March 25, 2025 Meeting of the Abington Board of School Directors

001Evening everyone and welcome to the March 25th meeting of the Abington Board of School Directors. I note the attendance of all board members with the exception of Miss Fazy. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The Abington Board of School Directors has convened this evening's meeting at the administration building and the public is welcome. This meeting is also being broadcast live on the Abington School District YouTube channel. This meeting is being recorded and will be accessible on the district's website and cable channel no later than Friday, March 28th, 2025 to allow those members of the public who cannot participate to view the proceeding at

002a later time. Comments from citizens will be conducted in person and by phone. Information regarding participating remotely in public comment will be displayed on the screen at the time of public comment. The board thanks the public in advance for its cooperation. This is a place where we hold dignity and high regard and everyone's voices are respected and welcomed here. Dr. Fetcher, do we have any additional announcements or agenda items? Yes, Dr. Mory. Um before we begin tonight, I would like to remind the public that on Thursday, April 3rd, we will offer one final opportunity for residents to tour Abington Middle School and see our build building challenges firsthand. Um members of our leadership team will also be present to answer any questions. Uh the event runs from 6:30 until 8:00 p.m. and will be held

003in the little theater lobby. Uh if you cannot attend, I remind you that resources including a virtual tour are available on our 1AD1 future.org website where you can also submit any questions that you may have via the uh connect form. Next, I'd like to take a moment to recognize the students and staff members who participated in the Abington Senior High School's annual Abbingon event on Friday. Throughout the year, more than 300 students work together to raise funds for local pediatric cancer treatment and research organizations in our area. The fundraising culminates in a large-scale event in the gymnasium where they play games and activities until the final fundraising total is announced at the end of the night. I am proud to share that in the hours following the event, as some donations continued to roll in,

004the students shattered their previous fundraising record of $59,000. This year, the students of Abington collectively raised more than $75,000 for pediatric cancer. Wow, that's wonderful. We appreciate Yeah, let's We appreciate our students for going above and beyond to help children in our area of battling cancer, including some of our own Abington School District families. Congratulations on this amazing, record- setting fundraising total. Absolutely. Well done to to our students. Um, and thanks to everyone who contributed. Before we move on to opening comments from board members, I do want to note that prior to this meeting, the board met in executive session regarding uh litigation. That do it. Assessment appeals. Assessment appeals. Okay. All right. Thank you, Mr. O'Donn. All right. Um having noted that, we will move on to opening comments. Mr. Allen. Uh good evening

005everyone and happy birthday, Miss Hartman. Good evening. Good evening everyone. And then I second that. Good evening and I shall third that. Good evening. Fourth. Good evening everybody. And I as well wish you happy birthday. Ranger. Good evening everyone and thank you. Hi. Um during today there was a lesson on social emotional learning um in a special education classroom and the kids were watching a TED talk and the advice was instead of asking the kid what's wrong with you ask what's happened to you and uh so a little FYI something to ponder. Thank you. Um, I just want to say like to Abingtonthon, I heard how hard they worked throughout the whole year. So, just congratulations again. Great. Thank you for that. So, uh, happy birthday to Miss Hartman. Thank you. Um, we're we're happy

006to celebrate with you this evening. Um, and welcome everyone. Dr. Fetry, can you please proceed with this evening's honors? Yes, Dr. Mauy. Uh, at this time I would ask that Miss Ali Arur communications coordinator share a video highlighting recent media coverage of Abington School District. Good evening, Dr. Fetcher, Dr. Mauy, and members of the board. Uh, last week, uh, Abington resident and Pennsylvania First Lady Lorie Shapiro visited Rosland Elementary School to read to students in grades K to 5 and talk with them about a number of topics, including the March Abington Pledge of Character theme of encouragement. 6ABC Action News was there to cover her visit, which I am pleased to show you this evening. Students at Rosland Elementary School in Abington Township were treated to a special visit today. The action cam was there

007as Pennsylvania First Lady Lorie Shapiro stopped by to meet with students in grades K through five. Shapiro read to second graders and spoke about the importance of resiliency and the power of encouraging one another. Thank you. Dr. Fetcher, can you please proceed with this evening's orientation? Yes, Dr. Memory. I would now ask that Miss Laura Nama, assistant director of secondary teaching and learning along with Mr. Daniel File, principal of Abington Middle School, Dr. Alice Swift, principal of Abington Senior High School. Mr. James Lwick, supervisor of teaching and learning, Miss Janine Sack, supervisor of literacy, Miss Ashley Anthony, English language arts teacher. Miss Katherine Delaney, reading specialist. Mr. Edward Harkkins, math chair. Mr. Josh Woodsley um mathematics teacher to provide an orientation on the secondary midyear student academic review. Um this presentation will include results from

008our fall and winter benchmark assessments for grades six through 10 and outline the next steps on uh things that we will address. Right. Thank you. Good evening Dr. Mauie, Dr. Fetcher, and the board of school directors. Tonight we are presenting the midyear student academic review. Um first you're going to hear from Mr. File and his team from the middle school and then you'll hear from Dr. Swift and her team at the high school. So we have quite a few people here so I'm going to pass it on to Mr. File to begin. Good evening. We're going to begin with a an overview of a a comparison of our link benchmarks from our English language arts. Um this is representation of all of our students at the middle school. The beginning of the year benchmark, the

009fall benchmark serves as a baseline score from which the students progress is measured throughout the year. As instruction occurs throughout the school year, it's anticipated that the students percentage scores will steadily increase. If a child's progress is slower than expected, teachers will be able to pinpoint areas of challenge and support the students needs accordingly. We're fortunate in this system to have easy access for our teachers to be able to identify those areas of difficulty and also their areas of strength. It's important to note that on the benchmarks, as the year progresses, the difficulty of skills increases. So students who may have started strong in the fall may find the winter test more challenging, especially if they're still developing mastery of new concepts. The winter benchmark also assesses some skills that have not yet been taught

010this year. I'm so happy to be able to share Mr. Mr. Lwig and Miss Anthony who are going to talk a little bit more about instructional strategies and literacy related information that helps to capture the work in the classrooms with the students over the course of the year and also since the benchmark the last benchmark was given in January. All right, that's the next one right mess it up. Should we do like a choose your own adventure where it's like should I go like on script or like offscript? Off. Off script. Okay. So, I'm not just going to read the slides. So, I'm just going to, you know, let you guys know, you know, just firsthand all the amazing things that are happening in the middle school. Um, for starters, we have implemented a wide

011variety of instructional activities. One of those is when I get the chance to work with the amazing Mary Liz Doerty. So if she's like watching Mary Liz um she's amazing. That's targeted support. It's databased. Um we continuously like revisit the data and restructure the groups as needed. We also have is nice because it's linked to study sync. So if we need to have additional practice with a study stink studies not study stink sorry study sync skill we can um provide some additional practice with EXL. Um, in addition to that, we are incorporating library visits with the amazing librarians. They have a skill set that is underused sometimes. So, tapping into them and being intentional about it has been a great resource that we all have been um looking forward to using more. In addition to

012that, opportunities across content areas for independent reading are encouraged in the classrooms. We're really working to provide um reading instruction, targeted reading instruction in other content areas and provide that cross-curricular support so the students could have multiple exposures to the content. For example, in social studies, they were learning about Greek mythology. We happen to have some Greek mythology in ELA as well. So, that was a great chance to link those things and further conversations that already started in um social studies. Um PLC time is also used to help plan instruction as well as well as the words of the week, our buildingwide um vocabulary program. Since January um our midpoint, there have been collaborative meetings with the reading specialist. Miss Anama led an amazing faculty meeting where she gave us the opportunity to take a

013deep dive into the data and come up with action plans for our students and really meet them where they are. It's like they're more than a data point. So, we looked at quite a few other um data points as well as like their classroom engagement, formative and summitative assessment to really come up with good plans for these students to grow. In addition, I've had the pleasure of co-eing with JRob Jeffrey Robinson this school year. It's been an amazing experience. Um Adelina Roach, the other sixth grade reading teacher, as well as a whole team of people have been working co um co-eing this school year. It provide it allows us to truly differentiate instruction. It allows us to have high achievement for all and give them the scaffolds that they need to get there. And it's

014just amazing to watch the students as they like smile. And we're able like to teach this child, teach the student, watch them learn, watch them grow, not just follow a script. We're able to keep our finger on the pulse of the students and continuously change instruction, modify instruction, make it accessible to them so they can walk away and say, "I learned something new." So they can go out into society and be a productive contributing member of society. Um, now, uh, let's see what's up next. Sorry, I went kind of off script. Um, what the Skibbidity Riz Sigma Alpha that was for the middle school. You guys don't know what that is. Skibbidity Riz Al. Yeah, you know. Yeah. There's so many things we can't say anymore. Six, seven, something like that. I don't know. But,

015um, up next, Mr. Ludwick. Right. All right. Any I guess I shouldn't say any questions, right? No, no, no. [Laughter] Um, good evening. Um, I would be remiss if I didn't offer my condolences to Dr. Mauy for St. John's. It blew my bracket wide open, but I'm so sorry. Everybody else is I had them going the whole way. So, I just wanted to let you know I I feel your pain. Thank you. Um, so and and most people don't want me to go off script ever. So, um I'm going to try to stay as on script as I can, but um so for the next slide, as we continue to look at a variety of benchmark and PES data, our focus on making reading a priority, not just in ELA, but in all subjects has

