The Anchor School
Minutes
Board of Directors Meeting
Date and Time
Wednesday September 13, 2023 at 7:00 PM
Location
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81754720093
Topic: TAS - Board Meeting
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81754720093
Meeting ID: 817 5472 0093
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Meeting ID: 817 5472 0093
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kzbNFmGmJ
Directors Present
D. Gregory (remote), D. Grissom (remote), E. Desprez Isbell (remote), J. Anfield-El (remote), J. Burton (remote), J. Whittington (remote), L. Stephens (remote), N. LeBlanc (remote), T. Ramsey (remote), V. Thompson (remote)
Directors Absent
None
Ex Officio Members Present
J. Pinto Taylor (remote)
Non Voting Members Present
J. Pinto Taylor (remote)
Guests Present
Ben Crowe (remote)
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
C.
Approve Minutes
II. Approve agenda
A.
Motion to amend agenda and add two items
B.
Public Comment
III. School Opening Updates
A.
Enrollment Updates
Dr. Pinto-Taylor shared that we're on track for enrollment. The goal is to have 80-100 scholars enrolled. He shared that the management team is providing resources as needed, and scholars are fitting in well.
Dr. Gregory encouraged board to review the school's Google reviews and see what the pubic is saying.
IV. Finance
A.
CFO Financial Reports
Ben Crowe shared financial reports with the board. August financials aren’t finalized because the board meeting was moved up. We're "in the green" for all indicators.
Dr. Gregory wants to focus on donation budgeting during the board retreat. We need to discuss how to get to $25K of personal donation this year at the retreat.
Dr. Pinto-Taylor shared an operational update: We're now using Infinite Campus software and can accept payments from families through its portal. We also have a donations page on our school website that uses PayPal.
V. Governance
A.
Board Retreat Planning
The board retreat is scheduled for Sunday, September 24th from 10am-2pm at the school.
The board has documents to review and understand beforehand, and will have to vote on some items at the retreat. The ultimate goal of the retreat is to align on certain topics that we'll need to vote on.
(Amendment to agenda)
Dr. Gregory introduced the Herman Solutions Whole Brain(R) Model. a helpful tool to understand how we show up in the world. This is an assessment that we’d complete online in about 15 minutes.
The facilitator is willing to offer free facilitation (normally $135/per person). The total cost would be $1,350, taken from our $3,0000 retreat budget. Facilitation would happen in a special, one-hour session separate from the retreat.
Motion was passed. Dr. Gregory plans to follow up at the board retreat.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| J. Burton |
Aye
|
| N. LeBlanc |
Aye
|
| V. Thompson |
Aye
|
| E. Desprez Isbell |
No
|
| J. Anfield-El |
Aye
|
| J. Whittington |
Aye
|
| T. Ramsey |
No
|
| D. Gregory |
Aye
|
| D. Grissom |
Aye
|
| L. Stephens |
Aye
|
B.
Compliance Review
Skipped topic.
C.
Public Comment
N/A
VI. Facility Updates
A.
Request for Facility Ad Hoc Committee
Dr. Pinto-Taylor requested 2-3 board members to join an adhoc facility committee for Phase 2 development plans of the school. Phase 2 is focused on building out the rest of the school's interior. This will be informal, so doesn't need to be held to bylaws. The committee would meet either monthly or bi-weekly depending on the work to be done.
Nicole, Laura, Joseph, and Jasmine committed to joining. Laura committed to weekly cadence. Emily asked to be listed as a backup.
VII. Academic Updates
A.
Diagnostic Assessment Report
Dr. Pinto-Taylor shared that we're almost complete with all of our fall diagnostic assessments.
We've now created personalized learning experiences for scholars. Lunchtime is divided into 30 minutes of eating and 30 minutes of personalized learning sessions.
Nicole asked how the school will capture student feedback for the personalized learning model. Dr. Pinto-Taylor answered that scholars will be asked at end of each quarter which personalized learning works best for them.
B.
Handbook & Policy Updates
Dr. Pinto-Taylor would like the board to vote to approve adding policy language for sexual harassment and physical assault or batter of other students in the Family Handbook.
Taylor asked if we have a policy to limit parents posting media of other scholars (ie. not their own children). Dr. Pinto-Taylor agrees to look into this.
Emily asked if there's currently a media release. Dr. Pinto-Taylor answered yes, and he's going to hosting another round of requests to get something in writing from every family.
VIII. Community Engagement
A.
Community Events & Activities.
Upcoming events
Jasmine shared that Press Day is coming up on Tuesday, September 19th from 9-11am. Board members are welcome to join.
Founder’s Day is on Monday, September 18th from 8:30-9:15am. Derrick will be the keynote speaker. and will speak to the Anchor School community on scholars reaching their full potential.
Dr. Gregory plans to send out invites to our former board members.
Fellowship updates
- The New School Venture Fund (Community of Practice) is convening in October or November.
- HighTech High is having a Year 2 series of content (professional development) workshops in December.
- The Charter School Growth Fund is convening in October.
Dr. Pinto-Taylor said that he'll reach out to program coordinators about content to see who is best to include at these events.
Dr. Gregory wants to add these events to the board retreat agenda, to share out key insights and learnings.
Jasmine wanted to gauge the school's partnership with Georgia Tech. Dr. Pinto-Taylor said it's going well.
IX. Closing Items
A.
Summary of Commitments
- Ben Crowe will send out August financials.
- Announce that donations are now available on the school's website.
- Schedule breakfast for the retreat (needs an owner).
- Dr. Pinto-Taylor will follow up with the new facility committee.
- Jasmine will share brief summary of engagement for New School Venture Fund.
- Dr. Gregory will invite former board members to Founder's Day.
- Dr. Pinto-Taylor will investigate the schools policy around media sharing of scholars.
- Dr. Gregory will follow up about facilitation for the Herman Solutions Whole Brain(R) Model.
No members from the public were present at this meeting.