolutely. So, the self-directed learner is really about students starting to take ownership over their learning. Um and so it's about students setting goals, monitoring their progress, and then really engaging in um mental wellness and physical well-being, right? And thinking about that whole child. And so when we think about like where did the self-directed learner like competency indicators come came come from, it was our community. And that when we went through these engagement cycles of like
128how do we define our portrait of our graduate indicators, then it was through that feedback. And so this year then to further the critical thinker and the effective communicator, it's then providing students opportunities to self-reflect on how am I being a critical thinker? What are my goals in like these projects? And then how am I reaching those goals? And so that's really about like the self-directed learner that we're really excited about. It's really deepening that critical thinking and effective communicator work through students starting to think about and and be a part and active participant in that role in developing the portrait of graduate competencies. The wonderful thing about the self-directed learner work is that it allows us actually to work with teachers on the feedback that they are providing to students, not only during class
129as part of their formative assessment, but also as part of their summitive assessments or any time that they're providing students feedback to then be able to implement in their next tasks or whatever it is that they're doing in class. The wonderful thing about what we started to do with school leaders is to look at how is it that they're providing feedback to teachers when they're doing observations using the observation of what they see with students and what students are producing to prompt teachers to be thinking about what is coming out in the student outcome not just in the planning phase >> looking at student impact. >> Yeah. And definitely looking at that. So this goal is to not just deepen the work that we've already started with the other two competencies, but actually to now
130start to really make that part of our daily instruction and really students taking ownership over it. >> Any questions on this? >> We can stick around in case uh we'll be here. So um just just one one comment that um the the previous students really embody [laughter] what we're trying to do here. I mean they've taken ownership of solving a problem and and bringing forward uh ways to go about that a and communicating what the problem is and that confidence. So, we're um we have some of that excellence happening, but this priority is going to spread it >> spread it to >> it's that consistency across all grade levels and across the classrooms and then that we want to be able to see and we had some portfolio work that Kimberly do you want to
131explain to them the next so I had the opportunity to work with digital promise on um doing some focus groups with students and better understanding because one of the ways that districts will think about self-directed learner or the port of a graduate is through portfolios and that um and being able to triangulate the data, right? And seeing like how are students work samples progressing over time. So I had the opportunity to go into a few different schools that are already um working with student portfolios and to talk with students which is always like the best thing ever, right? And these students, they had their portfolios and um they're sharing their examples. And one student goes um yes, I like to use my portfolio as a scaffold. And we're like, okay, tell us more about this,
132you know, scaffold. And he's like, when I get stuck on a math problem, I will go back to my portfolio and I will pull out a worksheet or something that I did really well on and I'll look back at my prior work and that will help me solve that problem. Mhm. >> Another student, we think about like the teacher feedback that he was super proud to show us a writing sample that he did and the teacher's feedback and he goes, "You'll notice in the teacher's feedback, she told me that I need to work on writing complete sentences because I didn't do that." And then he pulls out his next writing sample. He goes, "And then you'll see and it's like dated about few weeks later that um he his feedback was you grew on your
133complete sentences." And so it was really neat to see these students who are they're able to speak to the feedback they're receiving, how they are then using that to set their goals and adjusting based on that feedback. And like these students like we talk about like really owning their progress in their work. Like that is what we saw and getting to see them create their goals and where they are with that progress. And so that's an area that we're looking at and thinking about like again like we see these bright spots. How do we then ensure that every student has these opportunities and ensuring that all students have these opportunities to set those goals and become the self-directed learners? >> Yeah, >> this is an ongoing goal, correct? This is something Yeah. you've been working
134on. You want to continue? >> Yeah, this is year three. So, every year we're adding a competency >> to build upon we'll start to forecast in the middle. We start to forecast the next one. And it it sort of has been a very organic way that the next competency there's five. So there's you know we have um two more. >> Okay. >> We've been very intentional where we started >> critical thinker >> with critical thinker and very strategic in how we built every competency to scaffold into the next. So that as teachers and leaders are being professionally developed around the competency everything is interconnected and always remembering that we don't forget what about the one we started and we just build well maintained and well has been developed. >> Yeah. And I think that scaffolding