016been our number one goal this year. Um our teachers have championed this initiative and have implemented the strategies listed on the slide above. They've created word walls in their classrooms. They've worked with students to set individual goals based on the assessment data. They've increased the amount of time students spend reading texts in the classrooms in all subjects. They've focused instruction on analyzing primary sources, timelines, charts, graphs, and maps. They've reviewed with students the proper ways to evaluate sources and draw conclusions from their research. Um, a couple of new initiatives that we've done this year are collaborative planning in teams focused on reading across the content area using data to individualize instruction. That's that's something that um I've I've loved doing. I've been going into the team meetings and we've been going over their individual data

017and having students uh teachers look at all of their individual students that they share as a team and see how they can um uh you have the students read more in each of their their disciplines and how they can increase the the amount of reading that the kids are doing especially in in non-fiction. And then we've done targeted individualized support based on data analysis from STAR and linkit benchmarks. Um I' I'd like to bring up Katherine Delaney who is a reading specialist and she's going to give you an overview of the MTSS supports. Thank you Mr. Ludwick. Good evening everyone. I'm pleased to provide an update on our comprehensive multi-tered system of support MTSS which has been implemented to support our students reading development across the middle school grades. Overall, there are several ongoing actions

018that have been established to strengthen our literacy support framework. I will share with you the components that I along with the other reading specialists have contributed to. First, there has been significant investment in profess professional development with teachers receiving training on many topics. We participated in and led the star reading professional development and vocabulary instructional professional development. All professional development has been grounded in research providing guidance for planning and delivering instruction for all students. Second, for our tier three students in grades six to 8, we have established targeted reading classes focusing on fundamental skills, decoding, fluency, vocabulary development, and comprehension strategies. Next, we have enhanced our specialist support, including an additional reading specialist we brought on for this academic year. In addition to our weekly um reading course classes, the reading specialists analyze data from

019previous benchmarks and unit tests to determine which students are struggling with. As Miss Anthony mentioned, we then collaborate to develop a weekly win lesson that explicitly teaches the highle skill that the students are struggling with, requires students to read a grade level text, and then apply the skill with repeated practice opportunities. Further, as Mr. Lodwick mentioned, we use the STAR reading benchmark for all students and to progress monitor students enrolled in our reading course. This helps us to evaluate effectiveness and adjust interventions and student placement as needed. As the chart on the screen demonstrates, we are pleased to share that the students enrolled in our reading courses have made significant progress at the midpoint. As a teacher of the reading a course, I can say that many of the students have expressed that they feel

020more confident in their reading skills and abilities and have been able to apply it to some of their ELA classes as well. Finally, all decisions regarding interventions, support strategies, and student placement or exit from specialized courses are driven by a comprehensive data analysis. One example is in the English language arts courses. At the midyear, every English language arts teacher received reports that showed areas of growth we named glows and areas to grow we named gross to support instructional planning and implementation. Another example is that teachers of our English language learners received a detailed performance review that includes their proficiency level for each language domain. These examples show how focused our instructional approach has been. Thank you for your continued support as we work to ensure every student develops the literacy skills needed for academic success.

021Mr. File will now share information regarding the mathematics progress. So to shift to the uh benchmark predictions from um ELA to math. This slide also represents comparison from the fall benchmark through the uh the winter benchmark that was given in January. Um as I stated for ELA, it is similar for math that the teachers provided instruction on about 60% of the content that was assessed in the winter benchmark. With that said though, the data does provide valuable information to help inform planning areas for reteing and also identifying areas that are challenging for the students as well as areas where we can push further ahead. I would like to remind the board that the um predictions that you see on this slide do include the eighth graders work in the algebra 1 class. Uh at this

022time, Mr. Harkkins is going to share some instructional information. Thank you, M. Mr. F. Good evening. Uh, I'd be remiss not to say that I work, you know, this is my 23rd year as a department chair at the junior high now middle school, and I work with 25 of the best math teachers in this state. They are dedicated. They're on task. Their main goal is to make sure the students in this district understand math before the end of the school year. So, I have to give them kudos because I'm just one part of the machine and they they they do a great job. It makes it easy for me to go to work every day. What you see up here are a bunch of bulleted items that I'm going to speak to about instruction and

023assessment. Just know that whatever you see up here is is part of our routine. This is what we do all the time. This is what we do every year and we've been doing it for many years now. So, I'd like to think we're practiced at it and I think we have it pretty down pat by now. First bullet speaks to collaborative planning. I mean, without collaborative planning, we would be lost. We take time during department meetings. We take time during PLC time to meet as grade level teachers, to talk about students, to talk about content, to talk about assessments, to talk about how we can instruct students better. That's that's our job. That's what we do. And we try to do that as much as possible. Teachers even meet during the lunchtime just to get

024together as an eighth grade team, eat lunch, chat it up, figure out what we can do better, where are you in the content, where should I be, what are you doing next? All these conversations continually through the school day at the middle school. We have pacing guides so it wouldn't happen if you decided to walk through the middle school. You walk in one math classroom, go down the hall, and walk into another math classroom. and they're doing the same content, same lesson. So, we try to stay as close as possible to each other. If a student happens to move from one team to another, that student's going to move into a classroom, a math classroom, and they're right on board with what's going on. They haven't missed anything, and they're they're going to be able

025to be successful. Uh, open-ended practice. I've been dealing with open-ended items my whole career. I will be dealing with them for the rest of my career. their challenging problems and we make sure that we incorporate open-ended practice as a routine on our common assessments and we have a calendar where a teacher all the seventh grade teachers have a calendar and on that day this is the activity I want you to do with your students could be a PSSA practice type activity could be an open-ended activity because what you find when you teach math it's not the mathemat mthematics that sometimes challenges the kid. It's how they ask the question that challenges the kid. So, they could know the math behind the scenes, but if you don't teach the kids how to think their way through

026the problem and decide what mathematics do they even want me to do with this problem, that's that's our goal is to have them become thinkers and not just algebraic linear thinkers. Uh our assessments, we've done it all along. We have common assessments all the way throughout our grades, grades six, seven, and eight. We don't give the assessment and just forget about it. We give the assessment paper and pencil. The kids take the assessment. We grade them by hand. We could see what the kids are doing. We could see what kind of mistakes they're making. And it gives us an opportunity to do constructive response and open-ended questions also at the back end of the test. The students then put all their data. They go on to link it and answer all the multiple choice questions

027in link it. That gives me an opportunity to pull that data, share with the teachers, what are we doing right, what are we doing wrong, do we need to go back and retach, what problem caused the most difficulty, and use that data to help the kids figure out what they may have done wrong. Uh, benchmark monitoring, I've talked about benchmarking before. We give benchmark A in September, benchmark B in January. Uh we don't just forget about the benchmark. We look at the results. We determine what questions should the students have known on this benchmark. Make sure we talk about them. And then when we, for example, I finished teaching exponents this week. I went back to the benchmark, pulled the questions on exponents out and said, "Hey, let's redo these now that we know the

028content and let's try to get them right this time." And it just leads to to good mathematical discussions and conversations. Uh we do give the keystone algebra and the math PSSA in grade 8 and we have to be prepared for that. So most of our benchmarks, our first two benchmarks are algebra benchmarks. We're going to give the PSSA math benchmark next week. That data is coming back. We're going to analyze that data, make sure we covered everything we needed to cover, find out what content caused the kids the most difficulty, and if we have to retach, we retach. Uh, and then data driven adjust adjustments. It just it just goes without saying that's all we do is make adjustments to the data. What do we need to do? What do we need to do to

029help the kids? And that's again part of the routine for the math math department. Um, I'll introduce uh senior teacher Josh Woolsey. One of the best teachers in the math department, bar none, excellent educator, been with the district a while, and he's our math coach and wind coach. Mr. Woolseie. Thank you, Mr. Harkkins. Uh, good evening. Um, so my name uh is Josh Woolsey. Uh, I am the math coach at the middle school. Uh, and I've been doing that for the last four years. Uh, prior to that I had taught in the classroom for about 26 years, algebra, geometry. Um, but when I go into a classroom, and again I'll speak to the bulleted items. Basically, my focus is on algebra students in college prep classes. So that is is about 300 students. Uh I

030see about 12 different classrooms, nine teachers. And with my position, I'm able to go into each one of those 12 classrooms about five times every 10 days. Uh so I get a chance to see every single student and learn all of their names as well, at least first names this year. Um, but uh when I go into those classes, I'm creating activities that make that class feel smaller. So if I go into a classroom and there's, let's say, 28 students, when I go in, I'm creating these win activities that are designed to give the class a smaller feel so I can get down and work with students on a more individual basis. So if I go in picture about half of the class is doing something independent while the activity that I bring in I'm

031working with about a quarter of those students so about seven students and the teachers working with about a quarter of those students so about seven students. So when I come in we can meet those kids at the level that they need at that particular moment. Uh and it's really been eye opening. Um, like I said, I've been doing this for 30 years, but the last four has been very eye openening for me. When you kneel down and you're working with a kid one-on-one and you really realize what they that they really want that help, uh, I feel that I've gotten a chance to see that a lot more um, in the current uh, situation that I work in. Uh, those activities that I create because I'm seeing those classes about five times every 10 days.

