CMSD Board of Education Meeting - March 10, 2026

001This work session of the board of education of the Cleveland Municipal School District will come to order. Mr. Stockdale, will you please call the role? >> Miss Elicott >> here. >> Mr. Phillips >> here. >> Mr. Briggs >> here. >> Miss Jones >> here. >> Pastor Jones. >> Mrs. Lebron. >> Mrs. Peak >> here. >> Dr. Shrear. Mrs. Welchow >> here. There are six members present. >> Thank you. I ask everyone who wishes to rise and participate in the pledge of allegiance. >> I aliance 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. Thank you. As we get started, I'd like I'd like to ask everyone to join me in remembering one of our community's great

002leaders who passed away this past week, Reverend Hilton O. Smith. Reverend Smith was vice president of Turner Construction Company and associate pastor of Abbisoninian Baptist Church. His service to our community included serving as president of the Cleveland NAACP and service on numerous boards including Kyhoga Community College, the Cleveland Foundation, United Way, the Urban League of Greater Cleveland, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Most topically, Reverend Smith also served as chair of the CMSD Board of Education from 1998 to 2003. And under his leadership in the early days of what was then still an experiment in urban school district governance with the mayoralappointed board governance structure, he helped turn around a struggling school district and helped rebuild community support for our schools that resulted in both the passage of a 335 million bond issue that provided

003new funding for school buildings across the district and the passage of a referendum that continued mayoral appointed board governance in Cleveland. I ask everyone to join me in a brief moment of silent reflection in memory of Reverend Hilton Smith. Thank you. Now, this evening's consent agenda includes the minutes of the last board meeting and one legal resolution. The chair will now entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda consisting of agenda items 3.02 02 through 4.01 as set forth in the board meeting agenda. So move. >> Thank you. Mr. Stockdale, will you please call the role on this motion? >> Miss Elicott, >> yes. >> Mr. Phillips, >> yes. >> Mr. Briggs, >> yes. >> Miss Jones, >> yes. >> Mrs. Peak, >> yes. >> Mrs. Welch, >> yes. >> Motion passes with six votes.

004>> Thank you. The minutes are approved and the resolution is adopted. This evening, the board will also consider the adoption of 19 resolutions not a part of our consent agenda. Now, CMSD, like many school districts in Ohio, occasionally files complaints with the Kyhoga County Board of Revision, challenging the county's valuation of commercial property located in the school district. When the board of revision decides such a complaint in the district's favor and increases the valuation of such property, the result is increased property tax revenue for our district. Since 2023, SLA state law has required boards of education before filing a complaint with respect to the valuation of real property parcels in their school district to adopt a resolution authorizing the filing of such complaints at a public meeting of the board. This law also requires that

005the board provide written notice to the property owner of the board's intention to file a complaint at least seven calendar days before the adoption of the resolution. The law specifically requires boards of education to adopt a separate resolution for each real property parcel except that a single resolution may identify more than one real property parcel if each parcel has the same owner. Multiple resolutions may be adopted by a single vote of the board provided that such vote does not include any resolutions on any other subject. This evening, we have 19 such resolutions for the board's consideration and approval, and the required 7-day notice has already been provided to each property owner named in each of the resolutions. Each resolution includes the name of the property owner, the basis for the complaint, the parcel, the permanent

006parcel number or numbers of the property, the property address or addresses, and the tax year of the complaint. The deadline for filing the tax complaints authorized by these resolutions is March 31st. Since that is the day of our board business meeting this month, the board will need to vote on these resolutions at today's work session. The chair will now entertain a motion to approve resolution 5.01 through 5.19, the full titles of which are set forth in the board meeting agenda. >> So move. >> Second. >> Thank you. I don't see any lights on, so I will take that as no discussion from board members. Mr. Stockdale, will you please call the role? >> Miss Elicod, >> yes. >> Mr. Phillips, >> yes. >> Mr. Briggs, >> yes. >> Miss Jones, >> yes. >> Mrs. Peak,

007>> yes. >> Mrs. Welchow, >> yes. >> Motion passes with six votes. >> Thank you. These resolutions are adopted. This evening's board meeting agenda also includes an additional 11 resolutions in the areas of board of education, finance, academics, IT, legal, and excellence and culture, which the board will vote on as part of its consent agenda at our March 31st board business meeting. The board will now hold its monthly monitoring of goals and guardrails. Dr. Morgan, over to you. >> Thank you, Chair Elicott. Um well this uh month or for this meeting we're going to do our math update and our last meeting we did ELA. I see our our wonderful academics team coming up front um led by Dr. Florence and many of her other colleagues. Uh so we're going to share an update of

008where we are in math similar to what we shared with ELA. Uh it is refreshing to see some of the strategies that the team has been working on all year. I'm starting to see some of the progress of that data coming in. Um just a reminder of what this data spec or what this goal is specifically looking at. So uh goal number two for math proficiency is focused on algebra 1 um and uh the amount of students who will be proficient in algebra 1 um come 2030. Um so increasing that from 26% to 50% proficiency. Uh the CEO measure 2.1 specifically looks at current students who are taking algebra 1 and the increase of students um on the the benchmark measure uh the winter in uh NWA math assessment. Um CEO measure 2.2 focuses specifically

009on the cohort who will be taking algebra 1 uh for the first time in 2030. Um and there are two groups of students. Specifically, we're looking at the fifth grade students, current fifth grade students who'll be in nth grade. The majority of students will take uh algebra 1 and 9th grade in that school year. Um, but we know we've been pushing more of our eighth grade scholars to take algebra 1. And so, we're also looking at that fourth grade cohort as well. So, first looking at CEO measure uh 2.1, this is looking at the progress of our current nth grade scholars or all students who are taking algebra 1. um but specifically uh the majority of those being ninth grade students. So, algebra 1 predicted proficiency is up almost 5% so 4.5% um compared to

010LA uh compared to where where we were in the fall and up 5% compared to last year uh this time. Um so two different cohorts but also just looking at that growth. So not only growth uh from in year uh for these particular students who have taken the test but a lot of growth from um the year prior. we are on track to meet this goal. Um this is one I know that the team has been working hard on. Uh I know there were some celebrations for the high school uh networks uh specifically looking at this goal. Uh and so we know that OST testing will be taking place next month. So it's really important that we finish the year strong. Uh this is a good indicator of where the progress will be, but we

011won't um it won't be official until our students actually take the OST. um and is this is also aligning to our big emphasis on students taking the curriculum benchmark assessments just like we talked about for ELA. It's really important that we measure and monitor uh what is being taught in the curriculum and the curricul curriculum assessments are a good way of doing that. Um and this shows that 33% of our students are scoring 65% or higher. that 65% uh cut off mark on the benchmark assessments is our um indicator of students being uh proficient and so uh closely aligned. Um as always, as we've been sharing for a while, students who are taking algebra 1 and 8th grade are more likely to be proficient. This is even up uh when looking at the proficiency rates.

