##VIDEO ID:iAI_qfp8tHg## put the link to the stream in the chat okay thank you so good evening it is October 21st I'm Christy BRD chair of the Hatfield school committee and we're welcoming you to our October monthly business meeting and as I call us to order I just want to know that we're in a little bit of different space we're happy to have you with us this evening um for those that are joining online we just let you guys know that we will be transitioning off of zoom we're going to welcome people to join us through Zoom to make public comment but then we'd like you to transition to the watch the meeting um through the YouTube link and we will put that in the chat um can you help us one of you help us do that sure that would be great so as we kick off this evening as we always do um we welcome people to join us for public comment there was a signin sheet I don't know that we needed the sign-in sheet it is so we have no public comment from those who are with us in person and so I'm looking at the zoom meeting is there anyone if you'd like to um come on screen and wave your hand if you would like to make a public comment through Zoom okay I'm not seeing anyone pipe up for public comment I think several of those are us so that we could see is there something in the chat or so now in the chat so if you're joining us on zoom and you're not making a public comment at this time we're going to encourage that you use the link to go to the to the streaming meeting okay and with that I'm gonna you're keeping zoom on for or no I'll keep it on for a bit just to make sure folks who are transitioning over can get got it to it okay thank you all um as we our second item up for this evening is Mission moments and if we have a student report this would be the time for our student report as well no student report this evening um but I suspect we have some great Mission moments we had celebrated Homecoming this last week so I will start with administrators if you have any Mission moments you'd like to share um I'd like to share the that we because of the pep rally sent our fifth and sixth graders up so it was incredibly exciting to see all of them Don purple and white walking up to Smith Academy to participate Connor had an amazing video that he shared of how excited they were to be uh present and participate awesome and um I I'll summarize my mission moment with one word was homecoming um it was since I've been there the be the most well attended homecoming I think we've had it was a perfect day um and and we had just so many people from the community come out to support our our students our student athletes our concession stands and everything um and it was just it was a real the the sense of community that came excuse me that came out of it was really wonderful committee anyone here have a mission moment they'd like to share how our school is bringing the mission to life nothing this week okay is there anything that needs to come off the consent agenda great so that means meeting minutes are approved from our last meeting September 30th and that leads us straight to Leah Gardner our band director thank you for joining us thanks um yeah hi for those who don't know me my name is Mia Gardner and I teach band both at Smith Academy and at scho um and I'm just here today seeking approval to take a larger band trip uh with the Smith Academy band this year um so I guess I I have not done this before um but I guess I will just start with our proposed itinerary and then why I would like to take a larger trip with the band this year uh so here's our itinerary uh so this will not happen until May that way we have ton of time for fundraising and whatnot uh so we're thinking to take a 4-day trip in May starting on a Friday then we have Saturday Sunday and then the students will be back Monday night ish or Monday like evening um and here's the plan from here so we're going to take a coach bus and for our first day which is a Friday we're going to drive down to Jenkinson's Boardwalk in New Jersey um and Jenkinson's Boardwalk is a familyfriendly student-friendly boardwalk it's not like Atlantic City um there is there's an aquarium there and um I've received a couple of different like itinerary packets from different traveling companies um I picked my favorite one for tonight to show you guys um but yeah so Jenkinson's Boardwalk aquarium our whole packet here it includes tickets to the aquarium there and then there's also a boardwalk in the beach is open there too because this will be like May 16th is the day I'm looking so two days after our concert um nowhere near the Elementary concert um so that's our that's kind of our first day down there it includes dinner for that night and then we stay at a hotel in New Jersey the next day we are going with music in the Parks which is like a it's another Festival it's kind of like the Great East Festival except on a wider scale than just up here in New England um so music in the Parks the way that it works is that the band we play in one of the local schools we receive like critiques and comments from ad judicators there when we play our performance and then we spend the rest of the day at Six Flags and in this case it's Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey um and then there's also an award ceremony there because we're like kind of in a competition for it um and we are in in it separates by division so we're in the small division um and so then after that that night we are driving to uh a different Hotel in Arlington Virginia and the remainder of our trip is spent in Washington DC so for the Sunday we are checking out the Smithsonian museums we have tickets that are included for the um Smithsonian National Zoological Park uh and then for the final day the students have a little bit more time on their own for the National Mall and then we drive home on that Monday um let's see and then I I'll tell you why I am looking into doing this trip this year uh so for in in band I'll be honest I have a very very good group of seniors um they are fantastic they're a larger group compared to some of the other years that I've got um and in band it's kind of a thing that you're supposed to get two big trips throughout your time at Smith Academy uh because of Co though their what would have been their first original big trip that ended up getting canc and then the last trip that they took was to Philadelphia um and from talking with the students they there were some questionable opinions about their trip to Philadelphia um so that being said I wanted to give them a trip that mixed a little bit more fun and freedom in with the music and educational components um and then lastly yeah taking trips helps to bond the band together uh the better bond that we have as a group the better they sound is true so yeah um I'll open it up does anybody have any questions about anything how many students we've got about 40 40 between seventh through 12th grade so we fit on one coach bus how many chaperons will there be uh I have not found out chaperons yet but I'm thinking there's me uh our nurse Martha she travels with us because we do have a student with diabetes so she'll be coming with us um and then I was thinking four five more so that way we keep keep the groups under 10 people committee other questions do you have an approximate cost per student I do um so right now we are looking at and I have it highlighted here somewhere here it is we are looking at about 950 per student um to put this in perspective this is about as much as the Philadelphia trip was um a couple years ago however personally I think this trip packs in quite a bit more a lot of meals are included so that way students don't have to pay out of pocket especially in places like on the boardwalk and in and around Washington DC um a lot of our meals are included in this and I've got two fundraisers set up and ready to go so far and we're planning on doing a bunch of fundraising throughout the year to help lower this cost that way it's an hopefully try my best to make it an accessible field trip for all of our families and the room Arrangements how many kids per room we are looking at four students per room um yeah four four students per room okay are there options for students who wouldn't be able to afford it so that they could still participate if there was need-based I believe so um so that might be something Dr Driscoll answers if you okay yes the short answer to that question is yes we do we have a fund specifically for that purpose um we would hope that that students would be engaged in the fundraising process um and then the proceeds to that would help lower the cost for everyone um but if someone if it is a hardship for a student we do have a fund specifically for uh to support students who fall into that category okay um we also have the Stars group that's helped out with field trip costs in the past so we can utilize that as well for sure Dr Driscoll can you just remind me when was the last time we did Washington DC we Washington DC field trip uh we did that uh two years ago uh and we did that for the whole school and that was the General feel after that was that um folks really like doing doing a big school trip so this year we are looking to not ready to present it to the committee yet um but we're looking to do AER trip to New York City um to see some of the historical sites down there and um do that so this would be different different location am I correct that this I mean I I remember that trip to some degree this sounds like a very different itinerary totally sounds like a different itinerary I just wanted to oh if is it okay if I add sure um I also checked in with my high schoolers because I got their input for the itinerary because when I first pitched Washington DC they were like wait we've done that and I said well wait what do you think of this and this and this and they were thumbs up for approval I think they also had said that they'd never been to the Zoological Park there before and that's new in there too yeah and we get like an illuminated tour for one of the nights too for all the monuments cool yeah beautiful this isn't going to conflict with prom because it is the week before I checked okay because the 16th has been close to prom time in the past so I just the week after 23r I didn't want anyone having to choose between and in relationship to athletic stuff what do we know with with enough um well I emailed uh Jason Duncan about it now and he said that with the amount of space that we have in considering it's only two days of school that the students miss that should be easy enough to not schedule anything through okay and that's why we like talk about this in October yeah excellent okay committee anyone interested in making a motion to approve this trip I will you go ahead I will make a motion to approve the ban trip as presented I'll second all in favor I I any opposed great have a wonderful time we wish you well with your fundraising know thank you so much yeah thanks for putting it together it's a lot of work that goes into no problem excited for the kids me too yeah I'll be taking more pictures this year than last year we look forward to seeing those like we actually really do enjoy those okay all right sweet thank you can I leave the hosital you are so welcome thank you thank you good afternoon or evening night okay so next up on our agenda is the conversation and a likely vote about moving sixth grade from Hatfield Elementary to Smith Academy um this is a conversation that has had a lot of time on our agendas um I do want to give Administration the opportunity to share any parting closing thoughts before we move forward and I really am hoping tonight to hear from the committee um as we make this choice because I think it's important to the community as a whole to understand why and how we reached the decision we did so but before we get there sure so so what I'd like to do is just present to the committee um the results of the the survey that we sent out to the community um and some of the the input that I've had excuse me um so I'm going to present this now you may not see it on your mm I think you have the committee has access to this so they have seen and and when I put it up there it should should appear on the on the live stream okay um and I'll also talk everyone through it so you all will hear hear what what it is as well um so six to uh Smith Academy survey results so overall results the respondents that we had uh 41 total respondents 35 uh uh parents and Guardians two students and four staff members um so here's a breakdown of all of the parents um that responded and it should be noted that uh many parents had students in multiple grade levels so they might have had they might have been included um in in a couple of the subgroups but here's the whole whole group um so as you can see the folks who strongly agreed um or agreed with the move and and the question was uh you know I agree with the the following statement the uh committee should move sixth grade from the elementary school to Smith Academy uh 45.8% um of the respondents the the parent and guardian respondents strongly agreed or agreed and 45.7% either strongly disagreed uh or or disagreed um so that's the the kind of the whole the whole group uh not much of a a difference there it gets a little different when we start looking at the the subgroups within within those parents um so when we break it down from preschool to second grade parents of whom 11 uh 11 parents were who responded were in that group um the folks who strongly agreed or agreed fell to 27.3% and the folks who strongly disagreed or disagreed Rose to 54.6% um so there was a shift uh with the younger students um parents of younger students tended to disagree with that statement more tended to be less in favor of the shift of sixth grade to uh to Smith Academy when we look at third through fifth grade parents so the students who are a little bit older in the elementary school a parent students who are a little older uh well first of all if we go back we only had nine parents who responded hang on uh we had 11 parents who responded that were PR prek through2 parents we had 21 parents who responded that had students in third through fifth grade uh and we saw that kind of in that that shift invert so we had 52.3% of parents uh who were third through fifth grade either strongly agreed or agreed that the shift should be made uh and 33.3% either strongly disagreed or disagreed so it was kind of a a mirror opposite of of students who were younger students and and uh versus versus old older students within the elementary school it should be said that if a if a parent said that they had students in 2 grade fifth grade and ninth grade for example that that response would be included in each of those subgroups so this is this includes any any parent who had a student within that subgroup um likewise when we look at when we look at uh six through eight parents again smaller uh a smaller group responded nine respondents and I I attribute that to just being a little further away from the actual change itself I mean the the the folks who this will impact the most is going is going to be the you know the current fifth graders um fourth graders folks will be in closer proximity to it so again we had nine respondents in sixth through e8th grade this is uh parents of current middle schoolers uh and again we saw similar response that we did to those third through fifth grade parents 55.5% either agreeing or strongly agreeing and 33.3% either strongly disagreeing or disagreeing um and then we moved to 9th through 12th grade parents where we saw that shift back kind of towards where the younger elementary students were uh with 45.5% strongly agreeing or agreeing and 54.6% strongly disagreeing or disagreeing um so so holistically what that what that says to