okay thanks hi good evening it's March 11th 2024 it's just after 7 pm and this is the Hatfield school committee monthly business meeting I'm Christy budro chair and in order for our AI notet taking to be most effective we're all going to stop and introduce ourselves at the beginning so Christy budro Kathy anglehart Rebecca bench Jennifer Maloney Sullivan Conor Driscoll Melissa and with some hope that will that will work great so um with that we're gonna open things up to public comment and uh if anyone is with us through Zoom tonight there's no one in the room with us this evening but we do have some folks with by Zoom are there any of you who would like to make a comment this evening okay we thinkk thank you for showing up and being with us uh if you have a hard time hearing us you can tune in to the YouTube channel as well um so with that we're going to shift on to the mission moment and just a a quick check in to see if there were some inspiring uh educational moments that we want to hear about P yes I it's in my update as well but um one of the things in our school Improvement plan was about trying to offer more opportunities for our school choice families to come and Network together and we had our first of three of these in the spring um I sent out 38 invitations to our school choice families and there were nine families that came out this past Thursday to meet and introduce each other and we have started a phone tree to have them connect with each other great awesome that's good news I can go next that's okay um we had oh last week or the no the week before um it was we had had our um school choice perspective student open house night um and and not just school choice but just perspective student open house and we had uh we had 17 families who came both uh from in District and out of District to tour the school um and what really stood out to me as well as to those who tour the buildings was um the caliber of of students that we had leading the tours because these were student-led tours um students took them around the school uh showed them everything talked to them um spent a whole bunch of time and it was it was wonderful to have to have that and it really stood out to the families that were there great wonderful any committee members have a mission moment you want to share okay um I don't see our student representative so we'll go straight in um our administrative reports we have a few sort of extra check-ins um to hear from Dr Driscoll um that are in addition to his written report um we sort of shifted our Deep dive into a more conversational format so there aren't slides tonight for that um and we also took two elements from our district Improvement plan where we were going to where we said we were going to annually check in on some things that were of key importance um about things like talking about family communication and talking about professional development um and that we would talk about that tonight as well so we're just going to put that into the report section um and I know Dr Brer wishes she were here but she is not well and so we have her report and writing um so with that I turn it over to the administrators um so I I won't go through the the whole written report that I've submitted um we're having a professional development day this Friday it's a release day so school for staff but no school for students um we'll be continuing some of the work that we've been doing up at Smith Academy and and um other work at the elementary school um a few updates from management operations where you know continue to address building repair needs both places we have a a recent new um roof leak at the elementary school that we're looking at that's um in the library so it's a different section of the building which is unfortunate um and we had been hoping to replace the doors um unfortunately we had the incorrect doors uh that were ordered so we were working with uh contractors to um Rectify that and get doors that are uh fit the fit the fit the building are those the doors that are by the gymnasium they are yep it's not all the doors it's just just those there's six doors there's uh two into the gym two sets going into the gymnasium and then there's one set of glass doors there too by the community entrance so there there's uh six doors total yeah those doors have had hard times they have yeah um there was training over the vacation um by the Hatfield fire department and police department as well as from other um emergency services in the area um and so they were continue to be thankful for that and they were able to utilize our space for that um something I haven't updated about yet that we've been utilizing this year um something we actually started last year before it became a um before it became a sort of a grant funded thing through the state and uh it's called the Handle With Care Program and basically it's a way for um schools police departments emergency um responders you know folks that might have might be privy to hey there's something going on in this um kiddos life that you know might be of concern you know you might they you might want to have a little extra TLC for this this student um and so we'll you know we have a um a protocol that we can update update that list and so anyone who sees that student will see that um they're on that list they know to kind of treat them with you know a little little extra maybe extra patience on that day no information about what's going on or you know privacy um concerns um but it has allowed us to to uh to to be able to more quickly put things in place um to support students as as needed it was nice to go to the all school meeting last month um at the elementary school was great to to see everyone there I mentioned our open house um and as well as the HF they in terms of community support they had a murder mystery night as a fundraiser um and it was well attended so I thought was a a successful fundraiser for them uh one of the things that we've been talking about around um budget has been the some of the increase in um in costs for transportation I know that's come up U that also came up recently at a western Mass superintendent meeting we are not the only District dealing with that and so um that's been a topic of of uh concern regionally and I would say even broader than regionally Statewide um so folks are talking about that uh we have one staff resignation to report Kelsey Brunell um a special educator at Hatfield Elementary School resigned um I was very hopeful when I wrote this update that we would have uh be able to to um report having hired someone but that has not happened yet we've had um interviews we've offered the position uh to a couple of different qualified candidates who have declined the position unfortunately um in in the declines how many times have you heard that our insurance is a a factor um have you heard that I'm I have heard that yes I have heard that um and in one out of the two in this case so that is the superintendent report would you like me to go through um the other administrative reports before we kind of go um go through the the list of sub categories there in terms of family communication PD update outdoor how about we we do all the principal stuff and then come back sure okay um so shifting roles for a minute um to Smith Academy Comm communication um again I al already mentioned the open house that we had it was well attended we had a number of folks um that are current HS families as well as folks from surrounding communities that that came to visit um a mixture of students and families visiting from public and um private schools in the area um update for seniors if they're watching that you have until Thursday to get your scholarship packets back if you would like to apply for a scholarship um last week something really wonderful that the students did at Smith Academy so they've been working we have a group that's been working with with spiffy um and I'm going to draw blank on what spiffy stands for right now but basically what they do is they collect social emotional um data from areas in from from the region um and they compile data and information through surveys about risk factors for youth so risk factors about depression substance abuse uh you know families attitudes towards substance abuse things things like that um and they they they present that data so that you know different localities can say hey here's kind of what's what some Trends are in our area about youth RIS risk factors um so this year through a grant they were able to partner with some Smith Academy students to dive into that data really really deeply um so they've spent a large chunk of this year really since like October or November weekly meeting and going through that data and analyzing what it means and looking at trends looking at how our data Stacks up to um data from other other towns and other areas uh and they had they had an entire data presentation day last week um so they there was an in school field trip where they spent half the day um in the in the library with uh other students kind of going through and presenting the data that they had um they had been kind of sifting through all year long and it was really wonderful um so we're hoping that those students will be uh able to join us next next school committee meeting to kind of go through the that same date and share some of the trends that they were able to able to see um and and we can really use that data to um to drive what we do you know once we know what the risk factors are and where you know where where those exist we're able to sort of Target them and it was really a nice job that they the students did looking at that uh we are cruising towards mcast season here it's actually March so mcast for 10th grade ELA starts this month and then the other grades come in April and May for ELA um math and then science um and then lastly we're uh just under a month away now from our our most School field trip I'll say um right now we have 70 I believe 74 students who have signed up um important to remember that 23 of our students will also be out of the country for international trip at that point so all told um that's most of our school that's going to be headed to either the solar eclips uh for the total totality up in Burlington Vermont or um not experiencing a a much lesser version down in Panama so we're excited for that how many kids will that leave in the building then and what is the plan for them yeah so that'll leave about 30 students in the building um and so they're they will have they will have a a day of classes that may look different but they'll have meaningful work to do um and they'll be engaged in they're expected to be engaged in learning um and the uh teachers who'll be there will be able to supervise that and um help assist any any sub plans that need to need to go and they'll have uh they'll they'll have work to do are there any plans for them to experience the eclipse here like the elementary is trying to do there as well there are the challenge is timing because the um the eclipse doesn't happen until early afternoon 2 to 3 o'clock um and so that's after the dismissal so there'll probably be work that they do to it but they can't actually observe it during school hours but we will get I think to 97% down here so pretty pretty close and Mr April has put in a a grant so he has glasses coming for that I thought that it was funded fully really quickly last yes yes donors choose thankfully okay all right so um at halfeld elementary we held our first uh school council meeting we are to have four a year um bit of a late start but I was excited that the same parents and staff members continue to be part of that incred L important um