MUFSD Board of Education Meeting, November 20th, 2025

001I need a motion to approve the minutes of the November 20th border bed. No, this is no of the October 16th board of ed meeting. >> I make a motion. >> I need a second. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Now I need a motion to accept the claims, financials, and treasurers report. >> Make motion. I need a second. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Anyone have anything to talk about um that's already on the agenda? Feel free to come up to the podium. >> Okay, now we're up to the superintendent report. >> Okay. Um welcome everybody. Uh some of the happening since we were together last and some upcoming events. Uh we held the wall of honor ceremony here last Monday um to honor uh staff and uh alumni that have served

002in the armed services. There were 10 new inductees. We now have a total of 185. This is an event that we started in 2017. So I want to thank Mr. Burke for coordinating um that event this year and then all of our community members who uh support and sponsor that. We had our junior high play here last Friday evening. The Ransom of Emily Jane. We had some of the junior high students come up and uh view the play here in the junior high. That was the the best audience I think we had for the play. Packed House. Um on November 25th, the day before uh the recess for Thanksgiving, uh districtwide, uh we'll have a 15minute early dismissal. Um, so each of our schools will release 15 minutes earlier than usual and then schools will

003be closed Wednesday, November 26th through the 28th for Thanksgiving recess. So I hope everybody enjoys time with their friends and families. Um, always a best holiday of the year, I think. Um, the annual MCTA turkey trot run is on Thanksgiving morning here at 9:00. You can register online um, using the QR code found on the district website. Um, will you be running this year, Mr. Burke? >> I will. Uh, there is a competition. Beat Mr. Burke or beat Burke. Um, which should be easy. I do have a pulled muscle in my >> Excuses already. [laughter] Excuses. >> Mr. Minor, but I'm going to do my best. >> I do have to say, if you've never participated in that, it's a great event while someone's cooking to get out of the kitchen and come down here

004and and walk it, run it. It's really, really good. So, >> think about it. And then we have our upcoming winter concerts. All of our concerts start at 7 o'clock. The junior high will be on December 9th. The high school will be on December 10th. Our fourth grade concert will be on December 15th. And the fifth and sixth grade concert will be on December 16th. So that always helps get you into the holiday spirit. Um with just a few months into the school year, we have already begun to review dates and details for the district calendar for next year. Um it's going to prove to be a bit of a challenging calendar to get started in that uh Labor Day is until September 7th. So we know our first day for students will be on

005September 8th, which is a very late start and then we got to fit everything in and get ready for the regents with the last day of classes being June 25th. So, um, more to come with that as we try to figure out what holidays we could fit in and and how, uh, that late start's going to impact our breaks. Um, also at this time of year, speaking of calendars, we're starting to kick off the budget process, uh, assessing the district needs and uh, building uh, department um, building it by uh, the building and department and reviewing meetings um, to get ready to present in uh, February, early February to the board of ed, but that process has begun with our teachers and administrators. Um [clears throat] now, uh the Suffach County Police Department has just

006released guidance on laws, um about ebikes and ecooter operation. Um I'll be sharing this with families tomorrow and um the uh it'll go out in a parent square and the administrative team will be reviewing this as well to kind of see how it impacts us and uh the impact of students taking the ebikes to school. But this is a push uh countywide um from the Suffach County PD, South Hole PD um along with schools to kind of reel it in. We knew this was coming as they were becoming more and more popular that uh something would would be coming out. Um for the board, I'd ask you to save the date for Longwood's legislative breakfast. That's going to be on Saturday, February 7th. More info will come on Lisa as we get it. Um and

007then we had board members uh breakfast with E and Suffach Bosey's component district superintendent was held last Saturday. Karen and Lorraine attended. Um Karen, you report on that [clears throat] curriculum. >> Okay, >> great. Uh last week we had seven young ladies um and one young man sign letters of intent. We held that ceremony um here at the high school last week. Uh, so we have seven young ladies uh signed for lacrosse and one uh young man signed for baseball. So I want to congratulate Gianna Kiss, McKenna Clark, Paige Kellerin, Claire McKenzie, Kate Oliver, and Grace Quinn, as well as Tyler Brown. And there'll be more to come. Those were early signings, so we uh expect to hold another ceremony later this year. Uh, in athletics as well, I'd like to congratulate Marlo Calammore, an

00811th grader, and Rachel Kubets, a ninth grader, for their achievements at the New York State Cross Country Championships in Queensberry this past weekend. Um, the the 5K course about 3.2 miles, had 130 athletes from all over the state in each class C race. In the boys race, Marlo shattered his personal best by a minute and a half in route to a 17 minute 19 second finish time and was 52nd overall out of the 130 runners. Um, an outstanding effort and performance for this 11th grader. Um, so we're looking forward to him coming back as a senior and doing even better. It's nice to always finish uh with your personal best. Um, and not to get outdone. Um Rachel Kubitz was also in search of our personal best on the biggest stage of a long cross

009country season. Rachel's battled some injuries this year um and setbacks throughout the season, but she remained diligent and determined and finished the year strong, which she did. Um her final race was also her personal best with a time of 21 minutes and 15 seconds, beating her previous best of 22 minutes. Um, this will certainly not be the last time we see Rachel running at the state meet and we look forward to a continued career for her. And then today, the Suffach Times reported that Mike Huey, a retired teacher, coach, athletic director, mentor, um, for the district, he was presented with the Ted Woods Memorial New York State Public High School Athletic Association Boys Soccer Service Award. So, Mr. Huie was honored for for over 41 years of dedicated service to the state to section 11

010and uh 26 years as the county's boys soccer coordinator. So he's been committed to Suffach County soccer and Matatuck soccer for a really long time. Um he was a nine-year coaching had a nine-year coaching career at Matatuck um where he had a record of 109 29 and eight. Um, so it was nice to see Coach Huie get that honor >> and you can still see him on the sidelines of almost every single game we have. >> Yeah. Yeah. He's here watching his grandkids and and just supporting Matuck's soccer. >> Um, and at this time I'm going to go over the district goals briefly um with the board. Every year at this time, um, I like to share the district goals with the board of ed. Again, using the mission statement to drive our goals, right?

011Um, and then the district goals to really help drive department level goals, building goals, um, academic department goals, as well as individual uh, teacher goals. So again, our goals, this is really continuing the work. These goals have been ongoing. They've transformed a little bit um over the years, uh but they've held pretty steady as you know, we've been focusing on academic continued academic excellence, our climate and culture as well as our strategic plan. Um which we added that into the goals last year. Um, so for academic excellence, I just want to really share the focus areas with you. I'm not going to get into the nuts and bolts of it. Um but we are our focus areas for that are expanded diploma pathways um professional development for leadership and instruction support for our ENL and

012special education referrals instructional differentiation our grading practices our graduation practices graduation measures expansion of MTSS into the junior and senior high school as well as focusing more on datadriven instruction. So, those are the those are really the focus areas to support academic excellence throughout the district. I'll be sharing with the board of ed a deeper dive into the goals and um you know what's behind that, what do those things look like and what do they mean for climate and culture. Our focus areas um are datadriven decision- making. Again, we're utilizing um student surveys, teacher surveys. We're focusing on increased attendance, which has been an issue nationwide since COVID. Um restorative practices within our uh discipline. Um really looking at our incident referrals. Um increased communication with all stakeholders and additional studentled initiatives. And then the

013strategic plan I went over with you in depth at at the last board meeting, but it's really our focus areas for that. Um making sure looking out at least five years um for the success of our students, knowing that we want to continue to remain fiscally responsible. We have to acknowledge declining enrollment and program preservation as issues. Um increasing shared services with our neighboring districts. Um again, a continuation of the datadriven decision-making in this area. Um and then looking at staffing and how to best utilize the staff that we have um as far as recruitment and retention, our main goals associated with the strategic plan. Um so that is a a a quick overview. Um again, more details will be coming out, but these this is what's been driving other goals throughout the district and

014I just want to take the opportunity to share that with you. Again, these goals reflect the mission of the district. Um, and you know, again with that, each goal is designed to nurture a passion for learning, promote academic excellence, and foster collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking, trying to pull language right out of the mission statement. Um, so that that again is just driving the focus for for the year. And that concludes my report for this evening. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Okay, now it's the elementary school leadership update. This is one of my favorite things. >> Thank you. >> Um, [snorts] tonight it's my great pleasure. Can you hear me? >> Yeah. >> Tonight it's my great pleasure to introduce our elementary student leadership team. Um, they will be sharing many of the exciting happenings