me is you know you have you have a pretty much an even split when you include everyone who is asked across you know preschool all the way through 12th grade as we zero in closer to the proximity of the change itself uh when we have you know current third fourth fifth grade students uh as well as sixth seventh eighth grade students who who would be part of that Middle School uh we see more support for the change uh than we do um the further you away you get from it uh staff we had four staff respondent um I included this even though it's a small number simply because it echoes the conversations I've had with staff members who may not have have taken the survey uh we we had 100% of Staff who took the survey and and folks who I've talked to either agree or strongly agree so the the staff remains um there remains widespread support among staff uh both at the elementary school middle school and and high school for for this shift um students in this simply because we only had two students that responded and um the sample size didn't seem to to to um Garner that uh but I will say that both students were either uh I think it was an eth and 11th grader uh and they both were opposed those two students um the conversations I've had with other students don't suggest that that is a that that is emblematic of of the student population as a whole I would say and then here we the last slide I have here with um graphs is um the conversations that I had with fifth grade families so I I was able to reach out to all and reach out to all and talk to most of the current fifth grade families in the district um so we have 26 families of fifth graders uh I was able to speak with 24 of those um and the breakdown is as follows 33.3% eight are in favor and and to to to be in favor it was strongly in favor um 33.3% so eight were not in favor which is again pretty pretty strongly opposed and 33.3% so eight again were in the camp of neither um neither strongly in favor neither strongly opposed um I will say generally speaking that eight leaned slightly in favor um if for no other reason then they said that they they they trust the school to to to do what's right um that was kind of the sentiment among that that that eight the neither or both category um but I didn't get a strong enough sense from them that they were in you know in real support to to put him into that camp so I put them in the neither both Camp so a very equal look pie um and then in addition I I solicited some input in terms of uh of comments on the survey as well and I tried to kind of put these together because many of the themes were similar um across the board so benefits that folks saw um that it was a seemed like it may be a better fit socially developmentally and academically uh that there would be more social and academic uh opportunities that the uh interactions with peers would be more age appropriate and that there were curricular and instructional benefits as I think the committee has heard from the sixth grade team about as well and those themes really did seem to mirror some some of the conversations that we've had uh concerns that were brought up um the the the main concern that was brought up continues to be kind of the interaction or exposure to uh older students um and and a lot of those concerns were from the uh parents and Guardians of the the that excuse me we in that younger Camp um that you know they may not have had kind of that that same exposure but there there remains that concern uh what supports are going to be there for the transition I um how are we going to ensure safety during Sports uh the start time is something that came up several times with parents um and that included at The Forum as well as during conversations is um folks starting to see that their their fifth graders um are a little more tired and if this would have an impact on that um there seemed there there were some concerns about unintended consequences uh that this might have on enrollment uh concern about after care um one concern that came up several times was the kind of pandemic Gap uh and this was interesting this this came up this came up from a number of folks uh both in the Sur but also during conversations um and it came up for folks who were in The the no Camp so opposed to this shift um and there were a few folks that that were in the no camp that that were opposed to the shift but they said that they would be in favor and if few years uh once the effects of the pandemic wore off um and and that that theme came up a couple times um that this group when they were in their early earliest years um may have had a kind of disproportionate developmental impact on their socialization um and then the the general theme that this shift would be uh quote unquote forcing kids to grow up faster and and I use that language specifically because that specific language was used um a few times in that survey uh questions that arose I we because we also solicited questions um and I can answer some of these uh some of these have been answered and I can answer these um as we go through is this for financial reasons the short answer to that question is no this would be financially neutral uh how would you separate the Middle School from the high school we've talked about having that kind of separate Corner uh whenever they is transition time or transitions throughout the day that they would kind of be traveling in groups uh and we we do monitor the Halls between classes uh question was can we look at start time I mentioned that before uh will this impact enrollment how are we addressing en enrollment challenges um and so you know part of the the the thinking behind this shift is that uh we we don't have a crystal ball we can't see the future but we would hope that this would have a net positive impact on enrollment because we have heard from folks who are leaving the district that they are leaving for uh a more traditional kind of Middle School uh experience um and that's among other ways that we're looking to address enrollment challenges in ter including course offerings uh exploring Innovation Pathways other other ways that we're doing that at Smith Academy and at the elementary school um oh this is a repeat I didn't mean to put a duplicate in here but what will the separation between middle school and high school students look like uh we talked about having separate classes the schedule would be would be separate classes separate lunches um separ the the only time would be kind of that structured X block time uh and then will this allow expansion of enrichment programs into lower grades um and the short answer to that question is is yes I I would think so uh right now ban at the elementary school is fifth and sixth grade so logically it would be third uh fourth and fifth grade um it may even be able to to uh go go lower uh in addition the that would take one kind of teaching block away from some of the specialist teachers so they may be able to offer more kind of specialized electives at the elementary school as well um and we would have those electives that we had spoken about at the high school too that that honestly was not something that really had been at the top of my mind or even really in my mind until that question came up through the survey um and then how do the last slide here is about facilitating a successful transition so you know in in the um you know in the event that the committee does approve this change uh we would look to plan those next steps um so we would be looking at scheduling visits and tours Shadow Days for students to come up to see what the what the school is like um we've already had the fifth and sixth grade come up for uh the pep Rell last Friday and it was it was awesome I there were I I I'm working to see that all the students in the video have a release so I can put it out there but we it was a great video of the the Fifth and grade sixth grade just really being very animated and cheering for the I believe that was a that was during the DodgeBall um section of the pepper allei uh and and they just they had a great time um but we would look to expand that not just during the community building time but also so that uh we could facilitate um just a level of comfort for students coming up that they might not otherwise have uh we would codify the sports plan uh and make sure that it was crystal clear uh in the handbook what what the expectation for sixth grade would be uh the only reason that's not in there now is because we don't have sixth grade they're not eligible to play um and so we wouldn't we would make sure that it was crystal clear that that sixth graders were not playing on uh on high school teams in in competition um we'd keep having those Step Up visits we talked about uh we look to to Really facilitate end of and this this was this came up last year and this was I I think one of the big reasons um of my my biggest hesitations is we talked a lot about the benefits for moving sixth grade up um but one of the things that that we need to consider is is kind of the loss of that being quote unquote kings and queens of the school that the oldest students in the school how we're going to how we are going to effective effectively give the fifth grade that experience this year as well um and I think we can work with the elementary school teams the fifth grade teams the sixth grade teams to do that um so not it wouldn't just be kind of you know an inclusion into the sixth grade end of year stuff they could they could have their own um their own experiences that that would do that um one of the questions was about building facility upgrades um it's no secret that uh when you step into Smith Academy sometimes it feels like you're stepping back in time um and looking at how we can how we can uh as we bring more students in how we can make sure we're keeping up with um keeping up with that uh and then also how we're supporting our students uh not just with uh not just you know with with stepup plans and and and those things but also with uh social emotional support so what are we doing for our sixth grade students to um to to support them with that and I think that's my last slide committee do you have questions that you want to raise at this time after skull what I appreciate that you um you preempted my question on on putting it in the the handbook so thank you uh what will life look like for the fifth grade students after when Once fifth grade is now um kind of King of the roof down at the elementary school how will their experience be different with that that's a good question I you know I suspect some of and this may be a better question for from Miss Petra but I suspect some of the the the things that the sixth grade had would kind of fall to them so reading buddies would be with fifth grade rather than with sixth grade um things that experience they got in terms of leading uh all school meetings that kind of stuff would would would fall towards them um th this year the and that's part of the reason I wanted to I would like to make sure that we we really focus on what sixth grade does this year uh and fifth grade does this year so we don't have that that loss of them for sixth grade um but many of those things I I think would be age appropriate for the fifth grade to to step into um in terms of scheduling I I I think um we would continue to have the fifth grade may maybe not quite departmentalized to the level of sixth grade this year but but have them you know have them preparing throughout the year too uh to to make that shift I mean that only would make sense I mean again I'm just wanting to have that that conversation of this proposal was not put forth other than for this simple fact that they educationally believe that this is what's best for students we have been preparing our students for a transition into Smith Academy since fifth grade and now we're doing that step starting in fourth grade so this notion of preparing them for a transition into the middle school is nothing going to be short of easy because they have done everything to prepare them for that transition um fifth graders right now if this goes through they're still going to be part of a a student council just like the sixth graders and the fourth graders they are still going to be thinking about how to plan a stepup ceremony because they're going to be leaving and going to the middle school so there's definitely things that we're not going to stop doing because they're not going to be the the oldest in the in the grade any longer and they might miss that opportunity being the the leaders of the school in that regard of not being sixth graders but that historically has always been the case anytime you've had a grade move to a different um grade or school um that they that is that a loss for them but at the same time there's other things that are going to be more important like that opportunity that they're going to have by having those enrichment and those X blocks that they don't currently have now what they do have is the opportunity to have some extra things based on what their teachers can provide but it's only just that it's not what the whole school has access to so they'll have a lot more opportunities so I I hear you speak about it would be fairly easy to transition but let's also think about not all things will be easy what do you guys see as the greatest challenges for making this move H I'm wrestling over who gets the room I don't know no I mean it's just going to be the timing piece it's just going to I mean the the sixth grade team the nice the benefit of having the sixth grade team still currently in the school is that they can help the fifth grade teachers this is going to be incredibly easy for them to begin having conversations about how to and how they organiz the stepup ceremony that happens every year because it's a huge transition if the kids have been here with us ever since preschool even in kindergarten to leave to then move on to the middle school they have all of this knowledge and ability on planning on how that can be done that can be done concurrently with the fifth grade team so really it's more about I mean we've tried embedding times and opportunities I mean that the high schoolers already came to the elementary school to talk about student council we're going to have that for four through six now rather than having the fourth graders join in the spring like they've done in the past so I want to be able to have them have that opportunity and have that leadership role this whole year so that when and if this whole thing does happen then I've got fourth graders who then will become fifth graders will be the oldest so they can start that right you know that right away in the fall they're already in that leadership role and could also support those third and fourth graders who would then be having that opportunity so the biggest challenge really is people don't like change change is hard change is not something that's easy so the hardest thing for those parents who are still feeling like they're kids and I I understand that some don't feel that their kids are emotionally ready but I think that's going to change when they actually get there because I think a lot of kids who also felt like they weren't emotionally ready once they were there are loving it they're thriving it's just different it's a change yeah I would say my it's interesting to hear that because my my biggest concern about the shift are similarly more about this year than about next year um it's more about making sure that our current fifth graders don't feel like they're they're they're missing out on on some kind of experience um and I think really being being sure that that we're being conscious of that as we're planning events throughout the year um that that that we're being inclusive of that and similarly it's it's about making sure that