01287.7% of eighth graders taking algebra 1 right now are proficient. That's a 12% increase from the fall um which was at 75.7. So this big emphasis when we talk about getting students in algebra 1 not only puts them on a pathway to be prepared for college readiness and uh getting into calculus by their senior year uh but also uh students are more prepared and so uh there is an emphasis to get more students in taking algebra 1 even though that is a great proficiency rate of the amount of students who are taking algebra 1. we only have 73 um of our uh 2700 eighth graders taking algebra 1 right now. Um so these are some areas of struggles. Uh we really want to get to the standard level uh because it's not just about um

013you know teaching harder or you know just specifically doing different lessons in the curriculum. It's really specifically looking at what those standards are. Um and so uh for this time around you're going to be seeing the breakdown of areas for both uh 2.1 and 2.2 to where students are struggling and then also where we're seeing relative progress. Um and so uh one of the things you will see here for um and we we actually had this updated uh uh a little bit. So we'll get the we'll get the updated uh version uh for you here. Uh but these are the standards where students are struggling uh the most. And actually if you were looking at the far right column that shows the uh percentage of students that are actually proficient. So you see that there

014uh on these three standards which are the most heavily tested standards on algebra 1 um the a good majority of our students are not um hitting these and uh these are looking at um uh how students are creating equations um how they're solving those equations and explaining their reasoning. to a higher level uh um o order of thinking and so we really want to make sure that this is an area of emphasis that we are uh pushing and getting and knowing I know that we've had we've had some updates on this slide so we'll on on our our our presentation in deck so I'll make sure we get the the most recent update because I want to make sure that um especially some of the the strategies that the team has mentioned that we get

015those uh to you guys as Well, so areas of strength, the areas of strength that we're looking at uh particularly for algebra 1 are in these uh standards. Uh if you were looking at the far left, well, not the farthest left column, but if you're seeing where it says less uh than 65% um of points possible, uh that is a category of students that are um struggling in that area. And then the furthest one are the ones where the students are proficient just like we looked at before. Um those still not a high majority of the students. Uh it it does show more students being proficient on these standards. So there's still areas that we need to work on. Um these are students actually just using units to solve problems. Some of those basic equations,

016those onestep equations and um how they're uh comparing and uh using computation skills to interpret functions. Uh these are areas where uh students are doing a little bit uh better in. um only two of these areas are highly tested. Um when we think about uh um algebra one. So when we think about the areas where students are struggling the most, those are areas that are tested the most and these are not tested as much. Uh when we do a deeper dive of what is actually taking place in our walkthrough uh data. So our math walkthrough data uh where it shows this this first category you're looking here these are areas we need to work on based on the things that we're seeing in our walkthrough observation. So less than 65% of uh algebra one classrooms

017where uh teachers and students are engaging in those rotation of stations. Uh this is one of the the strategies that we're working on when we think about the math block. U we talked a lot about the the ELA block in our last presentation in the math block. really making sure students are doing the rotations. Uh students participating in math uh discourse. Uh you heard Miss Fru talk about that in the fall. Um how that's a really important strategy that we really want students using. Uh and then students using manipulatives. This was also another area that we uh focused on. Um now our math walkthrough data where we're seeing um significant signs of or or or more signs of growth in in the areas. That's teachers working specifically with students on breaking down some of those

018complex problems and then students working independently. Those are um uh strategies uh particularly if the students are um successful in working independently. Um when we're when we're reviewing that uh and our curriculum assessment also showed that our students struggle the most with creating and solving equations uh as you saw from the uh standard breakdown and then understanding and solving those equations and explaining the reasoning. All right, now we're going to go to 2.2. Now, um, a couple of things I want to, uh, point out here. This is our fifth grade cohort, and this was, if you remember when we presented this in the fall, we looked at this, and this is the first year that all of our students are taking I Ready, and we, we said, why such a a a drop here. Um,

019those still uh, far below from our goal. As you can see, we're off track on this one. Um, we are up 2.2 percentage points from where we were from fall to winter. Historically, this fifth grade uh cohort when taking the fall to winter benchmark assessment, we actually see a decrease from fall to winter um because uh fractions are progressively taught in uh the fifth grade uh in fifth grade math and it is a skill that gets picked up and students generally struggle with fractions and so we usually see a decrease. We're actually seeing an increase from fall to winter um showing that some of those strategies that the academics team has been working on um have been working. Uh but this is a group that is uh off track uh and uh we are continuing

020to track those um and and looking at some of the the challenges here. Just uh oh looking at fourth grade as well before we go into the standards. Um fourth grade is relatively flat from when we think about from fall to winter. Uh a slight uh dip but relatively flat um from fall uh to winter. Um, and if we were looking at this group and seeing their predicted proficiency, uh, we would see that roughly about 695 students could be on pace to take algebra 1 by the time they get into 9th grade. And so this is an area we will be monitoring over time. Um, next year when we're looking at measure 2.2, we'll be looking at fifth and sixth graders. So these fourth graders will be in fifth grade. Uh, and then the fifth

021graders that we just looked at will be in sixth grade. So it'll be interesting in seeing their journey and also seeing this group and growing this number uh because we want to make sure more students are eligible uh for algebra 1 by the time they get into eighth grading eighth grade based on staffing and also uh scheduling. But I know our team is already working hard to ensure that more schools have access to algebra 1 come fall. Um so some areas of struggle uh that our students are really struggling with. As I mentioned fractions are taught uh in fifth grade. this is the first time they're introduced as a standard. You're looking at that far right column again. Uh that's showing you the percentage of students who are proficient. It's a low uh proficiency uh

022level when you're looking at those percentages and students struggle the most with addition and subtraction of uh fractions as well. Uh we do see uh sometimes the understanding of multiplication and division uh of of fractions that is also an area of struggle but they struggle the most with addition and subtraction of uh of fractions and then also um uh yeah showing some of the um with multiplication with multiple fraction standards showing the the among the lowest performing of the standards. So, uh, once again really looking at addition and subtraction as a area of difficulty for our scholars in fifth grade. Um, and as we go to areas where there strengths, once again looking at the furthest right column, these are the the students who are relatively performing a little bit higher on this uh standard.

023Um, once again, not at the highest percentage of students who are scoring on these uh standards, but a little bit higher than the other areas. And as I shared before, uh students are doing a little bit better with the multiplication of fractions. On the other one, they struggle with u multip multiplication and division uh as well as addition and subtraction. But multiplying fractions is the easier one. Uh anyone who knows about um uh fractions and actually the steps that you use when do uh when um calculating fractions uh for addition and subtraction, there are a couple of more steps. There are some rules you have to do when actually uh adding and subtracting fractions versus you know with multiplication you can actually just combine two of them together and uh you know multiply both the

024uh numerator and denominator as well. Um so doing that uh deeper analysis of this when looking at our walkthrough data because we've been really pushing ourselves to get into classrooms and seeing what we observe. So less than 65% of the classrooms uh are using exit tickets. That is a very important strategy for us to actually see when we're teaching something and um how uh we can monitor if students know it right on the spot uh by looking at the exit tickets. Also the student debriefs uh that are taking place in classrooms uh both in Eureka and Eureka Squared. These are strategies in uh both of those curricula. Um, and then when also thinking about uh the classrooms that are doing relatively well or some of the strategies that we're seeing in the walkthrough data are

025the small group instruction and I I I think we're seeing that the most in Eureka. Um, and then the curriculum assessments, we already saw the areas that students are struggling the most with the addition and subtraction of the fractions. All right, so strategies for improvement. Uh, we really want to make sure we double down on implementing the high quality curriculum. Uh that is an area that uh we're focusing in on. We have the common scope and sequence. That's going to be really important. Um also really making sure that students engage in demanded um uh in uh cognitively demanding uh text and tasks uh when it comes to math. And then also the implementation of the DDI protocols are really important. Um that's a strategy that we're using across the board in all of our uh

026content areas as well. um some areas that uh we are seeing uh some things that are are working when it comes to uh some of the implementation of the work that we've been doing. So more focus on uh just the implementation of the curriculum. Uh we have been seeing some intentional support of our English language learners and um seeing some of that that gap close uh for all of our subgroups. We did see growth from fall to winter for both English language learners as well as students with disabilities which you'll see in a moment. Um but once again there still is a gap. So um seeing some of that gap close uh from our English language learners to um non-English language uh language learners. So th those are some signs of things that are working.