organization and to our school we have changed our all school meeting to accommodate a coral assembly so um it was initially scheduled for the 29th but staff had said that it would be an awfully long time to sit for an all school meeting and then to sit later on for a coral performance so we agreed to move that um I as I told you earlier that was definitely a mission moment to have been able to host nine families to that came out and enjoyed some socializing and some networking um with each other it was really great to have so many of them um basically always you it was totally unprovoked seeing the Praises of why they chose Hatfield and how happy they are to be here so that was exciting um and again trying to schedule at least two more of those in the um April and in May and we have also officially scheduled our mcast for April 10th and 11th um science and technology for grade five only will be May 16th and 17th and mcast will be uh for math the 21st and 22nd um last when I first came in I asked or kind of switched it up one of the things about mcast of course it's an you know an important assessment but it's a data point and one of the things that we were trying to minimize was the amount of time that because of proctoring that our students were not engaged with their reading interventionist or their special education teacher so I had basically asked everyone to test on the same day to minim minimize that disruption um teachers really gave me a lot of positive feedback around liking that we had shortened that but also had still put in the request to see if we could test in their own rooms they still felt like testing in the gymnasium in the cafeteria was not exactly conducive to how they were already doing their schooling so um we have thankfully been able to figure out a way to accommodate that so that most um almost all of our students are going to be testing in their own rooms or using the second room as an um so most students might test in one room and then the small group would be testing right next door the other room so all students will not be spread out around the building in the cafeteria and the gymnasium like they were last year so we look forward to seeing if that makes any difference in our scores based on the fact that they're with their own classroom and their own teachers so anything come out of the school council meeting that we should know about we started talking about looking at a behavior tracking form that was one of the things that I had shared with them and I started getting some feedback I've began creating one with the staff um during our plcs that we're trying to create there's been a version of it in the building that most of our staff aren't using but we definitely felt like that was an important tool so I was great to be able to share that with them um and it's still in the process of being created but one of the feedbacks that they had provided was that it should probably be electronic not something that's paper based though it could be and that they were pretty adamant that it should be something that is sent directly to the to them if it's going to be filled out the parents want to see it as well it should I mean it can be helpful to be a tracking tool just to see if there's patterns of behavior for a teacher that could potentially bring a student to BST but both the parents that were there were like I would like to see that if someone's going to fill out something on my kid I want to be privy to it as well so it's great feedback so that was the gist of most of our meeting other questions before we shift into DP dip update kind of stuff this is is really really brief and it's just honestly a reminder um can you just remind me how often we do the spiffy data every year we're doing it annually now yep okay yep so it's every year but it's not every grade every year it's like different yeah I think it's um 8th 10th and 12th grade that they collect data for okay although don't quote me on that because there are a few different surveys that are like it yeah I'm maybe mixing that up okay but but the students were reviewing from last year they were last year's yep awesome thank you other questions can I back up to you for second I had a parent asked me this weekend uh for an update on electronic payments sorry I know this comes up monthly yeah no thank you otherwise and so I met with the I've finally met with the virtual met with the my school books folks today um so we are setting those shops up this week so the way it has to work you have to set up specific shops on this website and tie those shops directly to specific bank accounts and I couldn't do that till that was approved so I met with him today so I'm hoping I'm optimistic that if not um by the end of this week certainly by the end of next week we'll have those shops out for approval and then they say it takes um a couple of weeks for them to like build it and and put it up there um so the timeline he gave me today was two to four weeks when I spoke with him today and that would be now that we've had that box after care preschool all of that yep box after care preschool yep all that will be included awesome glorious and it looks like they have information so that a little payment calculator there's actually data that would enable that to get updated onto their site potentially yes Y and we we also have the one that that you had okay if they have their own that's great right but so long as there's something that has actual dates like when we're half days and that's not there y because that's fussy okay awesome well if we called it a day I'd be happy right there that good news please give us e payments so um but that's not all shifting on um in any order you'd like to take that right we can just go on the list I think um so miss P I'll probably tag team this as we go through so we can give um kind of updates from our respective schools um about those we'll start with family communication I left it there you had it out so if if you're joining us by Zoom could you please [Music] mute thank you all right um so communication update um to me this kind of falls into a few different camps so there's the regular Communications that we do that are um updates school-based updates either weekly or or bi-weekly um different kind kinds of information that's communicated there as well as um updates that might be for smaller groups of people so class class updates that come from um either teachers or um from class advisors in the case of the high school about events and then sort of what I would call imun emergency updates so things that are um you know relaying important information that um so folks in the community are aware of that um so in terms of regular updates from Smith Academy we I do an update every week um and the updates that come I send an email out to staff or or I ask staff for their input if there's information that they need to include in there so that they'll often be information from the athletic director in there from the school nurse in there um about uh upcoming events that impact kind of a wide range of students um and that goes out weekly um individual teachers communicate uh they update their um grade book they are expected to update that at least every two weeks preferably every week um so that those updates go through the um the the the grade um my grade book that we have on on the computer the portal so those updates go at that that way um as well as communication from about their classes so upcoming assignments things like that um that might be might be coming those go to specific classes they can email their classes rather than you know a wider um wider range of people um in terms of so so that's kind of the you know the broad updates and then the more specific updates um and then there are the emergency updates that could go to either a small like a class of students or or a grade of students or a um or or the whole school and last week we actually were we unfortunately had two medical incidents at Smith Academy which required those those updates to be sent out um that we had a shelter in place and that we you know did so to um so emergency uh responders could deal with a medical emergency and then class had resumed um and those updates they they tend to be a little more tricky because you know each situation is a little different um and each situation kind of requires a different level of you know what can we share to still respect the privacy but to acknowledge that there was something happened that interrupted learning here um and so when that happens um that will that will that will go out to um to anyone that's impacted um occasionally that happens in just one or two classrooms at Smith Academy um but more often than not and every time every time it's happened this year it has been for a shelter in place for a medical emergency that's Smith Academy at the elementary school um I have asked staff to make or send home newsletters at least twice a month some do it once a month I mean I'm sorry once a week um I send out something to families once a week staff most of them have been sharing them with me um so that I can see what they've been been sending home uh I know that some are still utilizing the class dojo also so some families might get a little bit more information based on individual things but they are still U utilizing that platform though some are just doing like bless you um an actual newsletter that have might have pictures or at least a quick overview of what students are going to be learning in each of the subject areas around math Ela writing science and or social studies and then other important things that might be coming up um yeah that's pretty much it is there an expectation on emergency reports from or do you just not have Emer like I think we've seen a few things that have come through um so if medical emergencies would have a notice to go out are there other emergency things that the elementary like by practice we um well I anytime there's any type well I sent something recently when there was um the police at the very end of the day so anything in which there's like police or fire in which we would need to let everybody know what's going on or at least let people know that things were okay um I'm definitely sending those kinds of things out um haven't I mean yes there was something recently like around the police being in the building near the end of the school day um but yes that's important information that has emergency net um reasons yes get sent out to all families on an asne basis um and I don't think I've had to send anything out specifically to any type of shelter in place Andor um classroom evacuations but if that were something that needed to happen we would send something out again the duration that students were continuing to how quickly that then passed before students then got reactivated with their learning questions is there feedback on Communications from families not that I've asked for as far as like a survey to see if they're feeling that they're getting enough information or just unsolicited not that I've heard I can tell you that I get multiple things from Smith Academy like whenever Connor sends something I get three copies of it whenever Jason Duncan sends something I get two or three copies of that um so I'm fully covered with with communication but it it's working and it's going through I I must just fall into different Pockets that get sent by groups so so you may be on the staff list as well as the school committee list then if you're getting it twice or three times or three times third one comes from oh fair enough um so when we started looking at the communications plan part of this was also about predicting things that we were