our current fifth grade feel comfortable going in next year um because you know regardless assuming if if the vote vote passes and we do make that change there are going to be some some students who may not have felt ready similarly that we have students sometimes in sixth grade who have not don't feel ready to go to seventh grade um and families as well that may not have have felt ready so you you know once once the once the the vote is done once once the decision is made if it if it is made to to make this shift then our role would shift from focusing on what what that change would look like and what the what the schedule would look like and what the benefits would be to okay what can we do for the rest of this year for parents and for students to give them opportunities to come to the school to be part of a day to do Shadow Days um to to come as parent as part of parent forums um to make sure that we are are are increasing the level of comfort for everyone making that change to the the as much as we possibly can um I won't I won't say that we will make 100% of people 100% ready and and feeling good because that might not be realistic but I I think we can give every effort that we can to make sure that people feel comfortable um even if they didn't even if they were opposed to the shift that they feel comfortable uh with the with the experience they're going to have um that that's my those are my that's my biggest biggest concern is is just making sure that you know that this isn't a vote uh or a change that we're saying it's for this group it's for everyone it's for everyone and our job then would be to make sure that everyone's comfortable um the other concern I continue to have is enrollment and it's not um th this isn't I don't see this as a Panacea to our enrollment challenges um we've heard that it may uh you know we're think that it may help with enrollment um I I suspect it will um but it will be something we'll have to closely monitor to make sure that um you know that that we're that we have a you know have a a pulse on it um and likewise in Tandon with with the other efforts that that we're doing I spoke with two different parents over the last week who kind of came from different perspectives but one has a student who's now in the high school and she expressed how she was nervous when he was moving from six to 7 just to begin with and you know looking back you she would like to share to families now who are possibly facing this that it's not as bad and her her student made the adjustment quite well um and she thinks you know in retrospect it would have gone fine if it was a five to six change instead of a six to seven change um another parent um who was initially quite opposed to this move after our last meeting she felt more comfortable with it still leaning towards not favorable of it um and then she also reached out to some of our sixth grade teachers and felt still more comfortable with it I think you know if she said you know if she had her absolute say then she would preferably not do it but if we do move forward with it she's more comfortable with it now and she's understanding it more sure from you know just a logistic perspective with the presentation and from the the reach out with the sixth grade teachers so yeah and I think it will be important for us going forward to know that that that doesn't end now in October that that you know that's a starting point um in you know that it's nice to hear that that Comfort level has increased even from folks who who may be opposed um but that's you know that that's going to need to continue throughout the year um I had a similar conversation with a parent of um a current eighth grader who you know they're their quote was you know we don't have a dog in this fight but um we would have in retrospect we would have loved to come up in sixth grade um they they saw their student really Blossom when when he entered Middle School um because of just some of the the experiences he was able to able to have um just looking at this list of um you know things that we would do to facilitate a successful transition there's a lot of things on here I mean I know we talk about like all like a ceremony but you know visits and um education plan meetings and sports planning and things like that um can you just tell me a little about the bandwidth that we have to do all of this for two grades at one time with extra care to a new transition yeah know that's a great question because you know we we have transition meetings every year um this when students go from the Middle School to sorry from the elementary school to the middle school we we have more in-depth transition meetings so we have uh we have students come up for Step Up day uh we have meetings between teachers to talk about you know which students work well together which students work well with with what kind of instruction um as well as transition meetings for students on I APS um so we know what their services are going to look like uh so that would be expanded to to two two grade levels um we do have the bandwidth to do it especially if we start earlier uh and if we we know we're going to be doing it um I would say we have the bandwidth to do those and more um because I would love to be able to set up times where students can come in probably in small groups rather than the entire class up at once but to come and spend some time in classes and and even just shadowing students um I think we have some really really great peer leaders that that could uh really facilitate some connections there too so I think we do have the bandwidth to do it um and because it's October and not um March or April we also have the time to do it which is is a key part of having that bandwidth thank you other questions so addressing one of the things and i' sent you an email today um and my biggest concern was that we have kind of across the schools issues that have lingered from the last couple of years they're still kind of persisting that we're working on MH how do you feel this changes our ability to continue to work on those issues yeah and and it's I I thought about that quite a bit after I read the email because I think it's it's important because this has become um it's become an issue that's really focused a lot of time and time and and energy um but I don't think that there you know our focus on um on Excellence our focus on enrollment our focus on on on providing the community that we want to provide I don't think that's independent of this change and I think they they work together um so I you know in terms of of community building I think that this gives us an opportunity to expand what we do I think we've heard from our our teachers and um about what what that would look like for them about having those connections to other students in terms of academic Excellence I think we've heard of from our our I think we've heard from our our teaching staff and our Middle School team about how how this would impact their the student our ability to support the students and and push those students to um in terms of enrollment and retention again this this is the the crystal ball question you know I don't think that I don't think we can we can say with certainty this will increase enrollment um I think we can say with certainly with certainty that we we know that uh not having this in place has at least in some cases led to led to some decline in the enrollment and with the with the other efforts that we we we we do especially focused in Smith Academy because that's where where some of our biggest enrollment challenges are um the benefits will include the sixth grade if they're part of if they're part of the sixth grade community so any additional electives any kind of scheduling changes that we make to increase uh um relevance to student learning to increase class offerings um specials times that kind of thing uh those just by extension of having sixth grade at the middle school would benefit those students too would this bolster the ranks of the Middle School enough to have X blocks be a middle school like have Middle School Xbox High School Xbox it could and and and just just to just to make make sure that that everyone knows this we currently do in some cases have just middle School Xbox and just High School Xbox um for things like intermural sports we already break it down so it's um right now it's 789 in in one inters and 10 111 12 in the other so we don't have seventh graders playing floor hockey against seniors um and I think absolutely we could look at that um and some honestly some of the X blocks are just that way because of who's interested my fly fishing Xbox it's all middle schoolers because they the ones who are interested in blly fishing which is great um so so we walk we walk together that way and and there are other those like I can't recall off the top of my head which others are like that but sometimes I mean sometimes part of the reason students sign up for Xbox is because they're really interested in what's happening other times this may come as a shock it's because their friends are doing it um and so if you have friend friend groups that are interested together they you know you may have more Middle School oriented box um but we could we could certainly look at structuring it that way as well um and the X2 that we have is currently genius hour so that's all middle school anyway and that's that's focused specifically on middle school last week Connor um you and I talked about the homecoming dance and how this year it was all school it was 7 through 12 and I mentioned that if this were to go forward I can see that many parents would not be comfortable having sixth graders attending a dance that Juniors and seniors were at um are there other events like that that six sixth graders could potentially be with the older grades because I I think that now if the sixth grade were to move up it would be enough it would be three grades of kid kids that middle school could do their own homecoming dance or their own homecoming event and leave the 9 through 12 to have theirs but are there other events that are 7 through 12 that potentially you would pull the middle school out yeah absolutely I the big one that jumps right to the the top of my mind is our whole school field trips um so when you know when we we did the um DC trip that was it was 8 through 11th grade um and I would I would like to see and I would Envision seeing a middle school field trip and a high school field trip so that they you know they have three years of of field trips that might rotate at the middle school and four years at the high school um so that we're still uh we're still able to offer those experiences but not have the the concern about those those widespread groups um I also think that will make um transportation costs lower because well will fit easier on to coach buses those groups um but yeah in terms of the the dance and the social aspect we you know I would I would Envision kind of a shift towards um like like teen centers almost where you know there's a dance option but there's also maybe like a floor hockey game or you know Nintendo switch setup or you know different options that so it's not just dancing um and I think I think the the team could get really creative with with how those looks how those look and also in you know get get some parent volunteers to to help shaper on those kinds of things too um and and I think I think that wouldn't be a big big shift for the the high school either um you know I think about prom and I think about the other dances and and they might like that too I brought that up because um I think it's good for people to know that you're looking at all aspects of it not just sure class room or hallway or you know it's yeah it affects everything and we're trying to consider everything absolutely other questions before folks have a chance to kind of weigh in and speak to where their heads are or their hearts however you want to anyone want to jump in and share where where they are guess I can jump in since I'm a a parent of a current fifth grader yeah um I mean I've been at I've worked at schools where sixth grade was in Middle School and um sixth grade was not in middle school and I feel like the usually the consensus when they are in elementary school the teachers were kind of ready for them to go by the end of sixth grade or by middle sixth grade um as a parent my perspective is my son is ready for middle school he is in fifth grade he is quite a I don't know good reader would like most challenges I see for him and for other students who want to do more academically more opportunities in middle school and high school so um there's an many for him in elementary school um and that's something I just came up in discussion with his teachers um I think maturity wise I mean as a parent of another kid who is in third grade um I don't I can't imagine him in Middle School uh and I think like a lot of parents who have little with the little kids you really can't think about them being in Middle School is like why are you rushing my baby to grow up uh so I if I came from P perspective of my third grader I probably would be against it and be like I don't know I can't think about it right now this is too much for me to think about moving him in sixth grade uh but because I'm a parent of a fifth grader as well I'm like okay yeah it makes sense like my kid is ready uh and he would benefit there's definitely more benefits to to detriments for him to move up to Middle School um and thinking about and a lot of times every time I underestimated my children they have proved me wrong every time I think they're not ready for something and I have to like back off and be like you know what they we we'll see let's try it and uh they have surprised me um every time that they were more it's it's usually me who's not ready for them to move up or do something that's hard uh so I I I definitely sympathize with the parents are worried about their kids and interactions but at the same time we do have to kind of let our kids go and kind and and that's one grade it's not like we're moving them to another city they're moving up one grade um that's that's the perspective I have when it comes I would rather see my kid uh Embrace a challenge and try something new and have more of a challenge than be in in essence held back and oh he's they're too young they can't they're not ready uh because they that's what these teachers have done they've they all they've done at school is prepare them teach them and it's also us we have been preparing our children to to move and get from fifth if they don't move to middle school this in in sixth grade they're going to move there in seventh grade so having that argument obviously my perspective is pro moving sixth grade to Middle School uh just for me the negatives and from the perspective of like oh they what will they see in middle school high school who are they going to interact with the the lack of control and of the parents or us not knowing it's the same thing really in elementary school preschool canot like these are sixth graders who are interacting with kindergarteners first graders preschoolers um I can't see the difference with them interacting it's just them who and and what's to say they're not going to be impacted more positively and learn good things versus where we are assuming that they're going to learn bad things from the older kids which is a disservice to those older kids because I've been around the kids in middle school and high school at Smith Academy in a lot of high schools and middle schools and they're for the most part amazing um more mature kids than I was when I was in middle school high school so I think like their interaction interactions with their peers for me it's a positive it's not a negative it's it's actually seeing your like