032figure about every other day I'm going in. I try to design about three lessons per week where the first lesson figure the Monday Tuesday lesson is uh designed around current content. So I want to make sure that I'm keeping those students uh up to p up to u the pace of the curriculum at that moment. But then when we move into the next two days, Wednesday, Thursday, I'm designing a spiral activity. The reality is is if we're trying to keep pace at that moment, we're going to lose some skills along the way and there's going to be some skills that students really didn't um master at the point where we're currently at. So I do a spiral activity and the one that I uh sort of created over the years is what I call a

033pyramid which is not shaped like a pyramid but I describe it to the students that a pyramid is built on a very wide solid foundation and then we want to work up towards that peak. So, the students have targets, multiple targets as they're going through various skills. And at each of those targets, they have a check-in with either myself or the other teacher. And this is one of those situations where I've got a group of seven, the other teacher has a group of seven, then the other uh um 50% are working on something independent. So, I am able to help those seven students that I'm working with at exactly what they need at that moment. And in that pyramid, it takes a little while when we start. Students don't like seeing that they're wrong. But

034I think over time, I really try to build that, hey, it's okay to be wrong. This is how we learn. Um, and it's just about moving that needle forward. So, if they need a little assistance, I'll give them a little bit of assistance, but maybe they won't receive full credit in that section at that moment. And then they move through those various sections. There is a time limit, but the thing is is the score that I put at the top, that's the baseline. So, I call it a twoe pyramid. The next week they come in, all we're looking for is growth. If that was a three out of 10 and you got to a four out of 10 and you were able to do more on your own, high five, great job. That's what we're

035looking for. So, building that confidence and building that growth over time and recognizing that growth for full credit. Um, so that's one of those activities. And then by the time Friday rolls around, I can't see every classroom three times each week. So I kind of alternate Fridays where I'll create a larger group lesson, often team- based, where I'm encouraging mathematical discussion. Uh I do believe that, you know, although I may know and the teacher may know the most content in the room, sometimes we're not always the best teacher at that particular moment for each student. So, I do encourage students to talk math, to use math vocabulary, uh, and create that environment often in a game type of situation. But in all of these activities that I bring in, it's built around immediate feedback. So,

036if we're doing that spiral activity and we're looking at a single problem, they're getting immediate feedback right there. They either know it, they don't know it, they need help, they get that feedback. If we're doing a team activity, if we're doing something that is a group activity, I'm going one problem at a time. The whole group gets a chance to collaborate, whole group gets a chance to discuss, share their answer, and then I am immediately going over the misunderstandings etc etc. So when I go in things are very very immediate. Um, other things that I do are specialty lessons. So every now and then students get towards a uh uh end of chapter review. So one thing that I started to do uh in the last couple of years is I create a review. I

037go in and I look at either linket results from last year or I look at the test ahead of time. I put together what I think are basic skills and then what I call test level skills and I break a review down into that so that they can see that I've got the basics to to do okay, but if I really want to do well, I'm going to need to know these. And then I throw a QR code on there and I do a walkthrough of every single problem. So, if that student is at home and they're studying for a test, they can QR code that, watch me walk through any individual problem if they need a little assistance on that. Um, so again, trying to give them that immediate, uh, uh, feedback when they

038need it. Um, the next thing up here, uh, other than specialty lessons, uh, you know, remediation, that's a little bit more general. I kind of talked about what I do when I come in the room. So that remediation where those engaging wing groups, etc., etc., that's more departmentwide. I'm very, very specific when I go into a room, but in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade classes, um, there are going to be other activities that are created by the classroom teacher. Also, enrichment. A lot of these students uh, have access to our math competitions. I happen to run three of the four competitions that are listed up there. So I'll comment a little bit about each of those. So last year we had been doing uh what was called an Atlantic Pacific contest for probably I think

039all 30 years that I had been uh here. But the last couple of years there that doesn't exist anymore. So I created an in-house contest uh in which I wanted to a lot of times with that Atlantic Pacific that was more international. the students would say, "Hey, what's this for?" Well, I want to show them what it was for. So, we do an in-house competition. Uh, initially about 800 uh students took our AMS math competition and each round, you know, we take sort of the high scores until we get to the winners and we put a little plaque in the administration lobby of the uh middle school to recognize the top sixth, seventh, and eighth grader. uh Pennsylvania Math League. Um that is a onceanddone contest uh where students compete against other uh local schools

040or statewide schools. And then math counts is an extracurricular activity that I've done I think for about 23 years. Um but that one is one where I meet weekly with the students after school uh and we prepare for a regional competition. And if we're fortunate enough, there are opportunities to go to states and to uh nationals. Um but that is something that we run through the beginning of the year until about the end of February. And then Math Olympiad is the one that I don't run, but that's another extracurricular club I uh that does have six rounds much like our AMS math competition. Um and those students are recognized with pins based on their performance. So another one that's a little bit more the the last bulleted item uh since January and I know this

041comes down from Mr. Harkkins you know in our collaboration uh you know we are sort of charged with making sure that we keep uh moving that needle forward. So again uh wind focus groups you know there are additional supports that we are working on right now based on some of the data that we've uh looked at and that's more across the board. But I certainly use the data but that is uh more specific to uh or more generalized to the entire department. So thank you. So I I have some uh past current and and present items that uh we just wanted to share from the middle school so um so the board was aware in terms of supporting or helping to support the home and school partnership. Uh our Skyward system is available to families

04224 hours a day, seven days a week where uh parents and guardians can check on the progress of their students in that system. Um additionally, our families continue to have access to individual score reports through the link system. Um it's probably an obvious comment, but we do um ask that our teachers and expect that our teachers are in touch with parents and guardians if they see that a student is struggling. Uh we do have a process for also um contacting families by letter if we if we see concerns emerging as the second semester begins. Um given our team structure at the middle school, we are able to invite parents and guardians in for team meetings through the course of any given school week and that is in addition to the regularly scheduled fall and spring

043conferences. Um the slide does indicate parent workshops that we have offered earlier in this school year. Uh on the right side of this slide, you will see that there is a star family report that we recently sent to all of our families. And this report provided information to parents and guardians related to um how their their child is scoring in terms of reading level, what they can do to support further literacy, um skill development, and also gives a QR code that links to suggested books that would be appropriate for a student's reading level. Um, another thing that that certainly relates to family engagement that um that arguably may be more important than than data points than I can provide to you has been a awesome resurgence of our PTO. We had a new PTO board

044this year who has been incredibly supportive of so many facets of the middle school. At a sometimes awkward time when kids may not love their their parents and guardians coming in. Um the PTO is finding ways to bridge that gap even further. Um we are looking for more opportunities for them and they have already made a significant mark when helping us with offering um better positive rewards, supporting dances, chaperoni trips, um saying uh things are great for the teachers, giving them treats. So, we're really happy with with that piece because the the whole child matters and and I think that's a really important facet that um we may not have shared here recently, but has been awesome this year. And um finally, we just wanted everyone to be aware that we have uh scheduled this

045week for the Abington Library to come into our school, speak to our students to share uh resources and offerings. We are going to be looking to share that with families as well, especially going into the summer. Um the library sometimes by some families is an underutilized resource. And also looking ahead, we are planning to continue with offering summer enrichment to our students and our families with both online and offline opportunities uh for for them to choose how they would like to engage in those activities. This time I'll pass it over to Dr. Swift for the high school. Thank you, Principal File. Good evening. Good evening. Good evening, Dr. Mary, the board of directors, and uh Dr. Fetcher. Thank you. Okay, so we're going to talk about it. You'll see some similarities, but they're older, so

046we want to kind of uh get into it. Um the slide here represents grade nine and 10 Keystones uh literature benchmark predictions. As we talked before with you, um, tonight we want to highlight the yellow blocks. Um, and I want to make note that the bubble prediction, those are the percentages in yellow. Um, this speaks to students, our scholars who are meeting the expected benchmark. However, they do require additional support. So, they could take the test, they're on the cusp, they could miss a question and tip them to not be proficient. So, that as we move through the slides, we'll talk about the things we're doing there. the ends equal students tested um and the fall um Keystone was offered in September and the winter was in January. So, we've we've done a lot since

047then, but I just wanted to at least highlight that and also highlighting in blue the growth um over time between the two assessments, but also if the bubbles make it, we're we're in there. Um and so we we want to keep working towards those goals. Thank you. Okay. With regards to an instructional and assessment, again, these are bullets for your review. We're not going to um read each thing, but I do want to highlight some things on the slides uh speaking to ongoing actions, and these are um expectations of our professional staff in the building to include myself and my team. Uh the teachers do participate in their professional learning communities. Uh we do have departmental meetings once a month where we're able to collaborate, share strategies and talk about uh student progress, look at

048student work um and address the learning gaps as disagregated on the slides before this one. Um, additionally, not in uh in conjunction with but an additional two, we do informal walkthroughs. And this year, our focus was on the Danielson framework 3A and 3C where we want to walk in the room and see students engaged in communication, relationship building, and learning activities that are meaningful and aligned with the curriculum that is being presented to them. Um, it was asked prior about a walkthrough tool. We do have that and we're able to go in and that would be say myself, assistant principles, supervisors, department chairs, um and they go in and we're able to give instant feedback in real time to our teachers and if there's something we see that's troubling or if we um have some

049um advice that we'd like to give, we would call them in and have those conversations. Um but we also bring that conversation back. We just had admin counsel last week and we sit and we talk about what we see uh where we could do better and be better uh with our students and with our teaching and also having the courage enough to say and to share what we might need to fine-tune with our students. Um the alignment of curriculum of course celebrating the achievement of our scholars schoolwide um and then providing that tailored support which speaks to the grade nine and our 10 uh English language reading classes. the professional development. We're leaning more into focusing more on reading, writing, and critical thinking for our scholars. Um, and since January, through all of these things,

