Kendra Randle introduced herself as the Elementary Principal Fellow for Emma Donnan. She is an Indianapolis native who has worked previously in Pike and Lawrence Township. She is motivated by the legacy of her father's career in Indianapolis.

Anna Smith introduced herself as the new Board Member. Originally from St. Louis, she has taught in South Carolina and Indianapolis, joining the Teach for America Indianapolis team. She is excited to join our board and support Emma Donnan.

No update at this time.

No update at this time.

No update for August financials as CIES is focused on closing out financial books for July.

The Governance Committee will meet in Executive Session at the end of the conclusion of this meeting to go over Rangel's Executive Director Evaluation.

Board self-evaluations will also be completed and submitted to OEI. Kainrath will send out a reminder and ask that the board will complete it by the end of next week.

School goals will be submitted to OEI (after a month of seeing where students are currently performing) within the first month of school.

Enrollment Process
Goal: 364 scholars
Total Enrolled as of 8/19: 406 scholars

Increased enrollment is a strong attribute of the school and has led to some additional shifts. 2nd grade is over-enrolled by 15 students, resulting in a split from 1 classroom to 2 classrooms. 7th grade is also over-enrolled by 30, but has not changed the current model.

These numbers include 18 current no-shows (students who have enrolled but not have been physically present in the building and have not had successful communication with a parent). A child remains a no-show until the family has either submitted withdrawal paperwork, they have transferred to another school in Indiana, or we receive a records request from another school out of state.

The primary reason for the higher middle school enrollment compared to the elementary is due to transportation zones established in agreements between IPS and the former operator. The middle school boundary expanding much of the center part of the city with the elementary boundary being significantly smaller.

ILEARN 2020-2021 Update
The total 3rd-8th pass rate was 16.43% in ELA (compared with 25.43% in 18-19 school year) and 6.12% in Math (compared with 23.48% in 18-19 school year). 

The state saw significant drops in proficiency scores for schools in both ELA and Math. However, this trend was even more drastic with math.

Reading scores were in the 80th percentile for similarly situated schools in Center Township in ELA and in the 50th percentile for Math. "Similarly-situated" schools mean that at least 80% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch and are either public charter or traditional public schools.

Branson-Hutchison asked how parents are aware of this data. Rooney discussed ways the school intends to grow in supporting parents to better understand their child's academic progress this year. Randle added the I-READ-3 support this summer, as well as the use of data to support parents during regular update calls from school, as well as in conversations where scholars are struggling.

NWEA MAP
Students will take a computer-based assessment called NWEA MAP at the beginning, middle, and end of the year. It is normed throughout the country and computer adaptive (meaning if a student gets an answer correct, they get a more challenging question). Most importantly, a child's NWEA score aligns to skill practice with digital intervention tools. 

Comparing grade level groups shows that Emma Donnan grade levels are, on average, 10 points below the national norm in both ELA and Math.

Covid
This week, 4 scholars have tested positive with Covid-19. There is a noticeable increase in both symptoms and positivity rates amongst our students, but has not yet adversely affected staffing. Rapid tests are administered in the school this year as well. Teacher coverage hasn't been a significant issue so far.

Month-by-Month Reporting Requirements
OEI requires monthly reports submitted by the Executive Director/Board Chair. For September 1st, board members must sign:

• incident communication assurance forms
• IODL guideline assurance forms, and
• submit evidence of annual board/school goals.

Site Visit
OEI requires schools in Year 2 to contract with a 3rd party to be evaluated through a site visit. The School has confirmed a 3rd party vendor to conduct the site visit in November 2021. A portion of the site visit will include interviews with board members (as well as teachers, parents, leaders, etc).

No update at this time. The updating process to the Board Policy Book will take place beginning in September.

The workshop handbook is currently available on Board on Track. All associated materials for the handbook are available there as well for board members to complete.