what you you could potentially do because some of these kids have jobs they have summer jobs they have grocery store jobs they are um they already know what they're doing for a career uh they have passions that they follow they show their passion in class they talk about it uh sports like just being around um other like sports where you're seeing uh your middle schooler has your seniors or Juniors seeing their achievements and maybe that will push you towards working as hard as they do as they do or uh to push you towards a sport that you didn't think you could do but you're seeing somebody else who's excellent at it and that you could learn from so uh I would like to like just flip that Narrative of like what are they learning from those middle schoolers high schoolers like what are they learning they're they're probably going to learn great things anyways thank you other committee members want to weigh in I mean I guess I don't know Iman I I also have a fifth grader so I feel like I have to go next I really don't want to I tried to prepare remarks uh multiple times and failed and um I think for anyone who has talked to me and people people who know me as a human being this has been very difficult very difficult decision um just just to think about um and I acknowledge I missed some of the discussion in the spring but you know since then we've had so many great presentations I've talked to you know the administration and staff and teachers and parents and my own family because for me it is it is very difficult to do this as both a school Committee Member and as a mom and as a mom like what's the middle school version of the boohoo breakfast like I'm not ready but I also think that's like who I am as a person and if that was happening in fifth grade or in sixth grade to seventh grade I think I would probably feel the same way um to be fair about myself um so you know this has been very difficult but I've seen you know these great presentations I understand the benefits I also really acutely feel some of these concerns about you know that some of the families have and um so I would say that a turning point for me is I went to the Smith Academy open house and uh as a parent I was invited um because of my child and it was great it was really great and I felt like for me what I walked away with was a deep feeling of how excellent that school is how excellent Smith Academy is um how the middle school team is so United how they really care for each individual student you know the Elementary School open house is like chaos of like children being like check this out that is not the vibe in middle school there are not a lot of students the ones who are there I I may have BR my child but um you the teachers were wonderful all of the staff there were great with the students they were great with the parents I could tell that they were working well together and I could really say like Aman was talking about about these opportunities that would open up like Hatfield Elementary School is absolutely wonderful but I understand that you know by the time you're getting into sixth grade it it is Middle School your middle schooler and so those different opportunities that Smith Academy has offering I think are wonderful and I think we have a team that will really be able to support our individual students um I spent quite a while talking to some of our um like special education teachers amazing the way that they you know support the developmental needs of the middle schooler um and and yeah like the all all of them everybody was great it was really it was really nice and for me also being in that space was helpful for me to see that you know what like the middle school is a separate School inside a school right it is a separate area um they are cared for in a particular way that meets their developmental needs and I appreciated that um another thing that I think is a benefit that we haven't necessarily talked about as I was doing you know with their research because like more information um is that a lot of the concerns about you know Elementary School students moving into Middle School is you're looking at a regionalized middle school going from like a neighborhood small Elementary School to like a large big um middle school and that is not what is happening in Hatfield Hatfield is going from like a neighborhood Elementary School to a neighborhood middle school and um I think that affords us the opportunity to really look individ at all our students so I that's just like telling you about my experience um and how there there are still things that like worry not worry there are still things that I think will be challenging um but overall like my experience with that was very helpful to just see like the benefits that we could bring to this group of kids and to like all all of the students in hfield thank you I appreciate that you want to go or do you want me to go I I can go Kathy I don't care um so like Becca this was stressful and difficult for me and I've been thinking about it a lot and talking to uh lots of parents people who were you know friends or classmates back when I was here and people who met through my kid being in the school um I met another parent the other day in the in the preschool yard just picking up Charlotte and um was able to chat up with a parent about it um and one thing that I've noticed is that my concerns aren't what a lot of other people are expressing I'm not for my kids and for all of our kids I'm not worried about the are they ready aspect of it Smith Academy is a small school they'll be they'll be safe they'll be protected we have a great middle school team there we have a great Administration there uh I'm not worried about them being too young for that transition I'm not worried about them being exposed to things to which they shouldn't be my concerns are more just based on the things that have been going on in the schools in the last couple of years I'm afraid of taking our Eye Off the Ball I don't think this is a bad idea I just don't know if it's the right idea at this moment I'm worried about you know we we've had had a number of Behavioral issues at the elementary school and the high school over the last couple of years and we have a plan in place to try to get that under better control it's a multi-year plan it's going to take time um you know it's it's going to be worked on over this year we'll think about it again next year what needs to be improved again and again um and I don't want to lose track of what is important at this moment with our schools I don't want um um you know we have possibly administrative changes and that we have a a member of administration who's here on an interim basis for this year so that's another transition for next year that we have to deal with um yeah my my my biggest concern is just is taking our Eye Off the Ball I'm also worried just about the overall direction with with enrollment I'm hopeful that this is a net positive I I think there's you know a non-zero chance that this could be a net negative um just if parents are too afraid to of if they're if before they give it a chance to happen if they pull their kids out ahead of time I'm worried that that if that happens too fast too quickly that could precipitate things that we don't want um and then there seems to be a large portion of the community that we just haven't brought along with this and I don't think it's due to lack of communication we've been reaching out it's been part of Dr Driscoll's emails and Miss Petra's emails we've had a number of meetings about this and it's either I I don't know if it's people have picked their corners and they're just going with it or if they're just not listening um or if they're just if it's neither of those but they're they're just making suppositions out of thin air um I had one member of the community who no longer of the community they moved out a little while ago but they just found out about this and they said hey what's going on with this what are you guys trying to do you're just moving the numbers around which just like it was you know probably the 74th time that I've heard someone say that we're moving the numbers around which just disheartening because I don't think any of us five up here and any of the administration would even consider proposing this for that reason um um but the with my concerns at a half and just with the the lack of community understanding of it yet I'm struggling to vote for it at this point I am in no way saying I think this is a bad idea um and I know that our sixth grade teachers and the middle school team are completely uniformally in favor of this and I get that and I appreciate that and I think if it passes tonight I'm sure you're all going to do a great job in trying to make sure this is as successful as possible again my biggest concern is that in our focus on trying to make sure this is as successful as possible that we're going to drop something else along the way and I don't want it to have a negative impact on the rest of our student body and focusing on making this happen yeah thank you for sharing that Kathy do you want to share your thoughts sure um Eman and Becca said some things that I had been thinking of uh especially Becca when she said you know we're not talking about going into a Regional School um I went to a regional school so when I finished sixth grade going into seventh grade I was now in a school with five other towns of kids that I had no idea who they were um what I like about this is that our kids because we're so small they really pretty much know everyone in in the building anyway um you know my kids could always tell you oh yeah that's so and so he's a you know kindergarten I'm like how do you know kindergarten oh I just know um but they really know the kids that are gr ahead of them and a grade behind them and that's really what middle school is you're you're around the kids that were just ahead of you or just behind you and I think that is Comfort comforting and not worrisome um there was one of the concerns that was about there's no after care well there haven't been sixth graders in after care for a couple of years they're just not doing it I think this year there are a couple fifth graders but not a ton um I have an eighth grader and a fourth grader and my eighth grader who is on an IEP who is um younger than her peers in a lot of ways had no issue transitioning to seventh grade at all um it was very encompassing and like a family and the team really looks out for kids and the communication from the team to students and to parents is wonderful um you know they start emailing with students hey you know you missed your homework assignment and trying to get the kids on board of being responsible for themselves there's a lot of General executive functioning work that happens in the elementary school and continues into Middle School where they work on these things which is fantastic um I feel we have really great sixth grade teachers and I really believe that they're going to be even better sixth grade teachers in the Middle School environment and being part of that middle school team what they're doing now is kind of isolated with just the two of them in that building but moving up there the benefits that they have definitely go down to the students and give our students a lot of benefit from being in that environment um in my question I asked Dr Driscoll about Middle School events and I'm excited to think with three grades of middle schoolers it will open up even more options for our Middle School to do things together so in that way I feel that should alleviate some anxiety or concern for families that are worried about middle schoolers interacting with the high schoolers because if we have three grades of middle schoolers it'll be even easier to have specific events for them um my eighth grader tells me that she rarely even well she said when she was in seventh grade she rarely even saw the eighth grade in interactions throughout the day um let alone anyone in the upper grades and she still says that now in 8th grade that one of the ex blocks there's a couple of the older kids and she has no problem with that there's no problem in the hallway walking around um going to the bathroom room she uh visits the nurse every day for her meds there's no issue with bumping into older kids that way um I agree with a man about the age difference that our current sixth graders are with kindergarteners and first grade uh preschoolers and I worry more about that age Gap because those fifth and sixth graders are learning and discovering new words or new new phrases or new whatevers that they're eager to try out and and our younger students might hear that more than anything 11th and 12th graders would say to our sixth and seventh graders uh I think that our upper grade students will be ambivalent to the younger kids they would be helpful I mean if they didn't care for them they would probably just ignore them as as older teens do with younger kids um I I'm not concerned that the older kids would be an issue I think we have really great kids in our school um I know my kids will see somebody in the grocery store checking us out I know them from school I've seen them you know it's it's exciting they like looking up to these other kids um I think I think this is a good move um I was on the fence back in the spring I've heard all of the presentations um I've had conversations and I really think this is a good opportunity and I think it will be less of a real issue of a transition than some people are imagining I truly get that parents of younger kids can't even imagine what their kids going to be like in fifth or sixth grade that how could they do this um but our kids our kids are different than us at those ages and they're ready thank you um I wasn't sure how tonight was GNA go and um like Becca said a little more homework a little extra investigation and I think all of us have been doing that um in conversations with other parents in um a whole host of factors and I I appreciate feedback from from staff because we've heard from a lot of staff not just our sixth grade team um and it's been universally supported like I have heard from many an elementary school educator and all of the middle school team and others at at Smith Academy and to a staff person they've all been in favor of the move um as I sat and took all of that in and with it um I found myself asking how we frame the question starts to change the answer and I appreciated that each of you sort of looked at it from a slightly different perspective um some more different than others and for me when I step back and I frame the question it's really about student belonging and so when I went to decide what I thought was the right choice it it centered on where will sixth grade our particularly our sixth grade students not every six I really just thinking about our own where will our sixth grade students feel the greatest sense of belonging in our district um there is so much research that supports a student sense of belonging improves academic outcomes increases continuing enrollment and is protective for mental health so that's a quote from MIT teaching and learning lab um there's I I'm happy to share with anyone who doubts all of the data but it's like 300 million students across you know 95,000 different studies it's a lot of data that really looks at the impact of belonging on education and it's about teacher student relationships it's about school climate and where they feel like they can contribute and that is part of what is accelerating academic success so when Learners feel that they belong in an educational setting they have student engagement increases negative behavior incidents diminish and academic achievement improves and so I just looked at it to me it all kind of boiled down to that because it's I