BELIEVE SCHOOLS, INC
Minutes
Board Meeting
Date and Time
Wednesday October 20, 2021 at 5:00 PM
Directors Present
A. Bennin (remote), C. Crawley (remote), C. Glier (remote), D. Bouie (remote), H. Harshman, J. Fulk (remote), L. Turner (remote), T. Hughes (remote)
Directors Absent
M. Canada, M. Whitmire
Guests Present
K. Neal-Brannum, T. Vonderheit
I. Opening Items
A.
Call the Meeting to Order
C. Glier called a meeting of the board of directors of BELIEVE SCHOOLS, INC to order on Wednesday Oct 20, 2021 at 5:04 PM.
B.
Welcome and Attendance
C.
Approve Minutes
Motion to approve the minutes from September Board Meeting on 09-15-21.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
II. Executive Director Report
A.
School Updates
KNB shared that things have been calm around the building for the past two weeks. Transitional periods are over and things are running smoothly.
Calendar Conflicts vs attendance: Attendance was down because siblings/fall breaks across the city. One family did complain about this. KNB validated our WHY for the calendar. We will take this feedback into account as we map next year's calendar.
Need to problem solve around attendance on e-learning days.
Enrollment has taken a few hits here and there due to some cyber bullying issues. A few kids transferred due to this to another school.
Few students transferring at semester from GEO.
ESL/ELL: Need to explore contracting with someone outside of the school due to licensing issues.
SPED: Small SPED population. Great feedback from SPED review/audit.
Academic Update: Quarter 1 ended really strong. 9th grade boys villages are soaring and doing well. Besel 10th grade village is now above 3.0. Overall, big improvements with boys across the board! Percentage of boys in dual enrollment is small.
Grades sealed for the first 8 weeks from Ivy Tech. We'll have more data around this next semester. First 5 students started class at Ivy Tech.
Interim Assessments:
Noble interim was optional -- some campuses are taking them next week.
More comparison data to come next month. This year's 9th grade cohort scored one percentage higher than last year.
Our brand is starting to be known in the city -- expanded into private schools.
Teachers had to stand and deliver their results whole group -- what standards they taught and what they didn't teach and the adjustments they are going to make.
All teachers had to submit a data tracker with standards they are going to track this quarter.
Parents received PSAT and Interim data with report cards.
Working with a new curriculum called Reconstruction -- by black people for black people that focuses on culture. We want to use it as a supplement to our curriculum
Testing and Data Security has been a big focus.
Open House this weekend. Starting enrollment much earlier than last year.
BlueHub new partnership assisting with building purchase -- relational lender out of Boston. Lots of data submissions. Building a strong, long term partnership.
Staffing
S. Tillman: Paraprofessional/Ops Coordinator/Basketball Coach
P. Green: SPED License/joining full time/finishing year at BD and will move full time here next year
IHSAA: Need connections with the organization -- Purdue hasn't gotten in yet. Getting ready to start the process now.
Funding coming around for Codification of Programs -- college to career readiness -- figuring out how to turn key this nationally.
Yellow bus #2 may be coming soon. Our busses are getting ready to be filled. One bus runs west
KNB shared that things have been calm around the building for the past two weeks. Transitional periods are over and things are running smoothly.
Calendar Conflicts vs attendance: Attendance was down because siblings/fall breaks across the city. One family did complain about this. KNB validated our WHY for the calendar. We will take this feedback into account as we map next year's calendar.
Need to problem solve around attendance on e-learning days.
Enrollment has taken a few hits here and there due to some cyber bullying issues. A few kids transferred due to this to another school.
Few students transferring at semester from GEO.
ESL/ELL: Need to explore contracting with someone outside of the school due to licensing issues.
SPED: Small SPED population. Great feedback from SPED review/audit.
Academic Update: Quarter 1 ended really strong. 9th grade boys villages are soaring and doing well. Besel 10th grade village is now above 3.0. Overall, big improvements with boys across the board! Percentage of boys in dual enrollment is small.
Grades sealed for the first 8 weeks from Ivy Tech. We'll have more data around this next semester. First 5 students started class at Ivy Tech.
Interim Assessments:
Noble interim was optional -- some campuses are taking them next week.
More comparison data to come next month. This year's 9th grade cohort scored one percentage higher than last year.
Our brand is starting to be known in the city -- expanded into private schools.
Teachers had to stand and deliver their results whole group -- what standards they taught and what they didn't teach and the adjustments they are going to make.
All teachers had to submit a data tracker with standards they are going to track this quarter.
Parents received PSAT and Interim data with report cards.
Working with a new curriculum called Reconstruction -- by black people for black people that focuses on culture. We want to use it as a supplement to our curriculum
Testing and Data Security has been a big focus.
Open House this weekend. Starting enrollment much earlier than last year.
BlueHub new partnership assisting with building purchase -- relational lender out of Boston. Lots of data submissions. Building a strong, long term partnership.
Staffing
S. Tillman: Paraprofessional/Ops Coordinator/Basketball Coach
P. Green: SPED License/joining full time/finishing year at BD and will move full time here next year
IHSAA: Need connections with the organization -- Purdue hasn't gotten in yet. Getting ready to start the process now.
Funding coming around for Codification of Programs -- college to career readiness -- figuring out how to turn key this nationally.
Yellow bus #2 may be coming soon. Our busses are getting ready to be filled. One bus runs west
III. Closing Items
A.
Next meeting
B.
Adjourn Meeting
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 6:00 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
C. Glier