going to need to be in communication about and having some of that planned and ready just so we weren't that we had it ahead of time that we weren't surprised by like oh yeah just because things get busy and we're a small district and so it just might be a good opportunity to kind of go back not now might be a good summer project but a chance to do that and make sure that we're just eyes doted yeah and we've had those conversations as um as we've gone through the year too and one of the the recent things that that has come up with us is about um when we're sending things out to start to register for next year um so we've noticed that uh in in recent years elementary schools have started sending things out more earlier and earlier now that um and and so we want to make sure that we're kind of following that same timeline sending things out for preschool or kindergarten enrollment in you know January rather than in March which it has kind of traditionally been and we've we've seen that shift even from in my own household from having a a daughter in preschool a couple years ago versus having a daughter in preschool now where we're getting we were getting things earlier this year than we were um even even a few years back um so we've talked about kind of Shifting that timeline um similar similarly we've talked about doing the same thing for um Smith Academy enrollment when when parents start looking around February January and February um so having our open houses and informational nights earlier in the year to get that information there too um and that's a different kind of communication that we we do as well and that's the stuff that I think having that timeline to do will be really helpful for um things that you know things that will impact enrollment and we'll um you know have go out to the wider Community it's kind of communication related but the website because it's I know we're working on it we're trying to get something else up and running um but that would be something good to have on the website as well as a a general timeline of oh in January it's it's registration for this and you know an apparent section of what to be looking for um I noticed on our current website people are having a hard time finding the calendar and it's under documents and forms where I'm thinking it should be on that side bar where it says the lunch menu for each building it should be right there easy to find for people because that's feedback that we got as well and that's an easy fix and there's a calendar on that front page and it's just so far down the front page and it's not fully updated but um the other pieces about the calendar is you can actually subscribe to it and we don't we have I don't know if we've publicized that but I know it's helpful I've put it online so you can automatically get half days on your calendar and stuff like that I think we need to make that more well known and with maybe some directions of how to make it absolutely directions on that and and I would extend beyond s that that timeline too but thinking about our um you know our students our Juniors and seniors who are going through that College that college application process sort of a timeline for them too about when you know they can expect information about um you know the school visits when they can expect information about fap f faps f faps buff thank you uh when we can when we can expect that to come out um and having that as part of that Communications plan as well I think would be would be helpful that'd be great okay um updates I know we've had a couple conversations this year on professional development planning and process but I think we're invested in our staff so it's a topic of keen interest so we had said in our DP dip that we would start looking about March looking ahead to the next year and how that's going so any updates um I had at the last staff meeting I had brought up with the staff around being able to give them a Google form which I am still needing to make sure I I've send out to them to get more feedback um we do have a committee I've met with my two committee members twice already um but one of the things that we're hoping to do better is to actually by Springtime hopefully um the goal is when staff actually start in August um they know exactly what we're doing each of those half days and those full days it's not a question of what are we what's going on on um but to actually already have it fully planned out so getting more input and feedback so that the esps understand what their training Andor because again they're going to be telling us what they need some more support around um and then the same thing for the staff and we had had a conversation about trying to coordinate the two committees from both Smith Academy and Hatfield Elementary so that we can possibly coordinate better about what we're offering to staff if they have that plan at the beginning of the year if they're taking stuff on the side yes they can see how it fits in that's nice and I would extend that Beyond just a single Year too and this um we've um met as a staff and I'm we're hoping to meet on Friday as a PD committee to start that conversation so there there are two um two kind of areas of interest that I'm that I'm really focused on the first is identifying building based needs and staff needs for where they need support where they need training where they feel like the priority is ought to be um and the second is and I think I do think we we have an obligation to do this is developing a plan that extends really for five years um because that's the recertification recertification cycle in Massachusetts so um as a district I I think we would hope to be able to provide um training in all of the the the PD categories they're called so that um by the time a teacher has been with us for five years and they're up for Renewal um that they're able to pull on what they've done in the district largely to get that renewal um they'll be I mean there would be time obviously for kind of focused content-based training but also training in um in in and um elll training and IP training and all the different training categories that you need to address before um before can get relicensed would A Five-Year Plan also help us track um key things that we want to make sure we have everybody trained on so that if we have new staff come in it's really easy to see like oh I better catch up on that because I'm missing that piece it would and um I think we we we're going to rely on our staff um to help identify those core pieces where someone needs that training immediately so there are there are certain things that when we have staff come in programs that we have that um we're not going to want to wait three years if that's when it comes up in our cycle to train them on we're going to want them to get trained in how to use this program immediately because that's what they're expected to use so they may you know that may require time a little initial time out of the classroom to be doing that training so days where they might go for a um you know they might go for a to a conference or something to get trained in that in in those kinds of things um and that's you know or or or summer training on boarding if we if we're fortunate enough to have um our any new staff lined up early we can you know we can make that part of a part of the summer Pro program as well um so there are that's you know there are there are two pieces for there of of that where yes we would like that to be ongoing so that that cycle can continue and someone could be sure that they're going to get that training but there's also there are also pieces that we want to have folks um ready to go with their first year so there would be core training by grade or Andor subject like if you're teaching fourth grade yeah you got to know this yeah you got be trained on that that's more I I I would say that's that that's more heavy at the elementary level where um you know we use foundations so someone comes in to teach a grade where they teach foundations they're going to need that training not two years from now but right then um same thing with you know srsd programs that are utilized that we kind of rely on we want to have that training in place um you know we want to front load that we hadn't we talked at a previous meeting about um purchasing software that would help with that yes and I haven't update on that too um so I met with the uh folks from it's called Vector Solutions now it's changed it it still is teach point but they were bought by Vector Solutions um and there are two components to that training and the first is um well well they're both around tracking so the first is PD that we offer inhouse we can put that we can put that out to teachers to sign up for and to um get get credit for so it tracks that automatically so if we do 15 hours of training in differentiated learning uh we can plug that in there or if we do you know an hour on on an after school day or if we do a two hours on a early release day um we can have that in there and so that everyone who gets it can have it tracked for them so they don't have to keep a spreadsheet or we don't have to keep a spreadsheet and get that out uh the other piece is for when they attend training um they can also submit it on there and it can document that as well in that space um so that they don't have to get a print out of pdps and keep that in a file until um until they may or may not get audited by Desi it's all set to go in there uh and then actually there's a third component too which um is sort of PD related and that is um those the we we have these things called gcn trainings they're mandatory trainings every year um bloodborne pathogens things like that um bullying training those you know there there are trainings that everyone has to go through every year um and so we can rather than using a different site that we have used in the past we can all keep that all within that same umbrella of teach Point um and when we offer trainings there's feedback forms that are that go along with that training too so it's automatically um you know as part of the training hey please fill out this feedback form so we get some feedback on on the training that we provided so a year from now we could be getting a report out from Vector solutions that would say we we could be how our staff is doing on and if we're able to able to make it happen it may even be feasible for some of the things we have going on on Friday to to to try that I won't say it'll be completely smooth and ready to go but at least we can we can can try it out other PD related questions comments thoughts so much is hen in the room okay so now we'll shift on I think to um outdoor education update this is our deep dive subject but it it's not a by slides tonight so go for it okay so as you know we have the forest classroom um our preschool and kindergarten do still currently utilize The Outdoor Classroom um most the preschool particularly does it around two to three times a week they did so more so in the fall and definitely in the spring kind of stayed away from the winter just because it was so cold um kindergarten continues to go twice a week um they go year round um they go once as each of a separate and then they also go together as um a whole entire Kindergarten unit once a week um other classrooms there's it's a hit or miss as to whether or not another grade will go and use Forest classroom it really is dependent upon what they're doing so some grades do sixth grade has gone down there and used it some other grades have done the same it just depends on what specifically they're needing to do with wine needing to go down there um sixth grade has done something around um