001I'd like to call the meeting to order. If you could please >> Hey guys, we're going to get started. If you could please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you all for joining us. All right, we're going to move to the call to the public um portion of our agenda. We do have two public comment cards tonight. So, I'm going to um read quickly here. Um pursuant to Arizona Revised Statute 38-431.01H, this agenda item provides an open call to the public, allowing individuals an opportunity to address the governing board on any issue within the jurisdiction of the governing board. Members of the public
002wishing to address the governing board are required to complet ipation form and submit the completed form to the superintendent prior to the meeting. Individuals recognized by the board president must state his or her name. Speakers may comment on any item on the agenda or topics not listed on the agenda. No personal attacks on the governing board. Staff or other community members will be tolerated. Individual comments will be limited to no more than three minutes each and no more than 30 minutes will be devoted to the public comment portion of the agenda. Governing board members are not permitted to take action on any matter that is not on the agenda. So at this time I will call up Ashley Park and Tyler Midk. >> Hello. Hello. >> Um we are representing robotics team at Millennium High
003School. My name is Ashley Park and I'm the president. I'm Tyler and I'm just a member. >> So, first is the world's leading youth robotics community developing youth robotics competitions that inspire innovation, build confidence, and prepare young people for life. They have three programs: First Lego League, First Tech Challenge, and First Robotics Competition. We participate in the First Tech Challenge. The First Tech Challenge participants design and build the classroom scale robot and compete in a yearly challenge. This year, the challenge is similar to a The challenge is to launch artifacts into a goal. Artifacts are similar to a whipple ball or pickle ball, only slightly. The order we have to launch the artifacts in changes every match. So, our robot needs to know what artifacts are in what position in our robot. >> Our robot
004has three main components. An intake for artifacts, a carousel to sort up to three artifacts we can hold in our robot, and a launcher to launch the artifacts into the Our club sponsor is Mr. Nettles and our team is divided into sub teams where we focus on mechanical, electrical, and programming and computer design. We have attended three regional competitions so far this season where we have scored in the top four teams at each and received inspire, think, and sustain award for our team's work. Additionally, we ranked seventh in state out of 97 teams. We are currently working with our school administration on our key requests which include a bigger classroom so we have room for a robotics field approval for our newly formed booster club and access to larger spaces so that we can have
005more room for setting up our full robotics field. We are competing at the state championship on February 21st at NA in Flagstaff and we'd love to invite you to see what we do. In summary, while I don't have any specific requests for the board, I wanted to make you of what our club is doing, the requests we are making to our school, and invite you to our state championship because it's a great opportunity to see what we do and how we represent our school in the district. Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Brian Murphy. >> Good evening, Board and Superintendent East. My name is Brian Murphy. I have two students enrolled at Millennium High School. I'm here this evening as an advocate for them and their dedicated teaching staff. I want to begin by saying
006I'm a happy parent and my students are succeeding at Millennium in a state that it's closing schools and having trouble passing overrides. Augree is unique and I appreciate your hard work. I believe there is always room for improvement, however, which is why I'm here. My first discussion point is the Millennium March and Tiger Band. Both my students are in band and I'm a dedicated volunteer. Over the last three years, I've noticed the band does not seem to get the same recognition as other sports within the school. The Marching Tigers are the only division one band in the district and I believe in the West Valley. Despite consistently being nearly 50 students smaller than many bands they compete against, they have qualified for the state championships every year since 2018. The band is supported by an
007habit booster group that raises tens of thousands of dollars annually via volunteerism and fundraising with the biggest being the championships that will be hosted at Millennium High School at the end of March and April at the same time as the plan construction. The booster club provides over 50,000 additional funding for clinicians and equipment to facilitate a successful program. This in is in addition to having staff on stipen that work many hours, many more hours than they are compensated for. Many of the instruments are used year round, not just for marching. They're used beginning in June when marching scene practice begins and until the end of the school year. Currently, they are provided just $3,000 for instrument repairs and minimal funds for the purchase of new instruments. I'd like this to become an agenda item on
008how the bands from all schools are funded. This program accepts all students regardless of experience. Oftent times they have never picked up or played the instrument they choose to play. By the time they graduate, some are so proficient they become recognized statewide by the Arizona All State Band, one recently marched in the first ever Fiesta Bowl Honor Band, and my son who also marched in the Rose Bowl parade. These are just the Millennium students that I'm aware of. My second discussion point is the Millennium Tigers Robotics Club known as the Cyber Tigers. Two of the students were just here. This is another entirely self-funded club of dedicated students, volunteers, and staff on minimal stipens. Cyber Tigers are competing in a worldwide recognized competition called the First Challenge, which they reviewed. During their first competition of
