Young Scholars Charter School
Minutes
Regular Board Meeting
Date and Time
Tuesday September 12, 2023 at 3:45 PM
Location
900 North Marshall Street
Philadelphia, PA 19123
If attending virtually, join this Zoom Meeting:
https://phillyscholars-org.zoom.us/j/86741548174
This meeting is being held in compliance with Open Meeting requirements of the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act and is open to the public. Notices were duly posted and the meeting was advertised in The Philadelphia Daily News. Formal action will be taken.
Trustees Present
B. Young (remote), D. Dwirantwi (remote), E. Ashe (remote), E. Kaplin (remote), G. Singer (remote), I. Brind (remote), J. Brown (remote), J. Wang (remote), T. Rebar, V. Schwartz (remote), W. Churchill (remote), W. Weisman
Trustees Absent
B. Harrison
Guests Present
Abvdulrahman Atta (remote), Alexandra Less, Aubrey Wang (remote), B. Chazin, Beth Birnkrant, C. Freyer (remote), Charlene Caposecco, Corran Branch, Dianna Phelps, Elyse Capone, Habibah Haqq, J. Amenda, K. Corcoran, K. Lamilla (remote), K. Tini (remote), Robin Halpern, S. Smith
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
II. Board Discussion Topics
A.
Introduction of Prospective New Trustees and Establishment of an Advisory Committee, End of Meeting Vote
B.
School Leadership Team Introductions and Beginning of Year Highlights
C.
Approval of School Goals for 23-24; Prioritized Focus Areas in Culture and Instruction
John Amenda presented 2023-2024 school academic and school culture goals. He highlighted that there will be increased coaching this year based on organizational health survey results and there will be weekly team meetings to look at data and learning progression.
Ms. Haqq discussed the goals for school culture this year include establishing a calm, joyful culture for students, culturally responsive teaching and focusing on intentional language. Ms. Less talked about increasing instructional coaching.
D.
HS Admissions Changes in Philadelphia and HS Placement Status Update
Corran Branch, Academic Guidance Counselor, gave a high school admissions update on application admissions changes, including submission timelines and updated application criteria. She also gave an end-of-year closeout for 22-23.
E.
Transcend Partnership
The school is partnering with Transcend to work on enhancing school strategy, including leadership team structure, strong data culture and cycle data response, specialized content coaching, and continued focus on project based learning and college and career readiness integration across programming.
F.
Enrollment Strategy and Possible 5th Grade Amendment Discussion for December Submission
Shakira Smith, Chief Operations Officer, provided information on enrollment this year. The school has a strong retention of 7th and 8th grade students this year compared to last year.
G.
Staffing and Talent Market Update
Becca Chazin, Chief of Staff, gave a talent update. She noted that there has been strong retention year after year since COVID 19 began. This year there were 5 new hires. Diversity within staff is increasing this year with 49% of staff identifying as BIPOC.
H.
Fundraising Update and Request for Sponsorships
The school has almost reached its annual fundraising goal of $350,000. The 25th anniversary event is on October 18th and is aiming to raise $250,000 to go towards the annual goal.
I.
Land Acquisition Update
Mr. Amenda discussed exploring the need for investment in a geotechnical engineering study. He shared the overall project timeline if things go as planned. Access to the gym facility will likely be at the end of 2025.
J.
Finalizing Charter Documents
Mr. Amenda noted that the school received unanimous School Board Approval for our next 5 Year Charter Term, as the school is well positioned for success.
K.
Committee Updates Where Applicable
Kevin Corcoran and Tom Rebar gave a Finance Committee update. Mr. Corcoran shared that the school is off to a good start this year. Projections are all positive. This is the final year of ESSER funding.
Leadership Team members, including Beth Birnkrant (Principal), Habibah Haqq (Director of Culture), Alex Less (Director of Curriculum and Instruction), Elyse Capone (Special Education Coordinator), Charlene Caposecco (Director of Interdisciplinary Learning) and Dianna Phelps (School Counselor) joined the meeting and gave brief introductions to the board.