early tools so they've gone down there to like look at how the different rocks and other things that are down there and then they've come back and done some more like um artistic things with it we also have the Gazebo outside so students um classroom teachers do take students out there or their classes out there to read books and to do snack or other things um throughout the school year all grades do that um and that's pretty much it I do know that right now our fifth grade teacher just um I had called The Gazette they had showed up but I was hoping that something was going to be in the paper and I've been anxiously seeing if something would didn't end up happening yet um but Mr hagera worked with ammer college to have a game cam game camera that is now placed in kind of collaboration from something that was started get in fact there were some students that came down from Smith Academy to also talk about it but the two researchers from ammer college came to speak and they've set the game camera the back to and about where they should be putting it to be able to track some of the um animals and then they use this data also um at ammer college but this camera has been placed in the back not quite near the Pavilion but somewhere in the back down there so they are tracking more animals versus the people who might be walking down toward the forest classrooms so they didn't put it exactly down in that area because they were looking more specifically to really see and track the different animals that are down there so it should be in the paper tomorrow because it's online right now oh I saw it online this afternoon and I didn't get a chance to read it but it had a picture oh excellent and the article was there in the online version of The Gazette awesome so the paper will have it probably tomorrow nice excellent again looking for some PR for for the school they no longer tell me where they put the camera up at Smith Academy know dress up as something to walk through um but they've been that's been a great program to have we've seen some great um pictures of bobcats with squirrels in their mouths coming through and really kind of neat stuff and the occasional giant Falcon um occasional so so we don't have a forest classroom at Smith Academy but we do have opportunities like Melissa we sharing for students to kind of ground some of the work that they're doing in uh in in the outdoors um so in in in middle school it's very frequent um in in um science to have students going outside to to um you know to specifically in science to look at what life cycles are and those kinds of things um we also see that in uh in high in the high school as well um so not just the middle school but the high school as well it's it's largely science focused at the moment um where they'll which I which I think makes sense and it's you know it's a a logical kind of extension of seeing what they're what they're studying um you you can study nature inside and then you can go and and see it outside it's a it's a good extension um and it's certainly something that there's there's a lot of interest interest in doing too um one of the things that I'm I'm kind of excited about this is a very may even be a premature update um but something that I I've I'm setting I've set up a meeting with with desie to talk about this week is um the possibility of of developing Innovation Pathways at Smith Academy so um desie has innov Innovation pathway designations that they give uh to schools who they'll they'll give that designation but they'll also support through through grants and and building those um Pathways that allow for coursework done in a high school to develop into um career Readiness so whether that be certifications where whether that be um coursework that go that that is done in in conjunction with certifications and builds into the um higher level education so Community College or um or fouryear colleges um and so one of the I'm I'm hoping to develop um this for this spring which would take kind of effect through it would be built throughout next year so it's you know it won't be for next school year but it could it could potentially start then um is what I'm calling the um Adventure leadership outdoor or innovation pathway which would be um a series of courses that would lead to uh certification for things like CPR first aid um possible you know like Wilderness F first responder certifications um things that students certifications that students can get that are pretty uncommon for high schools although they're um for most of these certifications once students are 16 years old they're eligible to get certified and it's just not a common pathway um and that would allow them to kind of develop their their their skill set as well as their kind of their their resume of okay I have maybe it's a lifeguard certification that they're able to get maybe it is a an oec certification they can go ski patrol um and that you know it could build potentially into something where they seek out an EMT certification later on when once they turn 18 um it could be a project Adventure certification where there you know those kinds of things which lead to you know I'm maybe biased here but they I think they I think they lead to a a pretty unique and and pretty um pretty comprehensive skill set um for you know just being able to compose yourself in those kinds of situations um in addition to that we would we would have the ability to partner with some higher education institutes So Greenfield Community College they have a outdoor leadership program that they offer Springfield College has a similar similar one um it's an outdoor education degree I believe that they have so we could partner with them as well as some local businesses that would I think um possibly really benefit from having a pipeline of um people that of workers that could fall into that um you know that that could fill those roles because there's always a need to F to fill a lot of those roles um and and I just think it'd be kind of neat to have students when they're in high school to be able to to do some of those things that that traditionally um you know they they might not have been able to do I mean they they could be um Camp counselors that take a take a group hiking for a week in the summer they could be um lifeguards at some of the the state parks in the area um so so that's that's it's in the very infant stages right now but I do have um some meetings scheduled for this weekend throughout the spring to sort of try to develop that it's really exciting yeah I'm I'm pretty excited about it it lines up well with sort of our interest of having some things where we're a a district destination for core things that because that doesn't sound in competition with anyone else around which is nice no I don't I don't think it would be like you're not going to Smith vot for that no are you continuing with the fly fishing I am we haven't gone in a few weeks it's been very cold um I don't we're scheduled to go tomorrow and I'm not going to say we're not going to go tomorrow but the river looked awfully high when I went by it this afternoon um so I we'll we'll see if we P if we're practicing casting tomorrow or if we actually go on a go on a fishing trip the cow pasture that you've used in the past is quite flooded it's very flooded yeah we would not go there and I I looked our our more recent destination's been below the dam um and that's we're not touching that right now it's a nice view right now it's beautiful it's a nice and ambient noise feeling you could use the Elementary playground on occasion St there's quite a bit of standing water there okay thank you that was questions I just had a question um for um for principal Petr are we going to be what about for the um outdoor educational um are we doing the the farming the beds in the front again and we'll each class kind of yes I forgot to mention that yes one of the things I've been doing in my plc's is asking if there's a particular U vegetable or herb many of the staff wanted to be planting herbs so that yes ideally being able to utilize those um grow bags and put more compost in those utilize the front of beds again will definitely be something that we ask each and every grade to participate in students really enjoyed the taste testing and sampling so it was a huge hit we'd like to be able to plant more things that we can offer in the fall and spring are at either of the schools do we do any kind of off-campus in town outdoor activities just taking advantage of the things that Hatfield provides some history some ecology some environmental things farming anything that we could do off of our individual campuses that would I know that the second grade took a walking field trip down to um barwell Farm um they did that in the fall okay I don't know that every year yeah they do um and I've reached out to to Harrison to see if he would work with us he's very busy but he did finally say that yeah if I needed anything just let him know um so yeah trying to but that's the only one I can think of that we do off campus we still work I mean many of the different grades first through fourth go down to the Hatfield Public Library on a a regular basis but that's not only knew of a farm that had like cows and goats and chickens or you know something like that honestly trips have occurred I just assumed you all did a field trip to see potatoes grow at some point no we used to just truck behind our house and F our boxes for the winter that might be a business type of field trip of watching the how it works behind the scenes what happens after it's harvested from the ground and it goes to the to the swasa facility yeah that's a conversation I could have with the swasi yeah and I think that's certainly an area that we could build upon too I we have a rich community of history and agriculture I think I think um that's certainly a resource we could we could tap more than we we do um I know I recently had someone reach out to me about um reinvigorating the kind of the farm fresh program at the high school and and possibly partnering with farms for that as well as maybe putting some some hoop houses up um to grow some of our own own things as well and I know John halpen um the food service director is very um interested in doing that as well um so I think that's you know that that's certainly area that we could um we could do more in um we certainly live in the right spot for it for sure yeah I was going to say that um get more to come on this topic obviously but this has actually been a huge Topic in comprehensive planning right now we got a lot of community feedback about um and and just like general interest in having the school be like more connected to the town and how can we bring um local farms and local businesses into the school but also getting our students out and just like really taking advantage of the things that we have to offer that are so close by so more up on that in the future this is all very timely yes yes a okay I'm gonna foro additional District Improvement check-ins we can read them if you've had questions can I just make a comment about it please um I enjoy looking at it but it would be really helpful I think if the comments that are on here are somehow identified by the Admin putting them in y in some cases you can figure out you can discern what that means but like you know one of the things was um you know re-shared information on the new program you know like okay um or you know uh something about the new evaluation is being released vetted out new evaluation well that's great information but maybe a little bit more or at least if it's identified by which administ colorcoded so weol in some way and I think for speaking