009the year, the students qualified for the Arizona State Championship. They did the same at their second competition, winning overall while assisting another team to reach the state competition with them. FTC, which challenge requires teams to work together and assist other teams in an alliance. This is something FTC calls gracious professionalism. As they stated, they're presently seventh in the state and heading to qualify for the world state qualifiers on February 21st in Flagstaff. The students have begun working on a booster club to ensure this club continues for years to come. Remember, returning in a few weeks to ask for your help getting to Houston if they go to worlds. However, I'm not here asking for money. I'm asking for recognition and support of a growing program. There's an obvious that is missing from Millennium. Over half
010the club consists of freshman students. I spoke on the phone with Mr. Shman for nearly an hour regarding the pathway program several months ago in the lack of this path. I hope the board can find a way to create a robotics pathway at Millennium and support these students as they be worked to become successful engineers and demonstrate public schools can and should be a part of the West Valley. That's all I have to say. >> Thank you board. >> Thank you. Moving on to our recognitions. Um we will start with 4.1 student recognition for graduate. Good evening, President Actton, governing board members, superintendent, and our amazing district community tonight. Thank you for showing up. We are excited tonight to bring to you another update and recognition as it pertains to our academic superstars. As we've
011committed, we're going to highlight throughout this year our high achieving academic superstars. The very first update I would like to bring your attention to is we have a live billboard uh that is live now and you can see it driving down the freeway. So if you uh draw yourself attention on I 10 um in between uh Bullard and Estraa on the side um as you're driving from Phoenix to Goodyear, you're going to see that um bill billboard. So, we're very excited. These particular students were highlighted in our community connect fall edition um as well as on our billboard. So, we're very excited about that. So, tonight we're recognizing our academic superstars as it pertains to our portrait of a graduate. And as you can see, we have our slide here up for our portrait of
012a graduate just as a reminder of what those characteristics are about. But we're excited tonight to move into this rec recognition um because these students stand out not only I mean not only at high high academic achievements but they also represent our portrait of a graduate in all of these areas. Communication, collaboration, integrity, responsibility and critical thinking. Um and so each student tonight is represented. They are the very top elite students at their school sites and across our district. And so we're excited to highlight them this evening. So, we're gonna start off by our superstar from Aguria High School. I'm gonna ask Principal um Autumn Daniels to come on up and showcase our students. >> Good evening. I am so delighted to celebrate Jacob Hodgeges for his academic excellence as well as his great service
013leadership. Jacob truly embodies what it means to be an owl leading the owl way at our Fria and is our portrait of a graduate because he embodies the five tenants on a daily basis. Jacob is the president of Key Club and he regularly communicates and collaborates with his key club and community through service leadership. He's always looking for ways to elevate his Key Club, getting them involved in school and community events. He's a partner with one of our feeder schools, Elicio C. and has built a genuine partnership between our two schools with his club's volunteerism. I got to see Jacob firsthand when we started a mentorship there and we compared a picture of when he was an elementary kid to now high school and it was just awesome um to see the transformation. Jake's also
014leading with his demonstration of integrity with further service through his uh dedication to our owl closet. Jacob helps coordinate the and clothing donations for our campus so our students that have a great need have access to uh basic necessities. He's the type of kid who does the right thing when no one is watching. His involvement with our service clubs including treasurer of earth club community relations for national honor society link crew member as well as senior to senior. These are all evidence of his commitment to his community. Jacob demonstrates responsibility and critical thinking skills in his partner participation in the classroom as well and he is truly an academic all-star. Uh he has a weighted GPA of 5.2 which is outstanding uh and shows his academic excellence. He is top in his class and a
015prestigious AP scholar with distinction which is the highest accolade with AP uh testing. So congratulations Jacob and being an academic allar. >> All right, we'll now invite up Canyon View Principal Reed. Good evening, governing board, members, superintendent eastless, cabinet and community. It is my pleasure and honor to introduce Bernardet B. Kuransza as can view portrait of a grad honore. Bernardet or Bet as we like to call her first and foremost is the kindest, sweetest, quietest leader on campus. She leads by example and others around her change and and for the better as a result. You can see it in the learning lab and on the court. The way in which everybody responds to her amazing portrait of a girl. She challenges herself in the learning lab and on the court um and carries the unique
016spotlight and expectations of being a staff kid with incredible grace. Her accomplishments don't end there. She is also number one in our senior senior class with a weighted 5.21 GPA, 13 AP classes, all straight A's. She takes on every component of an AP challenge from English to physics to AP Cal. Incredibly well-rounded, the very definition. Um, but I'm also proud of the work that she does as a leader in the team, um, two state championships, a member of our senior to senior, and again, like I like it's I like to like like we would all like to share, um, we are incredibly honored to have been a part of her journey. So, Miss Hudson and I would always say that we watch our students grow. We watch our students succeed and feel almost as much
