Mrs. Shana Cunningham begins our Board Spotlight with our Student Spotlight featuring 12th grader, Sulexy Powell. Sulexy has been a student with us since the 6th grade in September of 2018. Sulexy has always cared about doing right and after 7 years, in the 12th grade, still practices making the right decision. Academically, she has shown growth and has been accepted into 2 colleges so far. Mrs. Cunningham remarks on the positive impact educators at New Heights have had on students like Sulexy. 

Ms. Alicia Desrochers  is our Teacher Spotlight with Dr. Jones saying during her presentation "It does not matter what you ask of her, she will do it without even saying yes, she just steps in and does it." Ms. Desrochers does a lot of peer-coaching with our staff, volunteers for whatever regarding our staff, grades school work when asked, and is our teacher spotlight because she deserves it.

Mr. Chin spotlights Raul and Odelia Jimenez who have been the backbone of the school building and maintain the high standard of cleanliness for our entire building. They care about making sure the school is a welcoming environment for our students and staff. They are not just great workers but good people to be around. They are really spectacular employees and a breath of fresh air to New Heights.

Dr. Jones presents on the Athletic Department who is run by Associate Principal of Dual Enrollment, Mr. Terrel Diggs. While he prepares students to be the best version of themselves, he is also making sure "we're setting up our students for academic and athletic success". Our athletic program is in good hands and Daniel Andrade, our new PE teacher and Assistant Athletic Director has added a great touch to the department. 

M.Jean presents on Question 2 that was passed on November 5th and guidance being sent out by acting commissioner on November 6th. The law passed, eliminates MCAS being a graduation requirement and amends the competency determination to be left up to a district of the satisfactorily coursework that must be certified.

S.B and V.M asked for clarity because they were under the impression that the MCAS stood still as a graduation requirement but OW cleared it up by stating that the law was indeed passed and will go into effect on December 5th.

Although the law will go into place, we as a school and district will continue to encourage our students to do their best but the test has become more high-staked for districts but the benefit is for the kids. 

The discussion moved to the Commissioner's school visit on Monday, December 2nd. Commissioner Russell Johnson and the leaders from the Charter Association toured the school with Omari and Maria. OW gives credit to Maria Fernandes, Dr. Jones, and Dr. Sumner. OW remarks that the visitors were very impressed and it is a testament of how New Heights is run everyday.

What was the purpose of the visit? 

Commissioner Johnston and his team recently undertook an initiative for the visit to gain a deeper understanding of the daily operations of high-quality charter schools. We were the second chosen school out of the five they will be visiting through out the year. The visitors met our students, stepped into classrooms, and asked questions while being able to dispel any myths about charter schools. At the end of the visit, Commissioner Johnston shook OW's hand as he expressed enthusiasm about how much he learned and enjoyed his visit at New Heights.  It was a commendable day for both students and staff!

T.Chin speaks on the Science Lab  updates and starts out by staying the process is lagging behind a little. We're waiting on city approval for plumbing, gas hookups for that space, furniture and supplies have been coming in little by little. We have been working with this grant that has allowed us to spend money on ventilated work stations (5 of them to be exact). There is still work to be completed but we're able to afford work stations which will be purchased in-time. TC, RL, and AR are working hard to complete all work orders.

GP asks "what effect, if, any, has the drag overall had on the direction you all want to go?" DNJ answers that essentially to get the best lab that you want to get, it does create some lag or take a bit longer than anticipated. Perhaps closer to January of 2025, we may start to see some changes. 

VM comments about a Foundation Grant and that foundation is meeting on Thursday. He asks if there is anyway to get an update about the science lab to report back to the board - an interim status report. OW asks if TC can provide a 1-pager or an email about updates on the lab to give to VM. TC says he will have it done for tomorrow - December 4th. 

TC reports on the Gymnasium project - the 1st being installation of a new gym floor and the second being fixed basket-ball hoops. The gym floor was received after a number of challenges with customs and shipping. Once it did arrive, it did not meet the expectation of what was originally ordered. It is much more rubber plastic and tailored to outdoor use rather than in-door and while TC researched that gym floor, it was made to be certain specifications which means the court length are different than what high school standards are - by 10ft. It was not a usable surface floor suitable for our basketball program. We don't want it to go to waste so TC is working with the city to see if we can install that floor outside for  outdoor practice.

The hoops are scheduled to be installed by February break but looking to get them installed much earlier in-time for the new season. 

VM asks what is wrong with the existing floor?

 TC answers it has cosmetic wear-and -tear and the previous AD was looking for something robust and appropriate for school dances and other purposes that the gymnasium is used for. 

SB presents on AEC meeting that took place last month on November 12th and asks for a brief synopsis of new hires.

-3 new hires started on Monday, December 2nd - these positions allow us to fill the gap in High school Science and 8th Grade History. 

-Currently we're Interviewing for 6th grade Science position. Hiring has gone relatively well thus far.

DNJ speaks on the NHCSB participating in the Brockton Holiday Parade - multiple staff participated, and it was great time. We have two basketball events, BSU Cultural Exchange- select group of 9th graders chosen for an event --, a cheerleading event at RLC in Boston, basketball tryouts and Homecoming on December 19th.

MF presents on Early College updates: midterms have been taken and students will be going into final seasons. She will continue to send updates and progress from our students on both campuses for our January meeting. Students have continued to receive positive feedback regarding our students on the MCC campus.

KK presents on data dashboard from the AEC meeting - the graphs shows data from this year across previous years. It shows student services (ELL's, IEP's, and other services), quarter enrollment, grades across each grade, gender, etc. This will be updated monthly as we get data. The last chart presented was taken from a dashboard DESE put together that highlights student success after graduation and is data pulled from 2023 - we have a 100% graduate students meeting these standards. Our 4-year graduation rate is 89.5%. Our 5-year graduation rate is 97.2% and we are the highest compared to our sending districts. As of class of 23, 61% entered college after graduating high school. We have a dropout rate of 1.2%. 

SB concludes that the snapshots give board members a look at a comparison against other districts and our school is doing a great job to ensure student success across the board.

The Finance Committee did not meet that day.