00118th and 6:35 you can stand for I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Do we have any public comments? We will hold our review of the minutes to Okay. So let's start with the information items, the out of state overnight field trip CHS first robotics championship competition. Okay, I believe that is the one at the high school. So Maureen would you like to share? Yep, they um so it already took You're sharing? I am. Okay. So it already took place um from April 20th to May 2nd. They um They have a little bit of information. They finished 68th out of 75 teams. There were a total of 500 in their specific
002specific division. There were a total of 597 teams um from across the world that participated. It was a ro- a robotics competition. So they went to it already? Yes, they did. Yeah. So this is just for information. How did they do it? Yes, and they qualified so quickly that the turnaround time, you know, in between meetings um it it's already taken place. They got there under um I forget this if this is the exact verbage but under ambassador ambassadorship award for getting out in the community and advocating. So they had done some summer and fall programming, received an award at kind of the local and the regional level and that's one of the things that qualified them for the competition. That's good. Yeah. Great experience. Next Treasure Curriculum Council summary, Business 9 through 12. Yes,
003we have um Leslie Parris, who is the chair of our business department, and she is here to share with you an executive summary of the 5-year review. Yes, so >> Take it away, Leslie. So, >> [laughter] >> thank you for having me here tonight, and um I just want to share with you what we're doing in the business department, helping our student engaging our students, and helping our students make correct connections to the curriculum that they're learning in our classroom, um and it's connections that they're going to use, they're real-world connections that they will use now, in college, um and in planning for their future careers. So, I um if it's all right, I'm going to share with you or one of our students at We the I'm going to share with you my experience
004as a senior here at Cheshire High School. Over the past 4 years, I've taken AP Macroeconomics, Dual Enrollment Accounting, and Personal Finance. I've also been an active member of the FBLA and DECA since my freshman year. Before these experiences, business was just an interest to me, but through these classes and organizations, it became something that I really want to pursue in the future. I learned how to think more critically, gained confidence in my voice, and saw how much of a meaningful impact business has in the world. And because of that, I'm now planning on pursuing a double major in finance and global health management, and I do truly believe that Cheshire High School's business department helped me shape my path and prepare me for the future. All right. I'd also like to share with you,
005this is our business department team, and I'll just start over here from left to right. Um we have Mark Pease, myself, Brett Dagle, Lynn Tallion, Michael Kelly, and Drew Picknarcik. Uh Mike and Lynn were going to They couldn't make it to this meeting. They were going to be here um on the 11th. This. Um but it's a great team. We are all passionate about teaching students um in business education. Um I can't Well, I want to start out by sharing um our business clubs help our students make connections to everything that they're learning in the classroom. Um but not just that, it's also providing them with skills that they're going to practice now and take with them and use um and use for many, many um years, if not the rest of their lives. Uh
006two clubs that we have um DECA and FBLA, we have a fall leadership conferences that our students attend. And then both of those clubs have spring leadership conference conferences that are also competitive events. So, in subject areas such as accounting, advertising, there's also impromptu speaking, personal finance, banking. They can compete in any event. Some students have taken classes that have prepared them for that. Other students have um just kind of taken the challenge on their own. I think Suchita uh um she placed fourth um in the accounting exam at the state level. Uh she just studied accounting on her own and um and competed. Um but it's a great opportunity for kids to learn, for students to learn about um making those connections, careers that they might be interested in, as well as um college
007um and opportunities there. Um do you have um >> [clears throat] >> any partnerships with colleges where any of our students can take college courses in the We do. Okay. We do. That's coming up. That's coming up. Just wait. I'll I'll get you ready for that. >> Yeah, we do. We can't wait to tell you about that. Um mock trial is is run through our department. This is another great opportunity if students are interested in pursuing a legal career or learning more about our judicial system. This is on your feet, hands-on, complex thinking. There's a tremendous amount of um preparation that goes into preparing for the mock trial competitions. Um they start at the They start at um one level and then they narrow the teams down throughout the state um to four teams and
008we've made it to those finals several times, um almost um almost winning um for the year. Um but it's a great experience for our students. Uh we also have an investment club and I will share with you just last week we went to field trip to Yale University's endowment fund, which is the third largest endowment fund, 44 billion plus um of money they managed. Our students learned how they go about um selecting the um investments that they invest in. And one of the number one things they look for in their investments are the people. And most importantly, the integrity of the people. And our students heard that message loud and clear. Um they loved getting out of the um out of the uh Cheshire High School and they loved also going into a professional building.