015at Kutchog East. Um, I'm sure their parents feel this more than I do, but as I'm looking at them tonight, I just remember them when they were in first and second grade my first year at Kutchog East. Um, so I'm really excited to see them tonight present. And um, this is their first presentation as our newly formed leadership team and we're thrilled to have them here. So, I'd also like to recognize and welcome their new adviserss, Miss Emily McKillip, and Miss Sophia Ristoff, along with the student leaders, Nicholas, Charlie, Madlin, Renie, Stella, Jacob, Glenn, and Joshua. Um, these students, along with Miss McKillip, and Miss Ristoff, please come forward to the podium so you can begin your presentation. Hi, I'm Maline Ron and I'm in sixth grade. >> Hi, I'm Reno Piso and I'm in

016sixth grade. >> Hi, I'm Jacob Lucerelli and I'm in fifth grade. >> Hi, my name is Josh Menar and I'm in fifth grade. >> Hi, I'm Nicholas Zamora. I'm in sixth grade. Hi, I'm Glenn Marotti and I'm in fifth grade. Hi, I'm Stella and I'm in sixth grade. Hi, I'm Charlie TR and I'm in sixth grade. Number one, beginning of a new school year. Beginning a new school year. In this school year, a lot has changed. First of all, we changed grades. Second, new kindergarteners came and now we all have kindergarten buddies and we made kids in our grade. As we got settled, we got to make new friends and we met our new teachers and learn new things every day. Number two, welcome committee. The 2024 2025 student leaders created the CE welcoming committee.

017The CE welcoming committee is about greeting kids who are new to Kajog East, making them feel welcome and introducing them to their classmates and teacher. Student leaders get paired up and all get turned showing kids around at Kajog East. Uh third thing on our list is fire prevention. Fire prevention was so inspiring. We heard stories of fears saving lives. We learned what to do in emergencies, so we were prepared. We had fun experiences. For example, putting out a real fire and learning more about what to do in a bus in a bus emergency. For example, we went outside of the bus to know what to do in a case of an emergency. Number four, clubs. Uh, one of our clubs is the the sea musical, The Little Mermaid, which will be February 6th and February

0187th. Another some of the other clubs are the Best Buddies Club, which is kindergarten buddies, garden club, math olympiads, STEM, STEM club, art club, cartoon club, student leadership, which is us, Mindful Journaling, Talker TV Club, and Set Design. Uh, number five, spirit week. We planned each day of spirit week. Tuesday, we planned pajama day. Everyone was allowed to wear comfy clothes. Wednesday, we planned wacky Wednesday when everyone wore mismatched socks and opposite colors, etc. Thursday, we planned career day, where we got to see everyone dressed in their dream occupation. Finally, we planned Friday where every person wore blue and gold um so we could show we represented our uh oh we represented our school colors to show we work as a team number six bully prevention assembly and unity day. Our bully prevention assembly was

019on Monday October 20th at the bully prevention assembly. had wonderful speakers and everyone united and sang out the song of Kachogies. The sixth graders gave bracelets to their kindergarten buddies and spoke in front of a crowd. Sixth grade made posters with their classmates. Each class was assigned a topic related to bully prevention such as community trustworthy and and inclusion. Student leadership designed a dream catcher. Every class in CE decorated a feather to show how united we are. >> Number seven, trunk. >> Trunkor treat. >> On October 24th, Kutchuk East held an event event to never forget. Trunkor treat. >> Many happy faces arrived in cute, silly, scary, and cool costumes. At trunk or treat, some families decorated a trunk and all of them were awesome, providing great candy. >> There were some awards for the

020best costume, the scariest costume, and the cutest costume. All of Kuti students had an awesome time, and it was a trunk or treat to remember. >> Number eight, Thanksgiving food collection. The Thanksgiving food collection started last Wednesday. Students and staff all throughout the schools donated boxed and canned food to families in need. Fifth and sixth graders helped decorate the collection boxes. We also made posters and put a collection box in every hallway. Ninth thing on our agenda is what's coming up. >> What's coming up? Holiday toy collection. Take the halls winter concert. >> [applause] >> Thank you so much. >> You know, I don't know if you guys know how hard it is to stand up in front of this crowd and speak. Even the adults get nervous and you guys blew it out of

021the water. So, thank you so much for coming >> and I [applause] >> so many good things go on at Coach Geese every day that we get to go over and I get to see what the board members don't always get to see it. So, for you guys coming out and sharing with the board and the community, I really appreciate that and you guys did an excellent job tonight. So, thank you so much. >> Thank you [applause] guys. >> A really great job. have a student board member report. >> I'm just waiting to see if they're going to stand. They're debating whether they're going to stand up or not and leave. >> Okay, >> they can go after the high school student. >> Okay, there you go. >> So, our student board member, Laurel Richards,

022will now give a report for the high school. Good evening. There has been many wonderful things happening in our school recently. As a junior and student council executive board president, I would like to address the ways that the students have been supporting our community. For Thanksgiving, we are helping nine families by providing food, paper goods, desserts, and gift cards for perishable items. We will continue that support during Christmas and Hanukkah. We are also running a holiday toy drive to help make the season special for local families. Next Tuesday, we'll be hosting our second annual Day of Gratitude Turkey Bowl. This year, it will include our new marching band, cheer team, and sad club. We'll have three stations focused on kindness and gratitude. Along with our flag football game, which many students are excited for. Yesterday,

023November 19th, student council also brought five student leaders to the League of Women's Voters Con conference. We participated in a Q&A session with many mentors as well as learned what it truly means to serve on the board, including how to listen to our peers, how to communicate effectively, and how to advocate responsibly. Overall, it gave us a better understanding of our roles and strengthened our our confidence as representatives. Our eighth graders are preparing for their day of gratitude where they will support local organizations such as groups group for the East End, our local libraries such as Cutog and Maduk Cast and others. Lastly, I want to highlight the Tucker Cup Challenge started by Mr. Burke. Classes earn points for participating in school events. The winning class will receive a barbecue at the end of the

024year. Currently, the juniors and seniors are tied. So depending how you on who you ask, we're either neck and neck or we're clearly winning. >> Thank you. [applause] >> Okay. Mr. Burke will now recognize the National Merit Program Commended student. >> Goodbye Kutch East families. Thank you for attending. Great job. None taken. [laughter] We have a lot to talk about. Good evening, uh, everyone. It is my honor to recognize the young man sitting right over there with his father, senior Mr. Jay Chen, um, for his outstanding academic achievement. Jay has just been named a commended student in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program, placing him among the top 10% of students nationwide who qualify him as a result of his outstanding performance on the PSAT NMSQT, which is the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. This

025is an extraordinary accomplishment that reflects his academic focus, dedication, and work ethic. Now, each year I get the privilege to review our region scores and our AP scores, which I'll go over uh shortly. Um, and I always come across a few students who accomplished some amazing academic successes. Jay is one of those students who is in a class all of his own. To date, Jay has taken eight AP classes and AP exams. And as you know, these exams are graded on a scale of 1 to five. And I'd like to just clarify so you know, five being the highest score, a five equals a student who has performed exceptional exceptionally well, demonstrating a mastery of understanding of the subject matter, including even the most challenging concepts. A five puts him at the top 10% of

026all test takers for the exam. A score of a five is considered equivalent to an A to an A+ grade in a corresponding college course. Now, I share all that with you because thus far, Jay has received a five a five on five out of the seven AP scores he's ever taken. I think that in itself commands a major round of applause. [applause] Jay, I'd like to ask you to please come up here and present you with this certificate of recognation. Recognition. We are very proud of your achievements and you inspire your peers, strengthen our school community, and you reflect the best of Matuck. Jay, congratulations. [applause] Thank you. Jay, do you have any words you want to say? [laughter] >> I always >> um All right. I would like to thank my parents for

027always supporting me and also my teachers for teaching me everything I know and yeah. >> All right. Very good. [applause] >> Okay. AP regions and state assessment report. >> I I thought Yeah. >> Unless you would like M to go first. Okay. >> It should come up. I don't know. >> I'll pull it up for you. Okay. >> [snorts] [snorts] >> It's actually not Good evening. Um, oops. Good evening, Mr. Petrey, the board of education, and our Matitech Kachchug community. First, I'd like to express my gratitude for this opportunity to share w with you our district's um scores in the 3 through8 New York State assessment data. Um our partnership that's been ongoing is the work of educating our students together. Um we deeply appreciate all of um the partnerships in order to I didn't

