Dr. Smith announces recent events that are taking place at TSAS.  While we were excited about the new traffic route-finding signs we had made to help make traffic more safe, we were later told by the city that placing those signs was illegal.  The signs were removed and the city has since visited to view the traffic and agreed to help us by adding new signs that include a crosswalk and speed limits, as there are no speed limit signs on the west side of the building.  In the meantime, we will continue to encourage our parents to follow the preferred one-way route along the drop-off line. Our electric bill has gone up significantly compared to past bills. We know that utility bills have gone up citywide, but we also think that part of that is due to HVAC.  We bought 10 portable AC units for classrooms that were uncomfortable to hold class in. We are encouraging everyone to turn off the portable units and fans at the end of the day.  HVAC repairs have taken place and the classrooms are much cooler. Steve Romero, our custodian, will be attending a boiler training course for 4 days. During the summer, we applied for a philanthropic research grant of $75,000. We have been awarded the grant to research needed improvements at the school, and we will then use that information to apply for other future grants.   Dr. Smith provided an overview of her priority work this year. There are four big projects that she has outlined. The first is to research future possibilities for charter authorization. Our current charter agreement with TPS expires at the end of this year. A change of authorizer may or may not serve TSAS, but it is important to examine all available options. The second project is to research the possibility of offering online adult education courses at night, without changing our small school day model. Adults ages 21–30 can now obtain a high school diploma online.  This project may or may not serve TSAS. The increased enrollment would increase our state aid allocation. If we decide to pursue this project, it would be considered an expansion, which would allow us to apply for an expansion grant. The expansion grant is due in March. The third project, is the work included in the new research grant that we were awarded last Friday. In the next week she will learn about the specific process to work through the research grant. The fourth project is the renovation plan and timeline for the building. We have met with the architects, and they have a digital model of the building. They have remodeled a 100-year-old school and have invited us to visit the school to get ideas that could be useful in our renovation project.

Dr. Hahn reports on the data-driven decision-making that teachers have been working on. 

We are always trying to be near the data, but humanizing.  Jesse Stallings and I have been working on a dashboard for staff though it is still in beta. The best use of data collected is for students not on the radar, but helps find places where students may need support. The data helps us focus on areas where work is needed, as the staff are learning to navigate the dashboard for grades and attendance. There are two initiatives that we will continue to work on: TIBWYH and the TSAS Teacher Tool Kit. Another tool we have been implementing is progress reports. Through the progress reports, we make sure parents/guardians have access to grades every two weeks while we make sure we are not inundating the teachers. All teachers using the TIBWYH and TTTK should have a procedure, but it allows for teacher autonomy for implementation. The dashboard allows teachers to see students whose attendance/grade has gone down and, if need be, teachers can send info to the student support team for support. This is exciting because we can actually start seeing the range of specific student needs. I am grateful to our greatest tools, the teachers.  Their daily face-to-face with our students is the most valuable asset we have. 

Mr. Wesley Hill introduces himself as the high school History and Government teacher. My highlight has been the TIBWYH.  Three years ago, it started as us reaching out to at-risk students, but this year every student has had contact with a faculty member.  I had an opportunity to speak with about 13 students so far and the process has been manageable. This initiative has allowed us to dial in on students that are struggling so that we are able to communicate and support them with many things. Lately, I have been asking questions about their plans for post-graduation and informing them that their grades will affect college enrollment. 

Daniel Sharples reports the FOT has been actively supporting STUCO (student council) and the LEGO club that started this year with grants for STUCO T-shirts and Lego sets. They were also active with recruiting at orientation this year.  There are two big volunteer projects coming up that TSAS will receive revenue from, the FOT at Oktoberfest and Trivia Night. Oktoberfest runs from September 19th - October 4th and Trivia Night will be held on November 12th at the Campbell Hotel.  FOT are still looking to recruit 2 more members.