009We were up on the 18th floor of New Haven and just had a wonderful view. So even that experience alone for a lot of our students, they've never seen anything like that. That's part of the experience. Um the Investment Club along with um our other business clubs and students this fall also participated in um an experiential um type of learning called the Stock Market Game Challenge. And this was a true trading floor. There were about um 500 students from schools throughout the state and um students were in teams and there were um traders that were running around. They had to know what trades they were going to either make buy or sell decisions um and they had to react to news that was coming out about the markets and the impact that they might have
010on the stocks um that they were purchasing. So, a lot of great experiences and um curriculum connections um with our business uh with our business club. >> Hi, my name is Natasha Nicholson and I'm a senior. Some of these courses and clubs that I've been part of throughout my four years at Chester High School include Accounting 1, AP Macro, AP Micro, Intro to Business, and Personal Finance along with the business clubs of DECA and FBLA. These classes and experiences have taught me important business skills, whether that be forming connections and networking at various business competitions or also understanding important business concepts such as economics, the flow of money, um how businesses track expenses and revenue in accounting, etc. And I've really grown my passion for business through these different clubs and courses um and it's
011a huge reason why I want to continue pursuing that passion as I move into college. All right. We um do a lot um our students are highly engaged in their own learning. There's a lot of problem-solving, complex thinking, um making thinking visible. I don't know what the time constraints are. Do you want me to just show some your Okay. All right, so let's hear from our next student. >> I'm Jared Hickey. I'm an 11th grader at my high school. I'm taking AP Macroeconomics and I'm an active member of Mock Trial and currently taking CTE Accounting and I've learned so much. Firstly, in AP Macro, I learned about economics on a global scale and the effect of policies. I think that a good example of what of the value of what I've learned is that whenever
012I see news about the Fed taking sort of monetary action in the economy, I understand what monetary policy they are enacting, the cause for it, and the result they hope to achieve. In Mock Trial, I've learned a lot about law and how a court functions, but more importantly, I've become much more confident as a public speaker. Before participating in Mock Trial, stage fright would prevent me from getting a message across clearly and confidently. But with practice in Mock Trial, I've overcome that fear of public speaking. Finally, in Accounting, I'm I'm learning how to keep track of my spending and my earnings. I know that this is an important skill that will be utilized throughout my life. Overall, these classes have helped me become more aware of what's going on in the world, be a better
013communicator, help me with my personal finances, and even widen my scope of careers that I want to pursue. While I don't know for sure that I will become an economist, a lawyer, or an accountant, the skills that I've picked up will help me no matter the career I end up in. So, music to my ears. Our students are making connections, they're understanding um content and things happening with the Federal Reserve and monetary policy uh and they understand what's happening and uh that's really great. Um we offer in the business department 18 different classes. Um these classes mirror many aspects that you will find out in the business world. In the past 5 years since our last curriculum review, um six of our classes became um became college level credit became available. So that's our two
014accounting classes, advanced personal finance, and introduction to business. We we are associated with Tunxis Community College, one of the state colleges. And then we also offer APEC, micro and macroeconomics, and those are connected to UConn credits. So our students could potentially come out of Cheshire High School with 18 college credits just in the business department alone. So we're very we're very proud of that. A lot of our courses too also help students learn skills that they will take and use outside of the classroom and in college and career opportunities. Hi, my name's Brian Stratton. I'm a student here at Cheshire High School and I have taken personal finance, Microsoft One, DE accounting, and AP macro here at Cheshire High School. The business classes here at the high school have really been helpful for me because
015not only have they helped me learn things that will help in my everyday life, but they've inspired me when learning about real world problems and even inspired me in accounting to major in it in the college. All right. Going forward, these are the goals that we're going to work on. And some of these like reviewing our curriculum annually, we always look at that. Just in the world and the curriculum that we teach, it's constantly changing. The business world is constantly changing and we want to keep up with that so our skill our students have the skills and the knowledge they need going forward. We're also working collaboratively to update and maintain our curriculum. That's a big focus of ours, just because things do change um so frequently and we want to keep up with um
016industry practices. Uh we want to continue to um use um and expand on um strategies, BTC, a building thinking classroom stat strategies, making thinking visible. Um and as everybody here I'm sure is aware of, AI is definitely a thing um and we want to see how we can integrate that or use it um in our curriculum as well as teach um students ethical and responsible use of using AI. Okay. In terms of text resources and technology, we have been um keeping up and it's always evolving. Um let's hear from >> and technology we use in business classes really prepare us for the real world. We're not just learning from textbooks, we're using tools like Microsoft Office, Google Suite, and even some financial platforms to complete real-world tasks. It helps us build skills like budgeting, analyzing
017data, and creating presentations, which are things that we'll actually use in college and future careers. Having access to these tools and learning how to use them correctly makes us feel more confident about what comes next after high school. Okay. And um this student over here, this is how >> classes, we started using AI as a tool for marketing and creative projects, and it's been really valuable. We learned how to use AI to generate ideas, create content, and analyze target audiences, but also how to think critically and not rely on it completely. It's helped me understand how marketing is evolving and how businesses are using technology to be more creative and efficient. I feel like I'm gaining real-world skills that will give me an advantage in college and future careers, especially in fields like marketing and
018business. All right. Um going forward in terms of our upcoming goals, we'd like to continue to incorporate the wide range of technologies, texts, and other resources that we that we use. This really does help support real-world applications, student engagement, and problem-solving. Increase opportunities for student use of technology, again helping them research, analyze, create, and apply the concepts that concepts that they are learning in class using those technologies. And also again working with emerging technologies just to support student learning going forward. The next thing that we that we looked at were our instructional strategies and Matthew Elliott is going to share with us his experience. Hi, I'm Matthew I'm a senior at West Ranch High School. During my four years here, I've taken many business classes such as dual enrollment accounting, AP macro and microeconomics, and