017pride as their parents. And I can't say enough what an honor it has been watching you grow as a jaguar. We can't wait to see where you go. Thank you for everything you've done to our for our community and congratulations. [applause] All right, we will now have Desert Edge principal hand. >> Good evening, governing board president Actton, members of the board, Superintendent East. Um, I'm excited to be here tonight alongside Abigail White. Um, Abigail is an outstanding example of our portrait of a graduate. She approaches learning with curiosity, asking thoughtful questions um whenever she needs clarity and consistently completing her work with responsibility, care, and integrity. In a group setting, she is a true collaborator who listens closely, supports her peers, and often steps into a leadership role um excuse me, in a leadership role
018that helps move the team forward. Abigail balances her rigorous academics uh schedule with AP classes and leadership roles. while also remaining deeply involved as the secretary of NHS and the vice president of her CTSO FFA where academics and collaboration are central to her success. She is deeply engaged in her academic coursework, taking ownership of her learning, maintaining her 4.8 GPA and in is in the top I'm pretty sure 5% but top 10% of her graduating class. She brings a strong work ethic to everything she does. Abigail embodies the portrait of a graduate and what it means to be a Desert Edge scorpion. >> All right, our newest high school, Goodyear High School, Principal Lynn. Good evening, President Actton, superintendent is members of the board and Alfria community. It is uh a great honor to be
019here tonight as the proud principal of the Goodyear High School in the Albuquera High School district. Um we have here tonight the very first uh Goodyear Maverick to to bring to you guys. So this is a great moment for us and we're very proud. Uh this is Ava Arnold. Ava is an outstanding student at Goodyear High School whose academic success is driven by her strong character, responsibility, and advanced critical thinking skills. She is currently a straight A student enrolled in honors English, honors algebra, where she consistently demonstrates thoughtful analysis, precise communication, and strong problem solving abilities. In science, her work reflects significant growth and a deep understanding of complex concepts. While her classroom presentations highlight both content mastery and academic confidence, Ava is highly responsible, consistently submitting assignments on time and collaborating effectively with peers.
020I have no doubts that her integrity, diligence, and commitment to excellence will position her for continued academic success, including strong performances on the ACT and future advanced academic pursuits. We're very proud of you. CONGRATULATIONS. OKAY. Principal Bundy from Millennium High School. >> Good evening, President Actton, members of the board, Superintendent East, and our amazing Alfria community. I am super proud to be up here standing next to our academic superstar from Millennium. Um, Miss McKenzie Rubble. McKenzie embodies the characteristics of a portrait of a graduate. Quite honestly, she could be nominated for all of the pillars: collaboration, communication, critical thinking, integrity, and responsibility. She is a leader inside and outside of the classroom. Her teachers describe her as being an ideal student who is who a dedicated scholar while also participating in numerous volunteer activities in
021the community. McKenzie works well with other students and does a great job including and inspiring those around her to be better students and better people. Another teacher describes her as a student who sets the standard for what every graduate of MHS should strive to achieve. McKenzie is ranked number one in her graduating class of nearly 550 students and has a 5.47 GPA. McKenzie is a president of Millennium High School's National Honors Society. She plans on attending the Air Force Academy where she plans on ma to major in aerospace engineering. Her favorite class is AP Calculus. >> And finally, fun fact, she is the proud owner of four dogs and one hat. >> Congratulations, Mackenzie. We are proud of your All right. Verado High School. Mr. Lee. So excited. >> Good evening, President Actton, members of
022the board, Superintendent East. Thank you for letting me brag on one of our students, Jason Xiao. Tonight, I'm proud to recognize Jason as an outstanding student whose achievements reflect both academic excellence and strong character. Jason was recognized as our portrait of a graduate earlier this year for his critical thinking. He has demonstrated this by earning first place in the cury division at STEMcon in 2024 where he designed and successfully demonstrated a momentum stopper for cars, proving his work in front of judges using lab cards, motion sensors, and scaled. He's also been named a national rural and small town recognition award recipient for his high academic achievement and is an AP scholar with distinction. He's excelled in 10 advanced placement exams and Jason currently holds an impressive 5.02 02 weighted GPA and ranks number six in
023our senior class. In addition, he's received multiple congressional nominations for the Air Force Academy, the United States Naval Academy, and the United States MilitaryMies as well. Beyond these accomplishments, Jason is known as a highly ethical, hardworking student who genuinely wants to learn and always does the right thing. We're incredibly proud of him and he takes no shortcuts. All right. Well, that's this month's academic superstars um based on portrait of a graduate. We're very excited. We let I would like to ask all the students to come back up one more time to take a picture with our governing board. And then as they do that, let's give them one more round of applause. [applause] tip >> toes. >> I'm on my tip >> toes. Thank you. Congratulations. [applause] >> Great work. So impressive. >> Go for
024it. >> All right, President Actton, members of the board, Superintendent Isa, and the Korea community. Um, it is um first of all, it's amazing to have these opportunities for these student recognitions. This is why we do the work that we do. And those amazing six students right there and the more that will come after them is just a testament to the work that our teachers are doing on a daily basis. Our counselors, our parapros, our certified non-eing staff, our administrators, um, and it's a testament to the parents in the room who are here to celebrate their students, but also doing the heavy lifting to help their students get to where they're at. So, I really appreciate that. Uh the second piece of tonight as far as recognition is um we have started the trend of
