Dahime Gordon, 21st CCLC Site Coordinator, presented the 21st Century Community Learning Centers monthly programming and budget report.  Due to the engaging activities offered, such as STRIDE Running Program and Artistry the 21st CCLC has seen an increase in enrollment. Madam President Cristina Stamatin inquired if the 21st CCLC can post pictures of student activities on the school website and Facebook page as long as a signed media release form is on file for each student pictured. A mini-marathon race is being planned at the Detroit River Walk for those students that were unable to attend the race in St. Clair Shores, MI.

Dr. Lorilyn Coggins presented the Charter School Program Grant current month and cumulative amounts with the Board of Directors as required to be presented monthly at each board meeting.  The site visit for Escuela Avancemos Academy is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, May 19, 2022, at 9:00 am and is expected to last approximately 2 hours. Board Trustees Mariva Gonzalez  and Monica Barbour will be onsite for the walk-through. 

March 2022 financial reports were presented by Dr. Lorilyn Coggins highlighting cash on hand, year-to-date revenues, year-to-date expenditures, and the current fund balance in a summarized format. The financials are in order.

The Sanga Monthly Management Report was presented by Dr. Steven Ovares (4th-8th Instructional Leader) and Stephanie Yassine (Sanga Consulting Executive Director).  The Leadership Team is seeking to finish the year strong, while also looking ahead to the 2022 - 2023 school year, in terms of planning and logistics. All action steps on our strategic plan are either implemented or in effect and ongoing.  Formal evaluations are being conducted currently on all teachers.  There is a plan in place to provide two official evaluations to teachers (one scheduled, one unscheduled) before the end of the school year. The Instructional Leadership Team has revised their plan of support for grade levels kindergarten through eighth grade.   Grade-level planning time from now until the end of the school year will be devoted to the creation of future 2022 - 2023 essential scope and sequence planning. MSTEP Testing started on May 5, 2022, and goes until May 20, 2022. At this time the academy has 2 students that need to take their MSTEP test, due to being absent in the weeks prior.  The academy anticipates being able to test all students in the MSTEP window. The leadership team also has preliminary, confidential retention information back from the State of Michigan Department of Education, regarding third-grade retention. The academy will examine their suggestions and make systems and decisions based on the third-grade reading law, and with the best intentions of the academy's students in mind.  End-of-year I-Ready and NWEA testing are scheduled to start soon.  The leadership team is excited to get their hands on updated WIDA assessment results to provide additional support to our language learners in the homeroom classroom.  Wayne State's TESOL program has begun and the instructor of the program was just nominated as the top professor in Michigan.  Madam President Cristina Stamatin is pleased with the planning for the next school year. Stephanie Yassine is very proud of the Instructional Leaders' strategic planning initiatives.

Student enrollment for the 2022-2023 school year is off to a great start.  Beatrice Hill is phenomenal at grassroots initiatives to recruit families.  Slight uptick in COVID cases at the academy.  In a majority of cases, students were quarantined at home prior to testing positive as soon as symptoms emerged, reducing exposure to other students and staff at school. Escuela Avancemos's administration, in accordance with recommendations from DHD, has decided to maintain our mask mandate through the end of the school year. The Academy has hired for all anticipated homeroom teaching vacancies for the 22-23. The academy has had a successful recruiting season and is excited to report to the board that quality candidates are applying for open positions and were able to uphold a rigorous interview and selection process. Staff had a successful educator appreciation week and was celebrated with scheduled vendors and activities. Most notable, a group of mothers at the Academy hosted a luncheon for the staff with a variety of food, dessert, and special treatment options! The parents took on this initiative all on their own as they were most eager to celebrate the academy's amazing educators in the building. Junior Achievement is an interactive and engaging financial literacy program that will be onsite Friday, May 20, 2022. We have 35 volunteers from various industries including DTE, Rocket Mortgage, Ally Financials, etc. who will be at the building all day to provide grade-specific business and financial literacy through an interactive program. Examples of the curriculum include students developing their own cities, exploring various careers, and having to create sustainable budgets for their imaginary businesses. 

The Academy continues to experience significant HVAC ongoing issues and repairs while awaiting the Unit replacement over the summer. The academy has experienced system failures through the last week and anticipates experiencing more through the end of the school year. Sanga is determined to troubleshoot and identify creative solutions to keep classroom temperatures manageable through the summer weather as the Academy cannot move forward with school closure without the loss of state aid. Sanga is working closely with the church, Bumler Mechanical, and Bass Controls to troubleshoot and maintain a working unit.  Windowless air conditioners have been purchased for rooms that may become very warm.
 

No extended public comments at this time. 

The Governor John Engler Center for Charter Schools Central Michigan University
Field Operations School Lead, Jennifer Joubert informed the Board of Directors of an ESSER- Related Grant Updates webinar that was conducted by Kevin Walters of the Michigan Department of Education highlighting school districts' requirements to must engage in meaningful consultation with students; families; schools, and district administrators (including special education administrators); and teachers, principals, school leaders, other educators, and school staff. 
Upcoming Board Development Series: An Assessment of Student Learning and Academic Performance Reporting June 28, 2022, Four Points by Sheraton Detroit Novi and the 2022 Annual Conference August 23, 2022, Suburban Collection Showplace. 

Escuela Avancemos Academy Board of Directors extended thankful acknowledgments to Sanga Management, Instructional Leaders, and Dr. Loriyln Coggins for the great work that is being done on everyone's part. Board Secretary Monica Barbour asked which high schools have the 8th-grade students chosen to attend for the upcoming school year.  Stephanie Yassine mentioned that many of the students will be attending high schools in the Southwest Detroit area, Cristo Rey and Cass Technical High School.  The academy's 8th-grade teacher, Tiffany Rhymes has done an outstanding job of helping students apply to their school of choice.  It's phenomenal to know that the instructional staff input is involved in the scope of sequence planning for the upcoming school year.  Madam President Cristina Stamatin congratulated the team and mentioned the academy celebrating 10 years of service.

Thursday, June 16, 2022, at 6:30 pm at Escuela Avancemos! Academy; 2635 Howard St. Detroit, MI 48216.