for myself and I don't know for you either but um to me when I when I have filled this out in the past and I can do a more thorough job of it I've I filled it out almost as notes for myself to remind myself oh yeah don't forget to talk about this or don't forget to talk about that when you're doing the update um rather than a kind of a full description of what the update is um but we can certainly kind of make it more more comprehensive and there's still last year things on here are they there to prompt you I for what to I would want to keep the old stuff because it's a good way to reflect back and say what were we doing a year ago did we remember do we want to do that again although I did notice someone added in a 2024 and I liked it yeah was like I think we're keeping last year's things in there it could be t or whatever then there's you know a notation that this is from 23 and now this comment is from 24 just so we see progression we might need just to look at the form and that's fine yeah I'd like to invert it too so the newest stuff is at the top scroll down to see the other stuff yeah we can we can tweak that but those are just minor Little Things that I notice when I'm looking at it the point is we read it yeah that's good right we're reading it we definitely appreciate it I do too okay awesome um so with that we're going to shift to um the school Finance subcommittee update all right um so our meetings lately have primarily focused on fy2 um just to kind of get through fy2 24 there's going to be some uh transfers tonight um just to rebalance some accounts uh no significant shifts um we are going to have a vote coming at a future meeting to for some possibly more significant adjustments um pending some additional funding from Desi um for circuit breaker funds primarily right yeah circuit breaker and extraordinary relief okay um the fy2 budget we had hoped to have it ready for you for tonight we don't we're not quite there uh it's it's almost there we met with Finance um last week or two weeks ago um and they got a look at the line by line budget um and they were supportive in general of our budget that shows a 2 and a half% increase in town spending over last year um they were greatly appreciative of Dr drisol and Riley's work to uh build this budget based on past actual spending instead of just on past budgets um uh of not we the while the budget was reflecting a 2.5% increase in town spending it's an overall net decrease in spending about 2% um reasons for that are uh school choice we spent what was left in our school choice revolving account last year um so all that we have to spend going forward is what we bring in in the previous year um and uh we had eight fewer school choice students this year versus previous year um so we uh don't quite have as much money as we were expecting for that um and we also last year spent all of our Co relief funds our Esra funds so we had $38,000 last year for that that we no longer have available to us um actual School chice tuition might be higher there was there's a midyear adjustment um but we're basing our budget on the more conservative number and if we get some extra funds then that'll just be a happy um bonus to work with next year um within our budget when we get there you'll see that we created a new account to cover for uh leaves of absence um it seems to be a recurring conversation we have at meetings U usually I think last year we had five different staff members throughout the year this year had at least two um so we are adding an account that has um some money in there um to just plan for that it's it's it's every year we're having somebody at least so let's budget for it 2.4 yeah 2.4 is the average um uh notable cost increases our busing contract I think we mentioned at the last meeting but it's up 42% uh and just a note that this is similar to what our friends and neighbors are seeing it's in the range and other districts have uh received contracts that are over double what they're currently spending but in the area in general around what we're getting in in this area this is very similar to what everyone else is getting um our sped transportation is also increasing significantly for next year contracted Services um but the majority of um the cuts that we have to make uh to kind of absorb all these expenses are being offset by our change in administrative structure so we're making as much of an effort to keep all the cost all the impact away from learning and away from the students so the cuts right now I think it's don't quote me but it's like 71 lines that got trimmed like just a lot of nips and Tuck to help do that offset and if anyone was following Along on that I just want to clarify when we talk about the the total school budget being down um I know there may be some folks that are concerned about well why did we do an override if you were willing able to cut your budget back and just to caveat like last year our increase was over 10% to be able to do level services and this is a fraction of of that in so we would not have been able to make these kind of cuts and not required an override to continue to fund our school so I just if the question comes up because 2% of the school's overall budget related to two and a half percent those numbers sound like they're in common but they're really not in common and this is 2% of the larger budget and in conversation with other area districts um comparatively we're in in far better shape than pretty much everyone I'm I'm I'm speaking to um there's there's uh a lot of folks right now who are where we were this time last year um thinking about where what the future is going to look like what it's um you know what they're going to need to fund to fund their school district um and we're fortunate to be in a place where we're we're only looking at um cuts to the level that we are I think very much so I've also shared a little bit of background with the committee if you're interested in the receiving tuition we've seen yearby year because while we've budgeted for 620,000 of school choice dollars last year I I know we're down a few students it's not a lot of students um last year we we we didn't get in 700 so we were still in that 693 range so it's not a big difference last year we still had some money left in the school choice revolving account so most of our funding we spend it by the end of the year or it goes back to town if it's school choice dollars it can stay in the account and and acrw if we have a little left over um but our budgets have been spending down what was in the school choice account since 2018 and last year was like we got in 7 00 we spent over eight so we spent that last little extra that was still in that account and this year we're living within what we're bringing in based on this year's Choice students and if we can grow that choice enrollment there'll be more in the budget the next year so that's yeah we I think we did pretty well with being Frugal with our School of Choice monies other districts spent their entirety a decade ago like gramby went through all of it really quickly and then had nothing where we had set caps and we had planned it out better but for quite a and and that allowed for several years of us literally keeping the lights on with school choice dollars exactly I mean we we kept our tax spending down through that technically not what the stat set the program up to be school choice dollars should be about enhancing your programs um so we're we're starting to find our way back to that so thank you Adam for putting all that together appreciate the the update um we also have a budget transfer you have a a hard copy of what that looks like um there's two pieces um here to transfer there's regular budget transfers and there's school choice budget transfers um the regular budget transfers this is Shifting dollars between one account to the other it's not new money coming in and it's not new money going out it's just right sizing where it is in the budget um I commend Dr Driscoll and Riley for the diligence that they have taken for the last two months to go line by line through our budget and make sure that they're really clear on what's there what's going to be needed to get us through the end of the year and to start to rightsize some of those accounts so that they know all of that information um as Mr warted so this gets us back to a level set so it's going to be a lot easier to see um in the school Finance subcommittee we've started the year out looking at some other districts in the state who have had some really surprising budget updates um we won't name names right but just massive issues and we've been working on ways where there's greater visibility at the committee level to finances so that we would not get ourselves in a position where we're spending more than our budget hasn't it without at least going back with some extraordinary reason to go back to town and and talk that through I there's there's always the possibility our budgets really lean we could have something beyond our control um but we're getting more and more visibility and the amount of work to start that budget from zero base is phenomenal and really helpful so is the most transparent budgeting process I have seen since I've been on the school committee and I'm deeply grateful so I would really love to entertain a motion and I have the total amounts to share with you so the regular budget dollar transfer is $2,319 the school choice budget transfers for a total of 9,528 5280 9,52 89 89 I'll make a motion to approve the transfers of the regular budget in the amount of $2,319 and the transfers from the school budget 95289 is there a second second okay um all in favor I I any opposed great so Kathy Englehart moved Adam Sullivan seconded and that passes so all of those transfers can forward and is there any other conversation on finance before we move on to policy just a great job you guys all of you thank you and I think from the town stpoint things are they have some information they still need before we can move forward it's part of yeah our hold up yeah okay I turn it over uh Miss bench uh policy very very brief tonight um we have a number of meetings uh scheduled in the the coming coming weeks um but at this time we've continued to work on some of our Focus policies right now we are gathering data for um a potential cell phone policy we've been looking at multiple sources including other districts and feedback from our own Community um and we're also continuing our general review especially trying to keep an eye towards anything that is timely or relevant just in general with the cycle of the school year great yeah okay thank you we'll look forward to updates next month um next HP on our agenda is to have a conversation about recommended school choice openings there's there's two parts here there's a review of of recommended openings class sizes and and a bit of review of that and then we're looking for a vote tonight but the vote wouldn't be on the number per class the vote would strictly be are we going to be open for school choice students so it's uh yes we are and I think we had in doing that we need to say we would have at least one seat per grade unless there's so that we're participating we will then have time to reflect on this ask questions and come back and set those numbers at a following meeting so that we can have some digestive time but also enable the district if we vote Yes to start that process to the point of earlier is better if we're going to have more kids so yep um and so you can see the um the spreadsheet in front of you there's also uh the the online version is a little more filled out now um but you can see we have um we have openings we're recommending