think to Dr Driscoll's earlier point this isn't about doing one thing and all these others there's an in it it's very integrated um and I can imagine the I can kind of all hear hear the voices like but you can make those students feel like they belong at either school like you can do that work and I agree that that is a priority for all ages um and I can hear the voice is talking about keeping kids younger longer and I I get um but I'm really not convinced that which school building they're in in this particular case is going to have an impact on that it starts to feel like when you decide to keep your feet smaller by not having larger shoes um one of the things that I stumbled across in the research was a book on Modern puberty explained um which highlights that puberty starts two years earlier for kids today than what the age of their parents that went through it so Millennial parents to today's fourth fifth sixth graders two years earlier so when I thought about this to me this is very and this sort of Echoes I think much of what Aman mentioned it was really about where the students feel like they belong not necessarily where we want them to belong but sometimes we can't control all of that um I hear the concerns about the Gap in ages but like Kathy and Aman before you know I look at the fact that it is exactly the same age difference we have in our existing structure in our elementary school where the common reaction to that age difference is to praise the benefits of older students setting an example for the younger ones and I think there's no reason to believe it should be any different for this group um and there's lots of evidence of how it's controlled like so I'm I'm with all of you who have expressed I don't see that as a big concern there I want to also recognize that there are other ways to frame this decision that we haven't been talking about so much um there are a lot of districts right now that are that are having these very similar conversations and it's about space and if we were to lead our thinking through that question um I think we've all seen that our K through five students would benefit from this move because it frees up space um more about having ample room for or I guess I'm G to flip that around it's really not about having room in the classrooms there are room for more kids to join us but it's not necessarily that we have ample rooms in the building and so this would free up that space for Supportive Services and we would free up some staff time that I think would benefit K through five specials teachers Support Services all would have added capacity the other thing we haven't talked about much is if we wore our employer hat to to make this decision because we as a committee are the employer of all of the staff and if we were thinking about it with that framework I think we would be talking about the equity and workloads particularly for our special education teachers and supporting staff and here again if that was the framework with which we answered this we would be shifting our students um because it would help work that workload balance is what we've heard the only place I I think about we've talked about it's a cost neutral and I think that's true if there were a place we would see added cost the only place I worry about is that we would need to add special aded capacity at the elementary school if we stay prek to six because of that imbalance and that would be an added cost to keep the status quo um I'm not going to call it a cost savings because I don't think it would save just keep us from adding so again it's a different frame for the question um all that said I still think this should be a student- centered question um and so when I think about 11 and 12 year olds and where they fit here's what resonated with me where do they have peers that are most like them particularly when you think about puberty and you think about um all of the interests that they have and all of the opportunities that open up when you move to Smith Academy um I think about sport offerings activities X blocks all of that is a better option for them than a ninth year at hes because that's what sixth grade is for a lot of our kids keep in mind they've been there for two years of preschool it's a ninth year in that building so where do the peers look like them and where do those interests lie I think that goes to Smith um where will they encounter a staff that really that most get them um I will Echo Becca's comments I think our Middle School teachers are some of our District's most seasoned and celebrated teachers like they're just fantastic and they function as a team like individually they're great and they function as a team and so I just feel like students getting more time with that group is such a coup like that feels like a real win I also think daily affiliation for our sixth grade teachers who again I I I sh share the praise for our sixth grade team but I feel like it's also a boon for their teaching of sixth grade students because they get day-to-day time on that team um where their students and the student challenges and the curriculum are so much more aligned relative to their counterparts that are the elementary school um school programs I don't know about you but I I've I think back to the spring there was a comment about watching the sixth graders in elementary assemblies and if you've been to all school meetings they're they're like the babysitter help right they it doesn't feel like it's there for them right they're and I have watched several of them were like the little preschoolers like wandered around a little bit and they're like nope I'll help you with that like they they do take on a leadership role which is great but it also feels like it's less about them um I remember hearing one of the teachers remark it's like yeah have recess but they don't really do recess they just sort of stand there and visit so the programmatic stuff feels like a better fit at Smith Academy and the academic structure that's best suited for Success the state has dictated all those standards that line up with Middle School um so feeling like we aligning schedules and how the academics are offered that feels like a better fit um so even if we thought that all of this was the best for the students are there reasons to still say no yes if there was an insurmountable cost which we don't have like if it was a cost increase and it was going to be wildly crazy and we couldn't find offsets but that isn't what we're looking at um and I would say yes if we didn't have the room at Smith Academy to do it but we do um and to Echo Melissa's comment change is hard and I get that but I don't think that's a reason to say no I think it's a reason to make a decision early and to have a good plan and to hold everybody accountable to work in the plan um and and doing some hard things so I do think we have a lot of priorities I don't deny like Adam your comments resonate I get it but I think for all that we need to accomplish for our students I can't find a priority that beats having those kids feel like they fit and they belong and so I feel like they better they for all of that I think they fited so I appreciate all of you speaking to what drove your decision where your concerns are I think they're all really valid um is there anything Administration would like to say before we take a vote not I can think of I I just think you know one more potential reason to to say no would be is if we didn't have a a a staff and a team I think that was fully supportive um and the fact that this has come from the the the very people that we entrust with our sixth grade um and and is supportive of the middle by the middle school team I think is um I think it lends a a whole lot of credibility and Credence to the to the idea am I wrong in thinking that the Crux of the workload lands with them too it sure does but they're ready for it yeah um so speaking of being ready would you like a motion I really would I would like to make a motion to approve the sixth grade move to SI Smith Academy for the fall of 2025 second that okay this feels I know we could do this with just a a voice V Voice vote um but it feels pretty big so I'm G to suggest that we take a roll call can we start at that end sure solivan no green yes are we going with yes bench yes Engle heart yes p so yes so um you you have what you asked for so thank you all I know it was a thoughtful conversation and decision so um and now you guys have a chunk of work to do now the work make it happen really smoothly make sure is a smooth transition can I say I really appreciate that we the committee and the community really took time and delved into this and thought about this and this and looked at every angle but I also appreciate the work that the sixth grade teachers did the middle school team did to present us with all kinds of information and Dr Driscoll with reaching out to families and doing these surveys and following up um really made me feel like we had so much information that really helped me anyway um reach the decision that I did and I just appreciate all the work that went into this so thank you yeah thank you that's really true and likewise from for the committee um because there was no no small amount of work on your your IND year the due diligence was very much appreciated and even from the sixth grade team I mean it's been incredibly helpful to have them active community members because a lot of conversations were held in parking lots and on the side lines of games because that's when families would ask questions and things were able to get clarified and worries were able to be a little bit more alleviated so and that's gonna hug kudos to to staff and faculty who were able to have those conversations with families we have a much better plan like I feel like the plan like looks so good right now very happy indeed okay thank you all and with that we get to move on anyone who's saying they they need to move on for the evening we understand that Madam chair I would like to take a short recess would you we can do that okay I don't I can just or I can make a motion whichever you prefer why don't you give us a motion we'll I'll take a short recess I would like to move to take a short recess I'll second that all in favor of a is five sufficient minutes five minute break we recon at um 8:35 I great thank you e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e okay welcome back and we're up to our sixth item on the agend our seventh item on the agenda Lucky Seven um the administration is going to talk about the theme for the year connections relationships and belongings Dr Driscoll all right thank you thank you so um just as a recap earlier in the year the administ or in the year in the summer the administrative team met to really um kind of look at the year to come and decide what our priorities were going to be and really it came down to facilitating uh and and improving upon a strength I think we already have but really driving home um the importance of building relationships building connections and creating a sense of belonging in our school schol at the elementary school as well as the high school um so just as a I mean we already looked a little bit tonight about the uh re body of research that exists around the importance of belong but here are um some quotes that that highlight that um belong is an ENT essential aspect of psychological functioning schools offer unique opportunities to improve belonging for school AG children students belong to belonging to school has been consistently correlated with many significant outcomes educational and psychological studies carried out in various contexts have shown that students sense of school belong is associated with several academic and non-academic outcomes such as students motivation to learn level of academic achievement and general future orientation when the need for belong is not achieved there may be significant consequences including an impact on intellectual performance and hence learning potential may not be achieved and I think that's um you know the the the not achieving potential is really a dig to me um and here are some related quotes from um relatively famous people Teddy Roosevelt uh Henry Ford and Dr James comr people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care no significant learning can occur without a significant relationship and coming together is a beginning keeping together is a process working together is a success all right so um I wanted to frame this conversation tonight with what we expect you know as we focus on relationships connections and belonging what we expect what are you know how does this relate to our overall goals as a district um so here are the outcomes we expect we want to see higher levels of student engagement um when we go into classes we go into classes often uh and we want to see students engaging and that that engagement has been correlated to uh belonging to just having that sense of community uh fewer office referrals for misconduct as measured by off referral numbers so um when students again this is research based when students have a sense of belong have a strong relationship um it's less likely that they're going to um act in ways that are not pro-social um we would like to see an increase in positive indicators in the vocal spiffy and Desa surveys Desa is a new one this this year um but those are uh surveys of student you know student experience um I I will say as an ASX to this one we are already pretty darn strong in many of these areas um so we'd like to stay strong and and continue to improve um we expect to see more retention of students and staff that's a big one I think that's the the if I were to categorize this one uh number four and five would be at the top rather than the bottom uh we also like to see increased enrollment um and we think by doing by by having this Focus we will uh expect to see all those things it should be clarified too that this isn't just a you know we're not just going to do this this year and then like leave it behind this is a an ongoing priority um so now we'll talk a little bit about what we're currently doing and what we're kind of planning to continue to do at both schools we can start with the elementary school so at the elementary school we have a building based seal a a social emotional team that um that we created this year this team meets regularly that is myself the counselor um school psychologist um when she's available the bcba as well as uh Kim Tran who you know continues to fine-tune the plan that we originally put forth but then also to fine-tune um what we're doing and how teachers need what any kinds of supports that our teachers might need um our second step lessons we continue again to implement these there are 20 lessons for each grade um including the anti-bullying ones for October the student elections this year for Council Members is grades four through six for the entire year again we create reading B uh reading buddies for the older students and the younger students again that sense of relationships and belonging um we're looking to create committees to Target belonging activities for both staff student and families um our before and after school care program enhancements we've been having U Miss lville has been doing a lot of community outreach we recently had um Tyler lry brought his car she's been doing a lot of more Outreach things trying to get more things in place and involved with the students in the Aftercare program um positive it was a race car right yes it is um positive I didn't write this in here somebody else did positive warning announcements every day by me um every morning um Monday it's every day of the week there's something different so there's always um a mindful moment um it's not a moment of silence it's always a mindful moment