050um, we are mirroring the middle school, we're going to launch the word of the day. Um, reading is not just a social studies or an English issue. It's a schoolwide issue. And with that um that incorporation of that word of the day can be used however creative the teachers want to be to include our physical education department just to you know art, music, I mean wherever wherever they spin it. Um I take um the first baton and hand it on the morning announcements. I'll be addressing that word and utilizing it maybe in a sentence or a quote or whatever to get the day going effective April 1st. Um the Keystone Scholar program I do have to um give some thanks and support to Mr. Mr. Lowick to my right and Mrs. Sack behind me. Uh

051we did identify those bubble students um following up with them with a letter. In full transparency about a hundred scholars that need that push um 10% of them or 10 have reported within the last two weeks during the learn. So when we saw that now it's a phone call, now it's a mandatory learn. Now you got to come off the floor and not be college oriented in the freedom of the learn for those that have come during that time. But you you have to go and get your instruction. Um and so that's where we're leaning to provide more um support. And since it's a board meeting, we're being televised, streamed, if parents, if they receive that letter, it will be incumbent upon them to support us with getting their children to the learn. Um and

052then of course designing the professional development. Here we're talking about areas um where we're working through our flex, our act 45, the race strategy. We state, answer, site, and explain in classrooms. um the think alouds and modeling should be happening in all um content areas as it as it relates to reading and then the chunking and summarizing. We recognize students with disabilities but there's growth. We recognize our L's which had the most growth uh 21% I believe between both assessments fall and uh into the winter. So we know that some students have these accommodations already but all students do need them as well. Thank you uh Dr. Swift. Good evening everyone. Similar to the middle school, I will share the senior high school's approach to multi-tered system of support or MTSS. Overall, several ongoing actions

053have been established to strengthen our literacy support network. First, similar to the middle school, there's been a significant investment in professional development, and that includes focus on uh topics such as close reading, universal design for learning, differentiated instruction, and data informed decisionmaking. Again, all of our professional development is grounded in research, and it supports and provides guidance for us for planning and instruction. Now, second, our tier three reading students um in grades nine and 10 are enrolled in semester-based reading classes. Uh the focus of that course is on um fundamental reading skills. So decoding, fluency, comprehension and vocabulary. Um further as Dr. Swift mentioned and um we do use a progress monitoring system um we use benchmarks for all students and monthly checkpoints. Um and as Miss Delaney explained at the middle school, similar results

054are seen at the high school. uh students um in the chart on the screen demonstrates we're pleased to share students in the reading course have made significant progress at the midpoint. Um most importantly however is that students have expressed how the learning has impacted their improvement in classes in ELA in social studies and science. um we they have expressed that they've enjoyed the partner reading practice that they're getting in that class and we have students who actually chose to remain in the class because they saw the value in how they had improved. Um since January we've identified additional students to enroll and benefit from the course and going into next year we would we are targeting and expanding enrollment for that course. Dr. Swift will now share information regarding our family engagement. Yes, she did.

055Thank you. So, with regards to our ongoing actions, our family communication, um this is critical and not just when a student is um I guess in violation of our code and families come in and they find out um that there's an issue with the academic as well as behavioral. Um but the piece that we want to bring forth here to our families, those watching and as we go about our day is just to encourage them to support the goals, continuing to do that and set uh set these expectations for our scholars along with us. Um we talk about at risk notifications that might be the bubble student. It could be a student with an IEP. um and you know just some other issues. We're working through those conversations uh through formal written communication, telephone calls,

056uh meetings um and as we move about parent workshops um working through that conversation uh to provide evening sessions uh for our families to uh provide resources to them and for them to support the student learning and their well-being. And examples of that would be and and um they're noted up here our parent night of course the college application process um and there are a lot of things that aren't up here. Our PTO has been phenomenal this year. Um and we have a lot of teachers that do come into the room whether it be in person or we just had a Zoom call the other night and they provide information to our families. We had college and career planning and college entrance exam um information that was given to our our families and our career

057pathway exploration, college and career fair and course selection night. We also had a mental health fair at the same time they were running um together. Um and and I I say that because some students still struggle with anxiety and depression. Um some students do feel that the the um wind is out of their sail for example if they find out about their Lexile scores with with the reading. Um but we want to encourage all of our scholars uh with the support that we're offering them that they can do better and be better. Uh since January um there's been additional family communication um and particularly with our scholars the Keystones um and we're working to develop uh more protocols that clearly communicate this progress to our families um through written correspondence or in-person meetings with them.

058Um and then uh I do want to highlight this past summer upon my entry we met with over 50 families entering the high school. Um and they were if we talk about early warning systems our tier 2 tier three children uh more about climate and that was how we were able as of today cut into our discipline at 40% decrease of suspensions this time um this year than we were last year. So we're celebrating that. Well, with that, now the shift will be academic and uh climate concerns with uh those tier 2 and tier three students or yellow uh on the cusp of moving into red zone uh students. Um and then thank you to uh Dr. Fetcher, Dr. Buts, and Dr. Melor for enlisting and supporting the idea of the parent uh teacher uh

059studentled conferences this year at the high school. So, we have not mapped out our plan, but my um experience has it where students lead the conference. So, we're however we format it and plan it out. Um the goal would be for the scholar to talk to their parents in a space about how they're doing, what their improvements are, what their struggles are, and how the school can best support them as we move forward for next year. So, that that's going to be big. Um and we're really excited about that. Um, but the actual parent teacher conference, we're we're following behind the middle school. So whether they're older, it doesn't matter. Um, some things are tried and true and they still work. So thank you for that. Thank you. We can answer any questions that you

060may have. Questions or comments from my board fellow board members? Yes, I have a question. What? I'll read the question, but then I'm going to pivot before you attempt to answer. Um, so my question is, what's being done to decrease the disparity among or disparities among groups? But again, before you answer, I'd like to share an experience. Last week, I had the pleasure of attending a NAACP meeting. And after the meeting, there was a short conversation with a long-term resident over 60 years. And um and so I asked her I said well to your knowledge or from your experience having graduated from you know as an alumni etc how long has it been you know in terms of the the differences or the large gap and she says at least 45 years and so again

061I'm asking it is I and then I also noticed a slide that had remediation and it was at the bottom and it was it was short and I'm sure there are wonderful tactics and strategies embedded there. But I'm just wondering if there's any way it could be increased to include more radical uh approaches to this gap or to address the gap. Thank you. Cuz I told on myself I watched the meeting when the elementary school uh colleagues came forward. So I tried to write down as many questions as I could from home and be on standby to answer if they did pertain to the high school. But catchup, we talk about remediation. We already talked about our Keystone scholars, uh the learn opportunity, students using that second 30 minutes or the full hour if the

062teacher says bring your lunch. Okay. Um the review of IEP goals, that's critical because we're talking about um specific subgroups. Um and the aggregate overall when we look at it, we still see some gaps. Um we're closing them, but they're not where they need to be. weed to access looking at those standards and what does that uh instruction look like in the class read 180 of course the co-eing model um student advocacy um we do have uh scholars in the building who do support students who do need remediation we do have tutoring that is done by peer-to-peer in the building as well at the high school um and I just I wanted to share that with you um and then overall getting into the classroom and drilling down are we really teaching ing um to

063the expectation to the standard. How is that assessed? What feedback are we providing in a respectful and professional way? But how are we looking at um the delivery of that instruction? Are we looking at our lesson plans? Are they in there um you know, ready to roll uh with our our students? Are we present and attending? You know, so there there are a lot of factors in this. Um so it's not just on the student, but even um for them. Are their Chromebooks charged? Um or do they bring them at all? Uh what struggles do they have at home? What are their aces that they bring in the adolescent child experience, childhood experiences? So there are a lot of things that build into that, but for what we can do in the moment, it it

064just speaks to just assessing our overall instructional program and providing that access um to our our scholars. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Brown. Yes. Uh the question's about link. I re I recall when we adopted it, but I wasn't sure how long ago that was. My question is the predictions that we have, is it an accurate uh prescription of how the students actually perform in May? Um you can correct me if I'm wrong, Dr. Buts, but I believe we adopted it in 2020, so we've had it for four or five years now. Um we have found that the midyear is a strong predictor of how students will do. So they usually do that or better um than the midyear predictor. Um it's it's a much closer align than the beginning of the year for sure.

065Um and we do see that for math and for ELA that it's relatively aligned. Okay. And then my second question um the benchmarks are created through linkit. Yes. Does it also break the the students up into tier groups based on the the data? So the program itself can group the students um but we tend to use multiple measures when we are grouping our students. So we don't necessarily just use like the benchmark um we would look at multiple factors. So for instance for the reading class we did look at the benchmark in linkit. We looked at um Lexile scores through STAR and then um this year we've actually as we're looking for students for next year, we're actually layering on Miss Saf was just doing them today. Um um the oral reading fluency even with

066some of our older students to try to really drill down and figure out if it's comprehension or fluency or decoding and like what the issues are so we can really group students more specifically. So Linkit does group students um but we usually add in additional layers so we don't just like use their grouping the way it comes, if that makes sense. Thank you. Uh, two comments of things that I that I heard just to to praise a little bit. I really enjoyed the beyond the walls for the the middle school. Um, I I believe I mentioned last week tapping into community, especially when we see that is uh much support that we're giving in the school is tapping into that community that could really uh make part of the difference. So, I was excited to

067see that. Um, I wanted to acknowledge the intentionality behind looking at the students who are in the bubble, providing them help during lunch and learn, and then knowing enough to say that only 10% of those students were attending. So, you went above and beyond to recruit them to get the additional help. Uh, those are things that um help me to celebrate your your leadership and your intentionality to uh towards helping our students. Uh I also made note of the 40% decrease in suspensions and that's not just because teachers aren't reporting. It's because other things are being put in place so that students needs are being met so that they can reach that level of um what's the highest level of uh Maslo help me out selfactualization. Self-actualization. Go ahead girl. I'm sorry. Go ahead doctor.