028even notice Okay. Um, tonight's presentation and um, accompanying remarks are meant to do three things. Share what where we are as a school community. Thank you. Related to the um, New York State assessments, highlight specific actions that we've taken to support students academic, social, and emotional growth. And outline where we're headed and how we will continue to work together with your support. As you can see, this is our Tucker mission statement. First and foremost, um when we look at the data, it's important to remember that the data is really a story about our students. Every data point that we look at tonight will represent a child who is learning new skills, building confidence, and discovering who they are as a learner and a person. And none of this happens by accident. It's the result of

029the dedicated educators who plan thoughtfully, collaborate with one another, and go above and beyond every day to create a safe, joyful, and rigorous classroom. Our support staff, from teaching assistants to office staff, custodians, maintenance crew, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, and our team of administrators play a critical role in ensuring that students are known, cared for, and ready to learn. This work is driven by our Tucker mission statement. Every single day I witness staff and students demonstrating our Tucker mission statement. Um some of the key initiatives that we'll talk about before we get into um the actual data just to give you a little highlight will be connected to what Mr. Pretty presented earlier related to our goals related to academic excellence and climate and culture as well. So strengthening our core instruction so that all

030students have access to highquality grade level work with support and extension is needed. Intentionally building classroom community through structures such as morning meeting and shared routines that promote belonging, student voice, and respectful relationships and supporting our students social and emotional development by teaching skills like problem solving, self-regulation, and empathy. And by responding to behavior in ways that are both supportive and consistent. Um, so these goals do align with the larger goals of the district that you heard about earlier today. Um, so keep those in mind as long along with the image of our our students um where we're really trying to create a environment where students feel safe and thrive and pri and prioritize their their learning. Um, the one thing that I think is important to think about is our partnership with families and

031the community. uh some of the things that our student leadership showed tonight from Kutchog East. Um they shared some highlights and all of those highlights involve our community and the partnership and I don't think a small a strong school can be in isolation without those partnerships. Um, so again, I think you saw that evidence in their presentation, the family events, the classroom visits, the special programs and moments where community members have come into the building to share their extra expertise and support learning. Part of partnering with our families is um encouraging our students to encourage uh students to participate in these assessments. We've been able to learn a great deal of information from the assessments, from the results of the assessments, and they do provide some valuable data. They are one data point. We have

032other data that we use as well, but that one data point does show us what our students can do and ways that we can improve teaching and learning in our schools. We also remind parents um that the regent's exams that are administered in the junior senior high school um the these tests help students prepare to take them because they learn about the structure and format of the state assessments um when they're in elementary school. [snorts] So, our refusal rate for the English language arts assessment in 2022, you can see it was at its highest um after that assessment um is when we started seeing the assessments were that were aligned with the next generation learning standards. And you can see that um we had a little bit of a dip and then it kind of

033evened off at 17% last year. This is the math refusal rate. Um, we do have more students taking the math assessment than the ELA assessment districtwide. Um, you can see again that 2022 year is that last year of the Common Core test. 2023 is when we start seeing the next generation learning standards and you can see where we have more participation. So again, we'll continue to encourage families and students to participate in the assessment so that we can get the most meaningful data. >> Mrs. Bon, are these percentages or numbers of students? >> Thank you. They're percentages. It's the refusal percentage. So last year was 16% refusal rate for math. And the science assessment that we gave in fifth grade um is a new assessment after two years. The first time it was administered was

034in 2024 to fifth grade and we had a refusal rate of 20%. Uh last year it went down slightly to 18%. Um, this new assessment, as I said, it is, you know, it is a new assessment for fifth grade. Um, it is rigorous. Um, there's a lot of reading involved in it, and we'll talk about it a little bit later when we talk about the science um, percentage passing. So, the next data I want to look at is the ELA data. Um, we'll talk we'll talk about some comparisons between 2022 and 2025. We'll look at Matatuck Union Free School District and Eastern SuffK and Western Suffach Boseies and look at the comparisons between our percentage passing and theirs. And we'll also look at cohort trends which are the groups of student like classes and how

035those trend over their years as they go through um each grade. So on this f on this slide you can see this is um the percent proficient the top number on the bars. Um we're comparing four years. So the navy blue bar is 2022 which again that is the common core state assessment um before we made any changes. So you can see that some in some instances the scores those years were higher. Um the most recent test last year is 2025, which is that bluish gray, the darker gray. And the numbers at the bottom represent the um number of students that took the test. Um this is six through eight% proficient. So you can see sixth grade, seventh grade and eighth grade performance. And one thing that you'll notice when we start looking at the

036eastern and western suffices is you'll see the trends that are apparent throughout the county and that tells us a lot of information as well. But before we look at that, we're going to look a little bit at the cohorts. Um so the in this um is there a pointer on here? this helps. Okay. So, um you can see in this first column here, this is grayed out just because we're not going to be comparing the change there, but I want you to be able to pay attention to a certain cohort. Um the second column, 2022 23 is the year prior. Uh, and you can see third grade was at 56% passing. Fourth grade was 46, fifth grade was 46, sixth grade was 58, seventh grade was 62, and eighth grade was 56. The next year,

037which was last year, um, we had 1% increase in third grade. We had a 15% increase in fourth grade. We had a 7% increase in fifth grade, a 14% increase in sixth grade, and in seventh grade, we saw a decrease. Um, however, you can see that there's a cohort situation here. So, these are the same students um in fifth grade, then when they were in sixth grade, when they were in seventh grade, and we see a change in that, and that's not that's a trend that we that we've that we're aware of, that we're working with. Um so it's important to really look at the class of students but also each year's assessment and this is the slide where you can see the comparison between Eastern SuffK Boseies and Western Suffach Bosei schools and Matucka

038Kachchog um this is where I think when you see the ups and downs of the previous slides you can see it's consistent with Suffach County um Matatuck is the royal blue colors and you can see that we are outperforming eastern and western suffic boasties in third grade >> in fourth grade in fifth grade we're not but we're outperforming eastern Suffach County Boseies not western but we're not too far off from them and you can see in sixth grade we're outperforming eastern and western Suffach County so this is all really great news because you can see that students in the whole county might have some dips, but it we're either consistent with it or a little bit higher, which is is good news. Um, seventh grade, we have um a situ a diff that seventh grade

039group was that cohort that um I talked about before, that fifth grade cohort. Uh so we realize that and understand that and then eighth grade you have 75% proficiency over the 42 and the 52 for eastern and western stuff county. So this slide I think really shows during in ELA we're doing really well. some of our reflections for the ELA. Um again, I mentioned earlier the third year of the next generation learning standards. Um that first test in 2022 was a different test. Um we're now at the third year. So we've learned a lot about the state assessment. We've learned um the level of rigor, the amount of reading that kids are doing. Um and we can now compare that test for three years straight. We've had at Kutchuk East, we're in our third year

040of our standardsbased report cards and that has an impact on this because these state assessments are based on the standards. So having a report card that's aligned to the standards um ensures that what we're assessing in school on a regular basis in each of our trimesters on our report cards is consistent with what's being assessed. Uh we also have um a strong MTSS program going at Kachogi. We've been expanding that to the Madtuk Junior High School. Um we have teachers that are involved in professional development. We have um a lot of systems in place for looking at data. Part of MTS is having regular data meetings. So we have school leadership meetings where we meet as a school and um certain people meet and look at the data as a whole. The teachers meet with

041their grade levels, talk about data. We meet at faculty meetings and we talk about data as well. And it's not just this data. We look at this, but we also look at other data points that are part of our MTSS program. Um, our alignment of ELA from kindergarten through 8th grade. We continue to have that initiative. We have professional development aligned for that. Um, in Kachog East, we have an instructional coach who focuses on um specifically targeted professional development to support literacy. Uh we also have pacing guides that have been in place for a few years now that we update every year. Uh so each grade level we have on a pacing calendar with their units of study and literacy. And it's vertically and horizontally aligned so that they have a mix of different types

