Sankofa Montessori

Minutes

Academic Committee Meeting

Date and Time

Wednesday October 8, 2025 at 2:00 PM

Location

Meeting ID 601 495 1069

Through a culturally responsive, child and family-centered Montessori education, Sankofa Montessori ensures that all of our students develop the knowledge, skill, and agency to have a life of purpose.

Committee Members Present

A. Allen-Thames (remote), E. Moore (remote), S. Harvey (remote)

Committee Members Absent

None

Guests Present

M. Davis (remote)

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

A. Allen-Thames called a meeting of the Academic Excellence Committee of Sankofa Montessori to order on Wednesday Oct 8, 2025 at 2:03 PM.

C.

Approve Minutes

E. Moore made a motion to approve the minutes from Academic Committee Meeting on 09-10-25.
A. Allen-Thames seconded the motion.
The committee VOTED to approve the motion.

D.

Leadership Team Updates

1. Enrollment status- Current enrollment status and efforts for enrollment fundraising & School Attendance 

    Total students 131, Goal 158-161;  K-43/50,  1st&2nd-55/50, 3rd&4th-33/50; need to fill K, 3/4

    Attendance:  K: 94.1% 1st: 95.16% 2nd: 93.09% 3rd: 90.28% 4th: 92.36%

2. Personnel Updates- Updates on staffing and updates regarding professional development of staff. 9 Flight Captains 4 Co-Captains 1 Parttime CNA 1 Parttime Custodian 3 Support Staff 4 Flight Control.  New hire of Ms. Corionne as Science Lab Specialist.  Overall, increase in staff absences from prior month.

 

3. Updates on school suspensions/expulsions by grade 

     Five suspensions  for September (K-3, 1st-0, 2nd -2, 3rd-0, 4th-0); mostly secondary to physical      aggression.

 

4. Standardized Testing and Screening Data Updates- Any outstanding outcome data per grade from fall assessments if applicable. Updates/Preliminary Results if applicable (I.e. IXL and Lexia data; data on low performing 2nd-4th graders).   Pending review in Academic Task Force and will comment on at next Academic committee meeting in November. 

 

5. Discuss School-Parent (PTO)-any updates for upcoming SY25-26 

    Currently, PTO tasked with identifying community needs for students without access (devices)         for Lexia and IXL at home; researching resources for devices.  Committee requests leadership to     quickly identify needs for underperforming 2nd-4th graders as priority as well as entire school       body.

 

6. Commission Meeting Site Visit and any SCSC Follow Ups

    Will plan for an Academic Task Force meeting with board members and leadership team to 

    review and discuss pertinent academic data for school and status of SCSC site visit. 

E.

Special Education

Discussion of Special Education 

 

• Discuss student enrollment #/% of student population with suspected and/or identified special needs 

SPED: 20 K: 4; 1st: 7; 2nd: 1; 3rd: 3; 4th: 5 

ESOL:

504 plans: 4    

Multi-tiered systems of Support (MTSS): 20 (Tier 2: 17; Tier 3: 3) - all referred for SPED Academics: 10 Behavior: 5 Both: 5 Immediate Considerations of SPED: 2

• Any updates on staffing for Special Needs and progress of Special Ed classroom 

   None

• Any updates on classroom integration of special needs and updates on external supports for special needs (ie Speech, ABA, OT/PT) - pending

• Any updates on psycho-educational testing for students- plans/progress- N/A

F.

Gifted Student Services

Discussion of Gifted Services

 

Discuss student enrollment #/% of student population with suspected and/or identified for gifted services -  Gifted 8

 

Discuss plans for data tracking/allocating #/% of students for appropriate funding per student for special services or gifted services- N/A

G.

SY 25-26 Goals

Any updates or changes to the short term and long term goals for next school year

Reviewed the the following goals for new board member:  Academic Goals (MAP NWEA, IXL, Lexia, and DIBELS), Student and Staff Culture Goals, Family & Operations Goals 

 

Any outstanding items or updates on grants/funding/external partnerships for next school year

Discussed QSR evaluation as free service as part of a grant- involved a review of 100 documents, 14 classroom observations, and 8 focus groups of students, staff, leads, families; in person assessment on classroom climate, purposeful teaching, and in-classroom feedback; School overall rated mostly as "Partially effective" out of 4 options (Mostly effective 1/10, Effective 1/10, Partially effective 9/10, and Ineffective 4/10). School will continue to utilize data from this QSR assessment for improvements with one identifiable immediate goal to improve transition time between classroom blocks for students to optimize learning and minimize distractions.  

II. Public Comments/Questions

A.

Public Comment

Speakers please limit questions/comments to 2 minute.-  No public participation at this meeting. 

 

 

III. 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 3:09 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
A. Allen-Thames