135is is so key because, you know, just speaking as a former teacher. You know, those critical skills um that the students develop are just so key in in their future success and in developing metacognitive skills that they need. And and you know, the younger you can do that, the earlier I mean, because the metacognitive skills, that's pretty high level, right? We saw it on display here tonight. these kids know how they learn and they know how to challenge themselves and they know how to think critically and so it's really really um really great. It's a great goal. >> So we're excited. >> Thank you for your support. >> Thank you. And our second goal is a continuation of work that we started this year and Mr. Pennington. >> Sure. Good evening members of the board,
136mayor and superintendent. So this year we implemented our literacy vision that we created last year and our real focus was around the implementation of this literacy vision in our K5 classrooms and then in grades 6 through 12 in our English classrooms. But one of the things we know is that literacy instruction doesn't just happen in English classrooms. It has to happen in all classrooms. And so our goal for next year is the expansion of this literacy vision into classes such as social studies, into classes such as science and world language and even into our specials. And so that is going to be our focus for next year to implement the vision across content areas. We had a start um in one area. We focused on English especially grades 6 through 12. we were implementing new
137curriculum and so our team from a capacity standpoint really needed to focus on we are going to be investing our literacy vision in our English classrooms grades 6 through 12 and now we are in a place after year 1 we're going to still need to support that because it'll just be year two of implementation of a new curriculum however we have work that we need to do in social studies in world language in other content areas and so as we look it's really focusing focusing on high quality literacy practices in those other classrooms because literacy like I said literacy happens everywhere >> and our third goal >> our new our new goal for next year >> this year we created our prek12 math vision and so similar to this year where we were launching and
138implementing the K12 literacy vision that is our goal for next year in mathematics in the in the high school. We are going to be starting the year with a pilot of new curriculum. So, we're going to start with one resource. Our teachers have selected we had a bunch of different resources that they could select from. They've now our lit our math team has got it down to two resources. And so starting in the fall, we are going to start for two months piloting one resource and then the teachers are going to switch and pilot the second resource. And so then by January, we will be able to select our highquality instructional material. And that is in our high school, which has been really excited about this opportunity. They've seen the dividends of our high quality
139instructional material selection in grades 6 through 12 for literacy. And now we are in that process. We are making that decision. And our math team has gone through a process of making the math vision and now looking at what resources do we want to dive into and then making a selection. And either of the choices are are great and our teachers are the ones that are making the choice based on implementation feedback and we'll be able to get a lot of information throughout the fall implementation. However, this vision is not just in high school. We are also going to be really focusing on grades K through eight mathematics and how are we making our vision come to life? grade level grade level appropriate standards. That is something that we've talked a lot about with our
140literacy vision and now we are really carrying that over to our math vision. >> Thank you. So um the goals are in draft form um if the board is in agreement to move forward with the approval. It's an action item in today's agenda. And uh if there are no questions, I'd like to move on. I um Rob, if you want to come down, I just want to uh let the board know that digital's promise has um honored us with the um leadership for digital transformation award. um because of the district's um concerted effort around building transformative p practices around how we are effectively us utilizing um digital learning within our classrooms and always thinking about innovative ways in which um to use different resources across the organization and and really inform our practice around um
141research We also do you want to say anything else about um the digital learning piece? >> Um yeah, sure. Good evening board mayor and and superintendent. Um yeah, one of the things that you kind of heard a little earlier um that's a good example of this is the work that Dr. Ericson's been doing uh with our portrait of a graduate and she had mentioned digital promise. So the partnership with digital promise is really not just digital tech. it's actually bringing in other resources to be able to help use tech to augment the learning that goes on in our schools. So, um I don't want to repeat anything because you kind of heard snippets of that throughout the year, but that's really what was very very apparent to um to Digital Promise this year with us.
