Roundtable and Introductions

Big Rock: Getting Special Ed Dept in compliance and on track

As of 8/16/24 we have 136 students that receive special services

Math/Science significantly under performed

• We are growing in the right direction but still not to our standards

Kids are coming to us really low but growing significantly if we keep them

Critical Student Intervention Data

• Critical student is any student that receives special services
• This data does not include students that were not receiving special services but should be

Reviewed Cycle 0 Priorities

Reviewed Team Summary: Operations, Data, Tech & Recruitment

All Metrics are Off Track

OPS Team completed 66% of tasks completed

BOY Task Completion OCS

• Insufficient task clarity, failure to incentive the newly measured BOY task list, lack of sufficient integration in Operating Mechanisms

Enrollment OCS:

• 404 Students showed up FWOS

Causes:

• Previous years never had a large % of families fully registered
• Not aligned with SLPS Academic Calendar FDOS caused a delay in start of some students

Reviewed Plan for Recruitment Intensive the week of 8/19 - 8/23

• Network Academic Staff will focus on returning students

Administration Office KPI's

24-25 Staff Vacancies Updates:

Network 100% filled

OPS 100% filled

HS - 97% (Next Prep Position Open)

MS - 90% (6/7th grade math, Co Teacher Open)

Overall ORG - 97%, our goal is 95%

Reviewed 23-24 June Financials

Total Revenue over projection

62% below projected State Revenue 

• State increased school payment per child

Below Projections:

• Benefits and Taxes
• Staff Related costs
• Rent
• Occupancy Service
• Office and Business Expense (Network Rent, Our office)

Transportation is a concern - at minimum we can lease 3-4 buses, this could increase our enrollment

• Discussed Budget Revision Process
  • We will review Enrollment in the next Board Meeting

1. First 5 days of school communication updates
2. Convocation review and takeaways
3. 23-24 Final data closeout

Comms Outcomes:

• 407+ students attended FWOS
  • Below our target of 650 students enrolled
• 0 Students withdrew
• 20+ new students enrolled

Parents have one pages delivered through multiple channels to give clear guidance on whom to communicate with

Jack Reviewed the different communication types leading up to the first day of school

• Robo call is a new feature test

Solutions:

Continue to blast open seat availability through next two weeks (Social media, paid advertising, etc.)

Reviewed suggestion for next school year 

“1 Band, 1 Sound”

No matter what happens if we stay aligned, progress will happen

Goals for Today:

• Learn about where we are (Data & Org Values)
• Discuss where we are going
• Build deeper relationships with board
• Have fun while we learn

The Kairos North Star:

Vision & Mission + Our Core Values + Graduate Aims

Is the meeting of our Mission, Mission, Core Values and Grade Aims to service our team & family toward a legacy of success

Kairos Leadership 101:

How we make a difference towards our success

As leaders we drive the culture, culture drives behavior, behavior produces results

Khalil has been working with his leadership to build Thinks & Acts

When you’re breaking down things to people are you able to articulate what the thing is

Between how you think and how you act it affects our academics, culture and systems

Our Why is Powerful:

What’s your purpose, cause and belief and why should anyone care?

People don’t buy what you do, people buy Why you do it

How we Win:

The behaviors that lead to success

Your culture energies and shapes the behavior of your people, the way you lead creates the culture

Culture eats strategy for lunch

Culture is what leads when no one is watching

Having a strong culture is like hiring great leaders that you don’t have to pay for

Leaders 1st, People 2nd, Organization 3rd

When the people change, the numbers change because behavior drives results

Bottom Line - Without a clear and compelling why, we lose momentum to take our team and family on the journey to our North Star

23-24 Review:

Wins from 23-24

5 Year Charter Renewal

Purchase of Permanent Facility Land

Learnings with Budget and HR

College and Career Readiness in HS

24-25

Manager Development

School Culture.& Climate

Gradient Learning

We don't have a Development Committee, we're not fundraising.  This is a challenge we are aware of and need to get to

Financial Policies and Procedures:

The board ranked Level 1, the CEO ranked Level 3

• We might have good oversight in how we do our budgeting but we do not have a Treasurer on the Board
• Board to set goal to fill the Treasurer role

Board Recruitment:

• Recruiting across the Board is Challenging, there is no Educational board in the St. Louis Region that is completely full
• We need to establish a plan to get outside of our specific networks
• We need a better plan for recruiting
• Get outside of our City network and leverage the County
• Exercise: Identify who knows who on the Board
• Create Opportunities to build in the County of St. Louis
• Tap into the Retiree Capital, they may have more time to commit to the Board
• Reach out to the Gala list for people that might be interested or know of others that would be a good fit for the Board
• Reach out to different orgs that have Community Engagement Communities that want to help with Communities and Schools with curriculum
  • Create a Volunteer Recognition Category to highlight at the Gala "Friends of Kairos" Category
• Have Kairos Staff share where they see a gap or miss in opportunity
• Create a Communication Plan for Board Members to share on Social Media Platforms
• Maintain consistent communication, engage with parents and students.  At some point it becomes the students decision

Is there a need to lean into Special Education?  There could be an opportunity for us to differentiate ourselves

Questions to help us decide how to move to our North Star:

• Facility - we are locked into current Facility until 2028
• Funding
• Grades Served - Do we know what a good Elementary model is that supports what we do? Do we have a leader to open those grades? 
• School Structure -   
  • Big > Systems + Strategy (Economy of Scale)
  • Small > Cost Efficient but harder to work with priority groups

The demographics are not great for the city right now

The demographic challenge will be there, but what do we do well as a school? What is our 30 sec pitch?

Does City Hall still host Charter School Fairs? - where families can come in to see what their options are for Charter Schools

What sets us apart from our competition (strengths):

• High school program is a good program - we have quality teachers in the high schools
• We have good systems in place
• Currently with our staffing we have more expertise (quality)

K-12 the biggest challenge for us is Facilities

High fix cost, low variable cost for a HS Commitment 

How do we scale up enough to be good enough?

Open up a new school would take roughly 18-24 months