The Anchor School
Minutes
Academic Committee Meeting
Date and Time
Wednesday September 9, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Committee Members Present
K. James (remote), K. Sargeant (remote)
Committee Members Absent
None
Guests Present
Curtis Johnson (remote), J. Pinto Taylor (remote), Miles McCauley (remote)
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
K. Sargeant called a meeting of the Academic Achievement Committee of The Anchor School to order on Wednesday Sep 9, 2026 at 7:04 PM.
C.
Approve Minutes
K. Sargeant made a motion to approve the minutes from Academic Committee Meeting on 06-10-26.
K. James seconded the motion.
The committee VOTED to approve the motion.
K. Sargeant made a motion to approve the minutes from Academic Committee Meeting on 08-12-26.
K. James seconded the motion.
The committee VOTED to approve the motion.
D.
Welcome New Committee Members
II. Academic Achievement
A.
Academic Data Review
- At about 95% completion with MAP assessments.
- For the first time this Fall, we are exceeding the national norm in reading MAP results with 9th graders.
- 8th graders are just one point away from the national norm in reading.
- We have less data on the other grades but we may be on pace to grow faster than national norm over time.
- For math MAP results: there is still a gap but it has closed a bit. Our students seem to be growing typical and in line with national growth, but not exceeding the growth to fully close the gap yet. Some interventions in place are:
- 3 different math settings right now: geometry (10th grade class for advanced 9th graders), typical algebra 9th grade class, and 9th grade algebra class with a support class.
- We have many students also enrolled in our afterschool Math N' More tutoring as well.
- We are still waiting on GMAS ELA test scores (keep on agenda).
- Action Item: Dr. PT will update Academic Dashboard & we will review new Academic Dashboard updates at next board meeting.
B.
Annual Assessment Calendar
- We've completed MAP & Fit Georgia, & STAMP has started.
III. Academic Monitoring Updates
A.
Enrollment Dates
- Overview of enrollment & proposed dates/timeline:
- We oversee enrollment as a charter school; no one automatically enrolls (ex. marketing, year-round enrollment, etc.)
- On October 1st we will open the enrollment portal for next year
- On February 5th we close the enrollment portal temporarily to prepare for our lottery the following week. Once those from the lottery families accept their seats (or don't), we reopen the portal for the remaining spots.
- State enrollment report (prediction) due in May
- need to submit proof of enrollment, so it can't be more than what we have documented at that time
- Different processes for returning families compared to new families
- Item for Information: May also decide each year whether or not to add a "weight" to the lottery to prioritize certain families (ex. from the neighborhood, siblings, employee's children, etc.)
- Around 40% of our 9th graders started with us in 6th grade
- re-enrollment from 8th grade to 9th grade is about 70% (ex. 60 of the 88 students in 9th were with us last year)
- We have 306 students enrolled (54 in 6th, 73in 7th, 91 in 8th, 88 in 9th)
- lower than we thought it would be, but it's healthy & stable
- Average daily attendance is over 95% (over 95% is our goal)
B.
Enrollment policy discussion
- Item for Information for board meeting: Dr. PT (plus a possible partner school) put together a joint memo for a possible partnership/pipeline to be shown to our board and their board
- The possible partner is up for charter renewal the year before us, so they would be proposing this first and if it gets added to their charter, we can propose it to be added to our charter the following year
C.
Deadline for SCSC Monitoring Documentation
- Every month we have items due to the state. This month the conflict of interest policies are due, for example.
- Action Item: Dr. PT will collaborate with Board Chair to get 100% completion before next board meeting.
D.
Pre-Conference LKES
- Dr. PT has meeting scheduled with Board Chair and Treasurer.
IV. Academic Policy Items
A.
TAS Teacher Pathway Framework
- Action Item: Dr. PT is presenting a financial model to the Finance Committee for next week regarding the TAS Teacher Pathway framework.
B.
Strategic Plan
- RFP is live on our website (FAQs page) & Dr. PT shared it with 5 companies that expressed interest in the past.
- We will collect responses this month by October 16th, interviews will happen in November, and we will decide who to go with by December so that we can start in January.
V. Closing Items
A.
Succession Planning
- All new members attended committee meeting.
- Committee chair & secretary will chat about committee structure after meeting.
B.
Adjourn Meeting
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 7:59 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
K. Sargeant