068I'm sorry. Go ahead doctor. Uh so that they can uh reach that highest level because we are meeting those lower level needs. So, thank you for all the work that's being done and I do agree that we can focus more on the academics now because those other needs are being met. So, thank you for your work. Anyone else? I had um just a couple of comments and then a brief question. So, um first off, thank you. I really enjoyed that presentation immensely from the administration and the staff. Thanks for taking the time to do it. Um, I was uh wanted to note just a couple of things that I'm taking from this. The co-eing in sixth grade and ELA, which is new this year, and the additional reading specialists specifically for sixth graders. I think

069that's a tremendous addition. Um, and excited to see the continued impact of that during that important transition year. Um uh regarding the math coach uh for eighth grades and algebra 1 um I I'm well aware of so many wonderful and riching clubs and afterchool activities. I had no clue there were four specific engaging math clubs um that I will be very excited uh to be speaking about to my community members and my daughter. Um, so that was great to hear. Um, I appreciate the acknowledgement of the PTO and and how that is helping in creating an inviting and encouraging environment in uh, middle school age which is much needed and allows for natural partnerships uh, between the family and our academic community. Um, in the high school, I would agree with Miss uh, Miss Brown,

070Mrs. Brown on the learns. I thought um you know that what an exciting thing to be doing for our kids that need it the most um extended support uh and enrolling additional students into the reading courses not just in the beginning of year but from January on. I thought that was a you know a great addition and and I appreciate that you're looking at it now like what can we do right now when we're seeing it happening. Um, and my question for the high school, just to end on this, was you you listed some really great parent and family engagement sessions. I'm curious um on participation and specifically when they're Zoom verse in person, if there is any delineation there. If you could just give me some general feedback. I don't need exact numbers. We

071had more folks in person than we did on Zoom the other evening. I would say less than 10 online but over 25 on average might be 30 to 32 that come in person now but Mrs. Fulton is our president and she has been absolutely amazing um and I like her approach is not just about PTO and raising money and doing communal things but how can they enlist their support to be integral in the school. So we she's reached out to our teachers. Um they've done presentations from FASA to college to the clubs and activities that we offer to Abingtonthon. I mean they there were a lot of things that she asked us to to do. We meet prior to the PTO. We have an executive committee. Um that's a requirement of our PTOs of course

072to meet ahead um to go over the agenda and uh to set those parameters and then roll with it. So it's been really great. I just want to take a moment to put that in context. You mentioned 25 and people may say, "Okay, that's a small number when there's all these, you know, parents and getting involved." Um, I'm thinking back years ago and all the things that we tried to do to have people come out to the PTO and it's more difficult as you get to the high school because there's boosters and there's different organizations and you know we would try to arrange it door prizes etc. All these things and sometimes have three people and more administrators and teachers in a room than parents. So, I know that the number that you threw out

073there, I just want to give context to that as someone who was in that situation and we tried really hard to get people uh to come out. Uh that number is huge and it shows um intentional work of the PTO and administration um to involve parents and to think creatively and ways that they can involve parents. So I I needed to take a moment uh to express that from my personal experience. Thank you. One last thing that I wanted to acknowledge was um Dr. Swift, you mentioned the mental health fair that um uh and I had s seen that advertised. that is such a um crucial element to academic success and indication and I appreciate you creating space for children to access um and acknowledge needs as they present um in the education setting. So

074thank you for that as well and and I look forward to hopefully uh attending um future future such fairs. Thank you so much. Anyone else? Um yeah, I want to say um I actually brought my son to the college fair and we ended up going to the um mental health um fair and it was the energy in that room was just great. It was people who were just really energetic and excited about helping kids and and supporting kids and I it was such a good idea to do it on the same night. You had to like walk right past the it to get into the college fair. So it it was a great um way to engage families who might not have stopped by if they weren't at the college and career fair also. So

075um I just wanted to ask a quick question about the reading um courses. I know that as this year it was um recommended but optional to families. Is that right? So we we recommended to families for the this course but they were able to say no thank you. We're going to go a different route this year. um what is it going to look like next year? Are you going to continue for um that it's optional to the families if it's recommended or is it going to be something that's mandatory based on data? Um we have not discussed as a district making it mandatory. Um we have discussed accelerating the timeline. So last year if you remember we brought the courses to you in June and so we were contacting families over the summer. Um we

076are preparing now to make recommendations to families so that they get it with course their course verification essentially which is okay a process that if you're a secondary parent you know what I mean um where the the parent signs off or guardian signs off on what the child has selected in Skyward and so our goal is to pair that so they see it from the very beginning um we're going to pair that with communication and phone calls and so we are hoping that families will see the value in that but that is something we can reexamine But for the most part, um, in Abington, families do have quite a bit of say in what their student takes. I mean, there are requirements obviously that they have to take each year, but there is still a

077lot of parental or guardian influence over whether or not a student takes certain courses. And so, as a district, we haven't said we're going to mandate it yet. But that could be something we look towards if if that were um a priority for us to look into. I guess it just looks like it's been such a successful program that if you know I it would be great if we could see more involvement in it for kids who really could benefit from the course. Yeah. Well, I mean as I said I mean we do plan on targeting more families because this first year um it was our first year implementing them. So we did go a little lower with numbers to kind of roll it out more slowly to make you know to see how it

078went and to monitor throughout the year and it has had a lot of success and so we have been discussing about growing it and um again we're looking at additional measures. So, we are layering in another assessment and oral reading fluency one. It takes less than a minute, so it's not going to take a ton of instructional time for kiddos. Um, that will allow us to drill down deeper to really figure out what intervention students need so that we can group them within the reading courses. Um, and again, like accelerating that timeline. So, hoping that we get it out with course enrollment um or verification that families will, you know, support this. Um, yeah. and and for the most part families did we had very few families that said they did not want to participate

079in the course. So, for the most part, parents did want to participate and see the value. And I think having this year's um student testimonials because as you heard from both um Miss Sack and Miss um Fellini, like we really have had students share very nice testimonials about the course and how they've seen the impact not just in ELA or English language arts, but also across all of their courses, specifically citing social studies probably the most and how much the course has helped them in their other classes. So that also helps um that they see this class as a value and that they and that's a big part of it. We want students and families to understand that this is a a good thing. It's not a punishment. It's a good thing. And so that

080is also part of that messaging that it's important that families see it as a value and that they um and so that's that's been a big part of our our messaging to them. Thank you, Miss Falding. You've been waiting patiently. Um, okay. No, I would just had a a simple question. Uh, did you have math coaches for the other grades, sixth, and seven or just the eighth graders? [Music] Uh, we we did have math coaches for six and for sixth, seven, and eight, but now just in grade eight mostly because of the fact that we're teaching all eighth graders algebra one and trying to prepare them for the math PSSA. So, most of the things that Mr. Woolseie does as a math coach. We try to have the teachers incorporate in grade six and seven

081during their win time. But what about like uh geometry? I'm assuming that's still taught in the middle school. Geometry concepts are taught but not the course the the course geometry is taught at the high school of in the in the students sophomore year. So they'll take algebra one with us in eighth grade. Next year in ninth grade they'll take excuse me algebra 2. and then follow that with a geometry course with some trigonometry at the back end of that and then I guess senior calculus. Yes, pre-calc and then calc. Okay, Miss Woo, did you want to add anything? No. Okay. Um, so I want to thank everyone for a really great um presentation of the data. Um, I'm particularly excited to see a kind of whole community approach um being I I think a lot

082of these pieces have been in place for a long time, but in this presentation in particular, we were um really shown the way they're being integrated with the instruction. So, thank you all for that. Um and uh just wanted to I guess make a comment slashquest about um bringing in the Abington Public Library and the middle school at this stage in the game. So that you know one of the things we saw in the grade school data is there's a kind of melt between the end of one grade and the beginning of the of another. And so the first part of the school year is kind of refreshing those skills. But the more we can do to help students um minimize the amount of melt in those school in those skills, the better positioned they

083are to start the next grade. So um making sure that students and families are aware of the resources that exist for them over the summer is really fantastic. Um, and it's good good to see some improvement in some of those scores. I commend you for that. So, if uh Sorry. Could I share when we finish with the middle school, the library is coming to the high school as well. Oh, good. I'm really glad to hear that. Act citizens advisory with Dr. Melor and I was in touch with the director of the Abington uh library. So, the library cards, they met with our students at the high school and got feedback because they wanted to know like how can we get you engaged? Kids are like, "Get on social media." So, they're like, "Not Facebook, though.