142And that's why we were given this award is because how we're able to seamlessly integrate this to be able to help adult learning as well as student learning in our schools to use technology to augment the learning. >> Thank you. Um the other award that the district received is the IST and ASCD um distinguished district award. This award recognizes US school districts that are driving change in big ways throughout the school system. The districts um that received this award embrace change to improve the learning experience for all students and serve as a lighthouse for other school schools to follow. Nor public schools embodies uh many of these traits and um they were honored to distinguish us with this award. um the district has the ability to go um in June to receive this award. So
143I just wanted to highlight uh this accomplishment as well because it speaks to the work and innovation that has been happening across the organization that um based on our preliminary reviews is showing significant um increases in our math literacy and other and science um achievement rates. So, I I just thought it was important to highlight. Kudos to our our team um because it took the the entire team to to make this work possible alongside our school leaders, teachers, and other support staff because it takes a village to to make the work happen and they were all instrumental in making it work. >> Where will you accept the reward? Where >> it's in Orlando. Florida. I won't be able to attend, but um we're going to try to have a member of our team go and
144receive it in on behalf of our district. >> Great. >> Any other questions? Then um we have a partnership with Edsafe um particularly focused around um AI and um thinking innovatively about the implications of AI and the work. We um have been working in a number of different areas to make sure that one we align with best practices but also that we are um keeping uh neuroscience in mind particularly because there's a lot of research that has come uh out about the implications of utilizing technology um at a young age and we already are um on a path to talking about making um shifts in in the way we're using different tools. I know today there was um concern brought up about um digital tools being used in the KO2 continuum and one of the
145things that we've been talking about is um developing policy to um eliminate the use of devices in um our K2 grades um as well as um well you don't want do you want to add anything? Uh, no. So, I mean, I I think really, you know, we we've been having conversations across the uh, you know, really across the district with our teachers, with a lot of our stakeholders, and even today recently with our PTOC um, to move forward with. So, I had a opportunity to talk to Naen a little bit today um, about doing some workshops with the PTOC when they meet in August um, around a couple of specific areas. One of the one of the areas that Dr. ministry had mentioned and that was brought up even in public comment is something that
146I think we're all concerned about right now is truly screen time. Um and how do we kind of address this as well as the you know the the the proper use of technology to kind of align it to goals. Um I think that there was also another comment that was made that you know I I I've done a lot of research around and and it it is hard to show any kind of growth from the use of educational from some ed tech tools over the years because um you know there it's never sometimes we haven't really aligned it and I'm saying not norwok in general education we haven't aligned it well to student outcomes and something that we're going to be working on through that as through the edate consortium is coming up with procedures
147and um um policy as well as opportunities for us to make these changes. Um I don't know if you want me to just jump right into >> you want to talk about outcome based Yeah. >> Okay. Go ahead. >> Um so besides talking to the PTOC about um K12 devices, one of the things we are looking at right now is a new strategy that's called basically outcomesbased contracting. And what outcomes-based contracting uh does is it basically takes a look at what your outcomes are. So student outcomes and start to start to start starting to align them to performance metrics and you start developing your contracts with vendors who ideally then become partners around shared accountability and and many times you tie the payment of those items to that up to 40% of the payment so
148that it becomes one of those areas where ideally if it's done well and this is something that's really new and it's coming out especially because of AI and the amount of tools that are out there that's just kind of compounding itself. If we can do this well and learn about this, we can learn now how to be able to say and hold our vend our vendors or our partners accountable, but ourselves accountable to say this is why we bought this tool in the first place. This is why we're using this technology. This is what we're going to be measuring. And if we don't meet that, then really we need to re re-evaluate whether or not we really want to have that there. But we be we need to become more targeted in this area. What's
149happened over the years is everybody buys the nice the next shiny object that's out there and it just keeps compounding and we want to get away from that. So part of that also is too um I'll be signing off on any edtech that's actually being purchased by the district moving forward. So meeting with the PTOC, sometimes PTAs with all good intentions will end up purchasing things that you know are are asked for by um a teacher or a staff member. What we want to do is really start to have conversations around that. So we'll have an AI advisory group that will meet on a regular basis that will have all stakeholders in there that will actually look at these tools. We and start to regularly re-evaluate them. So we're making sure that we're making those
150decisions um in a way that makes sense. This is what the >> Sorry. >> No. Yeah. The the Edsafe Alliance though has given us the ability to kind of pull all these pieces together. And also tied to that, one of the the key things particularly because um as AI advancements are happening, one of the things that we also have to keep in mind is how we're contracting with vendors around um the transparency around the the shifts that they're making with their AI tools and how they're informing us particularly around data sharing and information. uh we've we've we've found particularly when um engaging with at safe and also ILO who's another partner um that has been supporting us in this work that districts have actually gotten into um major challenges because they are not reading the