025uh really really honoring um academic excellence but also the excellence that our students do in their co-curricular activities. And so we have two programs that we want to honor tonight. And so, first I'm going to uh invite principal Reed and uh assistant I mean uh assistant principal and athletic director Andrea Hudson to come up and talk about uh their program, the Cany View uh high school football uh 5A runnerup uh champion program. So, they're going to come up and introduce their team and we're going to honor them and then we're going to come up with another. [applause] >> Thank you and good evening. Um, I just want to start off by saying that at Canyon View, we have very strong academics as well as athletics. And the one sport that was struggling just a little
026bit was football. And sometimes you know that you have the right kids in the room and the right But maybe we need to bring in the right leader. And over the last year, we went from three and seven last year to seven and two to postseason to the state championship. And although we did not win the state championship, we did come up as state runner up. And I'm extremely proud of not only our athletes, our parents, and our coach, Coach Alcantar. Come on up, GUYS. BEFORE [applause] I hand it over to these guys, um I will say they they are probably uh some of my favorite group of kids that I've gotten to work with. Um it is a mix of of kids that started at Canyon View and kids that transferred to Canyon View.
027And um they stepped up and they led and they didn't give up and they didn't And they fought hard until the very end. And I think who's speaking? Oh, Brady Griselle. Brady Griselle, come on up. Brady Brady signed today to play at the Colorado >> School of Minds. >> You're smart, too. >> Very smart. >> I just wanted to say thank you just to first of all the board just for all the support you've had for our school with football and all the other sports and just all the clubs and everything like that. That's really cool that you're doing. And also and also just like the admin at Can you View, they've been so supportive with the change with the coaches and everything like that. And then especially Alar, he's just done so much for
028this school. And I think that schools grow off of their football team. And then now that we have that piece and then obviously our basketball team is really good, we have a lot of smart people there. It's just I'm really happy with the way that K is going even though I'll be gone. I just want to say thank you guys for that. Um, good evening guys. Thank you guys for this recognition. Um, thank you Mama Landis too for having one of the best players on the state play for us. Um, you guys, it's been a blessing. We're we're so lucky to be grateful to have the kids we have and do the things we get to do through you guys, through our principles, our athletic director, everybody. And it's a blessing to be here. And
029not many people know how free is the best district it is. So, thank you for everything you guys do. Thank you for putting up with us and helping us out when we need it. And Um, I'm blessed to have these boys around us. Blessed to have the other boys come back, but it's tradition that we're going to build. It's a legacy they're living and thankful for them. Thank for you guys. So, thank you guys. >> Create some space for Mrs. Silk on the left here. as big as my >> [laughter] >> That's perfect. There you go. Awesome. Great job. >> Great job. [applause and cheering] All right. Our second program that we're going to honor tonight is Millennium High School. They're hiphop state champion group. So, we're going to invite Rigio Gordio, athletic director, and
030Mrs. Bundy, principal. We're going to invite them to come up and introduce their excellent program. >> Good evening, members of the board. Thanks for having us here today. Um, we're honored to be able to recognize our Palm team. We've been blessed to have many of our athletic programs achieve um high success state championships. Before I talk about their state championship, uh I want to talk about an example that they set um in the prelims. So you have to qualify for finals. The first day everybody gets to compete in their categories and then only a certain number advance to the finals. Uh so they competed in two categories and I want to talk about the jazz one. So in our district we talk about uh crafting character. Character reveals itself when you face adversity. And our
031palm team was this particular group was competing in jazz for the first time. Um, seconds into their performance in the stadium full of people where judges are looking, stakes are high, and you want to make it to the finals to show everybody what you have, their music completely cut out. And in Palm, there's no stop, start over, there's no redo. It is what it is. You can either quit or you can keep going. And these girls roared on. They did not stop. They did not look at each other. They did not flinch. They continued their routine. Were in sync the whole way. The crowd was so inspired that they started, you know, clapping, making the beat. Coaches were trying to sing the words in hopes that they would hear them. And if you watch the
032video on Mew, um you you'll think that the music's playing. It gave me chills when I saw it. U it it was absolutely inspiring, amazing. other coaches on our campus sent that video to their teams and their players as an example of how to overcome adversity and they did advance to the finals um ultimately finishing in seventh in in jazz. Uh but they were the talk of uh [clears throat] of the championships as a result of what they did. I would encourage you to go to their Instagram page which I'll let coach shout out when she comes up here. That video is on there. It it's it's it's amazing to watch. Um having said that we're here tonight to on that's that adversity that they overcame. They take that same spirit into hiphop. And last
033year we recognized them as national runners up in hiphop. And today we get to recognize our Palm team for being the first AIA state championship team in school history for Palm. Um they blew it out of the water. Most entertaining. Every accolade that you could get, they got. Um so I'll turn it over to coach and the the team to let them talk more about it. But come on up, Millennium Pal. >> [applause] >> HELLO, MY name is Alyssa. I am one of the captains on the team. And I just want to start off by saying how truly honored I am to be here with my recognized today is such an amazing feeling especially for it being my senior year and last year we did win our TSC and we were state runnerups I think.