in every grade level um some grade levels are actually pretty you know pretty full which is great uh first grade next year we're looking at one one spot um that we may recommend opening uh sixth grade three spots so some some our our grades are uh filling filling up which is wonderful to see um but we are looking in each grade level uh we excluded um preschool is kind of excluded from school choice because it's a it's a tuition program so it's it's different um so we are recommending um opening school choice from kindergarten through 12th grade for next year so you want that motion now if well it's open for a conversation if we want to talk about school choice numbers or anything before we do that well I kind of feel like we need to agree that we are going to do School of Choice before we unless it would change someone's mind I don't know I'm just curious what's going on right now as far as um rolling admissions interests are we still what is the activity look like we are seeing an increase um I you know this time of year um we are we are seeing an increase we uh we've had a few parents call kind of um nervous about the lottery uh process because we can't you know we can't come right out and say we can guarantee you a spot in school choice in the event that we have 50 people apply for school choice in a certain grade level um you know we couldn't accommodate that so we can't guarantee it until that process happens um I will be making a recommendation I believe uh to policy around reviewing when we do that because the timeline that we have now really doesn't give I mean it's June so that's that's really late for families to know so um yeah my recommendation going forward would be to do something in March or April where we can hold the lottery then and then families can know one way or the other if they have a spot or not and then we can kind of you know admit on a rolling basis after that um because I think that's just fair to to families um and and I think part of the reason I mean last year if we look at the numbers that we had and the applications we had we had we had our number of school choice families and applications that we um that that was Target we had our we had our 40 applications and we did not have 40 people C that that that came from that despite being impressed with the schools despite coming in for tours um and I think a big part of that was the security of no one and um they if if they weren't guaranteed to know that have that security by June I think that's too late um for for families to know um but to answer that's a long-winded way of of answering we are seeing increased uh we're seeing increased numbers we had a tour today of someone who's very interested coming this year at Smith Academy um we've head towards at the elementary school I have when this coming week we've inquiries about whether or not they can set up a tour so slowly but surely and slow and steady has been the um both tours and enrollment yeah we've seen enrollment creeping up throughout the year as well um we're up 12 since October and some of that's resident new residents some of choice yes and then rest in choice if we do change that deadline which sounds like it makes sense to change we need to be sure to announce that very clearly very publicly I think about parents that are planning for summer camp and they don't realize that if they don't do it in February and March all the spots are full yeah so it catches people off guard if they're not used to thinking about it and if somebody's contemplating School of Choice we want to make sure they know early enough I mean it should be on the application for starters but but they don't know to get the then it's the other thing we've got to Market and truthfully having some sense of urgency from a marketing standpoint is about the best thing we could do when we put it out like we're opening up for school choice and the lottery is going to be and if it's April like that's a jump start and you can say it's it's April with a rolling like rolling afterwards but at least the families who really excited who are on top of it um yeah they have that chance yeah because I do think we lost families last year yeah and I think we have two different um two different deadlines for preschool I think they hold a loty in April if you have more more students than apply um versus for K through 12 it's not till June which is again it just seems late and the the anxiety of the family is probably this Nam regard right Europe y it might be worth if we're going to review our school choice deadline um not to put more work on policy folks but um I mean it's already on our list but it heads up reviewing when our preschool applications are due when the lottery is performed because other districts are already done your applications are in closed and you're on the wait list you're not and we haven't told fames anything yet yeah I mean I to me it makes sense to just have one deadline like we're doing it in March yeah even March I think the February yeah because I think the 38 school is closed in February for applications for for next year wow so right so we need to be sending them out at the end of January yeah so and I've already talked with chrisy about revamping all of our pamphlets and flyers so that we they're at the ready for next January okay and again people that are new to this is their first kid going to preschool maybe they don't realize this needs to be done this early well and that's a thing we need to get on the website as well that there is a prek enrollment form on the website so we we had gotten our letter for Charlotte um and we sent it back with Owen but we could have just as easily have clicked online and used that form as well I believe so okay I I just saw it tonight oh well there's a and that might be the disconnect between what you saw because when I had looked at that initial again you know brand new I never had preschool in in my school previously in where I was so it was all new to me about having to like create this preschool letter so I did it last year and then I was reading it this year and I'm like oh my God this is horrible it's so cold it's not inviting it's not like woohoo come here to you know pre um come to our preschool so I revamped it but never made the connection and made sure that the one that was online was match the one that I had sent out to family so there may have been that disconnect as well but making sure that we're in sync around both a pamphlet and flyer and PR around it's an attractive and pretty yet also informative about what our preschool is about and our kindergarten is about for any and all new families once we get that sensus information needs to be at the go and ready specifically also I realized I don't think I even put on there like as soon as you return it will let you know but that's something else that so there's a few things that still need some tweaking um but definitely have already shared that with both Dr Driscoll and and with Christy about trying to help with that PR piece in the marketing piece one thing in the letter it talked about being like a first come first faes but it's it's not right so and and that was an initial thing that was was created that I was using based on a draft that was given to me so yes there definitely needs to be some tweaking to that for sure the um i' just like also to kind of commend our our admin assistants for the work they've done with that because um we have more options for families now they can get a form fill it out by hand send it in they can go online they can fill out right online and it goes to them um all those options are wonderful they do create a little bit more work in terms of just keeping things organized and um they've done a tremendous job of making sure that everything that comes in is accounted for and that we we have all of our our ducks in a row um I'm wondering if we have to look at too because I don't remember hearing about this last time is a date that we're asking families to commit to um whether or not right because there's a if we're going to open up this application process a lot earlier and families have multiple applications out and then we are they are seemingly coming here and then in the ninth hour all of a sudden our numbers really change yeah I think that's a great idea too and that would also allow us in the event that we have weight lists which I mean looking at our numbers we we we may in a very real way have weight lists in some grades next year um and if that's the case it's nice to give those families you that opportunity sooner rather than later too um and then my other um question was if with the rolling ad missions which is a little bit different this year if there's been feedback from the teachers um if there's been any feedback from the teachers positive or negative just because I can't imagine that as we're getting close to the end of the year um if you're a teacher who's getting kind of like multiple new students every other month that that could be quite stressful I yeah and I've I have heard that from a few folks um that there's there's an excitement that um people want to come here which is great and that our numbers are are going the right direction um but that it does does create a um does create a bit of a stresser uh in that and that's both from from getting new students um who you might not know or coming you have to build that you know build that relationship with a new student um and it's also from kind of the you frankly the the pressure that we've been putting on to sell the school where um okay there's another tour coming in and you know another instruction and you know so we're we're looking at ways that we can help um alleviate some of that stress um and and and yeah and so so we are we're looking at that we're receiving that feedback um um I think that that's that's good feedback for you to be getting from teachers in the case that next year we want we we might want to look at dates differently y if that's feedback that we're getting from staff there is a point that we course correct and we may change the policy about the roolling mission like if we're filling up grades or getting close to that we may have some latitude to change how we deal with that yeah and I I definitely think that you know a lot of these policy deadlines have been the same for a long time you know the policies have been reviewed and they've been tweaked here and there but I think these deadlines really reflect a different educational environment um so I love this conversation and um but to Christy's point I mean we should just continue to review it and this is the perfect example of a policy that can be reviewed on the school camp calendar sort of like routinely yeah because right like if it's not working then we can revisit it yeah and something to add to that conversation too is that um you know that that that stressor of of new students does exist regardless of school choice or not we have always have students moving this year been fortunate to have a number of students and families move into Hatfield with school aged children which is a really really nice Trend to see um which is and that's that's wonderful and so that you know that that stressor um you know we're hearing that feedback and and and we're we are looking at ways to alleviate it and at some level too um that's also part of you know part of being in education I'm sure that you're already thinking about this but then offering any incentives like the um the opportunities for school choice families to connect if we can if we can get the applications coming in sooner and then we can have some of these events before um you know before the commitment date then if they're able to come