151fine print or being very clear with vendors that they're partnering with around how they're making either coding ad adaptations or modifications to the tool. tools unbeknownst to the users and then there are like ramifications around that. So just making sure particularly as you engage in outcomebased um contracting that also schools are not engaging in contract development outside of the scope of the supervision of the digital learning team because we want to really monitor um what these agreements stipulate and what are the potential implications or data breaches that could potentially result as as different schools use different tools. Yeah. as well because we want to make sure that we're keeping students data safe particularly in this era where um AI is it's continuously evolving and potential hacks and and breakthroughs can can happen at a more
152uh in a regular basis more than before. >> Yeah. And and and you'll hear us lead with this with everything we talk about with AI and edtech. There's two things that we are going to keep first and foremost in the district that there's a human in the center. there's no technology that we're going to use that doesn't have a human intervention in between the student and that technology at one point or another. So that that's there. The second is safety. So as we kind of move forward this year, um every contract will be looking at signing off on that safety items. Creating the outcomesbased piece is something we're gonna have to work on throughout the year because it will take time because every contract's going to be different because every outcome that we're using these
153tools for is going to look different and we have to all learn how to do this too. So um it's a it's a whole process. were looking to work um with a group out of DC called the um Center for Outcomesbased Contracting. Um and they've done some work in many many other states have taken this on like Texas and California to be able to do this at the state level. Um right now I don't think Connecticut's just quite there yet. And um so we want to do it locally though. And then hopefully the work that we do here, I'm hoping [snorts] that it'll actually help other districts as well learn from that and be able to kind of gain on how to kind of do this work. So, we're really really excited about it. Um,
154and it all goes back to the work that we're talking about with these outcomes. I mean, I we keep bringing up Dr. Ericson tonight, but um, she's actually one of the people that's been really critical to making sure that everything's aligned to that portrait of a graduate. and our goals on what we do with technology is going to be aligned to those same skill sets and those same competencies. So, um like I said, um I think we've uh we made great gains this year, but there's a lot of work to do in this coming year. >> I just um want to make a comment. This is really cool. Um it's really groundbreaking and it's reassuring to hear you being so thoughtful about it and so um skeptical at the same time because I think that's
155very important. and it does move fast. Um, is going back to the vendors, do they train the staff on how to use the program because then can they come around and then say, "Well, we trained you and you did it the wrong way." >> So, so that's where it's a shared accountability many times and that's why each contract will look different. you can include in and like I said we're all learning this right now but one of the things you could include to is is a good example is one of the accountability measures could be an adult accountability meaning that we have transient staff maybe one of the things in a contract is that as we get new staff the vendor is is making sure that they're they're going to do monthly workshops for us
156to make sure that people know how to use that tool for the purpose that we decided you know so we build that kind of stuff in. So, it's not always just the student outcome, but to get to that student outcome, you may need the adult actions act that way. We may we we will be held accountable to though because there's some things that we're going to say we are going to do and if we don't do that, then do we really need the tool or should we have been doing it a different way, >> you know? So, those are all the questions that'll come up, but it'll bring the conversations up. And I think this is something that has been lacking and why you don't see the data that of the comment that was made
157earlier tonight about really the the use and how it's actually affecting our our students. So, um you know, it's it's going to be a learning process for all of us, but it's but it is really exciting. >> Rob, could I uh just press on that a little bit more? um understanding and what student outcomes you're looking for. There are multiple reasons that student outcome might occur. And so how would you know that it is the fact of using you know how how would could you name an outcome and a method that you could just tie it directly to the um >> so so you I mean in some cases it's it's easy in some areas like so one example would be a contract that you'd set up around what we call high dosage tutoring for
158students. So the amount of time that they're actually spending with an online tutor to be able to kind of help that not not a not an AI tutor, an online tutor, you know. So um but that may be one way that there's an easy way to measure a one-toone relationship of an outcome whereas some of these other ones are not. And >> I one of the things that um I think has grown in this last year is the work between the digital learning department and the curriculum department and you know like I said once again with with with the help of Mr. Pennington um of making sure that we're really kind of like cohesively working together um making sure that those outcomes are decided by the curriculum department and we need to be able to
159find out from the digital learning department how we help to make meet those needs and translate that into these areas. So, I don't have the exact answers for you yet, but if you ask me in about 6 months, I will be uh we'll have more clarity around how do we kind of get to that point. But if we once again, if we don't start trying to create contracts this way, we'll never get there. I think uh to to add to what Ralph was saying, the most important thing is knowing where we want to get to and then backwards planning in terms of what resources we need and not getting the tool and then figuring out where we want to go with that tool. Right? >> And I don't think it only applies to um software.