019a couple more. In these classes, we used a lot of interactive techniques that helped make gaining the material easier to understand. For example, in accounting, we played a game called Payday, which is where we work with our table mates to journalize transactions from the game. We also used a flipped classroom approach where we completed visual notes for homework to introduce accounting concepts before practicing them in class. During the class time, we would do independent practice while the teacher would walk around helping students who needed it. In AP macro, we played a game called Grab It to help reinforce proper graphing techniques and analyze different economic situations. We also used vertical white boards to collaborate with our classmates and work through macroeconomic problems together. One fun activity that we did was creating macroeconomic themed holiday ornaments,
020which is where we worked with our tables while applying the economic concepts. All right. And so those are in addition to um direct instruction, just lots of different options and opportunities for students to learn. Um going forward, these are the goals that we would like to um like to expand on. Um expand building thinking classroom activities, promoting visible thinking, collaboration, and uh responsive instruction. Um like to do a little bit more about um collecting and using student data with our 18 different courses. There's not a lot of people who teach common courses. So with the common courses um that this would be um great. Um and then to analyze the data, look at instructional look at um maybe instructional strategies that we might want to um to Um and then just also continue to increase
021um any connections to the real world um through our projects, simulations, case studies, um and those help students build critical thinking skills um and decision-making skills. All right. Uh we looked into um or we asked students about um assessment and their um and their thoughts. >> Keen. I'm a senior at CHS and I'm currently enrolled in accounting one. For the midterm project, we had to create a business on wheels while staying within a certain budget. So we had to research, cost, analyze, journalize, and post transactions. And then on the exam day, we had to interpret these in a Shark Tank-like presentation to our classmates and ask them for a loan and show how that loan would improve our business. This project makes us think critically, and show all the knowledge we learned in the first
022semester, in addition to gaining experience with this type of presentation, which is useful for college. All right. I'm not sure. Just Hi, my name is Paige Chrzanowski, a sophomore at Cheshire High School. Since my freshman year, I've been taking courses in the business department, where we learn real-world skills like budgeting, banking, investing, credit, and financial decision-making. I've also developed professional technology skills like keyboarding, formatting business letters, and reconciling bank statements. Through projects, we get to create our own ideas, like building a business concept, interviewing a business owner, or developing products and marketing strategies. I think this work feels authentic, and gives us opportunities to apply what we learn to real-life situations. All right, and one last one. Hi, my name is Tyler Lutini. I'm a sophomore at Cheshire High School, and I've taken two courses
023in the business department. The two courses I've taken are Intro to Business and Personal Finance. There are two experiences that really stood out to me um while taking these classes, and they were interviewing the owner and founder of an insurance company, and then creating my own business plan called Showbox, a temperature-controlled lunchbox designed to keep food at the right temperature. During the interview project, I had the opportunity to meet with the owner and founder, and learn a lot about how the insurance industry actually operates, and how a business like that is built and run. Experiences like this help me make connections, and take what I'm learning in class, and then apply it to the real world. It allowed me to think creatively, apply business concepts, and then learn from the experience in a really meaningful
024way. All right. Um going forward, we'd like to continue to expand um our use of authentic assessments. Um students we do students do reflect on um on different assignments, but we want to add more um more student reflection after um completing assignments. Um so that's another goal. We'd like to continue to um strengthen and look at our assessments and improve on those. Um and then we'd also um like to bring in um local business people um when kids are giving presentations to you know, have them see what the students are are doing um for different assessments um and then to get feedback. So we think that might be a little something fun for the students and for >> partners in Cheshire right now in the area? >> So we um we do work with we
025um we have guest speakers come in, not a a like a specific partnership. There used to be a little bit stronger um many years ago when we had the school to business partnership um Prior to COVID, it was really robust. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So um but we have guest speakers come in. Actually Matt Colehour, he came in um late fall and he spoke with our business classes and shared his experience um with this uh the company Gruen's that he um that was just recently sold. Have you heard about that? >> Yes. So that was serious. And now he's working with a new um an another young startup company. So we're hoping he'll come back in and um share that experience. But just he took our students from, you know, his high school experience um all
026the way through um college, military experience, his career experience. Um and and that it's great when we can bring our guest speakers and bring that into our classroom and our students can make those connections. Last year, I think it was Mark Pease, also had a significant number of folks come and present to the business department. We had um It was written up in the paper. The Boost Oxygen. That was one of the >> presentation. That was That was almost That was a whole half a day. Um, the founders of Boost Oxygen who also were on Shark Tank and received capital funding from Shark Tank. They came and shared their experience um with our students and it was really kind of a nice question and answer flow. Um, that that was really great. So, we we
027have a lot of people um come in as guest speakers, uh but a jo- like a true true like partnership or like internships. So, internships if um we're um actually working right now with the Ball and Socket. Um, we have um four positions I think that are available. I have I think I might have somebody for the marketing um internship. Uh, I would love to I would love for our students to do more uh with internships. Sometimes it's uh our students are very heavily involved in >> [snorts] >> many different activities after school. Bless you. Uh, so it's not We We try to make We try to find the right fit when we can. We do have an internship um when we have enough students we can run um we can run it. Otherwise, every
028once in a while somebody will come and and we'll try to find a fit for um an internship. I know Ball [clears throat] and Socket is interested. Merlina and I spent a few hours with them, right? And they really want our students to come in and and work in different areas, so. Plus, she thinks she has one person in particular. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, that's great. Yeah, and we're still looking at art and I think I copied you on the email that I sent to Ilona after our last meeting. No? That was last week. Okay. But we'll catch up. Yes, yeah. And I she's on my list of of people to get in touch with. Good. All right. So, in our the last piece of our curriculum review is our professional development and we take full
029advantage of the Cheshire Public Schools professional development, whether we're learning about student choice, building thinking classrooms, UDL, but we also take advantage of all types of professional development out there. And I know Lynn last Friday was at a or last week was at a training for AI. Last I I put down here I attended a couple of summers ago. This was the Institute for Real World Education and it was all teachers right as school ended and we went and visited different companies. We went to Jackson Laboratories. We went to the Yale's Quantum Institute. Th- th- th- These are the We had a rocket scientist leading leading our our training and our PD there was it was amazing. Um so, we try to get out of the classroom as much as we can too and visit
