Taylor

• 2nd graders in the middle of their immigration unit
• Community members came to talk about their experience immigrating to the US

• James Wallace to join the board as Board of Trustees
• Dave and Taylor met with him
• Works with community groups
• Serving on Nonprofit financing committees

• Demolition of Church St property to use as a green space at the Douglas campus
• Retained up to 98.8% of lead teachers across the network
• Some turnover with non-lead teacher positions, some are associate teachers, fellows or new to Alma, who are surprised with how intense the work is at the school 
• Positive attrition in realizing that teachers don't have "what it takes" so those positions are freed for others who are a better match for it.

Oct Board meeting Recap

• Bellwether strategic planning finished in Nov.
• Alma community was able to give input throughout the process
• Discovered core strengths key opportunities that Bellwether discovered
• Reviewed draft strategic priorities 

Steering Committee

• Does mission statement need to be revised?
• Consensus to tweak to align w/ experience/evolution
• Any revisions have to wait until after Alma's renewal process is complete-Aug 2025

Intended Impact Statement

• What we want to be true at the end of 5 years to make progress towards our mission
• Shows community what will be prioritized over time
• Similar to Alma's Mission-create excellent conditions for academic achievement so scholars can be successful after they leave Alma
• Want all scholars to have a high quality experience no matter what high school they enroll in
• No Vision statement 

Scholar Profile- if the Impacted Statements are going to be true, this is how scholars will be developed, so they can embody what's intended for them while at Alma

• Empowered Learners
• Service Minded Leaders
• Character-Driven Innovators

I "Can Statements"-describes if scholar is an empowered learner, a service-minded leader and character driven innovator, this is what they will be taught how to do, as described by the strategic plan

Revisit Strategic Priorities- if these priorities are met, then we will be able to achieve our intended impact and develop the scholar profile

1. Cohesive K-8 Instruction
2. Educator Excellence
3. Network & Role Clarity

• Met on Nov 15 with Libby on overview on talent retention
• Continued convo about talent and how the committee can help out
• 2024-2025 goals- to enlarge committee and now have 5 members
• Libby to come with data and specifics on how many teachers
• Teacher/talent retention- several top performing teachers do not have college degrees and must have it to stay at Alma.
• Creating a financing program to help teachers complete their degrees so not to lose them
• Suggest to move with urgency 
• Alma is not parting ways with teachers who aren't certified
• Data will be provided to determine how many teachers will need this program

• On Track with fund raising
• Board to keep an eye out for requests to follow up with donors when a gift is received
• Donor Relations- showing gratitude, being timely with thankyou notes, and letting donors know they are appreciated
• Celebration of learning on Dec 12 at both campuses-board members encouraged to come 

• Welcome Manuela and Jim to the board
• There is one other person to join the board and voting on it at the next meeting
• Committee Goals needing to been finalized
• Board Retreat-Chante Chambers will be in attendance for 90mins, read preparations from her when sent 

• DESE deadline first week in Jan
• Restraint policy needs to be revised and approved by the board
• Convene the quorum of the board for, Dec 16, 2024