027Uh and then still building the capacity of our principles uh to coach some of the uh math instruction uh that we've been uh working with principles on in the school leadership institutes that we do and network meetings. Uh what is not working as I mentioned before um some of the data that we're seeing with our uh students with disabilities uh particularly the strategies that are taking place in the classrooms and we're going to get you guys the updated deck. This is the the the data is the same uh we just uh in some of the areas we we made it a little bit easier to actually understand uh what is uh taking place. So, uh, one of the things that we are realizing, uh, is we're not doing as many classroom walkthroughs in our, um,

028single classrooms, uh, those, uh, special education classrooms, not doing as many walkthroughs. And so, with, uh, not observing the instruction taking place in there, we're not seeing some of those practices and seeing where there are, uh, areas of opportunity and support. Um, so I know that that's something that both the uh academic team is working on for both fifth grade as well as algebra 1. Uh, and really supporting uh those air those teachers particularly in the the tested areas that we're looking at the that fifth grade cohort as well as algebra 1. Um, now why do some of the gaps exist? We've talked about this before. really thinking about that tier one instruction um and making sure it's per we're performing at consistently high levels and um also really thinking about is the tier one

029instruction taught at the level we need it to be taught at but then also really thinking about the pull out instruction and the differentiation that needs to take place. Um so uh what supports uh and uh adult behaviors will change in response to this data? Uh once again the analysis of the math unit assessments particularly looking at those standards those areas of strengths and opportunities. So when we looked at those standards uh that students are struggling the most with and also the areas of opportunity. It is an opportunity for us to actually get really clear and specific uh on what are the strategies we need to work on in our classrooms. um also an analysis of the math unit assessment um to really think about the supports uh we need to provide for all of

030our students even students with different subgroups and then the the scaffolds that are embedded in the curriculum um um particularly in our scope and sequence and pacing guides for students with disabilities as well as our English language learners. Um and what are we going to do to really uh speed up our progress? a couple of things that uh that are noted. It's definitely noted in our our last one. We talked or in the the updated uh presentation that we that we'll give you. Uh we talked about for ELA when students actually participate on independent learning uh platforms for math, is one of those. And so, uh, if I'm remembering correctly, um, students that are use who are one grade level behind and they're using for about 50, uh, 30 to 50 minutes, um, are improving

031by six percentage points. Uh, and no, five percentage points. And, uh, students who are two grade levels behind when they're using for 30 to 50 minutes a week, I think that that's what it is, are improving by six percentage points. And so, really using that uh, platform to really support that. Um and that's also um I also in the I Ready uh platform as well um that also has that individualized uh learning platform. Also using the OST power standard. So OST of course is the test that students will be taking next month um when thinking about those areas that are tested the most. How can we uh look at questions? How can we um uh reinforce those standards in our instruction and classroom? this can really accelerate the pace of change particularly now we're uh

032you know less than a month from testing and so these are some of the strategies that we're working on particularly for grades uh five and um algebra 1 to close things out oh and uh here's that data that we were looking at uh that we were just talking about some of the the shifts that can take place with how we can uh replicate these and so you can see exactly what I shared there um for both as well as the IR and the usage of that um and those interventions that can support that. >> All right, take any questions. >> Mr. Phillips. >> Thank you, uh, Chair Elott. Uh, thank you, Dr. Morgan. Um, I just got a couple quick questions. first question um kind of I forget which slide it was but it it

033was based on a couple different slides but we have 73 I believe you said current eighth graders um with algebra 1 and potentially in 2030 we could potentially have nearly 700 um students that could potentially take algebra. um that's almost a 10 multiple on that number. My thought process almost instantly goes to will will we have the capacity to accommodate those students if they choose to take algebra. >> So, uh answering that question is twofold. One, readiness. So, you're right. Based on what we're seeing here, if this were these students were, you know, going into 8th grade and they were um uh ready to take they're demonstrating that they're ready to take algebra 1. Our goal is to get as many of those students um taking algebra 1. Uh the work that our team is

034doing now through building brighter futures is uh enabling uh more uh access to algebra 1 and 8th grade through scheduling and through staffing. And so there's some work that we're doing to uh do that. We'll be sharing more as we get close to the staffing um uh window of how many schools we'll actually be offering algebra 1 in and how many students will have access to it. Um, but I can imagine by the time we get to um uh this cohort being in the 29 20 30 school year, uh I I would love it if um not only these students, but um all all of our eighth grade students are prepared for it. And if they're prepared for it, uh that could be the math of choice for uh eighth grade. Uh now, some may

035say, why not just offer algebra 1 to eighth graders? Because you could do that for all of them and but not all of them already. And so that's why this work that we're showing here demonstrating the growth over time is really important. My follow-up question to that is uh Dr. Morgan is um is algebra one. So a student in eighth grade if algebra one is put on their schedule is this a conversation with the parent and a teachers or the school to determine if they want their child to take basically what I'm asking is if algebra ends up on a kid's schedule are is it mandatory for them to take it in eighth grade? Um well yeah actually I'll turn turn that over. >> So there is a process for that. We do have to

036consult with the parent and they have to uh actually agree through what's called a written education plan because it's an acceleration for the student because they aren't going to take the eighth grade math. So when you do that you write what we call a WE and the parent has to sign off on that so they are aware and they give permission for their child to take algebra 1. >> Gotcha. Thank you. Um, and then just kind of thinking about the um I forget what slide it is again. I'm sorry. I usually write it down. Um, but the discourse between with the students and I at home I call it doing a knowledge amongst each other. We talk about things to kind of reinforce our understanding of whatever it is. Is this discourse primarily we're talking

037about between students like students to students or is that also incorporating the teacher um in those conversations? >> Yeah, I I I'll start and then I'll uh if anyone on our academics team wants to uh add in there it's really uh it's thinking all of all of the above. Um how are students actually explaining how they arrived at a a problem? Um now when uh students are taking tests, they're not just um needing to compute problems, they uh need to explain it. Um sometimes they're written portions of that. And so really uh them becoming um more articulate in actually understanding how they're explaining their reasoning behind math and that can be both with the teacher, could be among students, uh it could be in small groups. Is there anything else you add there? And then

038my last question would be um just just um I don't know just so that I know is the the I Ready was it I Ready and EXL um the students across the district um will have access to that through um device means and through um highspeed internet options. >> Yeah. Currently, right now, both of those are um accessible across the entire district, both as well as um I Ready, of course, uh because that's the benchmark assessment of choice. >> Thank you, Dr. Morgan. >> Mr. Briggs. >> Yes. Uh again, thank you, Dr. Morgan, for that excellent report. And to um um follow up with Jerry's question um whose responsibility since the EXL and I Ready is so successful apparently whose responsibility is it to uh accelerate that process and incorporate it more in the system.