where I'm always asking kids to think about a way to either be positive or be kind um as well as each day of the week there's something different so Monday is always a joke of the day Tuesday is um the national day of Wednesday is word of the day kids get a a vocabulary word in definition Thursday is a riddle and Friday song of the day which is quite popular and I got some feedback from Upper Grade kids that they needed to make sure I was not playing songs just for the teachers because they were the ones who usually got the songs first the kids benefited from that but I heard some feedback that some classrooms phones don't work as well as others just they keep saying that but you know it just got to push the button to main office but yeah um and then we continue having our we have four monthly or four yearly um PTA sponsored movie night so again this opportunity for families to come together and um have an opportunity to talk and kids to be able to come out and play and hang out and we just had our most recent one this past Friday that the fifth and sixth grade sponsor I think um um just something to add here too because I think it's important to highlight too is the work that we've been doing with responsive classroom uh which has Community Building as a Cornerstone of of its philosophy yeah I had dedicated the teachers were really concerned about making sure that there was dedicated time so we created in the schedule that the Specialists have their prep the first 50-minute block of the morning so that students are never taken out of and they have that opportunity and time for morning meeting which has the four components so that there is that sense of community building and belonging in the classroom which which I think is really important to highlight because we can prioritize things all we want you can you can say you're going to do this you can try to do all the work for it but until you have the the structur the mechanisms in place to do that work and specifically in education the time designated for it um it it simply doesn't get done so the fact that we are we've we've rebuilt the um kind of the schedule to to to include that structure I think is is a real key piece here to highlight um the commitment that that we've made to it is that new this year yes change yep um future plans um we're in the process of working with we've the seal committee um has put forth a check-in checkout so tier one responsive classroom and our second step are tier one everybody gets the same information um together in the classroom the check-in checkout is more of a tier two it is about having students with a trusted adult a trusted grown-up who they are having regular check-ins with so again that sense of belonging and that relationship building for some students who might need some added and extra um time with an adult to just again be that positive influence um have that quick pep talk of encour encouragement these are again opportunities for kids to start feeling if they're having a bit of a trouble um or difficulty with some of their social and emotional learning um have that opportunity to have a more consistent adult who's checking in on them regularly throughout the day um additional reading buddy pairings between the older grades and younger grades um our other grades right now up fifth and sixth are pairing up with younger students but we're also having conversations about trying to figure out and find if our schedule allows it so that some of the other grades can do that as well um really kind of thinking about mindfulness and energizers as far as you know this idea of encouraging a sense of belonging when we have opportunities where kids are looking you know the teacher notices that kids are kind of like you know petering out not paying as much of attention when do you do an Energizer versus some of the mindfulness to really pull the kids all back together in a calmer way student friendships and social still groups for identified students we do want to think about doing more climate um enhancing activities for the school we are currently in the process of working on our seal Grant um which are being completed right now we want to make sure that we're thinking about the funding work around how to support more tier 2 supports that might be needed um based on both our Desa data as well as teacher input and trying to also work making sure that we're doing um updating on our website to enhance some of the accessibility for families um so I'll I'll move on to Smith Academy now um and I I'll I'll try to not talk as much I was told by my eight-year-old at soccer practice the other day that Dad you talk too much you just want to play okay so um we have uh many community events that um the the student council takes a a real leadership role in and not just leadership they just do the they do it all um from from start to finish in planning including uh homecoming March Madness the snowball Etc and that I I think this is a a real real great thing that we do um I think back to my my days in high school pepper rallies were all centered around a team um people cheered them on and that was the pepper rally um our pepper rallies they involve the whole school there's tug-of Wars there's dodgeball there's singing it's it's really it's more of a community event um and I think is is really well done uh we have umal teams at the elementary school as well as the high school and districtwide uh to make sure that we are continuing systematic work towards developing those competencies so where where are we and where do we need to go um and Mr Trent has been a really um really great kind of the Helm of of that work uh we are also we've also implemented the Second Step curriculum we've we've done it up through 12th grade now so the Second Step has an extension Beyond just middle school now up through 12th grade so that work will continue um preschool through 12th grade which is great um we've put together uh in addition to the anti- bling work that second step does and and stuff that we're doing in schools um Mr Duncan has has worked with a um a really well-renowned presenter to come in to do an assembly for students um and he's he's worked both at Smith but also the elementary school to um get this presenter to come in and do do uh I think four different presentations for different age groups throughout the day uh that involve kids and talk and really kind of um impress upon them the importance uh important role that they can play in supporting each other uh in in um being upstanders uh we continue to work with getting to Y with with our students um who've been working with the spiffy data and specifically around how we can we can improve um at Smith Academy and so um a lot of that that data is around um you know ways that we can help support our students make um good decisions uh we have X block we've talked quite a bit about in our sixth grade conversation about providing opportunities for students connect I think um the importance of that really can't be overstated that we have opportunities for students to connect with each other around a a shared interest that's just just for having fun and connecting so that that opportunities embedded within the school um we have about 60% of our students are involved in sports um so that that is a ratio that I would love to compare Statewide because I think we were probably close to the top of the number of students that we the percentage of students that we have involved in sports um I can't think of any other school that that could boast that number in fact I just found homework for myself um and and something something that's not student Focus but but I think is really important to we have a vibrant social committee among staff so they plan monthly outings um they went to Mike Mays they've gone to other other area hauns um to just have fun with each other which is great um some of the future plans here uh were were sort of brainstormed and connected with uh some of the stuff at the elementary school through our teams U but developing a check-in checkout program for students in need um you know sometimes a kid might just need a little extra TLC uh and they have someone they can come to it doesn't have to be their teacher it can be just someone they've connected with the school hey here's how I'm feeling today all right what are we going to do about it that kind of thing um at the end of the day hey how was your day did good things happen that kind of that kind of thing um we actually just submitted today a grant to continue to some of the work around enhancing School climate and our current Mission so um Julie tangway Kim Tran and Jean hobby spent a an astronomical amount of time over the last couple of weeks working on this grant um and they put it through today so we're hoping that uh that can help fund some more work in this area um both Staffing wise as well as um uh just time wise uh to to help develop that um we we we're working to con to to develop our student and family Mentor um program for students who are students and families who are are new to the school whether that be through school choice or whether that be through um just coming into the you know into the community um I I think I'd like to kind of extend that and we've been talking about extending that to um just a peer mentor kind of Big Brother sort of program um we've done that on an ad hoc kind of basis um but we'd like to like to standardize that um we are looking to to kind of continue to revise our curriculum um when you do that you increase relevance you increase uh students experience um you hear a lot about that being done in uh former English teacher here so you hear a lot about that being done through literature um okay what is the you know how how can we teach important um important themes important subjects through literature um and by including newer literature sometimes that that is a great way to kind of in increase that um we've developed an enrollment task force that's going to be meeting to look at strictly simply at the issue of enrollment districtwide um we've worked with the trustees to identify areas where we can look at volunteerism uh and showcase it so students were kind of advertising when they're working out in the community um with maybe purple shirts or something like that um and just increase volunteerism uh and then we've continued to have connection between our Sports at the high school as well as Rec programs where our students will go down and um lead clinics and and help with practice that kind of thing um and we've continued to update the website we'll be adding staff bios um soon to the website as well um and and we just wanted to to end with a kind of a list of some of the things that have um ha been happening uh that the schools are involved in to help continue with Community uh and family engagement so um homecoming was I I said this before it was it was wonderful this weekend it was a real there was a real sense of community um not just around around Smith Academy I mean that was the focal point but just the the it felt like the whole town was there it was great um we've had students that help uh with Civic engagement they you know even if they can't vote uh they'll volunteer to babysit at uh town meeting to to be um part of part of that process um Civics projects are now embedded in the curriculum so that's in e8th grade and 12th grade uh or eth grade and and high school usually it's landed in 12th grade um but it can be anytime in high school there uh students participate in a Civics project which is a research part research and part action um where they um take step to improve their community um we have uh continue to communicate regularly with families about upcoming events about ways that they can be involved about ways that they can volunteer um in the last piece here this this is a uh something that is new coming up just um it's an event that is is supposed to just kind of bring people together um but we we partner with Community organizations regularly when they use our space um for different events whether that be to hold a um training for referees for the MIAA whether it be for heads up to try to bring bring people together from differing political viewpoints um you know we we continue to try to make sure that our our facilities are uh a spot that's not just for school but also for the community to use for community events um and we'll continue to support that as as any way we can great all right that's the last slide I wasn't joking about the 43 questions from the committee uh go ahead no you oh all right um you mentioned 60% in sports and you know that that's one of the top numbers you think for schools and you don't have to have an answer for this now but um I'd like us to be mindful about what we're doing for the other 40% you know if we have Afterschool sports for 60% of our students what are we doing for the other 40% whether we survey them to find out if there's interest in having an art club or this or that or something to do for them after school um Sports has a huge history in Hatfield and that Smith Academy is known for sports but I would like us to not forget our other 40% and provide something for them to do as well absolutely I think that's a a great idea um and and something that's been on our radar too um I won't give an exhaustive answer list but one of the things that we have explored and will'll continue to explore is um Esports is is now a big thing for students who like to participate in those and we just recently through our our Pace Grant um upgraded our computer Lab at Smith Academy um with a with with new machines so that they'll be able to support um support orts too so um should we move forward with that we have the facilities now to be able to do that that look into other things as well if you if you survey the students because if if they're not into Esports or active physical Sports you what else do they have true yeah something in the performance arts would be amazing oh musicals coming up right we had over 40 people sign up for the musical this year nice yeah so that those results came through I I didn't even occour me to put those on here but yeah we had um so we're planning to run the musical again this year and we had an overwhelming um amount of people sign up uh almost to the point where I'm questioning it but right now I'm going to go with it and then if uh if it turns out that that Connor signed Stevie up and didn't ask him then we can we can cross from there but um it seems like there's a you know there there's a a big group that is interested right all of this kind of makes sense right like an an Engaged employee is a happier employee is a more productive employee people an uh an Engaged resident is happier in the community and they they help create more engaged Eng happier residents and an Engaged employee creates more engaged happier employees whereas someone who's disengaged can you know can Fester from there and you can have more disengage more negative yeah you go from disengage to disillusion and that's we want to not have that so I'm imagining you're going to come back at some point and share you you're doing some surveys some pre and post can you have a sense of timing on what that have you already started that work yes so we'll be the the vocal data so the survey pieces are um either either yearly or or a couple times a year uh the Desa I'm not sure when when that is November okay so thank you November first one is November um so that'll be the PO the pre- DAT for for that and that's that's a um that that's a a new indicator this year I think that that'll be really beneficial um vocal data is a little it's only uh fifth 8th and um 10th grade that they take that so it's you know the the data is a little it's more mccassy so it it's not not as actionable um so I'm imagining we're gonna have a