160I think it all it's it's a methodology of thinking that needs to apply to all types of contracting even curricular resources and materials. So one of the conversations we were having is that this methodology needs to be considered and and that's why we were talking about in our cabinet discussion where the finance um department, the curricular department and all departments need to be part of because we want to make sure that when we're making um decisions around bringing in resources to the organization because we have intended outcome X that all of the resource we back plan to align to that goal. What should I know? >> Um, if I may, um, you know, I just really want to give the district, uh, great kudos. Thank you for looking at the use of the screens in
161in the younger grades. Um, and and I think as a district, we've we've always been ahead, right? We've always done a really good job of, you know, I think about, you know, when we came out of the pandemic particularly, what a great job we did as a district, you know, in terms of getting our kids on screen and getting them learning digitally and and and and now the tide has really turned and so here we are ahead um and being leaders again and looking at at the effects particularly on the younger grades. And you know, I hear my daughter is always struggling with screen time with her own kids. they are not allowed devices at home. They're eight and 11. And so, you know, to to know that they have had, you know, all the
162screen time at school, it's been really hard. And I think a lot of families are going through this and and the damage that can be done in those early grades particularly is really really concerning. So, um, so again, I think we're doing a really good job around digital learning. Um, and leading, um, leading because we've got to look at it, um, you know, what works for, um, high school students doesn't necessarily work for for those younger grades and we have to protect our kids, what they're exposed to. you know, I think, you know, there's I know there's a lot of uh safety um and and a lot of um filters, but they get to things, they find things. So, you know, even in school, and I can I can speak, you know, from my own
163experience as a teacher, they they just they find it. They find it. So, the more we can do to protect our kids, the better. >> Yeah. And I think the most important thing that we have to all realize is that, you know, we're trying to move towards the right direction. we're being as transparent as possible because it's not going to be perfect. This world is changing so quickly, but if we're not transparent about what's going on, >> [snorts] >> um we won't get there besides, you know, looking at like I mean we've we've actually cut off K5, we've cut off YouTube in schools completely. Um so that's not even there anymore. Some of the other things that we're also going to be doing besides software procurement and an AI advisory board is really just making
164sure that um really I think for the most part that people are aware what's going on. We have a we have a AI website that will actually by the end of the summer we we've got a lot of kudos around it because it actually shows what we do but it'll get a lot more granular to say these are things we do not do as a district. we will not use a chatbot for any social emotional work ever. That's just not going to happen. You know, what do we like kind of a yellow ground where it's like we can use it for this or what do we use these tools for so that then we can also have those conversations and a much better right now we have an approved software list but it's a it's
165a spreadsheet that's kind of confusing. So, we're going to add some more detail to that so parents know what the tools are that we're using. they can ask questions about it and understand where it's being used. >> And our biggest goal is intentional implementation. Making sure that not only is research aligned, but that is intentional as we're thinking through in preparing our scholars effectively in utilizing these tools. That's why even with goal one for next year, you saw the infusion of AI and just being intentional how the tools are being incorporated into the work we're doing so that it's not this other thing but actually intentionally integrated into the work we're doing but doing it purposely and thinking about what is neurologically appropriate and and when do we introduce this work. >> Go ahead. Uh
166so I know that there have been uh both there's one uh specifically a paper and a study uh that have one was written way back when uh Google was first trying to uh create or look into ethical AI um it's called stoastic uh parrots um which actually ended up getting the woman who wrote it fired uh because she pointed out all the issues that around how AI I the issues AI has with ethics. Um and um and then of course there's another uh study that came out recently. I I'm I I actually uh breathed a sigh of relief when you commented about not using uh ChachiPT and those for for mental health because um I'm I'm not sure if you're familiar um but the study essentially showed how detrimental uh the use of um certain