039uh you know that a lot of the work that our team is doing with school leaders specifically on what they uh should be looking for in a math block. Um so uh it really starts with the the school leader who's the instructional leader of the building. Well, I would say it starts with us in terms of the way we're writing our our pacing guides and the support we're giving through professional development and um the work that we're giving um through the the the tools that we give to teachers. Um but then it's reinforced by the school leader in terms of what's taking place. Um also the amount of time is really important. Um and so that uh scheduling is really important, the intentionality around scheduling, all of those things uh support what is taking place

040in the classroom. So that's that's what uh those are the supports that enable it to happen. And then of course once those uh uh structures are in place for it to happen uh you know then how are teachers really incorporating it? How are they utilizing some of those skills in their their classroom or in a block uh to support students with that? Anything else you guys want to add there? >> So the school leader i.e. the principal has the uh accountability to make sure that this is put into effect. >> It's all throughout the system. So it starts like I said with us in terms of the support that we're giving through the curriculum documents through the training and professional development reinforced by the school leader by scheduling um by what they're observing in the

041classroom and then ultimately the teacher needs to implement. So it's all of us we're all accountable >> Miss Welch. >> Thank you Chair Elott and uh thank you for that report Dr. Morgan. Um maybe I I want to kind of zoom out a little bit with this question. We the 2030 goal is ambitious, right, for for this particular goal. Of all of the strategies, the sort of go forward improvement plans that the team has identified, is there one or two in particular that just have to go right to give us a shot at this 50% like how how should we think about that? And are there resources we could reallocate to those one or two things? >> That's a really great question. Um I will uh begin to answer it and I'll see if any

042of my uh team members will answer it and then also I would love the the opportunity for us to mull on that one because I think that's really good uh because it goes into prioritization and also just really thinking about how um high impact high leverage strategies. Um so um >> and feel free to come back with us. >> Yeah. Well, I I would say just my uh what I know as a uh education um practitioner what is helpful with the data that we see is we see where students are struggling. So really getting laser focused on where students are struggling. That's why the data we presented here um which our our team I was thrown off when I I saw our chart because we were having a good dialogue ourselves around like what is

043what is this data actually saying and we were having a a good um discussion around it. But by breaking down the standards and actually seeing the breakdown of where students are actually performing well and where they're are struggling that's a start. uh it allows us to uh prioritize and um one of the things uh I believe it was Miss Fru that said this when we were having our round uh discussion uh looking at this data uh you know for algebra one we're going to through now through 2030 we're going to continue to see these standards it allows us to get better at it we're going to see different cohorts do it uh we're going to uh see cohorts over time so I think we're going to we're going to get better at looking at these

044things what's good about the fifth and uh fourth and fifth grade cohort that we're looking at is these are the same students, but the standards are going to change because they're going to be progressing through math up until the point they get to algebra 1. And so I think us just being really laser focused allows us to prioritize. Um, and I do want to take the liberty to zoom out a little bit more. I think when you're talking about some of the resources um, but also I know my team they they may have other things that they may would add to that. >> The only thing that I would add is use of the curriculum. Um because when students are actually exposed to the curriculum, they are seeing the standards at grade level and sometimes

045it's very easy for us to assume our students are coming to us very low and so we teach them at lower levels and so use of the curriculum is one of the strategies that we are holding tight to and we will continue to because we know if teachers are using that curriculum, kids are going to be exposed to the standards at grade level and that's what we need them to be exposed to as they prepare for testing. >> Thank you. um related oh did you have another question related to to Miss Welch how's question I was also thinking about how um you know you're identifying things that are important that will move the needle but how are you determining what you're going to set aside or stop doing uh in order to focus more on

046the strategies and and and also the resources right that you need to be more successful >> yeah I think uh that's an area we we too are also going to get better at I mean this is a by ing this goals process this year. One, this has been really great for us to get really focused and and really thinking about the work. Um, but you really need to figure out what you're going to start doing, stop doing, and what you're going to continue to do. And um, even just from fall to winter, it's been really um, helpful for us to see what are the strategies we're really focusing in on, what are we put uh, uh, putting our time to, and where are we seeing the the the best leverage. And so, um, we we

047still have more work to do, especially when not, uh, only are we trying to achieve this really ambitious goals, but all the lifts that we're doing, uh, we we have to be very, uh, strategic about our time, our resources, and, uh, what are those high impact, high leverage strategies. >> Okay. And then I had a question around the, um, and it relates to Mr. Bips or maybe it was Mr. Briggs, one one of the guys over there um, [laughter] on the right side. um the the question that was asked around you know the scheduling piece and the who's responsible for um that intervention around small group targeted instruction as well as I already is when you say on on slide 15 that um we are teachers are not fully implementing that intervention block with that

048time for small groupoup targeted instruction. Is it that it wasn't scheduled or is it that like why is that not happening and what are what else can we do or are you doing to address that? >> It's mixed. >> Okay. So, it was scheduled we have for uh grades 2 through five a dedicated intervention block and that intervention block is to attack both ELA and math deficiencies and to support students with accelerating their growth. And so I think what we have learned through our time with the principles and with the walkthroughs that we're doing is that we need to be more supportive of our teachers and thinking about how they use the time in the intervention block. And so we're being really thoughtful um Dr. Turner's team is being really thoughtful for next year um

049planning out and scope and sequencing how they can use the intervention block and being very clear. We gave them what it should look like, but it was not uh I think as targeted and as focused in terms of do this then, do this then so that they can see it because it's not just time on remember or I ready um in the CAD space is 30 to 50 minutes a week. So over five days, that's really not that much time, but it's also supposed to be small group intervention so that um teachers can provide that really direct instruction to students on what they targeted need. So does that make sense? >> Yeah. Thank you. And then another question on um you know thinking we're looking at a particular cohort, right? We know why we're doing

050that. That makes sense so that we can target our interventions and then scale. But when you look at that, like let's say that fifth grade or that fourth grade, are you all also looking at what foundational math skills were or weren't taught or how they were taught in the earlier grades for those cohorts and how they're impacting their current proficiency? And do you want to say that for the audience? [laughter] So in ELA we have structured literacy which is our focus for those grades K through three. So in math we have the same sort of focus around what's happening at those grade levels as well. So we look at the data in the same way. We do the same sort of analysis and we support those teachers in being able to use their data to

051guide what's happening in the classroom. So we are certainly making sure that before they get to fifth grade all the supports are in places are in place in K through four as well. >> And are there changes that we are making the earlier grades as well? So the biggest change is has is consistent with what you see on the slide here, which is the intervention block and ensuring that kids are actually having that time and intervention to have direct instruction based on what they specifically need. So that's the biggest change with math for this year. >> Okay. Thank you, Miss Peak. >> Uh I've been listening and I'm just really appreciating the conversation because um it seems there's a mixture of techniques and things that you're doing. And so as I was listening to how

052um the students what came to my mind again is how they're able to verbalize their learning and we know that sometimes they get it but they're not able to kind of put it. So is that is that the only way that you if they can speak it or you looking at other um ways that children are are are showing you that they are still getting it. But that's where when you talk about intervention maybe that needs to be a little bit more you know practice on how you how they can actually share that with you. So and my other qu uh comment is that do you feel like you have all the resources that you need and uh you know how are you going to pivot a little bit you know going into the next

053phase uh to maybe reuse them in different kinds of ways to make sure that that that flat lining's moves around a little bit. >> Yeah. Um yeah, I I'll temptate both of those. So So one of the things I remember the team mentioning um to your first point, um what what we're seeing particularly for the fourth and fifth grade cohort is the conceptual understanding. And this goes a little bit to what you were also talking about, Chair Elad. Um when students don't have a real conceptual understanding particularly of the fractions, um that they they struggle. So they don't really understand uh what this represents, what this means. And so um that is not only in the standard that is being taught but also that that goes to earlier standards if they don't have that real

054conceptual understanding of of numerousy and uh number sense. So that's really important. Uh resources [laughter] uh you said do we have enough? I don't know if we ever have enough uh resources, but I think it goes back to that other point of being really strategic and um I mean this process has just been illuminating seeing fall to winter and the discussions we have and um how this team is getting even smarter at um really seeing the the strategies, looking at what they're observing, looking at the the data um and responding to it and also seeing the growth of it um and seeing our school leaders do it. We're going to get better and we're going to get better at aligning our resources. Um, so as I say all the time, it's not just throwing spaghetti.