second presentation at the end of the year where we're gonna come back and yep and check in yes we will committee knowing that this is the front end of this conversation is there anything you want to speak to okay thank you thank you I think this is exciting stuff um District reports the committee has had a chance to pread but I'm sure there's some things you might like to share that you'd like to call out so you don't have to go through all of it I I won't I promise just looking at the time um and I know Becca has 47 policies for us to riew so many policies um and committee likewise if you have questions by I think right now the an important piece to call out uh Staffing wise is that we are very close to fully staffed we have believe one One ESP at the elementary school right now if we fil um so we're continuing to work on that which is great and it feels good we welcom a new teacher uh in the star program this week um and has he's been he's stepped right in and and been rolling so yeah Mr Thomas black Tomas black thank you awesome I have a question and I'm gonna preempt Becca on this one because I'm sure it was her question as well you know what's coming yes at this point should we find another vendor yeah for my school buxs if if we cannot get it going by November by by the writing this down next week by the end of next week we we will have a new vendor um yeah so the most I won't go into a whole whole story here um but we had to we had to to kind of redo the work that was done there um because it was so cumbersome for the user that it wouldn't have been it would have turned everyone off um so now we we've created it so that someone can go in figure out how much they owe and type the amount in rather than having to choose seven or eight different options um through so that that's that's where it is right now and I'm waiting for it to for them to say it'll go live so I can send out communication to families and say this is how you sign up for my school box and um go from there so that's um this is a very jaded committee when it comes to my we are getting a new vendor if it's not better by next week if it's not up and Roll by next week we we'll probably volunteer to help you find a vendor at this point there was some favorable news about fusion power this week as well so you're fighting is there any update on enrollment I see that as a subcategory there for you um our numbers right now at Smith Academy were 109 um in at the elementary school I believe2 202 when do those numbers get finalized with Desi for the year is October 1st October 31st October one October one y so we are nine kids down from a year ago yes I think yep keep in mind a year ago when we had this conversation we were 20 something down the year before when we had this conversation were in the upper 40s and we had n kids go to vog so like non switch the trend is very good it's not where we want it to be we uh and this feels like a good time to segue to my um your other thing my other report which is which uh you know I won't go through the whole report as well but I'm really excited to uh talk about a partnership we've been developing um with with Vermont State University so this this partnership came out of the work that went into uh putting the Innovation um pathway proposal together uh when we were talking with Vermont State University we were talking about um coursework that is offered through their adventure education program an outdoor education program um and it came up that that they offer the opportunity for uh High School staff to become uh certified within the Vermont state school system to develop colle level cours work that high schools can offer in-house uh and so we're we're working with staff to develop those courses right now um to be able to offer to Smith Academy students the the biggest benefit I think that we'll find is the it eliminates the the most common barrier we have for students who are uh who struggle to make dual enrollment work which is either that those courses have to be online or that they have to leave campus to go to those places and they miss classes they miss extracurriculars they miss other things during that time because the schedules don't you know a college course at Smith college might not start at 10:32 when our block starts um so this will allow our staff to get you know the ability to offer those courses there can be some uh overlap and kind of parody with what we already already offer so if we have if we convert say like an AP calculus course to a college level introduction to calculus students will still get the opportunity to take the AP exam and they will by default of having passed that course get credit for having that having passed that college level course so we already offer several courses that that may fall into this Camp um and we're developing others so that by the Stu by the time students graduate if they if they choose to they could have the opportunity to take four or five college level courses over their Junior and senior your year and really kind of have a full um full semester of coursework under the belt which is is wonderful um and it's not something I think that's happening elsewhere um part of the reason that Vermont State University is doing this is because they you know they're also struggling with enrollment and so this is a way that they've reached out and try to develop connections with with high schools um that are you know they they may have students that are potentially interested in looking at that system is there any cost involved in having our teachers um certified or able to teach these courses so so the cost involved is around the time um so so I've applied for a grant a planning Grant to help do this um and I'm expecting to hear back any day now about that Grant uh which would be which would allow us to stien teachers for the time that goes into making those courses some courses we already have a really good start with because we offer those AP levels which are essentially designed to be a you know an introduction to college course um other courses will be a little more involved because if we have you know if we have a a course on art history that we want to offer that's not developed yet it'll take a little more time to develop that once developed it has it has to align to the um kind of the course description and program of studies of Vermont State University and then the syllabus that our teachers create goes to the university and the department for approval so they'll either approve it or send it back we say we'd like to you know have have have this happen um so that the process that's the process of doing that um I would love to be able to say oh we'll be able to offer one uh this year but I think realistically it would be for next next fall um because the courses we can offer will also align with our schedule so they be your long courses rather than the semester base of the of the college two question sure uh you kind of touched on it but if you can hit it again and maybe hit it a little harder what is the value of taking a dual enrollment course over an AP course um that's a great question so an AP course and this this sort of depends a little bit but an AP course um they're focused around the AP exam so the AP if you take an AP course the expectation is you take the AP test if you take the AP test and you score uh high enough then colleges most colleges will accept that as either a credit um or and this has been more common recently they'll accept it as having satisfied a prerequisite so you don't have to take you know you don't if you're take AP Cal and you pass it at a certain level you won't have to take your college level math class they might not say that you got credit for it but you won't have to take it um so those are the most common ways that AP Works a dual enrollment course you'll get a transcript from the college with having completed a college level course um so it would be honored at any any school within the the Vermont system and uh you you can apply when you apply for a college to college if you have those credits from another another University or college they will often let a certain number of of credits transfer for credit in that college um so you would just need to pass that class um not not take the AP exam you could also take the AP exam too students would be prepared to take that uh after finishing one of these courses so part of the difference is passing a class versus passing a one-time test yes yep and um you know you you asked for the value I mean the the value is you get College college course experience there's a monetary value to this too I mean with the the the cost of college and universities right now um if you can graduate with a semester under your belt and potentially graduate a semester early from college I mean that's that can be a $20,000 price tag um when you factor in R and board and everything else or more depending okay I actually came up with another question as you were speaking so two more questions are there any Massachusetts schools that offer a similar program like did you reach out to mcla or something not that I have been able to find okay um I didn't reach out to private universities I spoke with a couple folks from UMass um and and they they thought it was really interesting um from the from the state schools but I haven't reached out to private private colleges universities it seems to be that there may not have been the the Catalyst to to think about this yet um because the enrollment challenges that that that Vermont State University and a rural area um kind of kind of up there at these campuses are dealing with might not be uh at the same level around here um but short answer your question is I have not reached out to private universities no okay do we have the option the ability the desire um or is there any advantage to um partnering with other high schools in this either by if they're doing a similar thing or allowing their students to enroll in our dual enrollment course yeah we we could absolutely do that um and that's sort of on the horizon for next steps um thinking about reaching out to places like Frontier highley and saying hey we have you know their schedule's more likely to be similar to ours than it is to a college and we could say we're offering this course you're your kids could take it um absolutely we could do that um what was the first part of your question I think I answered the second part uh no that was you hit it the oh and and I haven't reached out yet because this is a fairly new partnership um and I didn't want anyone else to do it before us quite quite frankly fair I think I think it's a a pretty neat feather in our cap and the work that we've already put into it um will will put us ahead of the Curve if other other schools are doing this when would you start to tell families and students about this I've already started uh I announced it at our open house um once we once we have courses developed I think you know we'll be able to announce the partnership um and then once we have course developed we'll be able to announce what those courses are over the course of years and that work should be starting very soon uh I think this week is the week we are supposed to hear back about the uh innovation Pathways planning Grant um and if we can't find the if if for some reason we don't get that Grant um I will be upset and we'll find the funding elsewhere to to make sure we can we can pay teachers to do this because there is a Time investment um it it's hard to build a new course but once it's done yep it's done other questions about this or anything else that was on administrative reports questions for Mrs Petra about hes um only one which might be for the both of you um the heat in the building today yeah yeah impressive that's what I heard part of what happened a few weeks ago is our systems are only meant to either have air conditioning or heat there is no in between so the other piece that I also learned after the company came in today was that there was a part that was broken that they have now ordered and will be in in the next couple of days so back when it gets cooler atast better I had the same problem in my building at you m today where it was like de inside because the there's Central so when the air is on is on when the heat is and they turn off the air they turn on the heat and of course it is 75 78 degrees outside and The Temper set to be 72 it's going to go up because the build it's hotter outside and it's making it hotter inside so I had Librarians who are not very happy about this and there was a kind of a perfect storm today with the heat because there was the broken piece which is one point uh one part there was a um every every year they have to adjust the set points that's kind of you know the first couple of weeks as they they try to figure out where where things are um there was some kind of malfunction with the software on the set point which had the set point way up um for unoccupied rooms so additionally in addition to being really hot today it was probably hot all weekend when it was supposed to be set as unoccupied um and so there there was that that lingering heat that ex existed not just in the classrooms but in the walls and and everything else which needed needed to kind of work through um and so those things work together to make it really really hot today but it was nice outside so I think did people go outside yeah and I had put that in to St it was unbearably hot that they could have used the Gazebo and some of the outside classroom space so I did see students out was a it was a good day to get outside absolutely I just had somebody reach out to me about it so I just wanted to yeah for everyone to hear yes ad of curiosity do you know off the top of your head how much we spent on HVAC repairs this year and do you know how much this is going to cost um I B so HVAC repairs um it's been within the budget so far it has been within the budget I want to say we're probably close to 10 10,000 um it's within the budget but we're in October right the uh but and no I don't know how much this one will will cost yet okay so that's a good transition into the finance committee update and I'll just right now everything is on track with the budget um and worth noting I think we may have mentioned at the last meeting that thanks to the town arpa funds which need to be spent by the end of the year um they graciously uh are helping take care of some things that were're on our Capital planning list which is hbac and the elementary freezer and so bids are in for all of that work and it's due to be completed by the end of the year so that is good news a little extra coming in so um you can read the report for everything else but the fixes that we're doing with the arpa funds did the bids come in in any way less than what the town agreed to give us so that no okay just okay didn't one bid actually adjusted their bid down uh yeah be so one big G in higher um and so we actually had to go back to the town and request that we shift Capital funds from the Smith Academy HVAC um project to the Fraser project at the elementary school because um it would ended up being about 10 10,000 more than um had been originally budgeted for that so some of the upcoming work from your fin School Finance subcommittee is getting updated Capital bids for all the things that some of these things have been sitting on the capital list for many years Generations um and and might need new bids because those prices just aren't current um so with that I would really like to move on to policy subcommittee woohoo this bench okay we got a lot of lot of policy on the list but hopefully won't take too long tonight um just to start off with our policy update um I would like to mention that the policy subcommittee has been discussing our overall goals we like to