030businesses and I just went on the most amazing professional development opportunity. I went to the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting. Um and yes, Warren Buffett was there. He was not leading meeting this year because he just stepped down as CEO, Um, he spoke and they talked about their investment strategy and their investment partners and it was just a great experience that I'm able to bring back um, into the classroom and just share, you know, for years to come um, experiences like that. So. >> have a lot of students going into finance in college? We do. We have finance, uh, accounting, but there's um, economics. Uh, I think I think we inspire students in many different ways, but those those are just three areas. There's so there's so many, you know, there's so many careers that
031are out there now and so many careers to be discovered um, with the shift in um, the shift in our our world today. So. Those are just some of the things that we do. All right. Um, going forward, goals that we would like to accomplish when it comes to professional development is we would like to we do need to learn a lot I think everybody does a lot more about AI and how to incorporate AI into our curriculum instruction and assessment. Uh, we need to learn how to teach students ethical and responsible um, and productive use of AI. Uh, we'd like to um, learn more about Hello. About um, making thinking or or practice more making student thinking visible um, and we'd also like to learn more um, and incorporate UDL um, strategies and teaching
032practices in our classroom. So, to um, just I hope you will see that um, learning in the business department is exciting. Um, it is um, we try to keep as up to date as possible. We are innovative, dynamic, and authentic. Thank you. Any questions? Tim? I have no valid questions for this one. This is my fault. Sorry. Happy to see you. Could we get that on PowerPoint? Sure. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, we teach you at this point at Saxton College as you may this does come to mind. Um basic finance, checkbooks, stuff like >> back to the uh uh second or third Oh, yeah. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yeah. So, we we offer 18 business um different business classes. Um and I was just saying um five essence our presentation five years ago through now
033um six of those classes are for college credit. Okay. So, um we um we've partnered with Tunxis um one of the um Connecticut College um system schools. Um accounting one, two, advanced personal finance, introduction to business, um and then we partnered with UConn, and we have AP ECE micro and macroeconomics. And uh though and those are among the um the courses that we teach. So, I'm thinking where I'm coming from it is just a it's just intended to be very practical. So, when I was in high school, I got a lot of it either from my parents or from Danny Park. Yes. And he's he's your guy all the time. I'm so glad you remember him. He's a legend. He really was. He had a huge impact. He helped me get a a summer business
034camp at Norwich Free Academy. Mhm. He he suggested I apply for it. I did. I got it. It was it was fantastic. Um but I'm just wondering um when kids leave high school, they're adults. Maybe, you know, maybe not necessarily >> They're on their own. or tax fully adults, but some of the basic things for for them could be like just a checkbook. So, this this is music to my ears. Our personal finance course, and I took this out of the presentation. I should have kept it in. Um we were recognized by NextGen Personal Finance in 2023. We received their their gold star award for being one of the few high schools in Connecticut that actually made personal finance a graduation requirement. >> Okay. And we're not just teaching uh budgeting. And I shouldn't say
035just. We are teaching budgeting, and students are learning those skills. Um if you asked my class, "What is budgeting 101?" Rule 101, you know, don't spend more than you earn. Um but we go right? Basic >> No. >> [laughter] >> Oh, and we do. We look at we look at the national debt clock, but I then I get so nervous. I've got to I can't look at it for very long. But they look at it with me. Um so, we um we are getting into budgeting, basic money management. Students are learning about credit cards, using credit card debt, paying your bills on time, and preferably in full. They're learning that concept. Um they are learning about how to um how to shop for a car, what um what kind of car loan should you get
036if you have to take on a car loan. Does it really matter if the car loan is 3 years versus 7 or 8 years? Can you believe car So, they're learning. They're doing the math behind it. They're seeing how much they're going to pay in interest. Uh let me see. Right now, um today we were they were researching mutual funds, and they were learning about what should you look for your employer when you invest in a 401k plan. They're going to hand you a list of maybe 30 different mutual funds. Pick the one that's best for you. And people have no idea. They're looking at all of these names. So, they research the mutual fund. They saw they're reading the product summary. They're looking at the mutual funds um benchmark. They're looking at the risk
037level of mutual funds. They're looking at the expense ratios. So, I could go on and on, but I won't. But, yes, our our students their final budget project, and we didn't talk about it in this presentation because we focused on it 5 years ago, and we wanted to share out other things happening in the um classes in the business department. But, their final budget project is their their um research they're finding a career that they really want to pursue. They're going to fight figure out how much money they make. From that, they're going to look at their monthly budget. They're going to look at what their gross income is, their net income. They have to get their own apartment. They have to They have a car payment. Um it's real for a lot of kids.
038Many of them are seniors. They have to have a conversation with their parents. Did you save any money for me? Because if you didn't, the college I go to, I might have to take out some student loans. But, we talk so talk about choices. You have choices um you know, with where where you go and what you do. Um and then they have all the other bills to pay. Insurance, electric, water, um everything. So, oh yes, don't forget our cell phone bill, cable. Um so, they go through that project, the research, and then at the end, they look at their largest expenses. They reflect, um and then they give advice to somebody else, um, in terms of budgeting. So, I think we we cover we cover a lot when it comes to personal finance and
039teaching those, um, foundation financial foundation skills that you hope everybody has by the time they leave high school. Yeah, no, that's great. And I apologize, I don't recall the conversation specifically from 5 years ago, but I do This is just for me, I look at the Cheshire school system when I was a student and now, and I feel that it does a really great job with kids who are moving toward college. And they will have some of the personal finance some of those personal finance, um, uh, concerns that they'll need to take care of, but the kids who are not going to college, it could get My feeling is it probably could get more real for them faster than somebody who's going to college. Where you might have your meal plan and paid for, and
040therefore you're just not really thinking about that other than it's a component of your student debt, but they don't have the grocery bills going every week. Well, go back Yeah. It It's so It's just where I come from. I I think I just want to make sure that we're giving, uh, those kids as much attention and I Yeah, it's it's for every everybody takes the personal finance course. Yeah. So, no matter what, you know, what their plans are after high school. And I I know I I have students that are are going into that, you know, HVAC or some type of, you know, hands-on hands-on job. I I have a I have a mix of students that are and then students that are going to college as well. Yeah. Thank you, I appreciate it. Sure.