034Yeah, state and national runnerups. So this year to be state champions and then win TSC again it has been on the same honor and I am so happy I was able to do this group of people because I have gone through a lot in my life and I don't think I would have been here if it wasn't for my team. So Yes, I'm just so happy and proud of them this year. We really pulled out through from all that we've gone through. So, I'm just hi, I'm Ari Tanner. I'm also a senior captain. And for us, uh, POM is not just about the achievements, but also about like how we uphold ourselves and our responsibility. So, some things we like to do is junior Tigers. So, we have um K through 8 K through 8th
035come. We do a couple clinics with them and then we perform at one of the football games. It's really fun. It's not only like like to show us how to grow up as people, but it's also to see like just enjoy the little kids and enjoy their moments. And there's another thing that's really special to this team is our team prayers. Uh before every performance, we do a team prayer with our coaches and then one as a team just thanking God. for everything that he's done for us and everything that he's allowed us to do with this journey. >> Um, hi, I'm Coach Matthews and uh this is Coach Mitchell. Um, we are very blessed to be here. Thank you for so much for all your support that you have given our team. Um, we
036took over this program five seasons ago and to be uh actually standing here and is just amazing. Um I think all the planets actually have to align. Um the right coaches um the right admin, the right district, uh Mr. G, the principal, everybody, everybody has to be in line. Parents being supportive in order to accomplish this. These young ladies are amazing. Um our job is actually to push them, but I think it's reversed. They push us. Um they inspire us because they've worked so hard and they are such good girls. Um I know. I can't wait. [laughter] >> They are such good girls though. Um and they never stop pushing and never stop being giving. Whether it's to their community, whether it's to uphold each other, other students, coaches, uh family members. So, as great
037as this achievement might be, um I think the achievement in itself is just being able to be here and coach these young ladies because they are absolutely amazing. We are truly blessed. >> Hi, I'm Coach Mitchell and uh this is my mommy. I don't think she mentioned that, but um this is my mother and um I think it's just a chain honestly to be able to follow her and honestly just to be able to get to see what's happening and coach these girls because my mother was my coach growing up. So now it's fun to see what she was doing and coach me as I coach them onto their journey. Um as they know, I'm very very very emotal. So, I'm really gonna try not to cry, but um I love every single one of
038them. I go through things in my life as well. And honestly, they are literally my life. Like, if it's not my daughter, it's literally them. And I tell people, I have one daughter, but not really. I have a lot of children, okay? These are my kids. They're my love. They're my life. And I couldn't be any prouder of them. And congratulations. And I love you guys so much. >> And follow our Instagram, Millennium Tigers. WE'RE ON Tik Tok as well. [cheering] >> Congratulations. All right, here we go. Congratulations. [applause] >> Yeah. Um, we're gonna Are you describing your papers? Okay. We're gonna take a short break because I know a lot of you are here for those recognition. So, we want to give have you the opportunity to take any more pictures and you can
039leave and don't have to stay through the rest of our meeting. However, thank you all so much for being here. Um, we all just serve and volunteer here. Um, and what we do is for things like this. Um, you keep saying [clears throat] thank you to us, but in return, thank you. Um, we try to do everything we can and we are a yes district and whatever we can do to say yes to students to provide every opportunity for them so that you guys can do the things that you're doing, that's why we do it. So, thank you so much. But you can go home now. Is it a safety? Okay, we're gonna get started back to five information. We're actually going to at the request um switch and do 5.2 first. So, industry experience
040day You're doing that, too? Oh, okay. That you're coming up for the other one. >> I am the the next two next two presentations. >> Got it. Okay. >> All right. Good evening, President Actton, members of the board. Superintendent Eless, Ambassador Baitman, cabinet, and members, the remaining members of our [laughter] >> I'm excited to talk today about what happened in our third learning and collaboration day today. So, as you know, we have four LCD days throughout the year. And the third installment, we focused on some some academy uh PD for for our staff. >> All right. So, today we did something different. And so, we we typically go out when we're in the classroom. We send teachers out on field trips so that students can get an experience as to what's happening out in the
041real world. then they come back to class and they apply that learning. We flipped it today and with the help of 16 community partners, we were able to send almost 500 staff members from all six of our comprehensive high schools out into the community to see industry in action. This was a fantastic opportunity for our sites to connect with community partners and for our community partners to showcase here's what's happening in our in our industry. Every one of the partners had a tie-in with one of our career pathways or one of our creative pathways on our campuses. And so we were able to get three trips for every campus, four for Millennium, so that the academy team would get on the bus. They travel to the place of work. They were able to go through
042and engage in presentations from the employers in some cases do some hands-on activities and hear what is it like in in industry. And then in the afternoon, our teachers went back to the the campus. They did a debrief with their teams and then they started working on what are different activities that they could do through the lens of the industry that they saw. So as part of the academy transformation, we talk about projects and activities through the lens. This is our first attempt of going through and dipping our toes into what how do we prepare teachers to actually do this? And so by taking them on site into these places of work, engaging with professionals in these areas, we're hopefully able to provide some sparks that can lead to some really exciting classroom experiences for