042of reading and different types of writing. And we have an assessment calendar so that we can look at when the assessments are done. Is it aligned with their curriculum? Um and are we seeing growth? And if not, we can make changes. Like sometimes we do that through our um school leadership meetings. We'll look at certain data points and think well we might need to make a change here or there and and we do that. Um we try to be very responsive to the needs. And then we also um most recently have a year at a glance document where you can look at every curriculum area from K through six um and see which units they're studying at which time. So that also is part of really just being comprehensive in our curriculum. And then belonging,

043inclusion and student voice is a big part of what we do at Kachogi. Our students writing units of study are heavily based in student voice. A lot of our decisions around the school come from the students. Um a lot of the ideas come from our students cares committee or our student leadership like you saw today. Um and they really help us to build a culture of belonging for all our students which really helps in the helps us perform well in school. So the math data is next. Again, we'll take the same kind of look at the math data that we did with the ELA data. Um, we'll look at comparisons from 2022 to 2024. We'll look at our data compared to Eastern and Western Sephosis and we'll look at those cohort trends. >> One question

044about the pacing guides. >> I'm sorry, >> the pacing guides and the assessment calendar. You said that if changes need when you look at the data, if you think changes need to be made, they're made. Does that ever interfere with being able to cover the entire curriculum if you've had to change the pacing guide? >> Well, actually the the nice part about looking at the data is that you're able to see where um your students are. So, for instance, in writing, you might do an ondemand writing piece, right? >> Then you look at that writing and then you can look at your class and decide, do I need to do every single lesson or can some be small group lessons? And then that's how you can kind of move time around in your pacing. But

045the pacing guide is an overall guide for everyone to use, but you might make changes for your specific class. So if only three students need today's lesson, it might be a small group and you might move to tomorrow's lesson. >> So there isn't a possibility that if I teach second grade and you teach second grade, we might not be on the same page. >> Not on a daily basis, but you'll be in the same unit. Gen, you're not locked in step every single day because your children are different. Yeah. >> But um you have that flexibility where this is the unit that we're teaching. there's a certain progression that you go through in in in that. Um, but you might move around some things that rather than a whole group lesson, it might be a

046small group. Maybe your class needs the whole class and you're doing a small group lesson as a whole group, but you're staying within, you know, a few days of each other, a week of each other. >> Okay. Um, and it's just that one of the things that our instructional coach helps teachers with too is kind of working to make sure that if they need more support for their class, they're staying in the pace and we try to find out figure out ways to do that. >> Thank you. >> Okay, so this is the slide for three through five math. We are in um we've been using a math program now for four years. I think we're in our fourth full year of implementation. Um and we're seeing that, you know, it is a rigorous um

047program, but we see good results from it. Um it's really creating mathematical thinkers. Um and we and again we see that in all of our data points. We see it on our STAR assessments and we see it in the state assessments as well. um third grade. You can see some growth there from even if we look at from the 2023 to 20 25 you see we're up from 45 to 68%. Um and I can tell you like this data is responsive to what the teachers are doing when they're looking at students data. They'll look at it and then they work together and adjust their curriculum to meet the needs that we have each year. Um fourth grade We were up, went down just a little bit. Fifth grade, we had an increase last year. And

048again, the number of students tested was on the bottom. And this is sixth through 8th grade. Sixth grade, we had a little bit of a dip this last year. Um and again the teachers will be looking at that data and making sure that um we're addressing the needs that students have in that next year. Uh seventh grade and then there's eighth grade. Eighth grade did very well this past year. >> I just want to note with the eighth grade as well that's taking the students out that are taking >> Yes. Y and here's the cohort trends. Um, and so you can see, um, on here we have some more changes that are in the red than we did in the ELA. Um, but you'll notice on the next slide, like don't let that the red

049areas on this bother you too much because it's it happens Suffach Countywide. It's not just in our students. Um, so that tells me more that it has to do with the test than where we are because we're still outperform performing them. Um, and again, as Mr. Petite said the eighth grade honor students do take the algebra regions and these trends really are consistent with um eastern and western suffices. So this is where you really want to look at the attention um not on the slide before um again we're the royal blue eastern suffk boseis is the yellow and western is the gray. So even though we saw some um movement in the negative way, we're still outperforming suff Easter eastern and western Suffach County except fifth grade. Fifth grade um we're outperforming eastern suffices but

050not western. And that could be a cohort thing because when you look at the science test next, you'll see a little bit of consistency with that. So for our math reflections, um again, same as ELA, it's the third year of the next generation learning standards. Uh a lot of the things that we do in ELA, we also do in math like our pacing guides, our assessment calendar, and our year at a glance. Our data meetings and MTSS are similar. Um, and we will also continue to analyze subgroups in both ELA and math. That's something that we do at the building level that the teachers kind of dig into a little bit deeper when they look at the data than [clears throat] we do for something like this. >> Um, the K through8 uh curriculum alignment,

051targeted PD. Over the summer, we had um some really great professional development that teachers at Kachog East led um on math retention, which um looking forward to seeing the results of that training and um the support from our instructional coach I think will be helpful. And next we'll look at science data. So um as I said earlier the science test is our second year um in the science test for fifth grade and it is a new format test there is a lot of reading involved in it similar to the ELA um we'll look at the second year of the assessments the proficiency rates we'll also look at the eastern suffic and western suffices and then consider some of the reflections that we have at this point of time so um again the royal blue is

052matak And um we have 43% proficient. Um eastern sephic boseis was at 30% proficient and western suffices was at 48 [clears throat] which if you remember the math slide for fifth grade it had very similar findings. Um so we'll be digging into that a little bit deeper for um at the fifth grade level because of the two tests but also at the sixth grade level because that cohort is now in sixth grade. Uh so science reflections on superintendent's conference day we spent a lot of time looking at science we um had uh start we started the day having some professional development on the next generation science standards. We shared a planning document where our teachers were able to go into their new science curriculum. Um because we did have a science committee last summer. That

053committee worked through the summer. We selected a actually there were two committees. There's a K5 committee and a six through eight committee and the committees chose some resources for support um for curriculum materials and they took that kind of dove into that a little bit on superintendent conference day. We gave them a planning document to go through um each unit uh each lesson that they're going to be teaching to plan together and really look at all the components of that science program um focusing on vocabulary um and other uh materials that they needed. We also are re kind of introducing our science lab. Um it hasn't really been used in the last few years. um we've used it for the science investigations, but we want to bring everyone into it as much as we can.

054So, um the teachers met with um different grade levels. They went in, they organized their new materials in the science lab and set things up and are creating a schedule so that everyone can kind of come into the science lab to do some work. And I think that's going to really be helpful in this um next generation science standards and for the this assessment that the fifth graders will take in the spring. Again, it was year two of this science assessment. Um, so we have a new science program K through seven. Um, and sixth grade is now aligned with seven and eight for science, which I think is going to be really helpful to the overall performance for the district. Um, and lastly, that brings us to action steps. So after considering the data at

055this level um we really met and talk about how do we where do we go from here? What are the action steps that we need to take um as we look ahead in in this school year um and consider the teaching and learning process and how our students are doing. So again aligning all of our work to our goals that Mr. Petrey mentioned earlier. Curriculum alignment we continue to do that. That's really an ongoing process. It's not a oneanddone. we are constantly um looking at those things and making adjustments to be responsive to the needs of the kids that we have. And um the year at a glance document, I think that's going to end up being really helpful for us as well for the same reasons because that helps with the alignment of curriculum

056and pacing and curriculum mapping. our science committee um has been really really working hard um in order to get the new program selected and um support their colleagues in what they learned through the committee. Uh data analysis will continue to do through our MTSS process and at our grade levels. Um targeted professional development will continue accessing any professional development that we have. A lot of the teachers in the junior high school and high school go have been going out to Boseis for some specific training that um will support them in these areas. And we continue to work with our instructional coach at Kutchog East um who is really able to um fine-tune the needs of the teachers and the students at Kutchog East. Our family math and literacy night we continue to have that that

057partnership and bringing families in around the content areas is really valuable. Last night we had our family literacy night. Um we had almost a hundred kids come. We gave out a hundred homework passes and goodie bags. And uh you know that's another opportunity for us to have families in to talk about content and curriculum. Um we were able to have students practicing different literacy based activities. Their families could see it. Um, and it it overall is a really nice positive way to to bring [clears throat] curriculum and and uh literacy and math into our homes. And uh we also recently had our support squad family night which was for AIS or our service providers for math and reading and our ENL teachers and we had a fantastic turnout for that as well. We had some

058high school students that provided child care. We had some pizza that was donated to us so we were able to have dinner. They had child care. The parents were able to go and meet with all the service providers. We had translators available for them. So, it was a really successful night. And I think all of that is just speaks volumes to how we can really, you know, help improve our students performance in as a whole child, not just this one data point. That whole story of who our students are and how they perform so they become successful. Does anyone have any questions for me? >> I just have a question about is there any kind of overlap between anything that's taught in STEM and the science curriculum? >> Yeah. So, um the there are some

059overlaps. Um Emily, our steam teacher, um is actually on that superintendent's conference day, she met with grade levels as well, so they could talk about that. They do have this new science um program. So that new science program does have an a piece of it that they can use some parts for STEM um for steam. So there's a lot of that coordination I think will be happening this year which I'm excited about because I think that will help our science performance as well. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions? >> My favorite part was the questions. I don't have any questions. >> Thank you. >> That's a lot of information. Thank you very much. >> [applause] >> All right. >> Now, Mr. Ba, >> there you go. >> Yes. All right. >> You're welcome. data.