here and see it and meet other families is there a higher probability that they're going to feel comfortable and um get to see all the great opportunities here and that they'll be ready to sign that commitment earlier someone they could carpool with maybe and I I think that's a great idea I think Beyond families um setting those systems Up For Students as well so they feel supported because um you know that's it is a big change for a lot of students and I know I've um at Smith Academy um Jason Dougan who our new Dean of student supports that's one of the supports that he's looking to bolster is is the supports for new students in our district you know are they paired with like a you know a mentor of a classman or are they paired with you know how how are you build how are you building that Community um and it's something I think that he's Lo interested in not just with our students but also with our our our families as well um I think any way that we can do that to help build that build those connections is is a positive awesome is there a motion um to open fiscal year 25 to include school choice students so move for a second I'll second okay all in favor of opening up school choice for fiscal 25 with at least one student in every grade clarify that I'm sure that was exactly what you that was what I meant okay thank you all in favor I I any opposed okay so moved by Kathy Englehart second by Adam may I ask a question about the forecast numbers for next year to whomever it applies uh forcasting 10 kindergarteners from town next year that's a low number at least from what the census is predicting right now okay that's that's I was going to ask is that based on the census or based on preschool or that's on census and then right and then there's about five school choice students who are already currently in our preschool that could potentially be in kindergarten that was always um something that jumped out to me too is that because preschool is two essentially two grade level ages in in that one classroom so it's not like that whole class is moving up to the next year it's you know just the students who are going to be of the of age do you know how many currently in prek are going to be eligible for kindergarten next year nine okay that's Collective out of town and in town I believe so yes okay and how many does that leave remaining to come back for preschool you mean right so current PRK that would still be prek eligible right if nine are able I don't know what the total number is right now at the top of my head nether I um I hadn't looked at that number oh wait a minute yes I did hang on there are get into my drive there are currently 21 students total between the two first uh the two preschools actually that's 20 we had we just lost one student so 20 total in preschool 11 11 to St okay thank you anything else about this it'll be be back for a vote in a month probably I'm just going to guess maybe with some policy to go with it h nicest table we've seen about school choice yes it is thank you so moving on to our conversation for this evening on commun and this kind of all dovet tales in the whole evening has sort of led to this community building opportunities um so part of it lines up with the district Improvement plan um but Dr droll and I were talking about like this would be a good time to have a conversation dist 56% not we may not be wrapped on the last part sorry anything we want to no clarify okay we're just dripping over math is the is there a math update needed no okay we're okay just check it um so yeah so s we can we'll try to do this update without um without being redundant with some of the stuff we've talked about because we have sort of danced around Community um the whole evening but um you know there's there are different developmental ways that communities built differently in different you know different um in the different schools in the different classrooms um and there are also different ways that we build community um among students among family and among staff and and that kind of you know those three those three components go into building the building the the entire community and kind of the the culture of the school and how people feel um feel about it so um you know in terms of I can start from from Smith Academy and then if you'd like to go from elementary um or we could go the other way what works for you um but I think so so speaking broadly from the the whole District staff right because um you know we we have only two schools and they're not we're not a big District so so being able to have um you know folk have have times for for folks to get together between schools has been has been nice that's a push that uh Miss Petra has made um the last couple years and um I would I would say that has has had some pretty good results um we've we've had um times during during school uh during kind of whole staff professional development days or meeting days where we've had the had the group together we've also had times outside of school that have been scheduled where um staff have been getting together for um extracurricular activities just for fun um and and we've seen participation go up in those we had a combined um holiday party this year for everyone that was well attended um and just just just fun I think for lack of a you know it's not one of the things that you can take data and say but but people people enjoyed themselves and they were you know I think um s sort of that the the district mentality has been building over the last couple of years which has been been really nice to see um in terms of student community at the at the high school level there's a lot of different different camps that that falls into um certainly having um sports teams that are open to not just the the highest caliber players but to all the players um helps build community we had um I had a parent in in our office sort of in tears tears of happiness this year um because of the way that her daughter had been included in a team in um by by older players in a way that she had never never kind of felt before and it was just such a positive experience for her um that it was it was really it was it was it was really just wonderful to have that so that Community exists there we have um the different Club opportunities that exist throughout the day uh and really you know those they give opportunities but at the end of the day they're about those Club opportunities about having fun together um I was kind of Blown Away the first time I walked into chess club at Smith Academy that was one of the most vibrant thriving clubs in our in our school um and I could see exactly why they moved to xblocks as opposed to um having after school clubs because so many of the students in the chess club were also some of our star athletes on on the sports field and they would never have been you know able to do that but they had that opportunity um and they're having having fun doing that um so any time that we're able to kind of build the opportunity to have fun together I think is a time where Community is built um we also have students who feel empowered to to take that on themselves the student council is the one that leads and hosts the March bandis that's coming up in the um the snowball and the the Jolly ball tournament at the end of that spirit week and so they have you know they they have been empowered and throughout the years to to kind of do this it's become Traditions that they own um and that are are valued among students and among staff and so they you know they built that own community elv um in in kind of con conjunction with that at the same time we talked a little bit about some of the um challenges might not be the right word but but some of the the things that as our as our demographic shifts to more school choice students they do present challenges to building Community because every time you have a student or a family that has to drive 20 30 minutes to come to a school or come to an event um you know if they have to drop their child off and then leave and then they pick their child up and then leave and then come back for an event or drop off for dance and then leave and then come back and pick the child up you're talking you know an hour and a half of driving per day just to be part of a community part of part of our community which um which is I think a testament to our district that you have people that are willing to make that commitment and time alone to to to be part of to be part of our school and part of our community um but it also can create a barrier to being part of the community and so that's you know looking looking at the barriers that exist um what are they so trying to find a way to identify those barriers to to community especially as we're you know as we're trying to include more families um and more students um and then trying to develop systems to help address those barriers um and that's something I I started to speak with a little bit um you know with with some of the the work that that Jason has started to look at is um another barrier and this is just the reality of being in a small community is when you have students that have been together from kindergarten through seventh grade and you join as an eighth grader um that can be kind of daunting to do that I mean you're coming into a a group that can in some ways be as tight as a um with all the Dynamics that that come with that positive and and negative and so trying to um you know create systems that allow easier access in into that into that Community can be um you know they're just things that we have to think about have to develop in order to make sure that everyone's feeling like they are like they have a have a spot they have a space and they are um they are part of our community um and so that's um probably a much longer winded answer than um anyone was thinking but that's that's sort of the things that we're that are that exist but also that we're thinking about going forward um especially as we're we're trying to and we're making it a concerted effort to recruit and to bring more people into our community okay how do we support how do we support building that in our in our schools and I think Lissa can probably share about some of the work she's been doing that's been pretty effective too well having brought in um the responsive classroom consultant back in November has been amazing because Community first and foremost happens in each and every classroom every morning as teachers are conducting morning meeting with their classrooms um it's been great since we've all been back in school full-time to do the monthly all school meetings so we have an opportunity to bring all grades together um I've been getting some feedback about how to incorporate more about preschool and some of the some of the feedback they've been giving about the all school meetings in relation to their entrance into the how long they're staying and even possibly some partic ipation um to help with their students participating in our morning our all school meetings um meaning I'm giving some of the slides ahead of time usually we always start with preschool so they've been asking if we would switch that order so we' start with sixth grade so the kids can actually hear and be having more repetition and more practice and hearing what the greeting might be before that finally gets down to preschool so there's some small tweaks um to make sure that we're incorporating our youngest um members of our community um I know that there are teachers who in both fifth and sixth grade have their buddies in kindergarten and first grade so we have reading buddies that are continuing to happen throughout the school year um they get down together