041We talked about internships, too. Oh. In the area. They have investigated some where our kids go out into There's a couple that may be opening up at Quantum-Cocket. And so yeah. >> Yeah. How many people are in each class? They have a lot of community people coming in, but now we want to flip that a little bit and have our kids go out Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. getting some hands-on experiences. Okay. Um Next, I think we'll go back now to the new textbook recommendation for physics. Julie Barker, our um science department chair, is and our physics teacher, one of our two physics teachers, is here to talk about a unique way that she has found to address um a getting an updated resource for that physics class. Yeah, we we've been uh really searching for
042quite some time for an updated physics text. Uh the textbook we're currently using, we're using physical textbooks because the online component has sunsetted a couple years ago. Um And you know, we stayed with that book because we really felt like it was a good resource, but we kept looking for something new and a different option. Um and there really there aren't a lot of different options out there for high school physics textbooks for the course courses that we teach. So, we're looking at for our honors physics and our standard physics course um trying to find something that fits a true high school algebra-based physics course. Um which is what we offer for our students. So, in really looking outside the box a little bit, uh we looked at OpenStax Physics, which is an online textbook.
043It is really designed to be completely online. Um and it a unique factor about it is that uh the online access is free. Uh it's through a nonprofit. Um And so the online access is completely free. The only cost associated with it would be to purchase hard copies of a text if a student needed that for their IEP or 504. Um because again it's it's meant to be that that online. Um and as we went through our textbook evaluation process, we really looked at comparing it with some other texts and and going through some texts that we had looked at in the past to see if things have been updated. Um and we went through our review process with uh our evaluation template and we kind of came to the point where we still had
044questions. So, we really looked in detail and looked at what are the problem-solving strategies associated and what are the needs that we need the textbook to provide for us. And really um the textbook is meant to be a supplement. It is not something that drives our curriculum. Uh we have uh current instructional strategies, our current pedagogy incorporated into our curriculum as it is. Um and honestly, Cheshire is ahead of the game with that. Uh we are making the students think critically. We are incorporating the strategies that you heard Leslie talk about in our classrooms as well. Um so we really want a content resource for our students that maybe could provide some supplemental support for problem-solving, could give some guided examples, and we found that the OpenStax Physics really provided that. Um and digging into
045it really in detail as a physics teacher, I I kept coming back to the it's just good physics. Um it's expressed clearly, everything is outlined clearly. Um it's It's supportive tools for students to use uh with some embedded checks for checking their understanding. It's got guided problem-solving. It's got a lot of interactive links. So, uh using simulations and videos to reinforce the concepts, which is why it really is meant to be an online text. It's not meant to be a printed book necessarily. Um So, we really felt like this was uh something that matched our needs in terms of a content resource to supplement what we already do in the classroom and to supplement our curriculum, which embeds the practices, the strategies, the things that we know the students need today. Um And this would
046then just be the the content support for us. And there was a committee that reviewed Yeah, the the committee that reviewed it uh was myself and the other physics teacher uh Bud Agarwal, who has been teaching for many years. Um and again, we this has been a multi-year process. Um we had kind of come to the table with looking at, "Well, this this textbook would be really interesting, maybe, but it doesn't have some of the content that we need in certain areas. Um or it doesn't really match our curriculum that we teach here, so it would be difficult to implement without completely overhauling uh what we've already put in place. Um so, that's kind of what happened with some of the other resources that we looked at. Um So, we looked at two other texts
047in addition to this one. Um and then when it came to this one, we really found that it it really met our needs. So, he and I met, we we We with textbook representatives, we did a whole bunch of research into OpenStax about things even going so far as looking at what you know, what does it provide in terms of accessibility and equity? And they have quite a robust uh process to review for inclusivity. Uh we were very impressed by that. Uh and that it is constantly reviewed. So, if you get a textbook that has a content error or or a bias in it and it's a static textbook it it's there, right? This is continually being reviewed. So, it has uh this ongoing review process. Um so, we met >> one of the things
048I'll I'll jump in is uh Julie brought a recommendation a couple of times. So, we had some questions as well and uh we as Dr. Rita and myself in this and we asked for and and other teachers around to go back and do some really in-depth like side-by-side comparisons. Take one of those tricky concepts in physics, take a couple of the texts that you're looking at, put side-by-side and one of the things that helped us forward the recommendation was really the depth of content and what was on here that some of the other resources were lacking. So, even if they may have overlaid instructional design on it, it was not going to get to the level of review that they were looking for. So. Yeah, I found that very helpful in the process um because
049like I said, when we went through the first review textbook, there were some questions. And so, when uh I met with Kevin and Maureen, you know, we really talked about, you know, how can we how can we really make sure this is going to be a good resource for our students? And we are talking about students in both the honors physics course and the standard physics, which is juniors and seniors. Um and for next year, we have three sections of the honors physics and two of the standard physics. Yeah, thank you. Thanks for mentioning it's juniors and seniors. That's what I'm assuming the same applies to the AP year. That might just be seniors. Uh the AP is juniors and seniors as well. Um so I'm not sure if this question for you, it might
050be for Arlene, I'm not sure. Uh so I think what I'm seeing here at like a relatively low cost because it's online, so that's great, but that also I just feel we should balance that with the age appropriateness of being online. So kindergarteners, as far as I'm concerned, minimize it as much as possible. We're talking juniors and seniors in high school. I'm just wondering if you could speak to that a little bit about like a balancing act because I think a senior in high school really should be online, you know, quite a bit cuz that's the real world that they're entering, whereas a kindergartener, it's different. Um just as the kids go up as the kids age, how does that change? Like 0% for a kindergartener and 90% for seniors and like just the thoughts
051behind that. I think we have a mix of uh for our for our juniors and seniors, there's a mix of hard copy books and online subscriptions. And I think what we've seen, and this is like a a pendulum's swing, right? Is that a lot of these platforms offer so much that they have gone to the kinds of things that Joey's talking about. There's so many ways to watch videos and see different interactions that you just can't get with the textbook. Oh, physics, absolutely. I mean, I'm thinking of like force and motion and stuff. Yeah, it is >> we hear from our students that given the option, they're not going to stick a big clunky physics book or a history book in their backpack, they're going to take their laptop and and call it a day.