043our our students. How we set it up is that every teacher, every counselor, every administrator, every library media specialist, career uh specialist, academy coach, instructional coach, our EL pairs, and our pair professionals and our school counselors were able to attend these trips. We did assign every to the trips and the reason for that was more logistic. Uh when we first came up with this idea, I was very nervous that no partner would want to take us on and and give up time out of their day because their time is money and their money is going to to profit for the company for for stakeholders, for all that. But we were fortunate to get 16 partners to team up with us and to provide some outstanding opportunities for for our teachers. And so these are our
044our 16 partners. A lot of them heavy influence here in the in the West Valley. We did have some trips out into into the East Valley to to accommodate some of the uh the center so that the teams could really engage in what's happening within the field. And then as I'm going to show here here are a couple just uh pictures that we we saw throughout the the day. Um we had everybody sending some pictures in at the end of the day. We had forms and some feedback coming in. So overall, the initial feedback has been positive. Um, and we're excited to see what happens for our students. My favorite picture is coming up at the very end. >> Oh, no. [laughter] >> My my favorite picture. I thought I made it on there, but
045I guess not. But it was of Principal Reed with a welding mask on and she's doing some welding. So, >> bring it back. >> So, Lynn, I apologize. with the last. But this this is our first attempt in a in an opportunity to connect with community, but also provide learning opportunities for for our staff so that one, they can talk about here's what's out there in the area, but also two, maybe we're able to pull that in and to provide some projects or activities or learn experiences for students. Any any questions on on the day? I would be interested to hear the feedback because I think it's really cool and I would love to hear what everybody thought of it. >> Initial feedback was out of four stars, it was a 3.55 rating. >> So
046>> five, >> so overall I I would say, you know, definitely thank you to our community partners. Um, but definitely thank you to our director ofmies, Latoya De Jesus, our workbased learning specialist, Marcy Baka. Um, but also to transportation, Peggy Overton and Christina Sills. They were outstanding in coordinating bus routes to all 16 locations to get almost 500 people out into the community and then back on campus. So, an exciting day and we'll only improve on the model as we move forward. >> Thank you. Thank you. All right. So, you are also going to do 5.1 Ford NGL assessment update. >> So, the final uh stop of the podium for me tonight is to go through and and talk about our most recent uh Ford next generation learning coaching visit. Um if you remember, our
047academy transformation started out of the strategic plan. So, for the last few years, we've been working towards developing an academy model on every one of our high school campuses, one grade level at a time. We're now in year two of implementation, which means that we have freshman and sophomores in the academy model, but in the Ford landscape, that means we're in in phase four. They have a five-step process that allows them to be sustainable in communities for many years. Once you hit phase four, this is when you're actually living it. You're breathing it. you're making it happen. You move to phase five once you go wallto-wall with all four of your academy levels um grade levels in the academy model. They our coaches come out twice a year and they provide uh campus visits. They
048host stakeholder uh focus groups. They provide PD workshops. They they did workshops for our academy coaches this year, our school counselors this year, and then also our academy leads this last Wednesday. And then they provide a debrief on here's what we saw, here's what we heard. And then we go through and brainstorm and figure out here's how we can go through and put it in action now and as we move forward. So as we look at some of the the global highlights, our our glows uh for the district, these were three areas that the Ford team really emphasized within our debrief. First and foremost, they were very impressed with the work of our academy teaming specifically at that freshman level and how they use data to to support students on both the academic side and
049on the the behavior side. If you remember, our our freshman academy now is in the second year of operation. So, this is a team that has really kind of had a chance to work out the the bugs in in year one and now they're rolling in year two. The rest of our uh grade levels are now in themies in year one, modeling the same our freshman. Then in the uh student focus groups, board highlighted, especially with the 10th graders, that students had a stronger feeling of belonging and a connection to their campus. And then also that these same students felt more prepared and organized now that they were in in 10th grade. So just a few highlights from the from the Ford group areas that they highlighted are are grows or and as we go
050through implementation and these are similar and uh to many different academy groups but the first that they highlighted was our sixth period schedule provides some challenges uh for students that want to do an academy pathway that want to do all the AP classes that want to do all the arts classes they want to be involved in in every single thing and we knew know that and we've been doing some work in in addressing and researching what are ways that we can provide more opportunities for students within this model. The second piece is the is to further and develop support mechanisms for our academy leaders specifically the the administrators, the academy coaches and those academy leads. This is another traditional thing that early academy adoption faces because you do have people taking on different roles and