084You got to do Instagram. You got to do, you know, all the like to to a whole different ecosystem." Yeah. So, they're coming, but they they're starting with um Principal Files team first and then with us in conjunction with Mrs. Summers, our librarian. I think that's great. Yeah. Right. And it also reinforces for students that learning isn't just something you do when you're in class. It's something that takes place all the time and out in the community as well. Um, so I think that that's a really fantastic connection for our students. Um, if there are no further questions or comments, we will thank you very much for all your hard work in the presentation. [Applause] Okay, with that we will move on to our first uh session of comments from citizens. Comments from citizens are

085being conducted both in person and by phone. The phone number to participate in public comments is 2677153717 and is being displayed on the screen at this time. You will be able to join the meeting by calling in on your mobile or landline phone. A citizen will be recognized once during this period of the meeting and each citizen's comments will be limited to a total of 3 minutes except at the discretion of the president. Time may not be yielded or otherwise transferred by one speaker to another for purposes of extending a given speaker's time allotment. Uh we'll start with comments in the room. If there's anyone here who'd like to make a comment, please use the microphone either to the right or to the left. Hi. Go ahead. Uh Jen Pertell Glennside. Um I just wanted

086to comment on the presentation that just finished. Um it was really impressive. I mean it was um I think one of the things I think I was most impressed with was the dedication and the commitment that the administration and the teachers clearly have. I mean it was just um wonderful to see. So anyway, thank you. Thought that was wonderful. Thank you for your voice. Anyone else? Go ahead. Hi. Yeah, Joe Rooney. Uh I live in Ardsley and um first uh tomorrow is the 80th anniversary of the announcement of the end of the battle of Ewima. So just in case anybody's interested, there are a couple of Abington students that were killed during that battle in the Navy and on grow on the ground there. And um it's worth a moment just to acknowledge the sacrifice

087they made so that all of us can be here right now and listen to these things. And uh obviously be more of that as we reach the end, the 80th anniversary, the end of World War II, which is pretty monumental for all of the parents of my generation and maybe some of you guys. So, um there's a plaque in the high school that lists all the KAS of teachers and students and workers in Abington and sometimes it's worth going down just looking at because um it's pretty sobering. I have a 24 year old and I have a couple kids in the military and that's the people who were doing that and really saving the world. So, I just wanted to bring that up. Uh second, I want to thank the staff and uh some individuals

088who have been very generous with their time with me both in giving me tours and giving me answers. I've asked a lot of questions and I'm sure you all don't believe it, but I can be a pain in the tail at times and uh they have been very nice to me. So, uh Dr. Melor, he walked me around this building here and I learned a lot about it. Dr. Curtain, he walked me around the uh the uh north campus, middle school, junior high school, whatever we're calling it, and I appreciate that. And Dr. Lionetti has given me a lot of information as far as right to know requests and the budget stuff, and I appreciate that. And then there's other members of the staff who've worked with me on some of these these um presentations,

089and I really appreciate their time, and uh I thank them for that. Um I think Dr. Frasier asked an awesome question and it didn't get answered but I thought it was really great. Basically she said there she talked to a woman who said that some of these disparities have been around for 35 or 45 years. I couldn't remember what. One minute left. Okay. And um what I'm wondering to go with that question is we've heard a lot about data analysis and math and numeracy and illiteracy but is it working? is Abington stu are Abington students better than they were 10 years ago or 15 years ago is I understand they're different students but teaching doesn't change and um what Miss Frasier actually said was a really good question if these gaps have existed for 35

090years it's not working and somehow I got to figure out some way to change it I don't have the answer for that but it certainly is worth discussing and and there was a lot of things about um we're analyzing this and we've got that but what are the numbers about how did Abington students do in 2000 in 2010 in 1990 as far as these uh as far as these um measurements are concerned and I was really confused at the very end. He said we're teaching algebra to everybody in eighth grade. So the tier 2 and tier three students are having significant problems with reading. Are we trying to teach them algebra? Your time is up. Thank you for your voice. Thank you for your interest. Go ahead. Hi Deborah. Is it on? Thank you. Deborah

091Lee Roslin. Um I am a proud member of this community. I am a proud educator in this district and I am the president of the Abington Teachers Association. I stand here because I could not be more proud of the educators and I am talking about those that are in my association and those that are in administration. The job we do here in Abington is like no other. I understand many people have questions, especially people who did not send their children to Abington, but put them in public educa, private education, and have no idea what goes on here. But I'm an educator. I am the voice of my students. I am the voice of the staff members that stand in front of our students every day. And we do make a difference. I can't tell you

092about 1990 because what was going on in the world in 1990 is not going on in the world today. So, you cannot compare oranges to pineapples or palm trees to oak trees. It doesn't work that way, ladies and gentlemen. But I do want I do know and I do understand that every day in every classroom in this district, my teachers, cuz they belong to me. I'm their president, are making a difference. And that difference is evident when you talk to the children. You are more than welcome to come to my classroom. My gift I give to my children as a second grade teacher is the love of reading, the love of books and traveling the world from their chair with just a book in their hand. I would like the board members to know we

093work very hard every day and we are able to do what we do because of the tools that you provide us with. The administration in this district is far I shouldn't say that because I do represent the entire state but the administrators in Abington are go above and beyond and are also the best looking ones like our board members. But the children in this district are not suffering. They are getting an education. They are happy and they are learning. And you are welcome into my classroom anytime. My students come in and when they leave they are carrying buckets full of knowledge that they obtained in one school year. So I thank you school board for giving us all the tools we need. I thank my educators for going above and beyond every day. And I

094thank our administrators for being part of our team. Not above us, not below us, but with us. That's the Abington way. Thank you for your voice and for your work with your students. Um, it's everything. Anyone else? That's tough to follow that. I'm Carol Godfrey. Um, I live at 1021 Devon Road in Abington Township and I've been a resident for over 50 years. I want to thank the administration and the school board for all the hard work they have done in informing the community about the need for a new and improved middle school. I attended the tour of the current building in the fall with the other community members and was able to see just why we need to work together toward approving the construction of a new middle school. I completed the extensive surveys

095and have studied the results. I felt very informed all along the way over the past two years. I am a proud product of the Abington School District, as are my two of my siblings, my husband and my three sons. I was even a substitute teacher in the North Campus and at Abington Jr. as the middle school was once called back in the day. I have an eighth grade grandson at the Abington Middle School and will have a sixth grader grade granddaughter there next year. I am also a full-time realtor in the in Abington and have listed and sold many homes in Abington Township over the past decades. Uh, one of the first things that buyers say to me when I ask them where they want to where do you want to look for homes? And

096they answer right away, oh, we want to look at homes in Abington because we want our children to attend the Abington School District. I have heard this over and over and over again. I would like to encourage the community to vote yes for the construction of the new middle school. We are lucky to live in Abington Township, but a new middle school is a must as far as I am concerned. I have always said a community is only as good as the school district. Our Abington children and grandchildren deserve a new middle school. Thank you. Thank you for your voice. Anyone else in the room? Okay, Mr. Green, do we have callers on the line? We do. Okay. The next citizen for public comment is phone number ending in 3984. Please state your full name

097and address. Is this me? Yeah. Sorry, I was number two in the queue. That's okay. Mike Senhopper. Uh I'm at uh uh Rosemont Lane. Uh I just am calling to uh sort of comment my support for the project and the upcoming uh vote to approve and build a new middle school. Um there's a lot of contention in the township currently about building this due to the you know fairly high price tag or whatever it might be, but we have to we have to get a new middle school. Um, I want to express my support for that that it's not so much building fatigue, uh, materials fatigue in the school. It it's not something that you can patch up that you can do a ton of maintenance. You can do upgrades to the school. It is

098totally outdated. The layout, it was built in the 60s. The layout is bad. There are places where egress is not safe for the children. The gyms are an air conditioned. Um, the HVAC system is a mess. It is. Um, and our teachers are doing what they can and they're doing a good job as far as they can with the building and the layout they have to provide our our children with a good education. But um in the long run, you could spend millions and millions of dollars to upgrade the or to to update or try and retrofit this school. But in the end, you're still going to have to replace it because at some point you just get to the end where it needs to be changed and you need a new building to accommodate

099the needs of this township. Um so that's really all I had to say. Um thank you. Thank you for your voice. The next citizen for public comment is phone number ending in 8689. Please state your full name and address. David Judge Rosland Avenue. Go ahead. Hi. Um I just wanted to um make a shout out to the M3 music program. Um not sure how much you guys are aware of it, but this past weekend we had um the modern music invitational Mmai where we invited a bunch of different schools and performers to come uh to Abington. there's a whole event, a series of master classes, um a a keynote speaker, and then you know by like 5:30 the music started um and it really showcased um how amazing this program is. Um and showcase really

100the talent um of the kids in Abington. Um, and it's not just a performance because um, the important one of the important things about the program is the kids do the production, they do the lighting, they do the sound, they there's a business team and it's it's amazing. Um, so Kevin Longwell um, and the other teachers that support him are doing an amazing job. And if you missed it, uh, you have another chance, last chance of the year will be summer sounds May 30th and 31st. Two days of music, um, bands, duets, solos. We've got it all. So, um, keep an eye out for that. Thanks. Great. Thank you. The next citizen for public comment is phone number ending in 6371. Please state your full name and address. David Padulla, 829 Winter Road. Thank you.