060Good night everybody. [laughter] Um, you know, I was trying to think of a way to present this so that we'd all have a good understanding. And the more I processed it, I thought about my doctor's appointment I had in June of last year. And it was a new doctor for me. And they did a lot of tests. They did blood work, uh, you know, got on the treadmill, did everything. And it wasn't until September that I got the results. And boy, there was a lot of things, uh, that were put forward to me that were important, life-changing steps that I could take based on what they discovered from all these tests. And then I made the connection as I'm building this and having the opportunity to talk about data for all of our scores. So

061after a while the numbers it sounds redundant. Uh but I have to say this data is what drives our instruction. This data is what we use and did use on November 4th when we had our superintendent conference day. I'm grateful for that time. We gave every teacher the opportunity to work collaboratively with their departments. Uh building level administration had meetings with their departments. District level curriculum uh presented opportunities on the bars data. And as you start to dissect it, you can really focus on areas that we might struggle with. You can literally go into bars and see why students got question. We had a number of students get questions 12, 13, and 15. And then when you have that discussion with the individual teachers, uh they can say, "Oh, we we did not we weren't

062able to cover that or the specifics as to why we scored the way we did." Um, so as as I think back of of what this data means to us as a district, it it's able to align our personal goals as far as professionally what we need to do, our our department goals, our district goals. It also helps us focus on our slows, our student learning objectives. Each of the teachers are required to provide that for every student that they have. Um, so you know, you hear data and you're just like, oh, it seems a bit boring. Um, but like my doctor's appointment, the prescriptions for me, uh, and for my improvement, either exercise or or eat better or certain medication, all those things are only going to improve. So, as we dissect all this

063data, it's the same for our students. And it and it's a team uh approach. So, um, I'm grateful for, like I said, November 4th. Um, so now dive into our data starting with our regent exams. Our Earth Science, as you can see here, there were 66 students, which means 94% of our students achieved passing grade meeting New York State standard requirements. Um, this is actually going to be the last year of the old exam. Next year we'll be moving as um Amy had alluded to a few times next generation learning standards. Uh the next generation learning standards is a buzzword topic. Uh it seems to be coming in and impacting exams and new exams that are coming. the timing as to when they placed the next generation exams compared to which they are regent exams

064but they're a little bit earlier um which meant that there was less instructional time in the classroom. This was a quote from my math teachers. Um so there's always some reason or explanation but these scores will allow us to have those conversations. Um one second here. I do want to say that um for our earth science and the next slide also for our living environment. We are uh really working well with um our departments as we prepare. Thankful to our district office and um Miss Finnegan for providing the required PD opportunities uh what's available for our teachers. Um, like I said, we are not only meeting departmentally, we also met with Kachogi staff members to really uh, like Amy had said, they are aligning their sixth and seventh grade to be with the eighth grade,

065which ultimately we're preparing. These numbers look great right now, but we are preparing for the uh, the new exam at the end of this year. So next we have living environment. We had 87 students take the exam. 86% achieved a New York State passing grade uh meeting the New York State standards. This exam is also the last year of the old exam and again uh compared to Suffach County at 77% of the students achieving that passing grade. Again professional development has been ongoing. multiple multiple training sessions. Um and we are doing everything to align and be prepared for this next uh the change in the exam. Um chemistry I I if you look at the numbers and I I want to say that the numbers are are not completely detailed as to the specifics. When

066you drill down and you try to see okay the year before we had 96 to 77 what's going on that we're 87 to 77. Um, and I can tell you because I had personal meetings with all of the teachers about their scores. I also had coordinator meetings with with the our team coordinators discussing the scores. when you start to um drill down and you start to better understand why or where the scores if they're moving in a certain trend. The ste the statement that came from the analysis or the data discussion I'll call because that's what I really wound up calling these uh was that this teacher was extremely upset that the grades didn't reflect what she thought the students were going to achieve. But then as she started to analyze there was a common

067theme and I say this because this is what data does. The common theme was there was excessive absences and excessive absences. So my immediate response was well what did the parents say that the student know that wasn't it. These were legitimate absences. We as a district are blessed and offer our students so many opportunities beyond the classroom. We do a lot of oneoff uh opportunities. We have students going into town, painting the windows, you know, for the holiday. There's a lot of exceptional things. Well, the reveal with this teacher said that, you know, she's had a number of students that had 15 to 20 absences, that's seat time in the classroom. So, Miss Stewart and I um we developed and I have to say also the data that we're presenting now, last year we did

068in January. So, I'm grateful that we actually have the data, we analyzed it, we're able to have these meetings sooner. So now our goals and our objectives are clear. So we came up with an idea and we kind of mirror mirrored this concept off of our NJOTC where it's a a good standings permission slip for our four content areas. So now if a student wants to go and have the privilege of decorating or painting or you know helping or a concert or or going to the city as a one-off field trip that that permission slip needs to be presented to each of the core area teachers and they'll just sign off in good standing. You know grades are good, attendance is good and the real thing is not to cause a child a student not

069to go to the trip the on a trip. The real thing is to have that discussion where the teacher and the student can now say, "Hey, you're missing 10 homeworks. You haven't come to a single extra help, but yet you want the permission to leave. We need you to fix that." So, I say that because um and Miss Stewart uh just did an item analysis on our attendance when we presented our faculty. That's one of our major areas that we really are focusing on and we're we're already 10 to 15% higher in students being here as opposed to where we were last year at this time. But that little simple thing came from the data from a conversation of a teacher we these teachers are phenomenal and she was so upset and I was upset

070for her and she just explained and of course as the administrator I'd said well what did the parents say and she said no no these are not a student's homesick these are sporting events or you know and again I support all of that but this accountability so I want to point that out because this that does come up in a few of the other classes. Um, so now we go to geometry. This is the first exam of the next generation learning standards. So you can see we um we Oh, I'm sorry. Algebra. I'm looking at the wrong thing. Um, algebra 78% of our students uh were proficient um out of 87 tested compared to Suffach County at 67%. And again, algebra, this was the first exam of the next generation learning standards. And the teachers

071basically said this was a great exam. They kind of just expanded on the common core. Um so we were um you know we were okay we feel like we're in line and those numbers will start to you know rise up again. Um the data discussion again teachers revealed the students that struggled again and this is a topic that's a number one goal for Miss Stewart and I is attendance and attendance was yet uh another concern when discussed this uh with with this department uh geometry 69 students um had tested and 61% achieved passing grade meeting New York State this is the first year of the new exam this is uh the first three as you can see were pretty good. Those were all common core standard exams. So, this is the first year for the

072next generation. Um, in speaking to these teachers, uh, I appreciated the discussion and, uh, they they provided some insight. One of the things they said was, uh, was the rubric that the state used changed along with the next generation. Uh, if we utilize last year's rubric, we would have had higher numbers. uh to which I had then said well if we utilize that data so did the other schools utilize that data they would have higher as well so but the discussion was there and um the the next generation learning standards is uh um you know where we're where the they're struggling a bit but but we're we're on on uh we're on point in addressing it. They discussed raw scores and um and uh um we're on our way to making sure that that's that's