routinely to um be those leaders for those younger kids um an opportunity to be able to have that partnership so that when they see these students at in Smith Academy eventually at some point there's a friendly familiar face that they'll be able to recognize and see um again starting off with bringing out and trying to get more school choice families connected particularly since we had such a huge influx of them after the Christmas break so that's another way that we're trying to build more Community we have very active PTA that's been amazing because we have that opportunity to have things like spectacular and some traditional things that they offer and yet the movie Nights have been a great way and I know that some of our choice families have participated and come to those as well so they can kind of get a taste of what that's like and be able to socialize so those are some of the ways that we've been able to build community at the elementary school thoughts questions I know Owen's basketball coach this year coaches um are uh they're a couple from Greenfield and they're they have I think three kids in the school system who have Choice here one of whom is in Owen's class and you know that family's made that commitment to not just send their kids here but to come here twice a week to coach basketball and invests in our community which I think is fantastic the other thing that the wreck department did that I thought was a great Community Builder was getting tickets to Elementary schoolers to go to high school yes ball games which was fantastic so I'm I'm pretty sure if you see yourself as a falcon in kindergarten first second third grade by the time it's time to go to Smith Academy that's that's your school we think about ways to keep our kids um one of the opportunities that I think Co shifted the community a little bit by necessity um many of us know each other because of preschool so it used to be a habit that you would help your little one get in and get settled and help them wash their hands and make sure they were sitting and the parents got to know each other and built a sense of community and and if you didn't grow up together you got a chance to meet folks um that changed with Co there's prob some good academic reasons about little kids separating from parents that's that's a challenging thing but I'm curious because I've heard from parents who went through it with some older their older kids one way and now have little ones as it's like wow this is really not the same and they're missing that sense of community um with parents because I think that's the other element so I love what we're doing for students and and staff but sometimes the community is parent to parent too um and I'm so excited about building that up with Choice families um but I think there's still some little things we might do and I don't want to still a thunder but Connor had like a really great idea about what to do with prek families you have to tell her it wasn't my idea but I heard it from you let's put it that way at a previous school I worked with the um the counselor there hosted a boohoo breakfast at the start of every um every year for kindergarten parents after they dropped their after they Dro their kiddos off because they were all crying and and oftentimes at at that point um you know it's having been there myself it's harder on the parents than it necessarily is on the students they're like great I'm psyched I'm gonna go play um and um sometimes the the parents do need that nudge to sort of say yep it's it's time to let them be in kindergarten or preschool and but that was a nice way that th those families could connect and um there were tissues at every table and little candies that they could have um and sometimes lasted for an hour and a half um just because they wanted to talk but having you know things like that I think could be could be developed absolutely I think a pancake breakfast that morning would be amazing for for preschool and kindergarten parents and the transition from Hatfield Elementary to Smith Academy and for the senior there you go oh there you right we have maybe maybe the student counsil could post it they do a great job of pancake breakfast another Community event that they do yeah um you know all the time my elementary school did pancake breakfast and it was a dad cooked breakfast you bought tickets for and the dads made pancakes and bacon and eggs and it was a fundraiser didn't didn't we have a dad supper thing for a while at Smith Academy that there was men who can cook yeah men who can cook yeah men yeah that was a an event that happened yearly at Smith Academy and the dads got together and did that so there I think if we brain we don't have to brainstorm it tonight looking at Clay's overlooks but a little bit of this probably goes a long way yeah I think I think you're right I think any way that we can have events like that that are you know um inclusive of all our families would would would be wonderful I want to go back to um Connor and Smith Academy that I think while it's also important to build that connection of a grade if that expands as well to either a grade above or a grade below because we're all so small I mean some some schools have a grade that has hundreds in that so we have room to know the kid that's a grade ahead of you or a grade behind you and I know that Haley has enjoyed getting to know some eighth graders and and seeing them in the hall or talking to them and that's a community Builder as well it is and those those are kind of embedded within in the school so you have things like xblocks that are and and the and and sports teams that that that sort of happens organically um but that's also a structure that we're looking to put in place um on a a wider level almost kind of like a Big Brother Big Sister sort of model um or you know me peer mentor kind of model where we have um we have students really just paired up with each other so you might have a junior or a senior that's a you know solid role model you know paired for just just a little hangout time with a seven sixth or or seventh or eighth grader um who might be you know might might be just really benef benefit from having that connection kind of an echo of the reading buddies in a exactly maybe a study buddy or you know something Study Buddies exist we have we have a peer um a peer tutoring program um so we have students who either kind of self-refer or maybe their families refer or teacher refers and say hey Connor could really use um little help in biology and we have students who are kind of um High academic performers that have signed up to be part of that program and they say hey yep you're gonna hang with Cara Connor for this amount of time during this time and um you're gonna work on biology he's got a test coming up in three weeks um and that's been been effective for students who have taken part of that too um I know we're about to move on but actually just as we were talking about connecting um families and parents the only other thing I just wanted to mention is since we have so fortunately seen a number of families move into Hatfield um going forward I think we should also think about how to include these families that have moved in right we've got this like great school choice initiative and maybe at the younger like traditional entry points um but if we're seeing more families moving into town I'd love to think about how we can welcome them as well I was thinking that as K Cathy was talking is is not um and I think it's a smart idea to maybe open it up across a different a couple different grades but not just school choice to meet school choice but now a fun event for for you know a grade or two grades to get together with families so that you can all connect and meet meet the um the families and the kids that will be with your kids during the school year which would which would be a nice way to not right for these like new right so happily moved but in a non-sports way like not all kids are going out for sports dodgeball tournament but they're goingon to connect if they're on a team but we want to make sure P Polo if we're doing hfield this p po tournament I would totally sign up for the P tournament I'll regret it the next day but I'll do it I would suck and it would be so great just afraid to ask what that really oh think of a whiffle ball bat with like a Q-tip Ed and it's basically hockey and with a dodgeball they're probably the original pillow polo sticks also the yellow and red a little big Q-tips yeah Miss lville was playing that this morning Miss Webb initiated that right yeah I mean I don't know as far as I know yeah sure going back like to check out the pillow sticks can they buy replacement pillow sticks at this point that sounds like a make your own thing but I guess I was like this still exists amazing so before we close out tonight I just wanted to have a quick chat um we've shared online just trying to look at scheduling some stuff I would like you to mark your calendars for March 25th and that will be um an open session it'll be a community conversation hosted by the school committee with multiple present ations and so we'll put more word out um and then there will be an April meeting there will be a short meeting um but we're it's the timeline of that didn't all work so I could not quickly find those dates on my phone but you have them in your email so March 25th is the 1 and we'll announce we have April 1st which is the next is the business meeting but we're not going to I think there's going to be conversation coming out of March that will be up for a vote but it's not we're not going to take that vote on April 1st we're going to give there's going to be another April meeting that makes sense we also have to do a budget hearing in there somewhere yes we will but we'll do a budget hearing in concert with a business meeting so we won't be adding that extra okay the one on the 25th is at 7 or a different time the one on the 20 so that is one of my questions is if we want community members to come and and be part of that conversation is waiting till 7 to late or is waiting till seven great because everybody gets to go home and have dinner and deal with things and then come do you have strong feelings well if we I feel like if we do it a lot earlier then some people may still be at work agree I kind of feel like stick with seven because that's what we're known for yeah and it just then there won't be any confusion about and we're keeping it on a Monday right if we switch the time up somebody might miss that and go oh but their meetings are always at seven so okay it's sold for March 25th at 7 Connor do you remember the April date is it the 22nd I was gonna ask you the same thing um April can't be the 2 vacation yeah I think it was the vacation is the 15 because the 15th is the is the vacation so it was the 22nd it's Earth Day and that's that's our day so so that meeting on the 22nd is just slated as follow-up it'll be a followup to the March 25th March 25th and we're going to get the word out there will be word going out this week to multiple age levels of families cross the board okay um so I will put something on the calendar so that will populate on your school calendar if that's something you use but I just wanted to make sure we're all aligned on that and that's doesn't change the other meetings we had scheduled okay okay and we will do our very best to keep that April stuff short and if we need to have some absenti of voting we'll work that out right okay anything else so that anything that we didn't talk about that was on our agenda with that anybody want to make a motion to adjourn move to adjourn seconded okay all in favor hi we're adjourned thank you