101Go ahead. I can go ahead. Yes, you can go ahead. All right. So, first when picking up my son at Abington Middle School early for orthodontist appointments or due to some kind of an illness, uh I've been seeing children running unsupervised on the second floor of the middle school, and I'm curious as to how that's permissible. Where are the grown-ups and what consequences are being dished out to the students? Not as not uh one time. Um, it's not even been one time. It's been multiple times I've noticed this. Second, all the alarms that went off this month at school were unplanned for the middle school. Yeah. First one was a kitchen malfunction and I'm curious if it's been serviced and fixed. Two of them were unsuspected moments. One possible accident implied in email. Um, this

102is very dangerous, disruptive, and today was an egregious one. Pure chaos. Students were swirling and moving around in waves outside. Not or orderly, not organized, no checking of names that I could tell when I was going past. My son shared it was between periods and there was no plan that students knew about uh for what they were supposed to do. I'm curious if the administrators are were certain that there were no students were still in the building and who verified it. we entrust you guys to watch our most important thing which is our students and it kind of felt like total incompetence from the leadership. So for the school board directors uh with all the repeated middle school safety and student concerns that are going on with the administration in any other job the team

103lead of the building or company would no longer be there. So, I'm kind of curious as to why the person is still there. Is there someone keeping them there? Because if not, I don't understand why they're gone. They're not gone and new leadership has been put in. There were problems at the high school. They replaced all the leadership and from what I know, those problems have gotten a lot better. So, I would really like to know what's going on because when the school isn't functioning properly, it causes problems for our property values. And it then makes you wonder even though we're we're hoping for a new building, if there's still no discipline or anything, it's still the same problems just with a new building. Thank you. Thank you for your voice. Do we have any

104other callers? same one just keeps calling back. That's all we have. Okay. Um if there are no other citizens in the room, we will move on to uh item six, which is the Oh, I'm sorry. Dr. Fetcher, would you like to respond to anything? Okay. Um, first of all, I wanted to take um a moment um I appreciate Miss Lee's comments um and to extend that thanks um to our professionals that are working, you know, with on a daily basis to try to address some of these difficult situations. Um, I'm fortunate to be superintendent in a in a district with such dedicated people who come to work every day and try to meet the needs and very unique needs of many of our students. And I think tonight um to respond to that um respond

105to that a little bit further, we do see some deficits. we always confront what we call our brutal facts here and do what we can to try to address that. Um there there's often some comments and questions about you know what has happened over the past um however many years in education and and how are you you know are you failing the students? Um I think what we see as far as different types of activities and the advancements in that data collection helps us target that. Um I often think about the students uh who are in tier three and um where were they 20 years ago? what kind of interventions were occurring for those students. And I think that's something that we all have to make sure that we keep in the back of our

106minds. When you see data that's listed up there and you say to yourself, okay, well, this group of kids is not is not on grade level. Well, if any of us went to another country and didn't know how to speak that language, I doubt we'd be on grade level. And that's one of the groups that was up there. And I think it's important for us to put it all into context. But most of all, it's important for us to realize that we are working hard to address these situations. Not everything we try is going to work. And that's why we do have an opportunity to stop reflect mid year and make corrections and at the end of the year when we do our annual plans um make sure that our annual plans in include where

107did we fall short but I needed to take a moment to say it's not for a lack of trying and lack of effort. I personally see in the classrooms what is happening and the dedication and the love for our students and the subject areas in which people teach. And I think um I appreciate Miss Lee's comments and I wanted to take an opportunity to address that um not as far as just the presentation is concerned but as an overall picture of when I get the opportunity to walk through these nine buildings and pop into classrooms and see what's occurring and often unannounced and I apologize if I freak any of the new teachers out um but the bottom line is you see what's happening and you see the result of it in in the students

108and some of them may be struggling. Some of the students may have be struggling readers. Some students may have dyslexia and they're may not be on grade level. But it's our challenge to get them there. And whether it happens in a year or four years or five years, we will get them there. and we will put whatever resources we have into place. So, I just wanted to take a moment uh to talk about that. Um I'm also going to ask that uh on another subject, I I appreciate um Mr. Judge comment about M3 and um the the fine work that's being done with M3. And if you haven't had an opportunity, I I suggest that you do attend the summer session. Uh it's amazing that the students are behind all that occurs and uh what

109their accomplishments are. Next, I would like to take um I'm going to ask Mr. file, if you could please reach out to the parent who called in um so that you have an opportunity to address the concerns that were brought uh to the to the meeting this evening. Um I'm assuming you haven't had an opportunity to speak uh with the individual yet. So I'd appreciate if you would reach out tomorrow. That's it. That's it. Okay. All right. Uh if there are no additional agenda items to be brought before the board, we will move on to agenda item number six. Miss Falding, can you please read the recommendation to approve the personnel agenda? that the board of school directors approve the changes in personnel as reflected in personnel agenda number 6.1 and 6.1A and confidential addendum

1106.1B second second sorry we have a second Dr. Fetcher thank you Dr. Mauy. The personnel addendum begins with the request for leave of absence for one professional employee, compensation uh compensation for pro professional development, IEP meetings, interpreter, translation services, and board presentations. I bring your attention to the retirements of Michelle Pew, a teacher at Overlook Elementary School, who served the district for six years. Miss Jill Sandler Liji, an English teacher at Abington Senior High School who served the district for 32 years. Miss Stephanie Zacharias, an elementary teacher at Ryal Elementary School who has served the district for 35 years. Miss Charnette Barry, a day roving custodian who has served the district for 37 years. Miss Rosemary Boyd, a paraprofessional at Abington Middle School who has served the district for 25 years. Miss Darling Carr, an

111aid at Ryal Elementary who served the district for 10 years. Miss Maria Gallagher, an aid at Abington Middle School, who has served the district for 33 years. Miss Mary Ellen Surban, a paraprofessional at Abington Middle School, who has served the district for 27 years. Miss Elizabeth Shabbazi, an aid at Abington Middle School who has served the district for 29 years. Thank you. Um that is extraordinary service on the part of our retirees. Um and indicative of their commitment to our students and to their community. And so we thank them very much um and wish them well in the next next chapter. Other comments or questions from my fellow board members? No. Mrs. Flanigan, it's a roll call vote. Mr. Allen, I. Mrs. Brown, I. Miss Eisenhart, I. Mr. Muhammad, I. Miss Balding, I. Miss Hartman,

112I. Miss Frasier, I. Dr. Mauy, I. The eyes have it and the motion passes. Miss Falding, can you please read the recommendation for the approval of the financial report? That the board of school directors approve the financial report for the period ending February 28th, 2025 as reflected in addendum number 7.1. Second. Dr. Fetcher, we have a second. Thank you, Dr. Murray. I'm going to ask Mr. Letti if you could please summarize the February 2025 financial report. Thank you, Dr. Fer. For the period ending February 28th, 2025, real estate tax collections are ahead $6 million when compared to the same time period in 2024. Year-to date, total revenue is $8 million ahead of last year at $156.1 million. As of February 2024, a year ago, the district had collected $148.1 million in total revenue. The difference

113is due to the 5.3% act one tax real estate index increase in 202425 as well as greater receipts of delinquent taxes, interest earnings, earned income taxes, as well as payments for increased state basic education and special education subsidies. Year-to date expenditures are $12.4 million, which is $8.2 million greater than the same time period as last year at 104.2 2 million. In terms of percent of budget, 56.3% of the expend budget has been expended this year. Last year through the same time period, 54.8% of the budget was expended. If there's any questions, we'll be happy to answer them. Thank you. Questions or comments from my fellow board members? Nothing. Okay. Mrs. Flanigan, this is also a roll call vote. Mr. Allen, I. Mrs. Brown I Miss Eisenhart I Mr. Muhammad I Miss Balding I Miss Hartman

114I Miss Frasier I Dr. Mauy I the eyes have it and the motion passes. Um we are skipping agenda item eight tonight. It will be addressed at a future meeting. So Miss Spalding, if you would be kind enough to read the recommendation for permits of for use of buildings and grounds. that the board of school directors approves the applicants for permits for use of buildings and grounds as reflected in addendum number 9.1. Rachel second. Dr. Fetcher, we have a second. Thank you, Dr. Mauy. Uh the permit addendum continues to reflect requests for buildings and grounds for meetings and other school events and activities for this time of year. Questions or comments from the board? I just wanted to make um two comments. Uh there was graduation uh date posted on that which just seems unbelievable.

115And um the second one was just uh to acknowledge and appreciate the continued partnership with our area youth athletics um in utilizing um the fields and um resources that we have here at the district and green spaces. I appreciate that and wanted to recognize that this evening. Thank you. Anyone else? I just had the same thought about how fast the school year is going by with all the spring sports as I was looking over it. It's unbelievable. It goes quickly, especially this time of year. All right, Mrs. Flanigan, this is R. Oh, I'm sorry, Mrs. Brown. In addition to the the athletics, continued thank you to the uh teachers, PTO community members for creating spaces for students to thrive and have a sense of belonging. I really enjoyed the science uh kickoff fair at Copper

116Beach. So, thank you for all that you do. Okay. Anyone else? No. Okay. Roll call, please. Mr. Allen, I. Mrs. Brown, I. Miss Eisenhart I Mr. Muhammed I Miss Balding I Miss Hartman I Miss Frasier I Dr. Mauy I the eyes have it and the motion passes. Miss Falding, would you please read the recommendation for awards of contracts? That the board of school directors approves the awards of contracts as as reflected in addendum number 10.1. Second. We have a second. Dr. Fetcher. Thank you Dr. Maui tonight for your consideration we have three awards of contract and one contract change order. Uh the first award of contract is for fiber optic metropolitan area network or man services. Uh and they will be from July 1st 2025 to June 30th 2027. Firewall equipment is the second one

117and that's from July 1st 2025 through June 30th 2030 and that is we anticipate about a 25% rate cost reduction uh for that and a core switch for and this is for July 1st 2025 through June 30th 2027. 7 and this is also -ate um cost reduction eligible and we expect anticipate about 25 um% reimbursement uh through e-ate for that. Last is uh a change order and this is for the substitute service program and the addendum that is presented will maintain a flat bill rate for the entire extension differing from the annual rate increases that were in the original contract. So this is a good thing for us. um the uh substitute service has agreed to maintain their their rate um as opposed to the contract which had the opportunity for a rate increase. So