073adjusted in the right way. >> Mr. Correct. The new exams, do the teachers have access to seeing what what they are, what they look like? >> No. And um the thing is that we have an idea, we get the professional development and the training uh and we prepare for it. And I can tell you from a former social studies teacher and the changes that I saw from global and US, you had you used to have like some uh document based things, maybe multiple choice. Now you have a student that's sitting for three essays for a three-hour exam, you know, and this is only a year or two in. So all these exams and even these math are reading comprehension type things as well. So I'm grateful and one of the things I did uh discover

074and meeting with my junior high staff and social studies is a perfect example. I'm talking a little ahead of the slide, but you brought up a excellent point. They said, "We're focusing on skill development and comprehension as opposed to the dates." Not that they're foregoing the social studies curriculum, but they're making sure that their focus is skill development on writing. So now that transfers from seventh grade to 8th grade, so we're getting them prepared. But these changes that we're starting to see, I you know, I'd love that I can say, you know, 90 and 89, but oh, I'm on physics. How'd I get to that one already? That's that's the one I shouldn't have clicked to. But I'm glad we're here. So with the geometry we're working but physics now I have this slide in

075two spots and I'll revisit it again but when you look at that you're like wow what kind of who taught that class or what's going on but the data will reveal a a clarity we only had an AP physics class last year we did not have AP regions now an AP regions class again this is through the data discussion you can look at this you can look at bars they'll give you scores you can look at attendance but what's the real situation There's a couple things going on with this. The first is that in the uh physics regions class, there's an 8 to 10 week unit on electricity. The AP physics doesn't have any unit on electricity. So the exam that the regent is given is completely different in the preparation. So that's one. Number

076two, physics all seniors are taking this class. It's a great class for preparation. It's a great class for students to to put on their transcript if if physics is like their focus, but it's not even a primary uh science class for them. This this class um comes after they graduate. So, they've already been accepted to college. They've already walked across the stage and then they're coming back to school on that Tuesday to take the exam. So it's it's more or less um an exam that's uh doesn't have a lot of weight uh with regards to graduation or with regards to their acceptance to college. Um there was uh it's more or less like a superuous exam. We had in the past there was like competitions that the physics class did. You may have been around

077or or heard about those things. Um so there was yeah the Rube Goldberg. So we We have they they the physic. Oh, and I will say this. I'm very excited. This year we have a co-taught model teaching AP physics. So again, we're not we don't know the regions, but you have a math teacher and a science teacher. And I have been in there many times. I've observed them. I've met with them. They've brought up ideas. They talked about the competition. They are super excited about this year's scores for AP. They're already telling me and I'm I'm going to hold them to that standard. But I'm just saying we're going to revisit and uh come up with a consideration on this. Um but physics is something that uh is not going anywhere and I'm grateful that

078we have you know >> just so you know I mean of course my daughter took it many many years ago. The scores were not great then either they it's it's a very very difficult class for these kids to >> absolutely is and the fact and I should celebrate the fact too that we we we had 26 students take it. you know that's you're a senior you know who wants to I mean you're a senior but we have many seniors take AP classes all >> I was shocked when I looked at it and because again the students don't need the the the physics regions for graduation these students have been accepted last year they had already gotten their diplomas graduation was done the fact that 26 students came back to take the exam I think speaks

079to their relationship to the teacher in that classroom and just their obligation to finish what they started so >> I I agree I agree and um like I said Um, I'm really looking forward to the AP scores for this year. And we'll get to the AP scores for physics and, uh, you'll see. Uh, so, um, let me just make sure I'm in the right spot. Algebra 2. Um, we had 55 students take the exam. 93 achieved, um, proficient meeting New York State standards and graduation credits. Um, next year will be the next generation. Um so we are uh you know anticipating that this cohort of students I should say also has been hit every year with the next generation curriculum uh as well. Um so uh you know and here's the thing this is what

080you know math teachers they will hold a student to the entire time the next generation exams were given two weeks earlier than the normal scheduled regent exam. Not that they didn't have the pacing because Amy alluded to that or that they didn't know, but just to get them to that point, they felt they lost out on some instructional time. And we compound that with the uh absentee uh concern that I brought up a little bit before. Next, we have global history, 84% to 85. Now, what's going on? And that's the question that you have to ask uh because you start to see 88 to 83, 88, 86, it's it's getting the gaps getting small. And now we're going in a different direction. Um so this data discussion revealed to me uh in speaking to the

081teachers that they they did what was called item analysis. That's when you can really dissect the exam. Um and they they are all in accord in stating that reading comprehension for global history uh is the primary thing. So again I fall back to my conversation with the director of social coordinator of social studies as well as um the social studies teachers that those skillbased things are going to happen in seventh and eighth grade. Reading comprehension uh analysis contextualization. So um we know that that's where the focus is. This this exam changed about two years ago as well. Um so that seventh grade essay writing is going to be something of a priority which um I already in the discussion. Um they also made it clear to me that they will take and do a day

082lesson like do one lesson just based on the item analysis of something they missed the year before. Um so like I said before about you talk about data you know informing your instruction or informing your lesson plans. Uh it's a perfect example and and also allowing for discussion to happen. uh US history 101 students tested 87 again you're seeing a little shift in the trend again similar situation with regards to reading comprehension um um we had this data discussion was very interesting because the reveal here was that two things came up and I'm going to take blame and since Miss Stewart's here I'm going to put some blame also [laughter] uh but we did not offer a midterm last year that mirrored the midterm for the the uh US history or global that's a three-hour

083exam. Students never had that real opportunity till they actually took the exam and that's three essays of is writing uh comprehension [clears throat] reading everything. So we absolutely made a point this year that we are putting that midterm opportunity back in for the social studies classes and that's another data discussion that we we decided as a result of this that that's important and the social studies teachers actually asked if we could do it. So, we're we're absolutely more than happy to do that. Another item analysis proved uh which I found quite interesting that the um students struggled with political cartoons. When they really dissected that uh that um exam, political cartoons were a real issue. So, um again, it's only because the priority that our district puts, I've been a principal for a bit. I've

084been an assistant principal for a bit. I don't think I've seen an the emphasis that this district puts on really dissecting the the data and then really making it as a point to drive instruction, a point to drive our goals, the department goals, the individual goals. So, um I'm just very appreciative of that because I I think it lends itself to our focus uh which is just improvement overall. English. This is the exam that is only offered now we have obviously I should mention we have subgroups of students uh SWD students with disabilities all required and taking the exam as well as our English language learners. These are students that really you can have a student come in at 16 years of age with interrupted education and also be you know very not just entering

085on the proficiency level and be expected to take this exam but the supports and the the ENL classes and the interventions and the tiered besides moving into the multi-tiered system of support that we're bringing at a greater level the lab classes the AIS we still perform very well but for this exam there is no such thing as a Spanish translation. So every English language learner has to take this exam in English regardless of their proficiency level. So I just point that out because uh it was a data discussion point that one of the teachers made and I and I do think um I should at least mention that. Um so with that our region scores are complete. You can take a look. We had 725 exams percentage passing was 84%. percentage mastery was 39% those

086of students receiving an 85 or higher on the exam. Um this has definitely been a discussion point and we have focused um and I'm grateful again for November 4th that gave us a real serious opportunity for our district building level and the entire staff to be together and really dig down and take a look because you examine our APR scores and you see where we're at with English or social studies. we can really dig deep and and say, "Okay, where are we struggling?" And it comes really right down to most of it being the writing, the reading, the comprehension, uh the skills and practice. So, we're already addressing it, but um I just uh that that day kind of set the pace and the tone for the expectations for the year. And again, I'm grateful

087this presentation's happening this November and I think last year we were January. So, I think it was a good move. Okay, now we get into AP. AP biology, 33 students were tested. Um, we had a 3.79 average compared to globally uh 3.2 [clears throat] and then in New York at Suffach and Nassau 3.32. 91% of our students achieve a three or higher. And I said it earlier about, you know, a three or higher gives you the opportunity to get a college credit. Um, and that's what we want. We want to always push our students for and again I'm going to throw a little attention back to um Jay over there. For Jay to get seven exams with a five. I mean that that to me is a quite an impressive feat. And there are we

