Lucy Ferrante was not at the March 22 meeting and abstained.

Brianna Murphy and Gene Pettinelli were not at the March 31 strategic planning meeting and abstained.

Tom Azeredo, AMSA teacher, former Faculty Representative to the Board of Trustees, and parent of an AMSA graduate, shared his message of thanks to the Board and the Administration for all their hard work, time, and effort in resolving the problems that have existed for the past 4 to 5 years. He is grateful and is looking forward to next year now that attention will again be on our students and academic life. Rick Kamal in turn thanked Tom Azeredo for his part in helping the Board get to this point.

Faculty Rep Brianna Murphy reported that the Administration's presentation of the proposed vision for AMSA's campus was well received by the faculty. The plans maintain AMSA's history and tradition. There are many questions regarding the timeline and how this will impact staff and students.

Teachers who chaperoned the Japan and Italy trips (and all the other school trips) were recognized for their hard work, dedication, and willingness to provide students with such great travel experiences. These trips are not vacations for chaperones.

There has been added stress for teachers due to the amount of testing that occurs in the spring, along with the compressed time to cover material because of the number of snow days this winter. Teachers are also busy preparing to close out the year and making plans for next year. 

There are many upcoming year-end activities such as the drama production, Arts night, and other end-of-year events.

Teachers are looking forward to the last 1/2 day PD next Friday.

Parent Rep Jill Schafer reported that the parent presentation for the proposed campus was excellent. Dr. Lewis and Ms. Linzey explained the plans and vision for AMSA's campus and answered all their questions. Communication was great. 

The regular Family Forum meeting was held soon after the tragedy in Parkland, Florida, and concentrated on student safety. Parents were happy that the school was taking action and addressing concerns immediately. Students need to feel safe. 

Communication is better than it has been in a while and parents are appreciative.

Jill Schafer mentioned that the PTO is looking for volunteers. Parents can contact PTO Co-President Mary Litteer if interested in volunteering. PTO contact information can be found on the AMSA website on the PTO page under Community.

She encourages parents to view the presentation "AMSA Reimagined" and the Department presentations that are posted on the AMSA website.

She also wanted to acknowledge the international trips which generate very positive feedback from parents.

Dr. Lewis began his report with a thank you for all the chaperones who led the trips over the April break, one to Japan and one to Italy. Dr. Lewis mentioned all the chaperones by name and gave a quick list of the many sights and experiences enjoyed by both groups. The Italy trip is one of several foreign language trips in the works. Teachers are working on plans for a Spanish themed trip to Spain next year. He added that these trips offer opportunity for students to experience first-hand what they are learning about in their classrooms. The trips also offer PD experience for our teachers. The school is also planing a Cold War themed trip to Europe and a science trip to the Galapagos!

Dr. Lewis and Ms. Linzey met with faculty and staff on Monday to present "AMSA Reimagined" and on Tuesday, they presented the plans to parents. Dr. Lewis thanked the Board members who came to the meeting, Jill Schafer, Liz Saul, Ev Reynolds, Roger Jarrett, Chris O'Keefe, and Lucy Ferrante.

Dr. Lewis has started what he hopes will be a new tradition at AMSA, sending a message directly to students called "The State of the Union." Math teachers Tom Azeredo and Madhavi Marathe suggested it would be helpful to clearly and consistently communicate AMSA's mission to students. The first message had four parts:

• A note of thanks to our students for their hard work and smiles.
• A note of inspiration.
• A note of care.
• A request to students to seek out Dr. Lewis or Ms. Linzey if they have a question, a concern or an idea to share.

Dr. Lewis had three major updates to report. The 3 Bs - Buildings, Bargaining, and Byline.

Update #1 Buildings!
The school announced the purchase of the White Building at 165 Forest Street and the school's interest in purchasing 199 and 201. After extensive review and consideration of other buildings, it was determined that our existing buildings better met our needs due to the cost and amount of renovation that would be required elsewhere. This plan will allow AMSA to stay financially viable and invest in our teachers and facility. Dr. Lewis recognized one of AMSA's unsung heroes, Lisa O'Connor, who has been a hard working, "unfailing" member of the Facilities Task Force. Thank you Lisa!

