Lourdes Pires gave enrollment summary - would like to know how we will sustain our enrollment in light of other schools enrollment and comments that this is a good level of recruitment.

 Some points brought up by L. Pires:

-New Heights is fully enrolled

-Healthy waitlist for this SY-24-25

-Working with Power School to currently get ready for upcoming application for 25-26 SY

-Currently recruiting by attending events and working with task forces - (Brockton Mayor Health and Equity Taskforce, Mayors's Homeless task Force, Metro-South Chamber of Events, Downtown Brockton Association, etc.)

-Participation in last years Brockton's parade sparked high interest for applications last year

-School Mailer hits our 3 districts and local communities, two open-houses for families to be able to visit and learn more about our school

-United Way of Plymouth - gave us exposure

-Haitian Community Partners 

-Latino Communities

-We also have partnerships with other partners to use our school to have their own community events - Plymouth United Way, Haitian Community, MassHire , Umbrella Project, African American Association of Brockton

• Question: have you done presentations
  • Answer: Yes, if the community asks
• Question: to what do you contribute success for high demand at enrollment at New Heights?
  • Answer: Combination of different things - we're the 1st Early College school, we are not only the 1st and most successful. It is sustainable due to our student success and our current model and lastly - our outreach efforts have picked up over the years, the schools around us and getting the word out.

Recommendation/Suggestions: Lourdes will present this presentation at next week's board meeting. As of recently, per Judge Philips, he  does not want Enrollment presented at the board. 

In need of clear protocol regarding school safety and police relationship. 

Dr. Jones said she was not concerned that it wasn't directed to NHCSB and perhaps it was directed to schools that were involved. However, she has confidence in being able to reach out directly to a sergeant and school-resource office. She does not operate in fear and even if we do not have an SRO, we do have the ability to contact Brockton Police. It is important that she exhibit this confidence to and in front of her staff. 

• Is it necessary to schedule a meeting with chief of police just as a point of contact or building relationship with the city?
  • DNJ does not think it is a bad idea and says she may have met the COP and has their card in her possession but another meet-and-greet could be possible.

S. Jackson states  she does not have faith in the news pertaining to BPS and even if it's not directed to NHCSB, but since we're amongst the Brockton school community, the administrators should know. She also thinks it would be good for a face-to-face accountability meeting to happen regarding safety concerns within Brockton.

O. Walker - says he was not aware of what took place and it wouldn't hurt for Jones, Maria, and himself to meet with Brockton Public Schools.

The incident being referenced is - some weeks ago, a threat was sent out to two different schools via email and Shelly informed Maria that she had gotten this notice. Even if New Heights is not considered apart of BPS - some form of communication should have been sent out due to being in the Brockton district. Second email went out of a threat with the FBI but it wasn't credible. 

O.W says they will make something (a meeting or an exchange) happen before next month's meeting. 

Update of College Ready Behavior and reviewing discussion around students who are not quite ready for college classes, and college campus life. There were also some professors that echoed the same disappointment and it is important to know how all of this is affecting our MCC relationship.

M. Fernandes says we are in much different space than we have in the last couple of years. Students are on the Canton campus and it is different but since being there, there has been nothing but great things said and our students have received great feedback. The President and Dr. Shefield were able to meet and speak to our students during a back-to-school barbecue. An email from a professor who is working with our Dual enrollment stated that she loves her class and is looking forward to continue teaching our students in her class. The behaviors are much better and our PACK skills and how we're identifying students who are on our Dual Enrollment group are improving.

There have been some concerns with certain staff having issues with our students being in spaces they "shouldn't be". It is now a personnel issue and they are dealing with it. Dr. Sheffield has assured Maria our students are doing fine on campus.

Question: What is the biggest concern of the model we have with EC- Bridgewater, MCC, etc regarding student readiness going forward? Something that keeps you up at night?

• Answer: Every group of students is different and you have to be prepared to support the students in front of you. It's the natural human problem and there will always be different groups of students that you have to adapt to.

K.K presents the dashboard - the altercation data has continued to go down. 

- September of last year, we had 6 incidents and this September we have had only 4. For incidents in October of last year, we had 6 and this year, we do not have any. All of the incidents were from the 8th grade. For the location, it has been in the hallways and the cafeteria. This year in October, there has been no change. We do not have any further incidents to report. 

Question: what is "up" with our 8th graders?

Answer: Other than the fact that they are 8th graders and have not yet matured from 7th and 6th grade mentality. A lot of it is fluster and there has been mandatory parent meetings. There is zero tolerance for fighting and Dr. Jones will continue expecting what she is inspecting and setting standards. 

J.Charnel wanted to propose at the next board meeting that we add to the agenda his meeting with our students,Ms. Pauline and Mrs. Fernandes to make a Peace Poll. The teachers and students want the board members to approve at next week's meeting. The students and Rotary Club would like to do this to honor National Day  of Peace which was in September. JC says he will have an example to show members at the board meeting next week and "it's a good thing and we plan on planting them around the city. New Heights will be the 1st stop." 

OW says from a procedural standpoint teachers should ask and clear it with Dr. Jones. He asks if she is aware and allowed input before it goes to the board. It also may not need an approval from the board but working closely with the school. This should perhaps be put on the Executive Director Update section unless it needs funding. 

Maria asks if anything else needs to be presented at next week's board meeting and Steve answered that the altercation data, partnership information, as well as the success of our students on MCC campus be shared. JC says that Dr. Jones will mention to the board that she will meet with police officials.