088have other students like that. He's not the only person with he might be the only one that had seven and the other one he got was a 4 point something he almost had. But um it's just amazing. And our teachers most of them say our goal is to get a minimum of a three. and they have these expectations and these goals and you know look at look at these scores um just uh very impressive more than 50% of those students actually scored um a four or higher we go to AP pre-calc 35 students and our average was a 4.4 4. That was our average 35 students. 100% of our students that took this test had a three or higher. I think those are just some jaw-dropping numbers. Testament again to our whole program. We have

089honors and juniors. Um um you don't Oh, and I should have said this from the start. It was actually on my first slide. Here's the beautiful thing about MATC. Also, this is self- select. We we don't have tests or assessments that oh you didn't meet the criteria, you can't be in the class. And a lot of these teachers when you see the scores that are a little bit lower, their first statement is that's the first AP class this this student ever took. And I'm like, well, and they still your average was still right there. But we have self- select. Any student can take the AP courses and we're still getting these these incredible numbers. And as a former AP uh world history teacher, I'll say they're incredible numbers. I loved when I had a couple

090kids get a five. I was like, "Yes." I mean, this is like a commonality for fours and fives. So, it's very impressive. AP calculus, 22 students tested, 73% received a three or higher. Uh 3.64 for MATTA compared to globally 3.21 and 3.15 uh for um all of New York. Uh this is a combination of seniors. This is culminates the math program the seventh grade accelerated um and in the sixth years these are students who will be taking uh this course. So um this is the AP calculus should >> uh next is AP computer science principles 10 students tested three 3.4 [clears throat] before. Um, we had nine students that had a score of a three or higher. Um, so uh, compared to New York State, the average was a 2.82 and and globally it was

091a 2.86. We get to AP um, English language composition, 40 students tested, 95% achieved a three or higher. These are juniors. They're kind of motivated in this class. This is something they want on their transcript. So, uh, they put more energy into it. But, um, this is the first time this year, I should say, that we had the CBT or digital exam. Um, and the students handled that very well. Um, during this, uh, this year, students are coming off of an AP seminar. They're also taking AP US. So, that data discussion just kind of revealed to me that they kind of fed into themsel into each other. A lot of emphasis on writing. Um, so, uh, that's part of the success of this as well. Uh then we have AP English literature composition 27%. Now

092the reason why this isn't as high as the other number um because students already received the AP um the AP English comp um uh you know credit and score. So here we had 27 students average of a 3.11 compared to 3.25 um and a 3.22 for New York State. Again, seniors, you know, we have a mix of students. They've some have never taken the AP. Um, some, like I said, God bless you, have already received the AP comp uh credit credit. So, that's why you only had 27%. Um, there is a new teacher, I should say, also taking the helm of that class. So, we're um excited to see how that goes. Uh, AP environmental science, 31 students. Again, uh this was the statement where I said, "Don't forget to emphasize open enrollment." I said,

093"I absolutely will." Uh and the self- select opportunity. Um again, a lot of the students and I will say a lot of these classes are really enjoyable and fun. I mean, obviously our faculty does a great job, but you know, what a what a wonderful class. If you've ever been in in this class, uh they do a lot of things for the community. They do a lot of things for the building. Um, but mostly seniors as well, but a really good class and kind of consistent with the scores. AP seminar. No, I'm sorry. AP research. Um, AP research. Now, I'm going to show you a slide, but I'll I'll explain that uh we are looking for the AP Capstone distinction. AP Capstone uh was brought in a couple years ago. uh students need to take

094the AP seminar and achieve a three on the test and then they'll take uh AP research uh and achieve a three and then the students could get like a certificate a capstone certificate. If the students take AP research and AP seminar and then they take four other AP exams and get a three, then they get an uh a capstone distinction uh as an advanced certificate as well. Um so this year you're saying, wait, but we only had two. And that is true. Um we didn't really because usually you'll do seminar and then students will leave seminar and go into research. Last year we kind of just gave the students the the opportunity to kind of choose. Uh but I'm very happy to say that this year our AP seminar has 19 students which means that

09519 students could be eligible for the capstone distinction. Um so we are um very thrilled about that. Um there's a great deal of work in these classes. They're independent work. Um like I said the the um this year we'll have 19 with this cohort. Um it is a bit of a challenge where you fit you know um it's it's the research class here which we had you know four uh two students took it both achieved a four but in the research the problem with this class that that had this low enrollment it doesn't fit in because they can choose any topic on their research. It could be science related it could be um uh historical political. So um but it does promote a lot of the things both seminar and research really do promote a

096lot of our portrait of the graduate as we start moving into the expectations for what we're looking for how what graduation all of the criteria that the research from a public um you know presentation um to a to a research project there's so many things that go into just instead of just an assessment uh independent work everything. So, I'm really promoting and moving towards uh and when these go when this gets on your transcript, it's it's something that's favorable. And a lot of students, my son's actually uh taking research now, when when they're done with those classes and they go into college and universities, they come back and they're so appreciative of what they received in seminar and in research. Uh now we have uh our seminar 39 students um you know with a 3.38

09795% of the students scored a three or higher. Um again um this is this is a lot of pride. It's a solid class. It's rigorous. It's strict. There's deadlines. There's management. There's a lot of intrinsic motivation for these classes. But um it's still a very uh it's a good it's a good move for us. I believe more than half the class this year is going to be going into the research. So, I'm grateful for that. Um, and I'm looking forward to announcing a lot of capstone recipients next year. Um, so now I get back to physics, the one that you looked at, you're like, "Oh my goodness." Because that's what I looked at. But after revealing the data, you can see now we did have an AP physics class and their curriculum was in line

098where we were right there with everybody else at 2.9. These are the same students that took. >> That is correct. These are the same students that took the regions but struggled with the regions. And the data and the analysis part of it is you had 8 to 10 weeks of an electricity unit that wasn't even part of of the AP class. So I I just you know 40% of the students that took it had a three or higher. um you know and then I threw this slide back in here just so you can see now how what I was saying kind of makes sense now that 41% but yet obviously we're doing pretty well if you compare it to the AP scores uh not so much the region scores but there's discussion about this year's

099region so I'll just put it on the table u and then AP AP psychology 17 students took the exam speaking to the teacher just he said it's just a fun class. Uh, you know, the kids really enjoy it. Uh, year after year they're consistent. They have been doing a little bit better, 3.18 compared to um New York State at 3.21 and also globally 3.21. Uh, AP World History. I I agree with this situation. This is uh as a person that taught this class AP there's usually AP uh preAP world and then AP uh most of these students actually all of these students take a global nine honors class and that feeds uh and it's the same teacher. So now you're looping the same students and the focus early on they do a lot of writing

100these these exams the AP world um AP US I'm sorry I'm talking about AP world I'm ahead of myself uh the AP US self- select open enrollment tons of writing um this year was the electronic uh electronic exam and the teacher here I'm sorry I was talking about world a second ago the teacher here said that they although they changed the exam uh like a couple years ago. The focus now is becoming more on pro America, which has been a transition and a change that he said they weren't really completely uh prepared for. This last exam had an emphasis on that with their item analysis. So with that consideration, that's now even though the scores are still very good. Um that was their takeaway from that exam. Now we get to AP world. What works

101with this is the teacher loops. He's got the students for ninth grade. He works with them, skill development, writing, essays, everything. Then they come in 10th grade. Then they're in the AP world and they take the test. Uh this is a perfect example when looping does work. Um and now we get to um just the overall thing. Total AP students uh that we had this year was 150 students. The number of exams that were taken was 362. If you look at where we started in 2021, it was 237. It's just quite an amazing improvement in matter of four years. And I it's not something I like to announce, but you know, when you you have a bit of a declining enrollment, but yet our AP exams are going up, our AP offerings are going up,

102our expectations are still very high. Um so, uh it's just the rigor and the expectations is still present. Um, and then our graduate. Oh, oh, here. So, I mentioned that before. Capstone diploma, you need AP seminar, three or higher in that class. AP research, three or higher in that class. And then you need four AP exams throughout your high school experience where you get three or higher. Um, so you'll get the capstone recognition on your diploma or if you just do the two, you can get the AP seminar and research certificate. And then our graduation rates. Um here 97% 87 students last year graduated um 34 with a region's diploma um and then 44 with an advanced uh regions diploma. We had um nine local diplomas 9% I'm sorry 9% local diplomas. We had 85%

