Opening Items

Draft minutes from the September meeting. Minutes were shared out through Board On Track.  You can also go into the September meeting to view or download the minutes

Governance

Nomination of Board Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer. Attached are recommended nominating procedures and sample officer job descriptions provided by Board on Track.

The Board was asked to read Ch. 3 in Board Meetings: A Guide for Charter Schools. This section addressed the roles and responsibilities of the board, discussed committee reporting, and gave guidelines regarding public comment.

Exploris is hosting a series of parent informational nights.  Our first one was meant to help 8th grade parents make informed decisions regarding high school placement and included representatives from WCPSS central office, and staff from county magnet schools and charter schools. Other dates and topics are below.  Each topic below was specifically requested by families on the Curriculum Night Survey:

November 17: Child Development (motivation, independence, etc)  <--- the most requested topic
January 26: Math Instruction
March 16: Social Media and Internet Safety
May 11: Supporting Reading at Home (especially over summer break)

The NC Charter School Advisory Board met last week and, based on the data gathered from last year's site visit and this year's performance framework, recommended Exploris's charter be renewed for 10 years.  Highlights:

• In 2016, Exploris exceeded student growth expectations
• Disaggregated data shows Exploris students out performing WC peers by 37.4 percentage points (economically disadvantaged), 22.8 percentage points (special education), 22.6 percentage points, (African-American), and 43.9 percentage points (Hispanic)
• Experiential, project-based learning is evident throughout the school

Exploris continues to be a model for other schools for its curricular and instructional methodologies.  So far this year, we've had over 80 educational visitors to the school.  In the past 2 weeks alone, we've hosted a Charter School Consortium, welcomed guests from Sallie B Howard Charter, Clover Garden Charter, Pine Springs Prep. Academy, and Wayne County Public Schools, and been approached by the Public School Forum to host NC Superintendents for a tour and been approached by the NC Principal Fellowship Program to host 35 of their Fellows.

Finance

Current Budget, Projection, and Actual through Sept. 30. (Mike will be sending additional information this evening)

Move meetings in November and December from 4th Tuesday to November 15 and December 13