Update #2 Bargaining!
Dr. Lewis was pleased to announce that on April 5 a tentative agreement was reached on all core terms with the members of our teachers collective bargaining team. Dr. Lewis hopes this will demonstrate a clear commitment to retaining our teachers and compensating them equitably. 

Update #3 Byline! (aka Core Values)
A great deal of effort and discussion has led to articulating a set of core values that define AMSA. Feedback from students, parents, teachers, administrators, and board members was used to arrive at three values representative of all groups, and verbs were added to show that these values have life.

• Model Integrity 
• Pursue Your Excellence
• Foster Community

A preamble was added to the values to indicate that the core values are collective and individual values. In addition, beneath each value, precise definitions were added to clearly articulate the meaning. "Integrity, excellence, and community will be our measuring rod, our shared purpose, our goals, and our plan of action."
 

Math Department Chair Luba Shmidt provided a look into the math department's teaching philosophy. "I think therefore I am." Ms. Shmidt opened her presentation with  "Math is a great tool for science and the arts, but it is a great tool for developing the mind. Calculus explains the world around us, the nature around us". See attached PowerPoint.

The math department is adjusting to new curriculum standards. AMSA never completely aligned with the Massachusetts standards because we follow our own sequence. However, we are even less in sync now. AMSA will need new textbooks in the near future. Ms. Shmidt made an appeal to the Board to seek financial connections for funding updated textbooks and technology.

Rick Kamal reported on the strategic planning process. Cheryl Lower has aided the school in defining a set of values that holds everything together. Ideally, once long-term goals are established, then short-term goals should follow.  See attached Strategic Planning Summary.

The three priority long-term goals:

Goal #1 Achieve financial independence by building a deep and enduring pipeline fueled by 30% non-tuition sources.
Goal #2: Achieve a level of excellence for 95% of the metrics measured. AMSA's values are the means to achieve this.
Goal #3: Set the standard for secondary education by transforming the way students learn, and become a national model for dissemination.

There was discussion about whether or not there was a need to reword the second goal. How is it possible to measure values?

Roger Jarrett agreed with having goals that correspond with the values, but did not agree with changing the goal. Dr. Lewis suggested that we should measure ourselves and hold ourselves accountable. Lucy Ferrante asked, "How do you measure integrity?' Dr. Lewis said trust is a metric you can measure. Ev Reynolds suggested having a metric with SAT scores to measure growth, collective and individual. It was agreed that the challenge is to be not so score focused. Scores are important, but how do you show a love of learning or gain?

Rick Kamal found it exciting that the AMSA community modeled all the core values while creating them.

It was agreed that the Board was ready to vote on the Core Values but that the strategic planning team should revise the wording on the long-term goals and bring to the next Board meeting for a vote.

Both the Family and Faculty/Staff surveys have been launched. Top-line results will be ready in May and discussion will be held in June after comments have been redacted of identifying information.

Roger Jarrett reviewed the Board SMART Goals. The section on Process Mechanics will require more discussion.

The Governance Committee will meet next on Tuesday, May 8th.

Liz Saul thanked Ms. Shmidt for her wonderful presentation and requested that it be sent out to parents! Mike Finkel said the presentation will be posted on the website.

Ms. Saul mentioned that a student joined their last committee meeting and the Committee found it extremely valuable to have a student perspective in the discussion. She suggested adding a student liaison to the Education Committee and will discuss further with administration. 

The Education Committee is still working on creating a dashboard to measure the school's academic success. 

A presentation of the budget will be postponed to next month in hopes of gaining clarity on tuition forecast and on facility costs. 

Chris O'Keeffe reported that two parents attending the Family Forum volunteered to join the Development Committee. Two outside guests will attend the next Development Committee meeting on May 23. An AMSA parent who works at Citizens Bank has set up an employee match program. An employee at Cisco is looking to extend the company gift match. 

Pauline Jen Ryan reminded Board members to donate to the Annual Campaign.

The Chair announced that the Board needs to assemble an Executive Director Evaluation Task Force.. Input in May and June and compile results in July. She indicated that she and Rick Kamal would would participate and that one more volunteer was needed.  Anyone interested should contact her.  

Officer Elections will be held at the Annual Meeting in June. The Governance Committee will make nominations so anyone interested in an Officer role should speak to the the relevant officer and to Governance Committee.

The Chair invited Anders Lewis, Ellen Linzey, Liana McLaren and Lisa O'Connor to attend the Executive Session.