055It's us being really strategic. Um, but allow us to uh I mean that's part of the work of this process of actually seeing uh where we land and us understanding the resources. Um we know we just are um central office just went through the budgeting process. Chief submitted uh budgets and we know um even in light of our um of our our resources right now as a as a district, uh these are the areas that are goals and focus areas for us. And so um the the team is also thinking about um how to be very strategic about those resources and the resource allocation as well. >> Thank you Dr. Morgan. And you I will just say I I do really appreciate this level the level of root cause analysis and everything that your team

056is doing. It's really great to see even though we are not seeing the quite the success that we want to yet, but I'm confident that we will get there. All right. There any old business? Is there any new business? All right. Um, for new business, I do want to um wish Dr. Morgan happy upcoming birthday. [applause] >> Happy birthday. [laughter] >> Oh, that's why Reverend Stokes came. Good to see you. [laughter] >> Thank you. All right. Any new business? Any other new business? Nope. All right. The next regular board meeting will be a board business meeting on Tuesday, March 31st, a week later than our usually monthly schedule due to schools being on school break, spring break, the week of March 23rd. And the meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. at Garrett Morgan High School.

057The chair will now entertain a motion that the board enter into executive session for the purpose of considering the appointment and employment of public employees and officials, preparing for negotiations with public employees concerning their compensation or other terms and conditions of their employment, and conferring with attorneys concerning disputes involving the board of education that are the subject of pending or imminent court action. >> So move. >> Thank you. Mr. Stockdale, please call the role on this motion. >> Miss Elicott, >> yes. >> Mr. Phillips, >> yes. >> Mr. Briggs, >> yes. >> Miss Jones, >> Mrs. Peak, >> yes. >> Mrs. Walchow, >> yes. >> Motion passes with six votes. >> Thank you. The board will now move into executive session. And following executive session, the board will return to this room to adjourn this

058meeting without conducting any further business. >> [music] >> When I say food is you say medicine. FOOD IS >> MEDICINE. [cheering] >> FOOD IS MEDICINE. [screaming] >> GIVE IT UP. YAY. >> SO, WHAT WE HAVE GOING on here today is a meet the farmer event. Um, so we have this year partnered with four Cleveland growers um that grow the vegetables that are on the salad bars that are in our in some of our schools. And the students can meet the farmer. Today we have farmer Sarah and farmer Jamal. And they get to meet the farmer that grows their food. They can ask them questions. We have trading cards. Um, and the students get to try the produce items that they that the farmers grow and it just encourages them to try something new, to eat

059fresh vegetables and [music] um, they can meet the farmer and then they get to vote on if they like the produce item or not and they get fun stickers and we have um, what if they write on the board of what they like about the product. >> This is uh, one of the youngest demographics that we can have an influence on. And when you're talking about school lunches, this is food that they're going to be eating daily uh for more for a majority of the year, right? And so to be able to introduce local foods on a daily basis to students within the Cleveland area is just evolutionary. We're talking about the benefits of fresh foods and also the difference between local fresh foods and those you might get, say, at a grocery store that

060might have been shipped from all over the country or world to get to your plate, often picked months and months earlier and don't have the same level of nutrition or flavor. So, giving them that experience of eating something that was grown locally and why that's so important and why it's so important to grow your own food. >> It was kind of sour. It was source and that was my first ever trying that, but it had a pretty color. >> One of our students, they did something special for someone in the community. And so, we get all these people here to celebrate and to recognize what Allison did for someone in her community. >> That morning, [music] while boarding the school bus, you noticed a small child wandering alone on the street, wearing only [music] a

061t-shirt. Recognizing the danger the child was in, you immediately alerted the bus driver and took action to help. [applause] I want to give you a first district commander coin. Uh it's got a a one on the front for uh [music] the first district and the seal of the Cleveland Division of Police on the back. >> And I saw a little girl walk out and the bus driver was about to hit her. >> And so what did you say to the bus driver? >> I was like, "Stop." And then he tell me, "Who is that? It's like your niece." I was like, "No, that's not my niece." And then so then I went off the bus to go grab her. >> It shows a a great deal [music] of awareness and maturity for her age. Most

062kids, like you say, they're on the bus, they're talking, [music] they're on their phone, you know, and the fact that she noticed she paid attention, you know, to what was going on at that [music] particular time is just, you know, amazing. I I think it's very important because, [music] you know, we're a community. We work together. We help each other and that's how we [music] get things done. And she's already doing that. Children can teach us a lot. And I think she did. Be aware. Look around. Help people when you see them in need. >> I don't really care about the gifts because it was just the point to save somebody, anybody that need help. Hi, I'm Dariel Snipes with CMSD Communications. Today I am so excited. I am hanging out with two of the

063Senate League girls flag football teams, John Haye and Roads. This sport is gaining popularity. Right now CMSD has seven teams. I'm so excited to learn more about flag football. Let's go. Joining me now is head coach of the John Haye Ladies Flag Football Team, Coach Vanetta Krider. Welcome. >> Thank you. >> So, I know this is an exciting sport. It's a growing sport. It just got sanctioned by the Ohio High School Athletic Association. That's exciting news. So, now your girls can go for state championships. But, you know, some of us were brand new to flag football. Tell me, what is the difference between flag football and just basic football? The difference for flag football and basic football for our girls is that we actually get to compete this year. Um, outside of only using flags

064and not be able to contact each other and we have to wear mouthpieces. >> Okay. But just just talk about how the growing popularity of this girl sport and how exciting is especially here in CMSD and the Senate league. >> Yes. Right now it means that girls flag football is now recognized by OSHA. So now we get more opportunities to get school fundings. Um, so luckily we are division one school. So we had about 40 girls that come and try out. So this year we're expecting even more. >> I mean, what do you think about that? That more girls want to play football. >> I'm excited. I'm excited to teach them and for them to want to be competitive and lead and be outside their comfort zone. >> What the fact that it's, you know,

065when people think about football, they think about it as a male-dominated sport. the fact that flag football, especially girls flag football, is taking off. It gives young ladies an opportunity to play a what's once was known as a male-dominated sport. Can you just talk about that opportunity for them? >> Yes. So, now it gives the girls a platform to compete and lead and we're breaking stereotypes and proving that football is just for boys. Anybody can play as long as you got the passion and the skill for it. >> And joining me now are two players from the girls flag football team at Roads. Welcome. Tell me your names and what grade you're in. >> I'm Aaliyah. I go to Rose Environmental Studies and I'm in 10th grade. >> My name is Nia. I go to

066RCCA and I'm in 10th grade. >> Wonderful. So, just tell me because I just I don't know. I'm learning what is the difference between flag football and football. >> Well, flag football and um regular football, we already know it's like it's not as much contact, but there's a lot you can do. like the quarterback can't run. The ball is smaller, less people on the field, so it gives and flag is um it's quick. It's quick. It's not like football. Football you have more time. Flag is quick and you have like less time. >> Okay. And then you also have the flags. How hard or easy is it to get another opponent's flag? >> It depends on how fast the person is moving. >> Yeah. >> And what moves they're pulling out. But usually if you're