167uh AI uh inputs can be to uh both a person's mental health and also their uh uh just their general cognitive uh functions. And I I'm really glad that you are like I'm I'm not trying to say all you know all technology is evil or anything but I'm glad that there that you're making sure that there are >> guard rails because we we very much like I know we're trying to be on the forefront but a lot of times it's like oh that >> you know there's this great new technology and then you know 10 years later it's like here's all the issues here's all of the uh dangers that we uh didn't know about and are now causing problems and I'm glad that we're making sure that we are >> keeping on top of
168that >> and being transparent those guard rails now were you know 10 years ago things wouldn't change as quickly I mean things change day by day literally in in this world and so we need to be trying to keep on top of it and know that we may have to pivot like we may say something is okay right now and we realize oh wait no this is not okay and we need to start adjusting it. So, but by being transparent, we can actually be able to adjust that and, you know, work work together as a community towards that. So, like I said, from a from a whole variety of standpoints, it's like this is really exciting work. I think we're going to, you know, um we're going to get to a point now where we
169really can actually effectively use educational technology for the future of our kids and and where they're going, not just from, you know, what we've been doing in the past. So Ralph, real quick, I I I know that um leveraging technology something we want to be able to do the right way and I know that contracts and how they are structured for us is very important. Um so for lack of a better term, are you looking at California, Washington, and um backwards engineering how they're doing their contracts to make it work for us? >> Yes. As much as we can get a hold of those things. So that part of the part of this process too is like join if we can um I've actually applied for a grant if we get it um to be
170able to be part of a a um a cohort to start going through formal training with the office for uh for outcomes based contracting to be able to help us in that process as well too. But yes, we are looking at those. We're using our resources from MedSafe and from ILO to help build you know what are good examples around that. I mean um and other districts are like I said other places are still on the initial stages of this too. So it's it's really it's new in education. I mean you probably you we've seen contracts like this in other areas in corporate but not not necessarily specifically in edtech. So um but it's a starting point and it's like if we start the conversation always this way with students and at first we'll be
171able to get to the point where we're now making sure that the tools are actually being used for the right purpose. Thank you. >> And that concludes my last superintendent report. >> Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate that. Before we move to action consent, I will be remiss to go back and I just want to acknowledge once again in reference to the budget part of it, the finance committee and my colleagues as well. I did not acknowledge them earlier. So I need to truly acknowledge them as well as far as that's concerned as well not to um take away from the committee itself because they work very closely with Lunda as well. So I just wanted to bring that to the table as well. So as we go into the consent the action consent this is
172approval of four items. It's the approval of personnel, the approval of trips, the approval of minutes, and the approval of the um consent of the calendar as well. Before we move forward to a motion, do we have any issues or any questions of reference to the personnel? >> Did you say consent vote for what? >> It'll be consent vote for the personnel trips and minutes. >> Okay. Sorry. Last one. >> Any question? Anything in reference to TRIS? >> The approval of minutes. >> I don't know something um in the first two. So, the business meeting on um 4:23 and then our special meeting on 514. I was present for both of those but absent in the minutes. Okay. Anything else? Can I have a motion for the approval of the personnel, the approval of the
173trips, approval of the minutes, and the um approval of the consent of the calendar? >> Motion. >> Second. All in favor? >> Okay. Let's go to uh number five. The action is the approval of the edit of the policy 1005 which is community relation. Now I'm just going to join. Do we have any questions or any comments in reference to that? May I have a motion? >> Motion >> here. Actually second. All in favor? >> Thank you. the approval of edits for policy 40 uh 14 personnel. Are there any questions in reference to that as well? May I have a motion? >> Jasmine Marielle and second. All in favor? I [clears throat] >> the approval of policy 1515 for students non-discriminatory policy. Can I have a motion? >> And Jasmine. All in favor? >> Now