103of our students that will that will be attending two to fouryear colleges and we had 4% last year that entered the military. So I'll end with the thank you that was our our Tucker Cup uh for this year. But again, I would want to just do another appreciation and um and a a kind shout out if I can for our, you know, our support uh teachers, for our students with uh disabilities, uh the special education department, our ENL uh classes for our English language learners, um you know, demographics and shifts. We we we treat and uh our entire community. Uh we're not just focused on academics as you can see. We we really do focus on the whole child. But all of these things and all this data is not an accident. Uh this is

104all by our district having the correct priorities, our building level, focusing on that and then our teachers and staff doing the same. So thank you very much and thank you. >> I do have a couple. >> Oh yes, please. Oh, questions. [laughter] >> I was going to let you sit down first. >> That's okay. So, one of the things that I noticed in both Mrs. Brennan's report and yours is that, you know, I don't really advocate for teaching to a test. However, when it comes to skill-based and you're talking about all this writing and reading comprehension, what kind of resources are are we offering the kids that are struggling with those reading comprehension and and writing skills? >> You want to go first? Um so at Kajugies the support that we're giving to students is

105um usually identified through our MTSS program and multi-ter systems of support. We have different programs in place to support reading. Um we have done professional development with all our teachers on science of reading so that we make changes in our curriculum um in order to address the needs of those students. And um they have a pull in or push out for reading. Um and we have a push in in kindergarten for listening and speaking. Um and again like I said we have those um meetings where we'll look at where do we need to make shifts and changes to support students in individually. >> Thank you. >> And for the high school and the junior high you know we keep you keep hearing MTSS. what does it really mean? But those are called tiered support, tiered

106interventions. In the classroom, there's usually tier one and tier two. Um the teacher will provide uh extra support, extra help. We will build in like a lab class which a student can have that opportunity. For example, um in in science, uh we can provide them. It would be during their lunch period, but if a teacher sees they're struggling, they can come uh with an invite. It's always open. the students. Um, and the advantage of that is, uh, it's like your thumb is on the pulse if somebody's struggling. And that's for for a lot of the classes. And actually was brought up in one of my data discussions where they wanted to consider it for social studies. They wanted to know about a lab. So something I talked to Mr. Lynch about to see about that

107working in. But when we offer those labs, they have to be offered at a time where we provide a nice balance because if I offer it, if we offer it at a different period, then you got to forego an elective that you really wanted to take. So I I think we do a great job by offering the different levels of interventions from buildingwide to the individual classroom to after school. Um so I think we're weaving things in and as we examine our data further and we use our edge of climber, they'll be more interventions, not just academic. >> Okay. My other question, thank you. That was a good question. >> My other question is about um the AP students. >> Yes. >> Are they required to take the AP test? >> No, they're not. And

108some students choose not to. >> You know, because they realize because that's a that's a that's a lot of pressure on that test, but they are required to take the regions, you know, because usually it corresponds with the regions. >> All right. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yep. >> Anybody else? Okay. >> All right. Moving right along. We're up to the board of education committee reports. >> Um, building safety grounds. Mr. Cooper is not here, so Karen's going to give the >> Okay, our committee met. Um, we talked about the high school intercom system. They've been experiencing problems up here at the high school because it is so outdated. So quotes are now being obtained for replacement of this high school system and maybe also Kachchuck East funded by the budget or the repair reserves

109to include security features as well. The next thing we spoke about was irrigation. So pricing is being obtained from the architect for filtering the water on the field at both campuses and we're still considering three options to filter Suffach County Water Authority or stay on well water for irrigation. High school sidewalks were repaired. Repairs were made to the junior high sidewalk panels that were settling and cracked. This is this was fascinating to me, too. So, the Clean Sweep New York program is a New York State Department of Environmental Conservation collects and safely disposes of unwanted chemicals and materials from eligible businesses every 5 years. So, we were able to dispose of approximately 3,500 light bulbs from the LED lighting upgrade project and 140 gallons of old paint and other chemicals for free, which is just

110amazing that we're part of that. Then we talked about the active shooter training. Um, in 2023, this this training was held for teaching staff on a conference day. We're currently in the process of finding a program for the CSEA staff, which should occur in early December. and will be provided by Suffach County Police in conjunction with the South Hotel Police Department. >> Just to update you on that, it looks like that training is going to happen right when we get back from the holiday break in January of February. >> All right, good. That's a lot of pieces to put together. So, >> and then [clears throat] the armed guards after a parent request, the committee is in the initial information gathering stage concerning the use of armed guards in schools, the options, the costs, and

111the climate. >> Okay. Thank you. And Karen, you're up again for curriculum, technology, and health. >> All right. Then the curriculum, technology, and health committee met. We had an update on the educ, which um work is continuing on this new software. It's moving forward as we continue to add additional data into this system. The ENL program update, we're moving towards using the WEDA model assessments for the ELLs to better accommodate those special uh special needs students. So this compares to it doesn't really compare to the nicellet or the the nice. So we are changing over to that other model. The personal finance and climate education roll out requirements from the New York State Board of Regions has mandated that personal finance and climate education for students in grades K to 12 have to follow the

112recommendations from the blue ribbon commission on graduation measurements. So the rollout schedule is grades K to four begins in the 27 28 school year. Grades K to 5 begins in the 26 27 school year. And then we just wanted to mention Lorraine and I did attend the um breakfast with Eastern SuffK Boseies. Fascinating information. We we really, you know, you never stop learning and I think we we recognize the partnerships that we currently have, partnerships that we can look into, and you know, the people that are there that that are very helpful. And then, as Laurel had already spoken, Mrs. Arsenian attended the League of Women Voters um with student reps and Lauren spoke mostly about, but it also was about running and winning schoolboard elections. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. and negotiations

113and personnel. That's me. Um the administrative contract is is up this year. An initial meeting was held with the administrators negotiating team and the committee to determine a schedule for the negotiation process. The committee requested the unit's proposal by November 21st. Uh we have a new Spanish teacher that started and will be mentored by the department coordinator. And I would like to welcome the behavior consultant Melissa Nyik who's in the audience. Thank you for being [applause] here and welcome. >> And in the >> Her daughter's been so well behaved. She must be very good at what she does. >> So good. [laughter] >> Yes. Yes. >> And and you will be appointed momentarily, but I wanted to mention that. So, >> okay. Now, we're up to donations. Before I ask for a motion, I just

114want to read them because there's a couple of them. We're accepting a mini grant donation in the amount of $500 from the Manata Kachuk PTSA to support the Best Buddies Club um for their trip to New York City. And that's all so the vocational and the ENL trip. Um accept a donation in the amount of $200 from Son of a Preacher Man to support the 2025 7th grade fishing trip. accept the following donations to support the annual junior class trip to the 911 museum and memorial, $5,000 from Cole Mechanical Corporation, and $200 from the Kutchuck Fire Department. And I just want to say that we have gotten other um donations for this trip over the past couple of years, and we're very grateful for that. um a donation of a 55 inch Sony Brava smart

115television from Miss Orally Lang to be used at Matuck High School. um the following donations from the Lions Club, 2,000 to support the high school jazz band, 1,000 to support the high school DECA Club, 1,000 to support the senior high chorus music in the parks. Uh donation to support high school student council Thanksgiving food drive, $1,500 from Sunrise Seal Coating and Asphalt Maintenance Comporation, and $500 from Cabinet Plus. I need a motion. >> Make a motion. >> I need a second. >> Second. Any discussion? >> Thank you everybody. All in favor? >> Okay. Now I need a motion for the approval of resignations, terminations, leave of absence, and reductions. I need a second. >> Second. >> All in favor? Forgot the discussion. Sorry. Um, anybody have a discussion? Okay. I need a motion for the

116approval of appointments, tenure, and salary changes. >> Make a motion. I need a second. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> No. >> And again, welcome. Now you're on on [laughter] the stand. Um, motion passed. Resolutions. >> I need a motion >> to accept resolutions A through N. >> I need a second. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor? And now I am up to other agenda items. Anybody in the audience who would like to speak on any agenda item that's not on the agenda or it is on the agenda or you just feel like saying hello. Okay. Charlie would be making f faces at me if he was still here. So okay. Thank um so nothing there. I need a motion to adjurnn. >> Make a motion. >> I need a second. Second. >>

117All in favor. Everybody have a happy happy Thanksgiving. Count your blessings. We have many. >> Thank you.