051wearing different hats alongside of the current roles that they've done for for years. And so that's something that we'll continue to work with with our sites and also with our Ford coaches so that we continue to improve along the way. And then the final piece that they highlighted uh just in comments both with with teachers and with students is that consistent need to constantly go back and and look at and revise that freshman experience curriculum. And this is something that we do uh look at each year and and again we're in year two of this and this is a course that we created on on our own. It it highlights pathway exploration. It introduces the portion of graduate skills. We're introducing students to to AI in this class. And so we work with our curriculum
052specialists, we work with our uh freshman experience leads to go through and do we create content, do we revise content, and what do we need to do to continue moving forward so that it is a great experience for our students. But overall, those were the the highlights of the visit. Ford will return again in in June as as part of their their uh working relationship with us. And then we also have check-in meetings with them throughout the year. But I did want to make a a point just to say we're we're very lucky with our our coaches. They they've been in the trenches. They they've been implementers whether it's at the the teacher level, at the administrator level, at the district administrator level. So they provided some very timely and uh you know candid feedback
053and then they help us work through how do we go through and and make it happen. Any questions uh regarding the Ford NGL visit? >> How did they obtain the feedback of the 10th graders? What did they go in the classroom? We worked with our academy coaches to to pull a panel of students. And so we got about 10 students per campus. Um and and every one of our coaches went to a different campus. So we hit the the three early schools in in the morning on uh last Tuesday and we hit the three uh late start schools in the in the afternoon and the schedule was the same for each campus. uh campus tour uh meet with students, meet with the parent group, meet with a teacher group, meet with counselors, meet with the
054administrators, and they did 30 minute focus groups where they asked the same questions over and over, and then they they gathered the the feedback and sent it over to us. And so our academy, to go back to the question, our academy coaches identified uh the students, worked with their their campus leaders, and got the students to the to the panel. >> I'd like to add two pieces to that. that the administrators are not in the room. So those are purely the students and those coaches. So you want to put them in an environment where they feel safe to be truly honest and transparent about their experience without their teacher counselor or administrator in the room. So we do ensure that our focus groups have just those coaches in the room. Secondly is we ensure our
055academying just the same type of student. So it's not all of our you know students who have 4.5 GPA or it is a mix. students who are maybe having success, students that are in the middle, and students that may be challenged or struggling that they know of that they hear from teachers because we want to make sure that we have that wide ranging view of what that true experience is for all of our students, not just >> I don't have questions, but I do want to say I really appreciate you bringing the pros to the conversation because it's really easy just to paint the warm fluffy picture and rainbows and sunshine, but anything that's this big implementing is going to some challenges along the way and I just appreciate the authenticity of sharing that with
056us too. >> Thank you. >> Right. Moving on to 6.1 consideration approval of the minutes of the January 14th study session regular board meeting. >> Be resolved. The governing board approves the minutes of the January 14th study session and regular board meeting as presented. >> Second. >> Yes. >> Neither. Yes. Yes. >> Yes. [clears throat] Item number seven, the consent agenda. Is there anything like for discussion? >> Be it resolved. The governing board approve the items on the consent agenda as >> yes. 8.1 comments and or information from superintendentless. >> Thank you, President Actton, members of the board, our free community. Uh I'd like to say a couple of things. I do want to thank uh parent for uh coming forward about our approach to uh recognize all students um students academic um in the
057arts. Uh we know our students in in all of our band programs work very hard. Uh we're proud of our robotics team and I'll be up in Flagstaff checking that out. Um but um it it is something that the board has made uh um as one of my goals this year is to have uh more student recognition in a variety of ways. So thank you very much sir for doing that and I will be meeting with you. Um also want to say thank you to Melinda Maris our director of of communications and community initiatives. Um, as we had a really nice uh beam signing ceremony uh right before the board meeting today. Um, it's showing the progress that we're making um in our uh school for the arts. I know that Mr. Huffman is going
058to be giving you more um progress reports as we move along through that um um through that project. I also want to tell you that starring uh Tom Huffman and Mike Shepard, they will be starting the Tom and Mike's Transparency Tour. So that transparency tour may have already had one of their gigs, right, yesterday. Yes. And uh what it is is is our attempt for our school district to be transparent with um our budgets um how we spend our money and where it goes. So Tom and Mike um will be going on tour throughout the community um to just again be transparent about how everything we do from our M budget, how we spend bonds and overrides um what we do um for all of our budgetary lines and anything that the community would want