174this is the approval for proposal naming the Andrew Phil Storage building. Are there any questions in reference to this motion? >> What is it? Are we naming it the Andrewsfield Storage Building? >> No. Okay. What is it being name? >> The name's going to be um for Douglas Orves. Um he has been teaching North High School band since 1988. Been here for 37 years. And he was chosen by the school community band. And the community was Yeah. everyone is uh behind it and um it's it's essentially what's been known as unofficially as the greenhouse because it's a literally a greenhouse. Um um but I every everyone from the >> Yeah, I I just wasn't sure because I know this probably went through the facilities committee so some of us hadn't heard what the new name
175was going to be >> and I can just uh add that he's retiring this year. This is his last year. That's great. Yeah. For all those years. So um one question I have though is would you know as is the process and we went through this last year is it going to the Yeah. Okay. Land use and building management committee. I knew you'd done that. >> This is the first step in Okay, great. Yeah, I'm I'm in full support. It's it's he he sure deserves it. >> I have a motion. >> Motion second. >> All in favor? And the last item on action is approval of superintendent draft goal for year 2627. Are there any questions or any comments? I have a motion. Jasmine second. >> Seconded. >> Second by Ashley. All in favor? >>
176Thank you. Moving to the information and report. Is there any committee representative reports to report to the board today? >> Um, I will give a a quick report. We had our final specialized learning subcommittee meeting um for the school year on May 5th and we heard all about the extended school year services that will be offered. >> Um, extended school year services are services for students with IEPs to help present prevent loss of skills. They're not required for every student with IEPs, but they're wonderful um resource and we got all the details, but I'll leave it just at the services will run from July 6th to July 31st. Um and a lot of planning goes into them and so Rob and your team, thank you. Um and that [clears throat] was a great meeting. Um
177and then just a couple things uh as the library liaison. Um Vicky Otis shares that the um library will begin the summer reading program for the kids on June 28th. Um kids can pick up their log sheets beginning on June 21st. They'll be able to earn a prize at either library when they read at least four days each week. And then there's some extra challenges to learn earn badges. There will also be two scavenger hunts in honor of America 250 um celebrating people who made a difference in this country without necessarily getting recognition. So they chose different change makers. So people will be able to find and learn about them in order to complete the scavenger hunt which will run from I guess the first one will run from July 1st to 31st and then
178another from August 1st to the 30th and that program will be at the main library. And then um Charerelle Harris shared that the main library will have a Ben Franklin bust exhibit through July, a Ben Franklin impersonator on July 25th at 3 PM. Um, a professor from Central Connecticut State University will be visiting on July 15th at 6 PM. Colonial Candlem July 11th at 11:00 a.m. And then, um, the Sono Sono Library adult and family programs will have the America 250 birthday tea party on July 11th at 12 p.m. So, lots lots going on at the libraries this summer for kids and adults. >> Are there any other boards? Representative. >> Thank you. >> Any board new board member announcements? >> I I just have something to share. Um this is related to the uh
179National AsianAmerican um that that celebration that we have this month. um just share something about my family. I am uh have two brothers and two sisters and they've had children. I have seven nephews. I have of the seven nephews, three have married Asian women, one from North uh Vietnam, one from China, one from South Korea. and they have had many children. Those children are now in college. Um, I just want to kind of say a a a thankful note of these wonderful women that I've gotten to know because they're part of my family now and how they have added to our family life immeasurably. Um, and that I'm grateful for that. >> Thank you. At this point, we're going to go um can I have a motion to go into executive session for the attorney
180client communication regarding the board and the superintendent contract with the superintendent being invited as well? >> Jasmine second. >> Second. >> All in favor? I have an early morning. interpreters. Feel free to sign off. All right. Oh, sorry. >> Yes. Now we're going into uh back into our session. Can I have a motion to close out our executive session? Jasmine. >> Second it. >> Can I have a motion to adjourn? Everybody