118it's a change order in a positive direct direction for the district. That's great. Um all right, questions or comments from my fellow board members? No. Okay, we'll move on to the roll call vote then, please. Mr. Allen, I. Mrs. Brown, I. Miss Eisenheart, I. Mr. Muhammad, I. Miss Falding, I. Miss Hartman, I. Miss Frasier, I. Dr. Mauy, I. The eyes have it and the motion passes. Miss Falding, would you please read the recommendation for the comprehensive plan? that the board of school directors approve the submission to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, PDE, the comprehensive plan that includes the goals on actions plans and action plans for a three-year period of July 1st, 2025 June 30th of 2028 with a required submission to the Pennsylvania Department of Education by March 31st, 2025. Second. Dr. Fetcher, we

119have a second. Thank you, Dr. Mauy. Um, the Abington School District comprehensive plan was discussed um under the orientation portion of the February 11th board meeting. It has been on display for 28 days um as required and we tonight move forward with recommending uh that you approve the submission. Okay. Thank you. Questions or comments from the board? Uh just one uh comment. I know it has been uh discussed and presented, but if it's a item on the agenda, can we at least put a a clickable link within the um public access so that they can go directly to it in the future? Yes. Thank you. Anyone else? Okay. Mrs. Flanigan, Mr. Mr. Allen I Mrs. Brown I Miss Eisenhart I Mr. Muhammad I Miss Balding I Miss Hartman I Miss Frasier I Dr. Maui I

120the eyes have it and the motion passes Dr. Fetcher uh any additional reports or recommendations by the administration. Yes Dr. Mauy I provide for you the conference attendance and professional leaves for your information. Great. Thank you. to uh to our teachers for uh providing these opportunities to our students and for representing the district and various professional organizations. Other questions or comments? Okay. Uh any other business that may be appropriately brought before the board? No. Okay. That moves us on to our final uh section for comments from citizens. Once again, comments from citizens are being conducted both in person and by phone. The phone number to participate in public comments is 2677153717 and is being displayed on the screen at this time. You'll be able to join the meeting by calling in on your mobile or

121landline phone. A citizen will be recognized once during this period of the meeting and each citizen's comments will be limited to three minutes except at the discretion of the president. Time may not be yielded or otherwise transferred by one speaker to another for purposes of extending a given speaker's time aotment. If there's anyone present who'd like to make a comment, please use the microphone either to your left or to your right. ready. Excellent. Uh, hi Joe Rooney. I still live in Arsley. And folks, I'm going to try and give you some information that you won't get from the board or from the school district as far as the value that's in North Campus right now. So, you can go to commonsenseabington.com and I'm encouraging everybody to vote no because we can get a better plan

122for less money that focuses on children and education. So, what have we got? We've got a building right now. There's seven acres roughly underneath roof that's in North Campus. So that's seven acres. You know what? It's a frivolous waste of money to destroy a functional building that has a lot going for it. It's also for all the de the Democrats on the board, it's a terrible environmental assault to take a functioning building, seven acres, tear it down, throw it in the trash somewhere, and then what? pave it over with a parking lot. It doesn't make sense. It doesn't make common sense. It doesn't make business sense. It doesn't make money sense. And it's for people who are listening or maybe watching here. So, what have we got? There's a few things right there. First, I'm

123estimating that there's probably $50 million of value in that building right now. If you take a look at it is a solid concrete reinforced structure. It is as solid as you get. It's settled. Everything already has been decided on that building as far as a foundation's concerned. And even ICS said it is a sound structure. The next thing is it's built in a modular thing. I did any of you all ever go up on a roof? Anybody? There are five pieces to that building. It's unbelievable. Four stories tall and each piece can be isolated with a wall. It is incredibly um flexible as far as what you can do with that building. The people who designed it did an excellent job. The people who built it did an excellent job. If it's properly maintained, it

124will last for decades. Now, if you walk on a roof, you're going to see one terrible roof. My question to the board and the administration is why did you neglect that roof? I have one minute. That is on you for not maintaining the building. What have we got in there? We've got a good flexible building. Little theater totally functional. The gym's totally functional. The science wing is only I think it's 30 years old. Somebody can correct me. Tell me if I'm wrong. That is not a 60-year-old building and it is in excellent shape. The next thing you want to do, look at that library. It is beautiful. The idea that we would tear that library down and build a new library is nuts. All of those buildings are co they are obviously they can be

125renovated. The other thing inside the building is the way it was built was all HVAC, all electrical, all plumbing is easily accessible. Everything's in drop down ceilings. Yes, it can be modified. Yes, HVAC needs to be upgraded. Yes, the bathrooms are terrible. These are all reasonable modifications that can be made to a 60-year-old building. Thank you for your time. If anybody wants to hear anything else, thank you for your time. Please have a seat. And thank you for your time. Please have a seat. Hi. Go ahead. Thank you. Um, do you want to go? Oh, go ahead. Um, I just want to Oh, I'm Max Hartman. I live in Ryle. Um, I want to reiterate what Dr. Swift said at the beginning of the meeting in the presentation and that was that 40% decrease in

126suspensions at the high school. Last year at the high school there was a huge distraction for everybody learning and that was the fights and the crazy behavior in the school. That behavior was focused on by the administration and by Dr. Swift and changed and now we are focusing on academics and to be completely honest with you in my experience the academics have already been improved by the decrease in behavior there that behavior caused a distraction and the middle school students have a they also have a distraction and that's what's happening with the building with the air conditioning with everything going on there that distraction needs to be sol fix fixed. The problem needs to be solved before the academics are looked at and I think that the academics will be improved by the new building

127being created and those problems being solved. So I'm in support of the new middle school. Thank you guys. Thank you for your voice. Hi u my name is Jen Pertell. I live in Glenside. I wanted to speak in uh support of the new middle school. Um my husband and I both went to public schools and um when we were looking for a community to settle in and raise our family, we like the earlier speaker mentioned um focused on towns with great public schools. And so we focused on Abington um and we um moved here in 2001. And when our oldest started kindergarten at Copper Beach, we were lucky that previous Abington residents had invested in the schools and we had a a brand new grade school that our daughter and then later our two sons

128were able to go to and it was a wonderful environment. It was it fit all the kids even when we went to full day kindergarten and our population kind of exploded a bit. Um and uh and then we also got to go to events at the uh stadium because again previous Abington residents had invested in the school district and we went to go to the grade school track meet and we went to um Bands in the Boneyard and football games and then our kids high school graduations. Um and I don't even know that Abington had a stadium before that. So that was wonderful. Um, and then when we were while we lived here, we got to vote on investing in the schools and improving the high school and making it bigger, making it a four-year

129high school, which was again wonderful. Um, and while my one kid missed it entirely, the other one lived through the construction and not the completion, my youngest did get to have one year in the new school. But even with that, I was happy to to vote yes for that and invest in the schools. And so now I am supporting the middle school because even though my kids are out of the schools, I'm paying it forward just like, you know, Abington residents in the the 50s and 60s invested and built our high school and built our middle school and then ones before did the new grade schools, uh, the stadium, the high school. I want to pay it forward for the next generation of people in Abington so that they can have great schools and it'll

130keep Abington the vibrant and growing and um attractive community that it is. We have people that want to move here. There's a reason for that. And selfishly, it also improves my the value of my home. It makes it a great place to live. And I mean, it's just a win-win for me. So, I am I am definitely in favor. You guys spent a lot of time studying this, a lot of time doing research. There's been a lot of careful planning, and I uh trust the process, and I support it. So, thank you. I'll be voting yes on May 20th. Thank you for your voice. Anyone else in the room? Okay, Mr. Green, with that, we'll move to callers. There are no more callers on the line. Okay. Uh Dr. Fetcher. Uh just for a point

131of clarification, the science wing at the middle school was um added in 1996. Okay. All right. Uh with that, we will move on to closing comments from my board colleagues. Mr. Allen, nothing. Thank you. Okay. Miss Brown, thank you for your attendance and your voices this evening. Have a great evening. Miss Eisenhart. Uh, good evening everyone. Mr. Muhammad, have a good night everyone. Miss Falding. Um, have a good evening and happy spring. Miss Hartman. Um, very quickly, I just want to say, um, thank you to Miss Lee for speaking up for our kids and and our teachers. And um I think we look at data and we look at these big sets of numbers about our kids, but we don't always consider the individual children that are walking into the classrooms every day and the

132teachers that are helping them to achieve their goals and to learn how to read. And our teachers are facing different challenges than they ever have before with kids. And every year it changes and grows. And we have mental health crises and we have social media now. and we have economic fears and our teachers and our administrators are the ones on the ground that are helping our kids every day. Um, and I think that when we look at data sometimes it it takes away from the human lens of our kids and our teachers. So, I just want to say thank you for everything you do and um, have a good night everyone. Thank you, Miss Fraser. In closing, let's pay forward. Thank you. Thank you. Um, I want to thank Miss Lee again for her her

133comments, but also for her years of dedication to our students. Um, our schools, this district is the beating heart of this community and our teachers are the beating hearts of our schools. Um, we are incredibly grateful to have you and your colleagues here as part of our community. So, on that note, I want to wish everyone a good night. Thank you for coming out and uh we'll see you in two weeks.