Menlo Park Academy Governing Board
Minutes
Regular Board Meeting
Date and Time
Thursday January 18, 2024 at 6:00 PM
Location
Menlo Park Academy
2149 W. 53rd Street
Cleveland, OH 44102
This month's regular meeting of MPA’s governing board will be held on Thursday, January 18, 2024 at Menlo Park Academy, 2149 W. 53rd Street, Cleveland, OH 44102. Virtual observation will be made available, when possible, at the following link - https://meet.google.com/bqx-niry-mqu. Meeting dates and times are posted in several places in building as well as on our website.
Directors Present
Jillian Dura, Joe Loyd, Shruti Aring, Susan Dornan (remote), Teri Harrison, Tiffany Randle, Twana Rogers
Directors Absent
None
Guests Present
Allison Lentz, Chandra Lubben (remote), Deborah Zeffren, Jessica Wilcox, Joanne Hilden (remote), Karen Sacco (remote), Kelly Baughman (remote), Phyllis Robinson, Renee Dornan (remote), Robert Schactner (remote), Sara Porras (remote)
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
II. Public Comments-Items on the Agenda
A.
Public Comments-Items on the Agenda
III. Minutes
A.
Approve Minutes Correction- 10/19/23
IV. Sponsor Report
A.
Sponsor Update
Allison Lentz provided the January Sponsor Update in-person. The report was emailed to the board and updates will be emailed with the Governing Authority report.
V. Treasurer's Report
A.
Monthly Financial Report
Teri Harrison asked if the finance and audit committee saw these
Tiffany Randle explained there was not enough time
VI. Education Reports
A.
Principal Report
Phyllis Robinson shared her report
Month of January is Tolerance focused and we will kick off the month with lessons and activities with a tolerance subject matter in the classrooms.
We are still looking for a Speech and Language Service provider for our SPED department.
Our “Coffee with Counselor” featured speaker for the month of January is Dr. Claire Hughes.
Morning announcements will officially start next week, after January 16th.
B.
Program Report
Jessica Wilcox presented her report
3rd Floor making the shift to mirror the 4th floor schedule
Intersession Week is in the works. It is the week of March 11th
3rd Grade Reading OST
Results sent home
Rimps were created for students who have not passed. These have been shared with families
and we are continuing to progress monitor these students and update their goals if
necessary.
Learning Space Expectations
● Campfire - A way to learn from others as the “storyteller”. Share stories and exchange ideas!
● Watering Hole - Come together to exchange ideas, work together as a team, and learn from each
other.
Students on all floors are working on their science fair/showcase projects
● Sandpit - A safe space to learn by trying, failing, and trying again. Create prototypes, experiment with different options and materials, and work freely without worry of a mistake or making a mess.
● Cave - A space to learn independently, work quietly, and reflect.
● Mountain Top - Demonstrate the final result of work and/or research. Celebrate and share your
earning ‘one to many’. You ‘sing it from the mountaintop’.
VII. Enrollment, Admissions, & Development
A.
Report
Jessica Wilcox presented her report
Enrollment
221 total said yes to enrollment for next year as of 1/11
Outreach Plan
Open Houses with Testing: Saturday January 27 & Sunday March 3
Connecting for Kids Resource Fairs in March (Lorain and Cuyahoga County)
Fundraising
Total Raised as of 1/11/24: $39,440; 29.8% of goal
Upcoming Fundraising Events
Spring event: Art show in March
Spring event: Walk-a-Thon in May
Our ads have built an audience of 11,000 people during the Learning Phase and our Lead
generation ads have 24 leads at a cost of $14 per lead (well below our benchmark of $25/lead).
These results will have us produce even stronger outcomes as we move into our event
promotions.
VIII. Operations Report
A.
Operations Report
Deborah Zeffren was not present to highlight her report. Teri Harrison highlighted the Operations Report
Facilities
3rd floor windows were repaired over winter break
16 additional security cameras were approved by the Health and Safety committee and are currently being installed
Technology
Emergency Connectivity Funding was awarded in the amount of $72, 012. This can only be used on laptops and Chromebooks.
Food Services
Kids Café is in progress. Program has been a success as of this date.
Go To Guide
A Go To Guide was developed for staff for easy access to important school information, training
videos, easy link to policies, procedures and forms.
IX. Board Committees
A.
Audit & Finance
Tiffany Randle shared her report
There are meetings the 2nd Tuesday of every month
They are combining this committee with the development committee
There is consistent, regular participation from three parents
The committee is working towards a live dashboard for financials.
B.
Development
Twana Rogers presented her report.
They are going to start in-person meetings with finance committee coming up in February
She meets every Tuesday w/Jeff Sugalski to touch base on development in general and running through ideas for agendas for in-person meetings.
There has been discussion on a spring fundraiser - Large scale ideas have been discussed and will be shared once fleshed out.
C.
Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
Tiffany Randle presented this report
She touched base during the PEC meeting last week
Next step is to look at the data from Suzanne McFarland from previous years on Global Citizenship.
D.
Enrollment Task Force
Joe Loyd presented his report
The committee of staff is meeting weekly. The Open Houses are moving forward with planning.
E.
Health & Safety Task Force
Susan Dornan called in and presented this report
The Stop the Bleed training needs to be scheduled
Question- Erin’s Law requirement
- Working on information with Dr. Brewer, Sara Porras, and Nicole D’Amico
F.
Program Excellence
Shruti Aring presented her report
- Competitions
- Science Fair communication - decide on how to move forward and send communication out asap.
X. Resolutions for Consideration: Academic
A.
Overnight Field Trip
Please calculate the break down amount family pays vs. school pays
Make sure a communicate to families gets out as soon as possible
B.
Capstone Field Trip
Is this an overnight field trip? Yes it is
Are the staff staying overnight? Please include a stipend for them
C.
Niagara Falls Overnight Field Trip
Do students need passports? Find forms to complete for the trip.
Is there cell phone coverage in Canada?
XI. Resolutions for Considerations: Operations
A.
New Hires
B.
Resignations
C.
Monthly Enrollment Verification
D.
Summer Camps
The team is looking into a half day summer camp to partner with Overtime Athletics. This does not require a vote
E.
Collections
Tiffany Randle shared that she doesn't know the organization personally but had conversations with them and they do have specialization in school based collections
F.
Broker for benefits
Are they an insurance company or brokerage?
Not sure if we signed anything with current brokerage
- Communicate with everyone to get best possible
G.
Staff Device Improvements
Teri Harrison said that we spend money with Datapath to put more money towards devices we currently have
Joe Loyd stated that the laptops were built in 2020 and standards from 2014
Teri Harrison said we use other vendors for other things, doesn’t have to be our current provider
Tiffany Randle said that every year we have concerns, questions and things come up and we have the same service provider
Teri stated in 2021 we bought all new Chromebooks for teachers and we don’t even know which devices these are
H.
Gym AP's Mounting Equipment
I.
Chromebook Protection
J.
Firewall Protection
XII. New Business
A.
Resignation of Board Member
Teri Harrison spoke with Kurt regarding renewal application for the charter
- Granted 4 year renewal
- Dinged on academics because of growth vs. achievement
XIII. Public Comments - Items not on Agenda
A.
Public Comments
N/A
N/A