As per Public Officers Law, Article 7, § 103-a (Videoconferencing by public bodies), board members George Winn and Maria Casale are attending via videoconference from locations posted on the public meeting notice/agenda and therefore open to the public; they are considered to be in attendance for purposes of quorum and are permitted to vote. 

QUORUM IS MET FOR THIS MEETING.

Board members Heba Nassef-Gore and Traci Frey are present via video conference from locations not posted on the public meeting notice/agenda and therefore not open to the public; they cannot be counted towards quorum and are not permitted to vote. 

L. Gyimesi thanked Executive Director T. Castanza, school staff and the students of Bridge Prep for a joyous wonderful Graduation Day; she said we all enjoyed it and there were so many good things happening this year; we truly appreciate all of the hard work done by all. She then said that there was always a touchstone in the foundation of Bridge Prep, which some of the board member may not be aware of, which is our connection to the "fractal". She asked R. Kerr to give an explanation of what the fractal means to us at Bridge Prep.

R. Kerr presented a head of broccoli to demonstrate fractals by breaking off small florets from the main stalk of the broccoli crown, and asking what each floret has in common with the whole crown; as each floret is a smaller version of the full broccoli crown, it is a fractal of the whole while at the same time each floret is whole in and of itself. In the same way, each student, staff member, parent, board member and anyone else who is involved in our school is a fractal of the whole community of Bridge Prep. The concept of fractal has always been a part of our fundamental belief of what we wanted to create with Bridge Prep. From the first day of establishing our school we used this concept as a way of seeing that each individual is whole and at the same time combines together to make our whole school community. 

M. Harmon-Vaught nominated L. Gyimesi for the position of Chair of the Board of Trustees. There were no other nominations from the floor. L. Gyimesi accepted the nomination.

Vote was taken: 7 YES; 0 NO; 0 Abstentions; 1 member absent.

The board VOTED unanimously to elect L. Gyimesi as Chair of the Board of Trustees.

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L. Gyimesi nominated M. Harmon-Vaught for the position of Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees. There were no other nominations from the floor. M. Harmon-Vaught accepted the nomination.

Vote was taken: 7 YES; 0 NO; 0 Abstentions

The board VOTED unanimously to elect M. Harmon-Vaught as Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees.

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M. Harmon-Vaught nominated G. Kuriakose for the position of Secretary of the Board of Trustees. There were no other nominations from the floor. G. Kuriakose accepted the nomination.

Vote was taken: 7 YES; 0 NO; 0 Abstentions

The board VOTED unanimously to elect G. Kuriakose as Secretary of the Board of Trustees.

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M. Harmon-Vaught nominated G. Winn for the position of Treasurer of the Board of Trustees. There were no other nominations from the floor. G. Winn accepted the nomination.

Vote was taken: 7 YES; 0 NO; 0 Abstentions

The board VOTED unanimously to elect G. Winn as Treasurer of the Board of Trustees.

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R. Kerr said that the Academic Committee met on June 13th and gave the floor to C. Volpe to discuss the following items covered at that meeting:

• OG Data - C. Volpe said that much of the OG data collected is used by teachers and we see overall growth in the data in all areas; we are establishing a 2nd tier of OG instruction for struggling students; this will be done either in the after-school program or during the school day in RTI. R. Kerr added that OG is the fundamental underpinning of reading; we really want everyone to understand what the OG data tells us about the reading readiness of our students and what the other types of data tell us about their preparedness to take state standardized tests.
• Summer Program - We are on target with our summer program, which begins July 5th and ends on August 4th with a total of 46 seats and a wait list of 10-12 students. A discussion followed regarding what can be done to open up the program to accept more students from the wait list. E.D. said that he will look into it with C. Volpe; the summer program class size is 10 students and they don't want to make the classes too large, but perhaps additional classes could be opened up.
• Focal Points - Each member of the Academic Committee will be working along with C. Volpe to combine talents during the summer and next school year.
• The Academic Committee will continue to virtually meet over the summer via Zoom or phone.

G. Winn stated that the Finance Committee met on May 30th and the following items were discussed:

• School budget voted on tonight will be submitted by the end of June; there are sufficient funds available for items which might come up over the summer months; this school budget includes funding for professional development sessions for the entire year
• We are making progress with investments of cash assets
• Looking into possible insured Money Market idea which is used by other schools
• The Finance Committee expects to meet again in July, date TBD.

He thanked everyone for getting us here.

• M. Harmon-Vaught said that we have 2 new board members, already approved by NYSED. 
• We would like to set up a board strategy session for July to discuss many topics regarding our board development moving forward; also we need to discuss fundraising plans for the future.

• L. Gyimesi said that a planned board strategy meeting in July would satisfy our need to meet in July. A discussion followed regarding the board members' availability in July and they agreed to meet on July 18th from 4 PM to 7 PM.  
• Pasek Consulting would like our renewal narrative changes by July 3rd; the board needs to review the narrative before that date and make suggestions and comments; each board member will concentrate on a section of the narrative that is in their area of expertise while reviewing the entire 40 page narrative. 
• A regular meeting schedule for August would have our board meeting on August 15th.  T. Castanza said that will be too late for the board to approve the charter renewal application and submit it by the August 15th deadline. Discussion followed regarding when to hold the board meeting in August in order to meet all the deadlines for renewal and ;L. Gyimesi suggested we hold the regular board meeting on August 1st at 7 PM to approve the necessary documents for renewal. The board agreed that the August board meeting will be held on August 1st at 7 PM.

T. Castanza offered the following update:

• The last day of school is June 23rd; school building will be closed from June 30th until July 5th when we reopen and start summer school programs; teachers will have professional development on August 21st; staff will be coming in several times during the summer for various projects.
• The theme for this summer is planning, planning, planning; we will be working on instinctual planning with teachers, curriculum mapping and a redesign of period zero; the annual report will be submitted to NYSED; we will begin to prepare for the financial audit coming in the Fall; we will finalize hiring for open positions; this summer we are moving out of the E building into the A building at the Petrides Campus. Part of the redesign will include an executive space where the board will be able to hold meetings and strategy sessions. 
• He thanked everyone for their work that led to Graduation Day; the students and families were so happy with the event.
• Our school was featured in an article in Education Week in a profile about specialized public schools for students with dyslexia: https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/schools-for-students-with-dyslexia-also-promote-social-emotional-resilience-heres-how/2023/06 
• Our school was also praised at education events captured in two videos:

1. NYC Schools Chancellor David Banks spoke highly of us at the April Panel on Educational Policy Meeting (beginning at 1:08 at https://learndoe.org/pep/archive-pep-apr19-2023/ )  
2. NYS Education Commissioner Dr. Betty Rosa spoke about our school at Dyslexia Awareness Day, (go to 7:10 at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KPS_bwEADI )

M. Casale suggested that during the building renovation, a wall be created that is dedicated to our school's accomplishments, the graduating class, etc. with photos, awards and plaques. Something where people come into the building and can admire our achievements. T. Castanza responded this idea is already in the works and they have ordered some items for the display.

A. Wolkowitz gave the following update:

• Thanks to everyone for their help with Graduation Day; it was beyond the parents' wildest dreams and a wonderful event; 
• The day after graduation, the school hosted a 5th Grade Breakfast event; each 5th grader was given a yearbook; the Parent Association gifted yearbooks to the entire school staff with a personalized bookmark which said, "Thank you for all you do, the world needs more people like you."
• The Parent Association has begun planning for next year and will hold a meeting in July.
• The Parent Association will present a check to the school for the new library from funds raised during Read-a-Thon.