Advanced Math & Science Academy Charter School
Minutes
Education Committee Meeting
Date and Time
Monday April 7, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Education Committee will be meeting virtually
Committee Members Present
Dwayne Stanley (remote), Gregory Theos (remote), Kristin Laird (remote), Maura Webster (remote), Mike Nawrocki (remote), Stephan Richter (remote)
Committee Members Absent
Evan Przyborowski
Guests Present
Anisha Peri (remote), Anton Richter (remote), Cathy Schoenleber (remote)
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
Stephan Richter called a meeting of the Education Committee of Advanced Math & Science Academy Charter School to order on Monday Apr 7, 2025 at 6:03 PM.
C.
Approve Minutes February
Gregory Theos made a motion to approve the minutes from Education Committee Meeting on 02-24-25.
Mike Nawrocki seconded the motion.
The committee VOTED to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Kristin Laird |
Aye
|
| Stephan Richter |
Aye
|
| Gregory Theos |
Aye
|
| Evan Przyborowski |
Absent
|
| Maura Webster |
Abstain
|
| Dwayne Stanley |
Abstain
|
| Mike Nawrocki |
Aye
|
D.
Approve Minutes March
Mike Nawrocki made a motion to approve the minutes from Education Committee Meeting on 03-17-25.
Dwayne Stanley seconded the motion.
The committee VOTED to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Evan Przyborowski |
Absent
|
| Gregory Theos |
Aye
|
| Stephan Richter |
Aye
|
| Mike Nawrocki |
Aye
|
| Kristin Laird |
Absent
|
| Dwayne Stanley |
Aye
|
| Maura Webster |
Absent
|
II. Rigor
A.
Courses Unique to AMSA
- Greg recapped the presentation on comparing AMSA's curriculum to the sending districts (High-school only)
- Focused on AP and Advanced classes
- Reviewed graduation requirements - Similar to sending districts
- AMSA is second place as far as AP classes offered; second to Marlborough
- Takeaways:
- AMSA offers slightly more AP classes
- AP classes offered are fairly normal
- There are some caveats to AP classes offered: Example CS courses range from Data Science to Cyber security
- AMSA offers an above-average number of APs both in absolute terms and for a school of its size, when compared to sending towns
- Can we give students who want to demonstrate excellence & engagement with advance content in non-STEM or non-exclusively-STEM path
- Future Work:
- How does this data look for middle school?
- How does this data look when analyzed over the course of a student's time at AMSA?
- Greg will post the slideshow for any additional questions or discussions
- Do we know when other schools allow kids to take AP classes; Yes - it is in the data Greg has
- A school reached out to AMSA out of Springfield MA noting the data AMSA posted for their AP classes (Fast facts Page)
- A few of the teachers drove from Springfield to meet Mike and a few teachers to view AMSA's schedule and use it as a model for their school.
- Mike is open to Marty Richardson, Briana Murphey to open up an arts/literature night
- Greg to follow-up with Mike after speaking to teachers
- Data dashboard for the Board of Trustees should include AP data
- Education Committee should give Mike some feedback
- Need to educate Colleges and Universities that Advanced classes are higher than AP classes
- Looking into the weighting of AP classes for GPA purposes
- Mike trying to form a group of no more than 5 teachers to look into the GPA policy
- Can bring back to the committee for a scale review
III. Closing Items
A.
Agenda topics for the next Education Committee Meeting
- Review the Family Survey at next meeting
- Review Staff Survey at June meeting
- Think about what we want to do with the committee next year
B.
Adjourn Meeting
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 6:42 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Gregory Theos