052So, we have books available, you know, hard copy books available in the classrooms for students who might have it in their IEP or they might have a 504 for a visual issue. But, by and large, any teacher that we talked to, the the books are in the classroom and they're they're more prevalent to take the the online version. Now, that being said, you know, in science that we've been slowly phasing out any science textbooks at the elementary school. They're at all online subscriptions and they're going to all hands-on curriculum that doesn't even have a book because we don't need it. It's all generated in house. So, we're using different resources. But, you know, we we talked about this. Certainly, kindergarten, we want kids off technology as much as possible. By the time they get to
05311th and 12th grade, for those, you know, who who who come back from college and talk to us, they're all online textbooks that they're buying. Very rarely are they purchasing anything that's digital. And to talk specifically, uh, from Fisk's standpoint, they, you know, thinking about the online textbook, they're not on that in class that much. I mean, they may be for part of it, they might be using it for a reference or to do some homework problems, to pull up what the questions are, but in the class, you know, they're working with they're working together to solve problems, they're working, uh, with lab materials. The textbook isn't the primary way we convey material. So, again, as Ken has said, digging into we particularly looked at two-dimensional motion and vectors, which is something that students sometimes
054struggle with and is an area where we might say that, "Okay, we want to have that extra piece that they can go to." And being the online textbook, uh, would be that that piece for us, but it's not our primary curriculum driver. Uh, I think we're kind of gone are the days where you purchase a textbook and that's your curriculum, you know? That's not the right way to do it. So, is there a cost for a license for each student? No, there is not. The online licensing uh is is free. We would have to get a privacy policy in place and that would be a process that we would have to put through uh through with our tech people. Uh but to access the book online for students is free. Um And Marilyn, I assume
055this $2,420 we have in the total number by day right now. Uh if I can just clarify, that would be the cost to buy a full class set and I think at this point we have kind of decided we really we're going to instead purchase hard copies on a case-by-case basis for the students because as we had dug even more into it, it really is more effective as the online resource. Um so, we would not be purchasing 30 copies to begin with. We would simply purchase We would look at our student population and see what students needed that at in addition to. Right. If a student says, "Gee, do you have a textbook?" We would already know what. I don't think any longer having all of these makes sense. They take up [snorts] a lot
056of space. But don't we know right now? I mean, if we looked if we ordered it through the IEPs and the 504 plans, we could see. We could do that. I don't want to chance that waiting, you know, a couple weeks. >> No, but that's part of the summer work that the the team does as they're planning their turnover to next year. Yeah, once the students are enrolled, we can certainly look at those lists and and anticipate that so that we're not behind in getting those to them. Does it Thank you. So, uh two questions. You just mentioned the enrollment. When is that This is a process-related question. When does that happen? I thought that already happened for high school. It's happening It's happening right now. Got it. So, it'll end in the next Yeah,
057I agree. schedules Yeah. We load students in. And then I say we We going to meet Dr. Reed and directors for counseling and Shell Austin. And then they're working to resolve any of the discrepancies. Yeah. By the time students walk out, they'll have an idea of their courses that they're scheduled for. They'll get the hard schedules before they come back into So, most kids will have a a very good idea of what they're taking next year, including the physics, and you would Yes. You would say that >> then look at it. Yeah. And you'll have an idea of who has an IEP, a 504. You're not 100%, but you'll have a pretty good idea within the next 2 weeks. But we we will. Um And I mean, I don't think we have a problem with
058having some books there at the beginning of the school year. Okay. Yeah. I think it should be. Yeah. Yeah. Because there also is the kids like you you said before what I heard you say was it's not strictly limited to a 504 or an IEP. If somebody really does have a >> wants a book, we'll get them a book. Got it. 100%. Okay. I I found over the you know, cuz we have transitioned over the recent time to the online textbooks with the hard copy in class um over the past 5 years. I I would say even without COVID making an impact, there has been fewer and fewer students requesting a physical copy. Um as the online textbook platforms have improved, I think they've become much more easy for the students to interface, and they're
059so used to being able to use the tools like highlighting, like saving their notes, which you can do with this platform. And even the simple things like adjusting the font size. You know, and >> of us have to do more than others. >> [laughter] >> So, you know, they have become more adept with that and also I think the textbook platforms themselves have become much more user-friendly. It's not the old 200-page PDF file that you're scrolling through. You know, that's not what we're we're experiencing with this anymore and the students um really are finding that barrier. Very few students have been asking for that. Um you know, the the exceptions are students who I've had students who have who have vision issues uh or who have things that suffer with migraines uh and that glare
060from the computer screen becomes an issue for them or they have an IEP or 504 and they need this in addition to having the online access. Yeah. Oh, just one thing. Yeah, no problem. But so in the past, textbooks would go to the library. I should have asked my question. What is the process? Yeah, how are we going to do that? We can provide I'm not saying we should. Like I mean we're changing. I get it. No, but I think that's I think we put a message at the library just like we put the book at the library. >> Okay. Where we give them the URL with a with a little QR code that they can go and they can access it. We'll do the same thing And you have to bring it back. We'll
061do the same thing. I'm just thinking maybe in the future like for us, right? For voting on this. Like if we could see some of it, you know, if we actually because we would go through the textbook here. Oh, I think I can pull it up. I think this I'd love to see just a quick sample. with the link to the online textbook. So, everybody has this in in the agenda. You can absolutely in the next 2 weeks [clears throat] go there, click on the link, and you can play in it and see what they have and you can look at all the tools, etc. Is that the standard time that you would have like a book in a 2-minute Yeah. No, I I'm trying to think about it. I'm like, music would music would
