Brighten Academy

Minutes

Brighten Academy Charter School Governing Board Meeting

Date and Time

Monday October 21, 2024 at 6:00 PM

Location

5897 Prestley Mill Rd, Douglasville, GA 30135

The Brighten Academy Governing Board will meet on Monday, October 21, 2024 at 6pm.

Directors Present

C. Burns Falker, C. Claiborne, N. Lord, R. Zackery, S. Battle

Directors Absent

D. Carter, J. Smith, K. Moses, M. Vitale, R. Finan

Ex Officio Members Present

D. Davis

Non Voting Members Present

D. Davis

Guests Present

K. Bemus, K. Smith, S. Littles

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

R. Zackery called a meeting of the board of directors of Brighten Academy to order on Monday Oct 21, 2024 at 6:05 PM.

C.

Adoption of Agenda

D.

Approval of Minutes

II. Executive Director's Report

A.

Staffing Update

Katie Smith...

New 5th grade teacher started today, Ms. Emily Wilhoit 

SPED para open 

2nd grade para position open

3rd grade open since the untimely demise of Dr.S

Received a letter of resignation, 3-5 intervention teacher

Mrs. Sparks started her AP capacity but she still is in the classroom, AP on Wednesdays

B.

PTO Update

The President and the Vice President of PTO were present at the meeting.

They gave updates on Octoberfest (Oct 25th).

Mistletoe Market (12/14) was mentioned as well as Santa breakfast. There may be some collaboration with PTO and the Board on the Santa breakfast. The entrepreneur club will get a discounted rate for the market. Wish list will start soon, so that staff can take part.  Teacher grants deadline will be March 31 or April 1. 

 

C.

Workplan Update

Kelly Bemus gave an update related to the work plan...

-she gave an update on the overall performance on the GMAS

-iReady data will be presented in January 

-Georgia has a new monitoring req for Dyslexia and Brighten has started monitoring this data

-Leadership opportunity; this is an opportunity for the students to take part in leadership. This year's goal is to start an SGA

-The EL conference will take place in Atlanta this year and there will be student ambassadors present 

-Discipline was presented 

-Attendance rate is doing well at 95% of all students. Which means that they are attending 95% of school days

 

III. Finance Committee

A.

Fundraising Updates

no additional updates 

B.

August Financials

tabled due to lack of qourum 

IV. Closing Items

A.

Public Comment

There was one item that was provided for public comment. The concern was around

communication policy between staff/admin and parents/guardians; in terms of time frame for returned communication. Follow up for next meeting

B.

Board Comments

none

C.

Adjourn Meeting

There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 6:42 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
S. Battle