Amneris Narvaez, Senior Director of Central and Western MA programs for Generation Teach, attended the meeting as an observer at the invitation of the school. She introduced herself, sharing that the organization runs summer teaching fellowships, for which she recruits teachers and supports them on-site during their fellowships.

• Bill discussed the ED memo and shared that overall things are going well at the school from both a program and health and safety perspective. He discussed the Black History Month events and the upcoming DESE Site Visit.
• The Board asked how recent current events in Europe have impacted the school. Bill shared that the school sent out age-appropriate resources and guidance and that some classes, predominantly in the Middle School, are addressing it directly as appropriate.

• Bill discussed the COVID update memo and said that the school’s COVID cases have reflected the greater community and national trends of a sharp decline. He shared some minor planned updates to COVID protocols at the school for lunch, recess, and classroom protocols.
• Bill discussed the proposed vote to continue to require masks through the end of March, in line with Springfield Public Schools' decision and based on public health data. 
• The board asked what families and staff thought about this. Bill shared that from the PAC meeting and informal staff discussions, there was no major opposition to continuing the mask requirement through March.

Meghan reviewed the update memo for the Employee Guidelines. She noted that staff members were already aware of all policies or procedures proposed here.

• Nancy and Bill discussed the upcoming Charter School Advocacy Week activities and how the Board can be involved. They discussed the impact of the Facilities Per Pupil increase which is one of the focuses of Advocacy Week.

• Bill and Nancy reviewed the Academic Dashboard. They highlighted:
  • The attendance rate is improving but was a significant challenge earlier this year.
  • Applications for the upcoming lottery exceeded our goal and prior year application numbers. The Board discussed the lower application rates in upper grades, though the school does not expect significant challenges in filling those seats throughout the year.
  • Exclusionary discipline continues to be rare.
  • On all assessments, there has been growth since the beginning of the year. On reading assessments, Kindergarten has been less impacted than other grades, and second and third grades have students on a wider range of reading levels which poses some challenges, but there is still significant growth since the initial baseline and the possibility to achieve the internal goals by the end of the year. Math performance was lower than hoped but still showed progress and some grades meeting current goals.(Alex joined at 7:05 PM)
  • There are updates to the accountability requirements from US DOE so there will be an accountability score and MCAS will occur this year. 

The next scheduled board meeting is on Wednesday, 3/30/22 at 5:45 PM.