067up like if you're catching up to the person, it's very easy. They're not hard to pull or nothing. So >> So tell me, why did you guys want to join the team? >> Well, I wanted to join the team because ever since I was like very young, I always played regular football with my brothers. And when I got older, it was like like it was something I always wanted to do. And like 20 23, I played flag football with boys, but then I got scouted for a um girls team and we went all the way to nationals in Las Vegas and won a championship ring there. And then when I came here, there was no flag football team. So I asked if I could play tackle, but my mom would have let me. And then

068I found out later on we had a flag football team and I was like, "Oh, this is my sport. So I'm definitely going to play." >> Also feel like a sport that was really made for boys that girls never really got the opportunity to play. When I saw it at Rose, I feel like a sport that was always always classified as like a boy sport being like girls being able to play. I feel like that was really cool. So I really wanted to take that opportunity to play. And also coach I know she really inspired me to play. She was the assistant basketball coach and it really gave me something to do and now it's something I really would do the rest of my years in high school and see where it takes me. >>

069Right. So this this is the second season for the team. >> Um just talk about how fun it is and [music] just the team camaraderie that you ladies have. >> Oh, it's very fun. Like in the first year it was some rough patches but we always got through it. our coach, she's a very great coach cuz she is like more informational >> about flag football than basketball. So when she um is out here, she put her heart on the um field just like we do. >> Yeah. Coach O'Neal, she really was great. She keep us all lifted up like something could go wrong and she was always bring the joy. It was like our first year was really fun. We went real far and just seeing where it took us, it made me excited for

070the next season to come. like what we going to bring to the table and flag like I didn't expect it to be like I thought it was just going to be something to do but when we actually started playing I'm like this fun like >> now another difference is that flag football is played in the spring and not in the fall like regular football. >> Um well can you just talk about the fact that now it is a sanctioned sport and so now you guys can go for a state championship. Just talk about you guys could be the state champs. That's very exciting to me because like I said, I always love football in general. So for me to have this opportunity to probably get scholarships to play in college is just like something I

071want to achieve. I think that's really good. Like it gives opens up more opportunities for the girls and gives girls something to do because we always as a girl we always like doubt it or we don't always get as much opportunity. So it just opens the door for girl sport. >> Now it looks it still even though you guys don't have pads and a helmet, it's it still can be tough. I mean it's still um I mean, it's still a contact sport. Would you not say >> like you're definitely going to fall definitely going to bump, >> but it's fun. >> Yes, it's very exciting. >> All right. Well, thank you ladies. The board of education's job is to make sure that the right adult behaviors are in place so [music] that students can learn

072and grow in school every day. >> I hope to motivate the scholars in in some form of and capacity really to make sure that they're inspired by the work that we do for them. Um, you know, this is a job uh of service uh fully volunteer role, but the people that are serving on the board, myself included, are doing it out of passion and pure hope of the scholars futures. And so, I hope that they start to believe in themselves the same way that we believe in them. [music] Having been an educator all my life, I thought I would have um a significant role to play in [music] shaping what our young people and young scholars and our future leaders are going to be doing [music] um with their education. I believe in uh paying

073it forward and I still believe I am paying it forward for myself. >> I am an ineterate volunteer and so I saw this as an opportunity to give back to the Cleveland community and try to make a difference. I enjoy being engaged [music] with people in my neighborhood, hearing from them, learning what they think about different things, hearing suggestions, hearing [music] thoughts, um even the complaints. I enjoy engaging with the students. And I think that's my role with the on being on a board member is engaging [music] with the community um in every way possible. >> I'm out there every day talking to people, sitting on every community [laughter] work group that you can think of. What I want to accomplish is that we level up the opportunities for our children to receive the best

074education possible. [music] And I want you to be able to discover all the goodness in you because we all have something [music] that is unique about us. So, we want to give you the opportunity to explore that and make good decisions once you leave the school system. >> I believe that this district can be a premier district. [music] Um, and I'd love to be remembered for pushing a standard of excellence. I wanted to give [music] back to the school system that I participated in from kindergarten to graduating senior. I'm hoping to make a difference, have a positive [music] impact, and see the test scores and graduation rates increase. I also hope to inspire other [music] CMSD alum to give back to CMSD with their time and support. >> I'm grateful to interact with so many

075wonderful people, brilliant [music] individuals who um have the capabilities and skill sets to uh really make our city even greater. [music] and I'm just honored to be a part of uh the plan of the CMSD and the the service of of this community. >> As a kid myself, I moved around a lot and I went to a lot of different [music] schools. And what I saw firsthand is that all children are born equal with the same rights to education. But not all schools are created equal. [music] And some schools have more resources than others. Some schools have more of the right practices than others. And I wanted to be a part [music] of making sure that our school system was the right system for our children so they could have the education that they deserve.

076>> We all have different [music] skill sets, different experiences, different backgrounds that we all bring to the table when it's time for us to have these discussions. [music] We bring different perspectives and different life experiences. And so being able to sit at the table with [music] other leaders in our community and people who actually are invested in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District system, um it it it means that we're providing different [music] perspectives. We're looking at it from different lenses and different angles, which is also representative of our community, right? >> You know, our [music] students achieving everything that they possibly can. Um achieving and and striving towards our goals and guard rails that our board laid out. I think that, you know, [music] producing students that can enter the world in whatever way they

077choose to and [music] be successful is is really um the only thing to accomplish from my perspective. >> Most importantly is um increasing student outcomes. So, we have our [music] challenges, but um my board colleagues and I and Dr. Morgan and his incredible staff are heavily focused on that and we're going to do everything in our power to make it happen. >> My favorite quote is [music] a man in the arena actually. It's uh uh by former President Teddy Roosevelt and it's really about not [music] paying attention to the critics. It's not the critic who counts. It's not the person on the sidelines. It's the person who's getting dusty in the arena every single day and getting back up again and again and again, even after failure. [music] And even if you fail at something,

078at least you failed by daring greatly. But the only way to be great is to [music] try. >> Go. [cheering] >> Today it is the last scrimmage to find out who goes to stage. It has been a really great journey. It's different learning about STEM and [music] like robotics and tech. My favorite part about building the robot is all the teamwork it takes. The teamwork, I feel like it brings our team together and I I really like that part. The robot has to launch artifacts, which is [music] similar to a ball. So, they're launching it into a pyramid type situation and get those points and then [music] you have to line your robot in a certain order to get points. It's a lot of challenges in depth [music] in getting points. our robot. It took

079us a lot of time to really build it. It took a lot of patience. We came across many problems and challenges like our chain kept breaking. So, we had to find a lot of solutions to that problem and it was a lot of gracious professionalism used. this [music] is their thing and they really take it seriously and they come out and they try and you just like this morning one of my girls [music] did something in one of the um presentations and I started to tear up cuz I was just so proud of them because I'd never seen this child do this and she just blossomed right in front of me. Hey CMSD family, I'm Tiffany and we are back with our final episode of On Guard CMSD Safety and Security. Today I'm joined with

080a few scholars from our Gear Morgan campus and they are here to tell us about how our safety officers create a better learning environment and how the feeling of safety helps scholars to learn better. So in your opinion, how does safety officers help to create a better learning environment? >> I feel like they make a better learning environment because kids don't have to worry about things outside of school because security already has it like put together and make sure the kids are safe around the campus. Um, just to piggyback off what he said a little bit, I agree. Like you don't have to focus, you can focus on learning and learning only. You don't have to focus on anything outside of that. >> Yeah, the security officers do like help us get to class on

