December MWA Board Meeting Minutes

December 12, 2019, 10:30 AM-2:00 PM

Minutes Approved

Making Waves Academy

Minutes

December MWA Board Meeting

Date and Time

Thursday December 12, 2019 at 10:30 AM

Location

4123 Lakeside Dr, Richmond, CA 94806 (Upper School Library)

If you are in need of disability-related accommodations, please contact:
Si necesita adaptaciones relacionadas con la discapacidad, comuníquese con:

Elizabeth Martinez at emartinez@mwacademy.org or 510-275-7331.

All members of the public must pick up a visitor sticker from the main office to enter campus during school hours. In accordance with the Brown Act, you are not required to provide your name to attend and signing in is voluntary but a visitor sticker is required to keep the campus safe.

Members of the public attending the board meetings are to remain within the designated meeting location and are not allowed to walk around campus for safety reasons. Upon adjournment, visitors must exit campus.

Todos los miembros del público deben recoger una etiqueta de visitante en la oficina principal para entrar a la escuela durante el horario escolar. De acuerdo con la Ley Brown, no es necesario que proporcione su nombre para asistir y el registro es voluntario, pero se requiere una etiqueta de visitante para mantener el campus seguro.

Los miembros del público que asisten a las reuniones de la junta deben permanecer dentro del lugar de reunión designado y no se les permite caminar por el campus por razones de seguridad. Tras la suspensión de la junta, los visitantes deben salir del campus.

You can join the meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.
https://www.gotomeet.me/MWABoard

You can also dial in using your phone.
United States: +1 (224) 501-3412
Access Code: 967-255-093

To Access the Agenda in Spanish CLICK HERE
Para ver la agenda en Espanol oprima aqui

Directors Present

Alicia Klein, Burak Gursel, Daryle Morgan, Esther Hugo, Jessica Laughlin, Layla Naranjo, Margaret Watson

Directors Absent

Maricela Navarro

Directors who left before the meeting adjourned

Burak Gursel

Guests Present

Alton B. Nelson Jr., Elizabeth Martinez, Evangelia Ward-Jackson

I. Opening Items

A. Record Attendance and Guests

B. Call the Meeting to Order

Alicia Klein called a meeting of the board of directors of Making Waves Academy to order on Thursday Dec 12, 2019 at 10:31 AM.

C. Closed Session

Board adjourned to closed session and took no action.

D. Public Comments

Multiple speakers commented on concerns about teacher retention and communication between the school and parents.

Multiple speakers commented on MWA expansion to Pinole.

II. Standing Reports

A. Compliance to Excellence: Remarks by Board President

Board President commented on various topics.

Staff Reduction: Eliminations of vacant positions and some layoffs took place to right size the organization given the Foundation's decision not to build facilities for MWA in Pittsburg. The Board was informed throughout the process.
Curriculum Review Committee: E. Hugo will provide an update on the meeting during which President and CEO shared parent concerns with the committee.
Board Engagement with Staff and Families: Ongoing meetings have taken place with both middle and upper school staff. CEO and President have met in open forums with parents, President encouraged more parents to participate.
Material Revision: Foundation decided not to build the K-3 facilities in Pinole due to fiscal concern of the district in which we reside, rising construction costs, and the lift that it would have created for the Richmond staff and faculty. MWA will pursue a material revision to include 4th grade at the Richmond site.
Board Meeting Adjustments: MWA began recording the meetings and uploading the file to BoardOnTrack. The Board adjusted the March meeting time to an evening time. Moving forward, student representatives will be asked to provide a report to the board. Board materials continue to be made available online to all members of the public.
College-Going Rates: Board acknowledged the statistics of college acceptance rates.

B. Mission Connection: MWA Alumni Panel

MWA Alumni engaged in a facilitated discussion about their experience at Making Waves Academy and in college.

How did MWA help you in being successful in college?

Skills that teachers taught them such as using planners for organizational skills, dead week ahead of finals, and office hours with teachers
The transition was smooth because they had practice at MWA to engage with their professors

Is there anything that we can do better to prepare?

Early detection of trajectory for college so that students can prepare i.e. engineering, coding, nursing, etc.
Diversity of courses and career choices

Board members asked questions about their college experience.

C. Deep Dive: WASC Self-Study

Chief of Staff provided an update on the WASC Accreditation process and the self-study. The self-study will be added to the February board meeting agenda for review by the board.

D. School Report: Math Update

Directors of Curriculum and Instruction and Math Lead Teacher provided a simulated math lesson and math update.

Math Lead Teacher walked the board through the teaching and learning cycle by using a sample problem.

Math Update

Key Takeaways: peer observations were effective, coaching from lead teacher created an increase in learning data, as well as continued discussion about development and practice
The current focus is academic discourse in the math workgroup and sub committees

Board members asked questions regarding math practices and development for teachers.

Board asked the staff to consider, is there an opportunity to engage the students in the teaching and learning cycle to get their feedback?

E. Q&A on Division Director Written Reports

Board asked questions about the middle and upper school reports.

Board acknowledged the adherence to the structure of the report, the alignment that is present in both reports, and the metrics that are trending upward.

Middle School

Board suggested that the board reports are published to share best practices.
Board is encouraged by number of parents that are wanting to participate in B/AASAI.

Upper School

Appreciated the transparency on the impact of current vacancies.
Board President asked questions about continued challenges with field trip attendance.
- There is an opportunity to get more student and family buy in and feedback on field trip planning.
Board expressed concern about vandalism that is occurring on campus.

F. Q & A on CEO Written Report

Board acknowledged the CEO report and asked questions.

G. Q&A on Written Finance Report

Board members had no questions about the finance report.

H. Committee and Advisory Committee Updates

J. Laughlin provided an update on the work of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Committee.
M. Watson provided an update on the work of the Culture and Climate Advisory Committee.

I. SSC Update

Dr. Ward-Jackson provided update on School Site Council meeting which covered WASC updates, GATE, Co-Curricular Programs, and Athletics.

J. CCCOE LCAP Presentation Update

Chief of Staff provided a brief recap if MWA's annual LCAP presentation tp the Contra Costa County Office of Education in November 2019.

III. Non-Action Items

A. Curriculum Review Committee

E. Hugo provided a recapitulation of the fall Curriculum Review Committee.

Big idea for for this academic year is ALIGNMENT to ensure we are not working in silos.

B. Board Book: The Deepest Well

Board President announced the board book, "The Deepest Well" which will be discussed at the March board meeting.

Burak Gursel left.

IV. Action Items

A. Board Minutes: October 17, 2019 Board Meeting

Margaret Watson made a motion to approve minutes from the October MWA Board Meeting on 10-17-19 October MWA Board Meeting on 10-17-19.

Daryle Morgan seconded the motion.