062be really good to be online, but physics to actually see it in sort of a three-dimensional scheme. So, this is It could be far more possible than a textbook. This is the landing page. Okay. And there's instructor resources, which you have to log in to access. So, I I created a login and I was verified as being a an instructor. Um and then I was able to access that. Um but if we just click view text online, they always ask you send a thank you note, but we'll just go to our book. Um and we can go to whatever unit we want to take a look at. Um we can look at motion in two dimension. And we can look at vector addition, which is a tricky concept. It talks It gives you hints on
063how to do highlights. Uh so, you can highlight, you can do ask to do practice questions. Um it has key terms at each section. Um this is going through adding vectors using the graphical method, which and has a nice tips for success and really detailed uh guided practice. And then can have visualizations, so there's a a link to a video. Could you click that? Yeah. This Oh, okay. So, yeah. So, no, what I was thinking Some of them are literally a video of somebody talking. >> And you see Yeah, no, what I was thinking about is um motion, just as an example, where you could visualize it. Where you would not be able to visualize it in a Yeah. textbook. Yeah. Yeah, so um certainly in a different unit, you know, there's But it does
064have presence at the building thinking classrooms conference of summer. There's lots of other ways besides the textbook. She's got to measure motion. We've got sensors, we've got readouts, we've got cars, we've got all sorts of things that work. So Yeah, plenty plenty of plenty of things in addition to the text. Yeah, and and that is another key point. It's that this text is a supplement to what we do in the classroom. So for visualizing things like motion, there's nothing better than not going to the textbook and not going to a video, but doing it yourself and experiencing it yourself and working together to make meaning out of that and understanding it. But this this is a nice resource for for supplementing. And as I said, it has that practice embedded and it has end of
065chapter review um like any textbook. It does have a a quite a few um makes use of the fat simulations that we use quite a bit already. We put it in the library at the public library across the street. We put it in the library at the high school. We send an email to families letting them know that the physics textbook is up for a two a two two week review. You could even include the link. Now they don't even have to go anywhere to go see it. We just include the link in the email and we'd give them two weeks. We have a a form there that they can give us some feedback on and then we bring it to the board. Who is that? Is that current physics students or next year's physics
066students? No, it will be the library. This is the location of where it will be on public display. Oh, I thought you were saying you sent links to people. Sorry. We we will to the parents. Parents of who? Current physics students or next year's physics students? Well, everyone in the district. Everyone in the district. Can you >> Letting them know Yeah. everybody Okay, okay, okay. We'll we'll get that from Carol. She has a a link that where she posts if it's a fourth [clears throat] grade book, if it's a sixth grade book. Okay. Yeah. Cuz anybody can chime in. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yes, some of our students are using the physics textbook published in 2012 and certainly they were Yeah, so we do want the input from from the entire district. Thank you.
067Yeah. Okay, so we're voting on this. Okay, great. Um we could vote to move it to the full board after a two-week public review. So you have to make that up. Yeah, I have to make that up. So can I list it as a two-week meeting? Yes. Two weeks? Yes, cuz we also have that last board meeting on June 30th if you're willing to Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, good. All right, we're good. Um so do we have a motion or Yes, I would now like to make a motion to move that the We can make it right there. There's the textbook name. We'll post that. >> Make a I make a motion to recommend to the full board the adoption of a new textbook for physics titled OSX Physics for High School by P. Paul
068Peter Urone and Roger Hinrichs. After a two-week public review. After a two-week public review. Second. Okay, I second it. Any discussion? All in favor? [clears throat] All right. What a team. Would you like to do the minutes that way, too? So we have minutes from April 20th, All right. 2016. I make a motion to recommend to the full board No. I know. >> [clears throat] >> We we did it? Approve the second one. We approve it? Okay. Got it. I make a motion to approve the minutes of the Cheshire Board of Ed Strategic Planning Committee meeting of Monday, April 20th, 2026. I second it. Any discussion? All in favor? I. All right, so Okay. Um next >> [clears throat] >> Assistant Superintendent It is if you all need to They need to be at the
069next meeting, I can fit that. If not, I'll let you know. Okay, why don't we um Are there any real highlights that anything that you need or feel you want us to know? All of them, but I Of course all of What is Where is the next meeting? Right here. Right here. >> Oh, we just keep going. >> even outside? Yeah, there's nobody I mean, if anybody's Okay, go ahead. All right. Who are we Who are we waiting for? Jeff and then the full board? If they come. I don't know who's coming. Two of them won't be here, Okay, okay. So, we just keep going. >> Okay. So, the Cheshire Strategic Planning Committee meeting has been gathering to talk about AI and AI implementation in state um in the district. I updated you about that
070last time we met. I also wanted to note that the District Instructional Leadership Team meeting will be meeting tomorrow. These are teacher leaders from across all K-12 facets of the school system. We're also focusing on MAI and crafting an AI literacy outline for students as part of gathering information, and that will be launched next year. We also have a tour of Barlow School this Thursday after school for paras, for LSTs, for nurses, for secretaries, music, PE, library, media specialist, folks who because of budgeting and different um uh conversation channels are finding out a little a little later where they'll be going to school. Norton doesn't need one because they have enough They're so close that Jody is able to be at school in there a little bit more frequently. Um curriculum writing has begun. Ezra