081time, make sure we aren't getting sidetracked. So, they help us like push us to our classes to make sure we're on on track. >> And why do you think having safety officers is important for the school [music] community? So, you kind of talked about a little bit about what they do, but what is the feeling that they give you? Um it's like comfortability like which I feel like is really important when you're trying like [music] an learning institute. >> I feel more like um I can get like my education without worrying about anything. >> Yeah. Like it it provides a like almost like a safety net of knowing that they're there with us to help us if we are having any issues that occur. Yeah. >> So can you let me know what do you

082appreciate most about our safety officers? I appreciate that you can like they're safety off officers, but you can also have a conversation with them. Like they're they're here to protect us, but they are also like they have a character like they are people. So they like know how to talk to us cuz they were once us at certain point in time. So >> yeah, like to piggy back off of that, like I appreciate how you can sometimes have a conversation with them if you're ever in need. If you ever need to just like talk about a situation you're having at home or issue you're having at school, you could just talk to them and they'll give a reply and try to help you. Yeah, they're really they're really like good. They're really like calm and

083chilled. They like to um talk to the student and try to like encourage them and it's cool. >> A big thank you to our safety and security team and our scholars over here at Gear Morgan High School. Now, let's head over to John F. Kennedy. Now, we're here at John F. Kennedy High School with a few of our scholars here to tell us why safety and security matters for their learning environment. So, first, in your opinion, how do safety officers help to create a better learning environment? make the students feel more safe. >> Yeah. And they like >> security guards like they make us feel safe. >> Help the teacher sometimes too, the principles. >> You're more comfortable. You ain't got to worry about people coming here doing stuff they ain't supposed to be doing,

084you know? >> So to feed off that, what do you appreciate most about your safety officers here? >> Help a lot. >> I feel like they all like they make sure we good. They help the principal admin team with the with the kids. Yeah. Yeah, we got a we got a good bond with them too and they take they some of them take their job too serious but that's good because >> cuz we need that we need that like that stretch too. >> Do you think in your opinion feeling secure helps students learn their best. >> Yeah. >> They ain't got to worry about nothing like no danger or nothing like that. >> Have a safe learning environment. >> I feel like here like the um the security guards here like if we need them

085like we could always go talk to them like >> Yeah. like >> got a good bond with most of them. You know, we knew him for most of the time we've been here. So, what you see before you is a culmination of two and a half years of work. But moreover, it was 86 years of blood, sweat, and tears put forth by men and women who comprised the Tuskegee experiment. Let history show that in the course of human endeavor that never have so many owed so much to so few. >> My first reaction was it looked a lot better than I [music] than I did it in class. It took a lot and it's just I'm proud to see that it's up there and I'm glad everyone [music] else can see it too. I think

086it's the good that the Tuskegee Airmen get their word out and [music] their faces out because they helped this world and I'm glad that I was able to help them represent it. I seen everyone [music] do their painting in class. I've seen like their entire process through it and now looking at [music] it inside the airport. It's like wow they did that. That's amazing. >> My name is Lorie Lane and this is my father Earl Rosco Lane. He was with the 332nd of the Tuskegee Airmen. I think they did a fantastic [music] job in doing it. I know I when I was speaking to a group of them um they said they did a lot of research on it but they were so open to listening and to learning more so that we have more

087young people that are able to display their talent learn and it's one as a teacher I know it's one of the greatest ways for students to learn and this will stay with them for the rest of their lives. I'm very happy today because I am sharing the CEO seat uh with a very amazing young scholar. Uh she attends AB Hart and she's in seventh grade over there. This is Victorious. She goes by Tori Blackman and she's CEO for the day. So CEO Blackman. Yes. Let's give her a name. [applause] >> [cheering] >> I have been going to meetings and hanging out with some of the high schoolers and thinking about what high school I want to go to and just having fun with them. >> To be a leader, you have to step in. It

088takes boldness. It takes not being afraid and uh so far Tori has been uh stepping up to the plate and showing that. Having a a scholar with me has been amazing and uh I mean she was at the table earlier today with some of uh Cleveland's you know top leaders and just being right at the table just means a lot to have that that seat at the table and so um you know and to be a uh a young uh scholar young lady of color uh that just means a lot when we think about representation. So today we started on our robots. Well, we started our robots like two days ago, but today we added like our finishing touches and we made them waterproof with pool noodles. We attached motors to them with wax in

089it. So it is it's waterproofed and those motors spin at a very high speed. So it can propel itself through the water and able to um do its tasks. It's so cool because usually robots are like on surface, right? This time it's underwater which makes it harder to see but more funner because like you don't know what's going to happen. >> The machine itself you can program it first from your [music] computer once you like uh access it says it via Bluetooth. It basically you can control it from there and automate it [music] wherever program you want to set it at specific time. Experiencing all of this I've actually had a lot of fun being able to come up here and um just learn about a machine and um I've personally been part of a

090robotics team. So being able to experience a machine uh automating other stuff like agriculture is a [music] really good experience. I had a lot of fun. [cheering] >> So I just got to Cleveland. >> I just wanted to come out and see y'all. We working out every day. Uh we got a purpose. We got something we trying to accomplish and achieve. But I'm trying to bring Cleveland, of course, a Super Bowl. What inspires me to keep going? I would say um knowing I I got a lot of people watching me, knowing that I'm a positive influence uh to the youth, that's what I say what keeps me going. So like even coming here seeing y'all, >> you go to the website, you type in the access code and you're in. Your kids pictures are there

091and you could easily I have a kids at two different schools. You can easily switch from school to school and keep up on top of it. >> Everything's right there. Like everybody always has their phone with them, so you can easily access it to your phone. >> It's a [music] relief for me knowing that my child has the best chance that they can knowing every day they wake up, they can go to school and, you know, take [music] advantage of the day. The winner of the first annual rise pitch competition is, drum roll please, Riverside. [cheering] >> Rise was birthed out of an opportunity that we thought was very very important for us to be able to give students opportunity to have their voices centered. So we asked them a question. The question is, if

092you could solve a problem in your community with unlimited resources, how would you do it? >> I'm 13 years old in the seventh grade at Ammyra Elementary and our group is excited to be here today to share our opportunity for action. I feel like that our gaming lab will help a lot of students because of these new technology industries that are coming from these foreign countries which can excel our students and improvise them and get them set for life. As a basketball player myself, sports helped me with a lot of teamwork, leadership, and even helped me with my mental health. So, for me, I'm just asking, can we get more opportunities for sports all along other school year? >> We also wanted to make sure our ideas weren't just meaningful, but doable. We're excited to

093introduce a few things we think that can make Riverside better right away. >> Our goal is to thank big for our classmates, our teachers, and our whole school. Congratulations [applause] and I hope that you have an amazing day. Would you see my classes? [applause] Today we have the ceremony award of the seal of bi literacy. [music] Uh we have students who took the stamp test this year and they got uh the seal of bi literacy to from different [music] uh languages. >> I speak multiple languages well two actually Spanish and English. I'm excited that I earned this because I know it will bring a lot of opportunities [music] for me in the future. So, I'm very proud. >> The seal of bi literacy is one of the seals that students could earn upon graduation and

094that [music] it gives them a certification for being not only bilingual and they can speak two languages but they can also read and write [music] both languages and it's grown tremendously. It's a very very important [music] um skill set that they will be uh transferring into the real world as they become adults and they go not only to college but also to the workforce, the military [music] and it also hits a lot of our goals um for college and career readiness. >> Hi, I'm Dariel Snipes and I'm here at Orchard Steam School and today we'll be taking a look at the ribbon dancing team as they prepare to perform at a schoolwide event. And we are here with Felicia Kelly who is the 5C's coordinator and the ribbon dancers coach. And behind us we have

