American Dream Charter School

Minutes

ADCS Board of Trustees Monthly Meeting

SY24-25

Date and Time

Monday February 17, 2025 at 5:30 PM

Location

403 Concord Avenue
Bronx, NY 10454

Trustees Present

A. Cabrera (remote), L. Rojas (remote), P. Simon (remote), R. Espinal (remote)

Trustees Absent

Z. Martinez

Guests Present

M. Melkonian (remote), N. Gallagher (remote), S. Espinal (remote)

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

L. Rojas called a meeting of the board of trustees of American Dream Charter School to order on Monday Feb 17, 2025 at 5:37 PM.

C.

Approve Minutes

L. Rojas made a motion to approve the minutes from ADCS Board of Trustees Monthly Meeting on 01-13-25.
P. Simon seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

II. Educational Success

A.

Benchmark 1: Student Performance

  • We are struggling with the regents data. We are having leadership zoom in and focus on test prep. -MM
    • We will update on next steps and a corrective action plan.
  • What are the subjects with the lower scores? -LMR
    • Math and Science are the subjects whose scores are on the lower end. Teachers need more support. -MM

B.

Benchmark 2: Teaching and Learning

  • The teaching candidates are not as strong as in past years. We want to start the recruitment process sooner for next school year. -MM
  • We are feeling the teaching shortage across the board. -LMR

C.

BENCHMARK 3: Culture, Climate, and Student and Family Engagement

III. Organizational Soundness

A.

BENCHMARK 4: Financial Condition

  • Account balances
    • Account balances given by NG.

 

 

B.

BENCHMARK 5: Financial Management

  • New Chase bank account update:
    • We ran the first payroll from our new Chase account and everything went well.
    • Financial reports from Financial Solutions NY given by NG.

C.

BENCHMARK 6: Board Oversight and Governance:

  • Term Renewal for Board Member Angelo Cabrera.
    • AC has agreed to one more year term as an American Dream School Board Member. 
L. Rojas made a motion to To approve Angelo Cabrera's 1-year term for the board.
P. Simon seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

D.

BENCHMARK 7: Organizational Capacity

IV. Faithfulness to Charter & Law

A.

BENCHMARK 8: Mission and Key Design Elements

B.

BENCHMARK 9: Enrollment, Recruitment, and Retention

Projected Enrollment update for SY24-25

◦ 6th grade - 88

◦ 7th grade - 87

◦ 8th grade - 87

◦ 9th grade - 96

◦ 10th grade - 97

◦ 11th grade - 80

◦ 12th grade - 65

◦ total projected enrollment: 600 students

C.

BENCHMARK 10: Legal Compliance

V. Other Business

A.

Conversation with NYC DOE to possibly get more space for MS

  • Conversation with NYC DOE to possibly get more space for MS
    • We will most likely get two more classrooms at the MS. We are still discussing with Dr. Green. 

VI. Closing Items

A.

Adjourn Meeting

There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 6:03 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
L. Rojas