071has been holed up in this room with um many of our reading and math specialists and our coaches trying to get a jump start on some of the curriculum writing. Um it's not the same as curriculum writing institute being that we don't have a lot of teachers involved, but we do have a communications loop so that teachers will be aware of what's happening and we'll be soliciting their feedback. And then uh lastly, we've begun talking about, you know, what's been going on with our math pathways and just concluded conversations with our middle school teachers to see how this change over the last 2 years has impacted them, how it's impacted the students, to get their feedback, and to talk about moving further. And in the next coming days, we'll be meeting with math teachers at
072the high school in 9th through 12th, soliciting their feedback to better understand the teachers' experience and making plans for next year. That is it. So, have you talked to those math teachers already because one of one grade that's over there kind of went through some of the new math that uh Both seventh and eighth grade. Right. So, you mean freshmen and sophomores. This is for teachers. So, we're But I'm just saying, have any teachers seen any changes with the students that are coming over from that area? >> that yet. The This plan started in seventh grade. Those students are now in eighth grade. The big transition is going to be those students headed up to to ninth grade, which is one of the other reasons why we're wanting to engage them in some conversations cuz
073they're a little bit nervous. So, maybe yeah, but maybe you can put that on an agenda in early fall so we get some feedback on how that worked in the It's part of that three-pronged approach where we've gotten teachers, which is what I told you we were talking about, solicit the students as well. So, it's all part of that. Feedback would Two things, if there's time. I think this is the the uh maybe the bigger one. Um if we move forward with the superintendent's recommended budget, >> Yes. based on the conversations we've had so far, I'm thinking this is not impacted. We have the two extra DOT teachers. Yes. Is that right? I wouldn't call them extra, but yes. I don't think they're >> Two additional. Incremental. [laughter] Incremental. FTEs. [clears throat] Um It does
074that result in uh Kelly moving away from study halls or whatever you call them, I something, I forget. That's what the goal is. She's She's working on She's working on those I blocks. I don't know if she'll be able to eliminate them completely next year, but it's a move in the right direction. So, that brings me back to And do we vote on that at all? No. Okay, so that was informational. So, I will go back to what was I think it was the first meeting I was in in January, first curriculum committee meeting, where we had a discussion and there was interest on the part of the board members about something, maybe not recess, but something akin to it, where kids would have some sort release valve. Yeah. So, not necessarily like an I
075block, but something. Um so, I'm just curious about that. And then the last thing, cuz I already mentioned this to Jeff last week, but I'm going to take it a step further. Uh I had mentioned to him, asked about the possibility of uh having a tech high school here in Cheshire. And he said, you know, we've got Platt next door. It's that kind of thing. Okay, totally fine with that. But I happen to be reading an article um today that was discussing it at a national level. And I think what it said for Connecticut was it's we're at the point where only 44% of kids who want to go to technical high school get accepted. It's done on a lottery system. Do you know anything about this? It's not really your purview, but They're not
076They're not taken into Wilcox and Platt and those places on the >> Yeah, sorry, Wilcox. I said Platt, I apologize. >> They They are There's an application process that they need to go to go through. And that's done at the middle school. So, um representatives from those high schools that are local to us come and they do a presentation for our students. And then students have the opportunity to apply. They have the opportunity to to to visit to visit I'm not sure if they're still visiting. And then they complete the application process. They have to get letters of recommendation from teachers, from their counselors, submit their transcripts. That's the process that exists right now in our location. Are there kids who apply who I'm not sure exactly what their criteria are. I would imagine um
077Are there any like significant numbers of kids who apply from Dodd and don't get in? I don't have the numbers on me right, but I'm sure there are every year some students who are not accepted. When I worked at the middle school and we had that application process, some years there were students who did not get accepted to those programs. >> And for a good reason, not like they were arrested or something. Okay. I'm just saying it was for >> Sometimes it's just room. Well, no, but that's my point. And so, what this article was talking about, in case you hadn't seen it, it basically said Montville Monty up in Massachusetts was an example." And what they did was, due to the lack of space in the technical high schools in Massachusetts, they created what
078they called an annex. It's almost like an expanded an expansion almost almost like what we're doing at I'm thinking similar to what we're doing at for pre-K. Um anyway, I'm just putting this out there as something that's on my mind because I I think it I think it's really unfortunate if a kid would benefit a lot from technical high school, may very well not be interested in going to college, and then they don't get accepted because of a lack of space when it's I I look at it like, "Why?" It doesn't seem right to me to have the Connecticut education system designed to go to college, and those kids all get a seat in a public school, but not necessarily a tech school when they they may know at relatively early age that they don't
079want to do I was talking to one kid, and this is probably really unusual situation. Guy who's 25, he started as a plumber at age 12 cuz his dad was a plumber. That was the path he was taking. And for him, if if he went to a technical school or wanted to and wasn't admitted, it's like, "Wow, this is just crazy." That particular situation, which may very well be an anomaly, but I know that we offer public education to everybody, and I just feel like it would be really unfortunate um kids are not able Have an opportunity. to have that opportunity if they have a pretty good idea. And we can't do all things for all people, I get that. But uh it's just something that's on my mind that if there were any way
080to ever You're good at working the stuff in over time. I very much appreciate that. So, I'm just putting it out there. Um I'll send you the article and you can take a look at it. >> a compelling argument. You know, I appreciate your points. And yeah, I'd love to see the other one. Okay. Make a recommendation to end the meeting? Motion to adjourn. Second. All in favor? Okay, now that we have a full board