095the ribbon dancers. So just tell me how did you get this program started here at Orchard STEM? Well, I did a praise dance for my mom for Mother's Day and I used a ribbon uh and I brought the ribbon in to demonstrate um part of what we call demonstration of learning and I brought it in to the ribbon dance uh to the school and the ribbon dancers that are now ribbon dancers loved it then and asked me can we do the same thing and I said of course and so I brought um brought some ribbons and we started practicing and the team was created. >> But you have told me that it it has exploded. So many kids want to be a part of it now. So what is the age range of your ribbon

096dancers? >> So we have first grade all the way up to sixth grade. >> Nice. And so while dancing is beautiful, but you are here to instill life lessons into these kings and queens. Can you tell me about it? >> Yes, absolutely. And they will tell you my first my first rule of thumb is positive energy. I have it all over the media center here and they know that we are about uplifting each other, about encouraging each other, about helping each other. So those are kind of the life lessons [music] that I'm trying to instill so that they don't just incorporate it here in the first grade, second grade, middle school, high school. These are lessons that I try to teach them for life. Mhm. >> How to be kind to each other, how to

097treat each other, how to be sensitive to different situations that that might come up. >> So, this is a steam [music] school. >> Yes. >> So, and even though you're doing dance, which is arts, which is part of steam, um you're also incorporating some other things, can you talk about uh some of the things that you're trying to teach them as well when it comes to steam and dancing? >> Okay. So, um the t-shirts that they're wearing today, they actually help make. [music] We have um Cricut machines. We have silhouette machines and transfer heat transfer paper to actually make the t-shirts so that the t-shirts that they're wearing they're they made them and also 3D machines. We have laser cutters. We have actually if I you don't mind [music] me stepping off camera a little

098bit. Um we have the capability of making mugs and they help to design their own um character on my mug and it says I love my ribbon dancers. And each ribbon dancer picked out their design and we made this mug for me. >> Wonderful. I'm joined now with Nila and Paige. What grade are you in, Paige? >> Third. [music] >> And what grade are you in? >> Six. >> And tell me, why did you guys want to join the ribbon dancers? >> So I can learn new things. >> What about you? >> Um, because I always wanted to dance in a in a group. So I always found passion for Miss Kelly's moves and that's why I joined Ribbon Dance. So besides dancing, what else have you learned? I know she talks about, you know,

099life lessons. So tell me what life lessons you have learned. >> I've learned to work with a team, not by yourself. And sometimes you just have to work together so you can make things happen. >> Right. You're right. And what about you? What what what lesson have you learned? I learned how to collaborate with my team and um have teamwork and um when somebody's doing something to have to encourage them, >> right? And some of the collaboration you guys have done is you had the some art students paint this for you guys for your performance. Just talk about how you like performing in front of others and showing uh your other [music] students what you've learned and show the beautiful dances that you've learned. I enjoyed a lot because it's got me like not to

100be scared when people are watching. So, I'm not shy anymore like I used to. And now I talk loud. I'm just loud. All vibes. And when we perform, it makes me feel great because I show myself. Good morning. Good morning. >> Morning everyone. Good morning. No beefing. Hold that up. >> When the kids walk through the door, there's a personal relationship here. So immediately they have a connection with an adult as soon as they've entered the building. typical day at James Ford Roads is being active with the kids, trying to be proactive with the kids before it becomes reactive. >> Sometimes we have to stop and counsel or assist a student that might be going through something when they came in this morning. I greet the students, make sure the hall is clear. Um, interact,

101ask them how their day was going. Walk through, interact with the parents, um, the community, the male, um, mailman, the neighbors across the street. They familiar with my side, I'm greeting with them. >> I try to walk around, try to help the kids. I'm not trying to police them as a security officer. Can't do that. You you try to help them in every way possible. And and and that's what I do. I'm a resource for them. going through the detectors in the long run. I hear them say, "Boy, if it wasn't for y'all doing that, this that." So, they they really do like that detector, but just knowing that you in the halls and the students [music] see that and and they see how I, you know, if they beep or they see how I

102go through their bags, I don't play. So, they feel safe. They be like, "Oh, there go Miss Campbell, Miss Campbell." And they fear something, they come straight, Miss Campbell, you know, so and so. And they I'll be like, "Okay, okay, okay." So that makes me feel that, you know, they see that I'm serious about my job. You know, >> I have noticed if we're referencing the phone collection, um, a lot of the students are interacting more with one another instead of just being stuck on their phones. [music] They've started to build relationships with one another and do different things that we last year and the year before [music] that we weren't actually noticing anymore. uh especially with how we do the yonder cases, bringing in securing book bags, making sure that um no items or

103weapons are brought into school. I think it makes students and scholars feel um much more comfortable, much more safe. When the kids come through, they understand there are necessary things that have to happen. But when the officers treat them in that way, like human beings, and make them feel special, they're [music] not thinking so much about those things. They're thinking about the relationship they're building. It's the most important thing for everyone in a building is that relationship you have with kids. And if it's positive, usually you're going to get positive results. Not all the time, but more often than not, I would do it all over again for anybody. Hi, I'm Trisha Paige and I'm a first grade teacher at Andrew J. Rickoff. I had a couple students that were having lunch in the classroom

104with me that day. I was sitting at my table like here in the back of the room and um her back was toward me this way. >> So when I was eating my taco, I tried to dip my other one in a meat and cheese, but when when it went through when it went to my throat, I choked on it and >> she was choking and I she was making the choking. her hands were on her throat and there was no there was no sound whatsoever. Uh I got up, ran to her, told the other teacher to go run and get the nurse. Um she was sitting in her seat. So I >> when she told me to get out here, she like did this. >> I went underneath of her her armpits here. I

105picked her up. So I stood her up and they started doing the himlick on her and she was silent for a minute and it was it was really scary. I don't know who was more scared if she was more scared or if I was more scared. Um but eventually she started crying and making sound. >> She deserves a reward. Thank you for saving my life. >> You're welcome. And I would do it all over again. [laughter] The wakeup cafe was created to um give the students real world experiences [music] promoting communication, social and life skills and also to help the students gain independence and confidence. >> We're also helping our students build independence and prepare them for future vocational opportunities. We have students that leave us and go on to high school [music] and when

106they get into a lot of our high school programs, they also have opportunities similar to this. And this prepares them to [music] step into that role with some experience and some skills. >> Um the students empower themselves by gaining um pride and confidence through their roles. They are speaking up. They're supporting each other. They're problem solving. and [music] um it's empowering to see them step into their leadership roles and show what they're capable of. >> I feel like coming to the Wake Up Cafe, [music] we're able to see um the um capabilities of autistic individuals and [music] it helps to support um inclusiveness. >> It's a really great way to break down misconceptions [music] and celebrate what's possible on the second level. This year competition is water theme based. How the competition goes is there's

107there's a reef and of course um if you see on the theme [music] they're like these the purple you know it it looks like a reef. Um and then we have the coral. The coral is basically like this like a white it like a white pipe. [music] And then the algae is a ball. And basically to score points, your robot has to have to put algae onto the reach. Each alliance three separate robotic teams. So it would be us and two different robotics teams that are just randomly picked. Entertain a motion to adjourn this meeting. >> Move. >> Second. >> The meeting is adjourned. Have a good night.