Every board member of a state charter school's governing board must participate in annual training:

SCSC published the training schedule for 2026:

• November 5-6, 2025: Middle Georgia State University, Macon, GA
• February 10-11, 2026: Loudermilk Conference Center, Atlanta, GA

Please mark your calendars and plan on attending.

New board member interest meeting will be conducted on Saturday, September 27, 2025 at 1pm

The Governance Board will finalize the agenda and presentation.  Veronica has provided an outline and the committee will review at the next committee meeting.

We were contacted by Prestige regarding the outstanding balance.  We reviewed aging report and committed to make two of the outstanding payments.

Patrice confirmed one of the payments were made.  We will make one additional payment and will reach out to Prestige and outline specifically which payments will be paid so they will understand the specific plan put in place to ensure payments.

DE46 Submission in progress to meet deadline

Reviewed Give Get policy - the current balance is $1,000 per year per board member.  

Critical Financial Metrics Reviewed: Actual vs Benchmark

Cash on hand, rolling 12-month average is 29 vs. the benchmark of 60

Salaries and Benefits as % of Total Revenue 12-month average is 58% vs. benchmark 58-62%

Salareies and Benefits as $ of Total Revenue Budgeted average is 56.2% vs benchmark 58-62%

Debt Service Coverage Ratio is Not applicable

Net Income $27,984.95 vs. Budgeted $70,989.33 (Prestige needs to update numbers)

Undocumented Transactions 14/$13,295.29 vs. the benchmark <10 / <$2,500

Most metrics are in alignment we need to work on the cash on hand and undocumented transactions to better align with the recommended benchmarks.

Enrollment is down.  40 students less that was projected. The Executive Director is working on getting more students enrolled.

Balance Sheet Reviewed

Profit and Loss vs. Budget Reviewed

There were no items out of the ordinary for the July Financials

There was discussion regarding how much was allotted for Marketing $11K

Cox Media Group had proposed running TV ads on Hulu, doing a video for free with content

Maintain website for $250 hour

Script for TV spot 

They have alot of partnerships 

Our current vendor is $500 per month to manage website which is less that the $250 per hour

In addition, the majority of our leads come for social media or word of mouth

We currently have $6K left in budget for marketing and need to determine what is the best way to maximize our marketing dollars.

We need to review several proposals prior to making a decision to determine how to maximize the return on our investment.  Patrice will continue conversations with Cox Media.

There was a discussion regarding the CRM software that is used so we can ensure that our list of 2,000 partners and key stakeholders are informed regarding all of the good work that Atlanta Smart Academy is doing.  We can leverage a newsletter, emails, social media and other ways to keep in contact with our key stakeholders.

We can take information from Zeffy and ensure the information is incorporated into MailChimp so we can put together an outreach campaign.  Wanda has volunteered to assist with the campaign.

Theme: Full STEAM Ahead

Back to School Jam:

Featured in Georgia Charter School Association Newsltter

MAGIC Radio Station attended

Partnered with Chick fil-a and Asurion Transportation

We provided backpacks and supplies for students

Presentation made to families to inform and provide a school overview, etc.

Launched Agriculture Club - Garden and Chicken Coup - Long term visions are to have a farmers' market for the school and community.  The club will also teach about sustainability and money management.

Teacher & Staff Appreciation 

Board donations made to enhance the space and provided funds for donations of food and other supplies.  There is $100 left to put towards additional donations and Veronica will provide via Cash App .

ELA Milestones

We met state proficiency

5th grades meet all improvement targets ad grew from, 19% proficient to 43%

Higher proficiency than the local district (APS)

7th grade outperformed state & APS

Area of focus 6th grade ELA

Reading Proficiency

5th grade proficiency than APS and the state of GA

7th & 8th grade higher proficiency than APS

Math Milestones

5th grade highest grown in grade level proficiency

Below district and state

Action Plan - additional math support classes

Algebra (8th grade & high school) 1st year

Students take both EOG & 9th grade HS EOG

Saw no proficiency and adding new curriculum resource

8th grade took HS Physical Science and not 8th grade science assessment

The school utilizes the Genius Curriculum and Science Bootcamp

Social Studies (8th grade only) - 74% proficiency slightly above APS

Student growth (3 reporting categories)

Student growth level provide context for Student Growth Percentile (SGPs).  Growth levels classify into the following three categories:

• Low Growth: SGPs ranging from 1-34
• Typical Growth: SGPs ranging from 34-65
• High Growth: SGPs ranging from 66-99

A student growth percentile (SGP) descries a student's growth compared to other students with similar prior test scores (their academic peers).  This information feeds into the CCPRI scores.

Middle School making gains: 47% of 8th graders demonstrated high growth in Math, 43% demonstrated high growth in reading

5th graders making gains: 52% demonstrated high growth in reading, 79% are reading on grade level

Review nearly half students that perform in high growth SCPs. These scores help with more effective teaching

Action Plan:

• Updated School Improvement Plan (SIP) to include on content areas
• Reading and math support classes
• New SS and science curriculum
• Support program for new teachers
• i-Ready testing this month

5th grade -12

6th grade - 47

7th grade - 47

8th grade - 63

Total 169

2 pending applications

25% deficit

There have been several feeder schools that have gone K-5 and K-8 which as impacted the 5th grade enrollment.

Action Items

• Continued Marketing
• Billboard
• Social Media
• Mailers in high target zip codes
• Radio Interviews (Black PR Radio)
• GCSA Marketing team - school events)
• Budget amendment by September to finance committee

Fundraising Campaign Zeffy

Think creatively - Birthday fundraisers

Sponsorships - Athletics, transportation, food (month staff PD)

Appling for grants (sent to Finance team)

• Patrice has a grant tracker for people to assist and add for any grants

The board decided to launch the Double Good Popcorn campaign on 9/15-9/18

Virtual Campaign for 4 days

Each board member needs to download the Double Good app

Wanda Newman-Johnson will set up the campaign

50% of the proceeds will come to the Atlanta Smart Academy

The goal is for each board member to sell a minimum of $714 or more

The total goal is to raise $5,000 as a replacement for the Gala funds