select a policy or a focus um for the school year and um this year policy as a subcommittee has decided to focus on our code of conduct and related policies of which there are many we started tallying up all the different policies that either directly or relate to code of conduct in our schools and I think it was like 10 or 15 I thought it was like 13 or 14 yeah in that range of policies that all sort of not even the handbooks no we're talking about distri actual dist not even the handbook yes that is kind of the big thing that we're starting to look into um although we don't have anything to present on that tonight that's where we're going in between that work um we are sort of continuing our regulatory review this is not time sensitive but we're always keeping it on our radar um we have at least some of the policies that we're looking at today one of the policies is sort of more of a general regulatory review and then as we're going along I know we've talked about it in the past but there are different schools of thought on how to handle school policy um sometimes in in the past my understanding is that the recommendation was to have a policy with an attached procedure which is like a-r policy that is a little bit cumbersome and so we've been thinking about how to sort of have a procedure manual that is also online that links directly to our policies and also how to deal with forms some of the things that we have in our policy manual are actually just forms that are like in a Google doc and we would like to improve that system so these are all the things on our radar um but the focus you know we've selected our Focus policy and we'll go from there um that's what I have to say about that and certainly if the committee has any questions I'm excited I think that's great okay particularly love the idea of the procedure manual and for like all of because that would be technology would make that so easy yes yeah the the dash R for procedures was before Tech had a giant binder yeah there was a big binder of stuff and then you just kept everything together but now with technology it'll be so much easier to pull out the procedures and Link them to it and have another place for all the forms to sit and they're linked it makes it easier too just for anybody to trying to access our policies particularly thinking about staff implementation that should make it simpler yes exactly uh with that said um we have a first reading policy before the committee policy ik KF which is graduation requirements um we have made edits to reflect best practices for college enrollment um of note this adds a community service requirement um it changes some of the language around mcast and uh updates other things so we had sort of a the policy is before the committee so we would like to hear uh feedback if anyone has any um this would be implemented like not this year probably the community service requirement right right did we discuss that yeah it would be next year so right now it's it's drafted with 20 hours of community service for grades 9 through 12 um pro-rated if someone comes in Midway through um so you you could show up as a freshman and get your 20 hours done and you could knock out a weekend if you wanted to if you really wanted to Y okay um have you I I my other question was is it worth and we're not quite there yet but is it worth making sure that we talk about dual enrollment credits and how do those work and if there is any on minimum requirements or just that they count this like just I don't know if that needs to be articulated in this or not it could be I'd have to look at the handbook to see what the language is around dual enrollment courses there but they have counted towards um towards graduation I don't see why they wouldn't right they're high school and college so to me it's just another place we really we could just kind of be like yep and you get credit for that a comment you know it is outlined in in the hand and it's also outlined about how how the GPA will work from them because if you're taking a college level course it's weighted the same as an AP class so for for GPA sings um that that is impactful absolutely and just for anyone else who's not looking at the written document the changes for it looks like additional credits required for math going from 17 and a half to 20 is that a real change or is so this is just catching up with what is practiced yeah okay and health is 3.75 y um and foreign language at 10 which looks like it's brand new yeah so foreign language is um two years of foreign language is uh that is what kind of the the state recommends and that's what colleges look at to have two full years of that new no practically already Happ happening yeah that's what okay was it included in the electives is that it because there's 10 that's 10 credits that were taken off of elective basically that basically breaks it down from that foreign language is not just under the umbrella of elective it is its own this looks like more change than it really is yes yeah this change has caught up with what we're doing yes yeah okay because it was 51.2 credits for elective now it's 40 and then foreign language is 10 so we're not really adding no that many credits so and I I recognize community service has to get approved are there are we going to but what gets approved will be handled outside of policy correct yes okay does that get approved by the dean or by an adviser or it gets approved by Administration Administration yep and and and the barometer that we have used has been um service to the community that occurs outside of the regular regularly scheduled school day so it's you know if someone's doing something um in they taing for a class like oh hey I need you to go you know do this that's not going to count for community service um but if they volunteer to come after hours and you know pick up trash after homecoming not that we had trash a lot of trash at homecoming but if someone were to come do that that could be considered community service if they were U going out into the community volunteering at the uh Senior Center or or at an event during the you know during any of the celebrations that would be considered so the goal is to get students outside of school day out into the community to do that work four years of babysitting for town meeting they're in yeah in it depends on the year maybe less yeah part of this creates a um so it creates a requirement for students it also creates a responsibility for us to make sure that we have our systems in place to promote the opportunities that exist and there are plenty of opportunities that exist so we've kind of standardized our approach to how we send that out to students here you know it rather than sending it out oh we got this email we're going to send this email to students we have a a running list of all the opportunities that exist who the point people are how students can get in tou and sign up yeah um and and that's updated constantly in theory there's a way for the community to come to to pitch in and say we need this added to your board absolutely yeah for sure actually I would like to mention I know we had an informal discussion about the community service requirement at our last meeting and I actually already heard from a member of the historical Commission who um said they would love to have students great um volunteer and I heard from the leion yeah wonderful so I think like the community is interested in this yes I can imagine Adam as a high school student thinking like oh man but Adam as an adult is thinking this is a fantastic thing and I can do so many I'm thinking like we just had a a flu shot clinic at the senior center and like if you have a student who was interested in nursing or medicine they could volunteer to like just help check people in at the vacine something well and and honestly we have a lot of students that are involved and they're involved and they don't take the step to seek out kind of right they don't seek credit for a lot of stuff that they do um we have a really involved group and um oftentimes around National Honors Society indu induction time we'll have students come to us and say oh I did this at this time I did this at this time and they're you know they they'll tally these things up things that they've already done this gives them a mechanism to as they do those is get them approved and tracked so that they're not scrambling at the last minute to do that um so I I mean as a as a as a you know side benefit to students the goal is to get them involved in the community side benefit is I suspect we'll have more students um qualifying for the National Honor Society because this won't be a barrier for them any other thoughts from the committee I I love it I think it it does put the oners back on Administration to do all the tracking I mean it's so we're going to have to walk the walk discuss that but I'm not worried about that I um and I you know if they have their purple t-shirt on that says volunteer no harm with that that little PR would be a good thing Becca Kathy do we keep the change on the mcing if question two does not pass we just keep it just because it's easier I think the new language was great yeah so covers it either way yep and it and it defocuses that which I think was quite nice um is the recommendation that this is a reading and we're going to have a second reading um I think that yes that was our recommendation although I don't know that we need a three full readings yeah I could imagine this coming back next time for a vote yeah okay awesome any other feedback before we move on okay so my next long list our next long list of um policies are um largely related to title N9 and I know we already passed some handbook language we already passed the main um Title Nine policy at our last meeting these are essentially recommended by our legal department so um I'm just going to list them out really briefly we have policy AC which is non-discrimination policy including harassment and retaliation this is recommended by our legal department and is updated using the masc guidance um the committee has both uh it has two versions available the old version and the proposed version then we also have ac- R which it is a procedure but um this is recommended by our legal department so we are putting it forward for a vote at this time um we will consider moving these R policies to a link procedure manual but for now we feel it's important to pass this um while we think about how to get our systems in order um that would be a new policy then we have policy ACA non-discrimination on the basis of sex again an updated policy recommended by the legal department aa- r non-discrimination on the basis of sex under Title 9 including SE sex-based harassment uh same recommended by the legal department and then we have policy acce which is non-discrimination on the basis of disability um as we were reviewing all these others we realized that it had been uh quite a while since we updated AC and we thought we would like to include that in um there's basically no changes masc re-reviewed it in um a more recent year and it is still compliant with the law but it's been a long time since we renewed ours so um we wanted to be diligent with that um there was one spot Dr Driscoll that I had a small question I wanted to I feel bad I already want to make an edit to these um if someone would like to make a complaint under Title 9 where should they be referred I want to make sure it's correct in here as I was that was blank in the legal document that they sent us they they could go to any administrator but John Salvador or um is the title line coordin okay yep and is there something they need to do or they should just Reach Out directly to I just Reach Out direct so we should just say the director of student services instead of his name yeah I'm gonna do that right now that was that was my I guess had two things one was do they need to have specific names or can they just have titles in the policy it can be just titles um specific names would need to get I mean we have to report to the state who our title name coordinator title name coordinator is um so we we would do that we need to list it on the website in the handbooks yeah so but but for for policy I think you can just list the title so let me make a small amendment to that too the template polic policy from legal did have the actual the full name name of the people but I'm going to right now just say because that's an ac- r and ACA I believe as long as we list it um in the handbook handbook website not to update the policy I actually feel much better about it I was just following their template I'm I'm with you though I'm following the template I get it can you Emily Anderson is the 504 coordinator is there another title or should I just say the 504 coordinator 504 coordinator okay um she at Smith Academy she is okay uh the director director of student services is the district coordinator okay I'm gonna do that right now and then I think the template had an EXT I know this is crazy hyper Focus the template on AC had an extra period oh I fixed on the second line okay I fixed it on the other one awesome okay let me just make sure sorry that those were like the one things I just wanted to make sure it actually on aside it took a lot of form oh we can relate to that so much formatting we had these beautiful policies from legal but they needed to be all reformat are you taking out all the Emily Anderson references I just Chang okay one of my notes that was that like at some point it said the Emily Anderson yeah it that's coin put that on her door and then when you have a moment I think I found just the tiniest of typos in uh AC uh tell me um second line n AC under number three I think there's just a wayward space at the very beginning that's yeah there it is the the working looked like it was just slightly off I rely on you all you feel like you're in good company tonight I do normally Kathy is like the Eagle High of all this stuff and I like love you trained us I took note of Kathy's attention to detail and I was like I'm gonna find something get one get one in do one better H any other edits or notes on these it is a lot no they're they're in such keeping it made a lot of sense um and then the committee you want to talk about we could do one Fell Swoop of things sure you want me to talk about the there's some eliminations that go with this correct yep exactly so we have um ACA b-s and acab D those that content has been replaced by these updated policies so we propose to eliminate them and as we are going through things we also suggest eliminating EBC supplemental interim Co policies for all the time that that took Becca and I will be happy I cannot wait to vote to eliminate it personally 48 yeah okay is there any com ation on AC ACR ACA AC A R AC and the elimination of acab s acab b-r or EBC supplemental supplemental any conversation I am all for getting rid of any policy entitled acab I had to look that up so sorry yeah is there a motion I think we should do it in that's because of the elimination fine so let's I'll make a motion to approve waving the readings uh the policies AC ac- R ACA ac- R and AC with the corrections as present we just yeah so you're moving to wave the reading and appr approve them yes okay is there a second I'll second all in favor I I any opposed okay I'm GNA just jump in and be you to the point I am going to make a motion to eliminate AC ab- s AC ab- R and EBC supplemental is there a second second sorry there you go it's okay M's getting credit for that one and all in favor I I any opposed great that is the completion of our agenda for this evening I appreciate the extra time tonight um it was a good meeting and if there is a motion for an adjournment so moved okay and Adam second all in favor I awesome thanks everyone thank you all