059to know. So that has started and I will provide you with a schedule of everywhere they they will be. Um and um we hope to have them out on the streets um with on this at least twice a week. So, um I think they're going to do a really good job. Tom, Mike, I appreciate you doing that. Um thank you to Deputy Superintendent uh Non and the Academy uh the Department of Academic Services um uh for this teacher professional development that we just had. And I think it was amazing to to get the teachers out in the community so they can have an idea of how they can um I don't know if it' be modify their curriculum or how they continue to work on some of the things that they're doing their curriculum um
060through um through our academyy's transformation but actually being out there. Isn't that amazing that our teachers are always are out there in business and industry and that we're doing that to support them? I know it's a um a priority of the governing board that as we move through the academy transformation that the teachers receive the time, the tools, and the training on everything that we're asking him to do. And I think that uh that was uh I very much appreciate all the work that everybody put into. And that's all I have. current events andor direction given to the superintendent. >> So I just really quick since we're right on that topic, I just want to piggy back that I am absolutely so impressed with this um industry experience professional development that you guys came I
061don't know who came up with it but are we the only ones that do that? I'd really like to win there in the state >> that's what I like to hear. Um, this is beyond the books training for our staff. This is opening to new perspectives, things that you hadn't seen in a while. Not that they don't know it, but maybe they hadn't seen it in a while and maybe there was something new that they could have learned out there. This is just absolutely incredible. So, thank you for doing stuff like that and giving them the staff the day to do stuff like that. Um, and thank you also for inviting your classified staff. I think that's that's pouring um our trust and our our uh our desire to to appreciate all the work that
062they do. Um this this January literally I blinked and it was gone. So >> um not not much that I did, but I did attend the safety summit. I'm gonna let Vicky talk a little bit about it, so I won't take everything, but really glad that we have a chance to. It was really neat to see all the parters in the southwest valley get together and just make sure we're all on the same page with the CPU response protocol. Um, in the event that there is any kind of emergency, it's nice that we're all working together to make sure that we keep our kids safe. So, thank you for making sure that we're part of that. >> Um, so today has been by far my favorite day I've ever been on the board. It's absolutely
063um between getting to go watch the the beam signing, but also the passion even that the builders were speaking about our you know our our collaboration with community was was kind of the the start off. Um mostly I'm really impressed with our kids. Um, from listening to Jacob and Abigail and Ava and all our academic superstars, um, listening to the Cyber Tigers advocate for themselves with their voices, >> um, listening to the football leaders talk about their program and their coaches and um, the obviously hiphop. I don't know if you guys know this, but I used to run a club at Western Sky for hiphop. So, I like to think I have a part in the foothold of the hip-hop community. [laughter] Um, and then even more than that, listening to you guys as the
064leaders on your campus and your your athletic directors and your teachers and just everyone talk about our kids in such a passionate way. Sorry. Um, that was inspiring. So, thank you very much. This is tonight is what it's all about. Um, we had the opportunity and Sarah was there a huge team for you to go to the safety summit again. appreciate the relationships from Buckeye, Aendale, Goodyear, Talison, Prize, just all of the region of the police officers, the SSOs, the SRO's. I get to be in a position where I work with SSOs and get to meet all kinds of police officers all over the valley and further and um to know and get to know them, make eye contact with them, know that they are working with our our city officials and our schools um
065is comforting in case something happens, but not just in case something happens. Small things like demonstrations, small things like interactions that kids have and they get a bad the city for it, right? We talk about teams, right? Um having just the support of that whole group and how much it's changed from the times when we just called 911 for help and how there are true community partners. And that day we all took we were all very busy. Um but everybody took time out of their day to come into that room, make contact and communicate with one another. So it was a really good experience and um thank you for I think all of started that and um I talked to Miss Bresa and um she shared you know how the group got started. So I
066think all started congratulations to all for bringing all these people together and really prioritizing safety. Uh that night I was able to go to STEM con which was at Desert Edge and I saw the Millennium Robotics team and heard about their schedule and they're going to state and the opportunities that they have to potentially go to world. So I did um talked to some kids and and the coach there that night. U can't say enough about the the beam um signing from uh the community of signing it and getting to watch it go up and um learn about the technique they were using. So much excitement. Thank you. And then I appreciated the celebrations tonight and um I really appreciated watching the principles get to do something that's enjoyable. sometimes uh we are doing things
067that are not as enjoyable but to see you your faces smile and you being to talk about your students and um students and families be here as well. So thank you thank you for mixing up the beginning of these meetings to have some celebrations so much fun. Thank you. >> I don't think I can say anything that they haven't said or an event that we didn't already all attend. So um again thank you for all you do. >> I can't say it any better. So um Future agenda item requests? No. All right. Be it resolved the governing board adjourns the regular board meeting of February 4th, 2026. Check it. >> Acting. Yes.