Élan Academy Charter School
Minutes
Board Retreat
Date and Time
Saturday July 26, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Location
3445 North Causeway Blvd.
Suite #800
Metairie, LA 70002
3445 North Causeway Blvd., Suite #800, Metairie, LA; (504) 619-9720; www.elanacademy.org
All meetings are live streamed at https://www.youtube.com/@Elanacademynola
https://studio.youtube.com/video/1P4aIKGNBdc/livestreaming
The matters listed are those reasonably anticipated by the Chair to be discussed at the meeting. Not all items listed may, in fact, be discussed. Other items not listed may be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by law. All agenda items are informational unless otherwise denoted, though all committee reports require a vote for acceptance. The meeting will be held on the campus of the school.
Directors Present
C. Silas, D. Patin, G. Briggs, G. Thomas-Batiste, J. Thibodeaux, L. Knight
Directors Absent
D. Barnes
Guests Present
M. Clark
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
II. What Does it Mean to Be A Charter Board Member
A.
What Does it Mean to Be A Charter Board Member
III. State of the School - Strategic Plan
A.
State of the School - Strategic Plan
Dr. Clark presented a State of Elan report. Areas covered included:
- Historical enrollment and demographic data
- Historical academic data
- Progress on 2022 Strategic Plan
- Strengths, growth, opportunities, and threats analysis
- 2025 Strategic Plan Opportunities
- 2025-2026 organizational goals
- 2025-2026 CEO goals
IV. Committee Reset
A.
Committee Reset
Mr. Thibodeaux presented on current committee structure and recommended changes for 2025-2026.
- Brief discussion on importance of committees and different roles that committees play in governance of a charter school
- Affirmation of 2025-2026 Committees and assignments
- Governance Committee - Jeremy Thibodeaux (chair), Gary Briggs, Daphine Barnes, Lori Knight
- Finance/Development Committee - Lori Knight (chair), Jeremy Thibodeaux, Darren Patin, Cardell Silas
- Academic Committee - Gary Briggs (chair), Jeremy Thibodeaux, Gail Thomas-Baptiste
- CEO Support & Evaluation Committee - Darren Patin (chair), Jeremy Thibodeaux, Cardell Silas, Gail Thomas-Baptiste
V. Lunch
A.
Lunch
Board took a break for lunch from 12:00-12:30
VI. Governance Calendar
A.
Governance Calendar
Discussion on FYE 2025-2026 Board and Committee meeting calendar
- Moving to bi-monthly board meetings
- Academics will meet around testing results
- CEO Support and Evaluation will meet at least quarterly, with more meetings around CEO evaluation time
- Finance/Development and Governance will meet bi-monthly opposite Board Meeting months
VII. Goal Setting & Action Planning
A.
Goal Setting & Action Planning
Mr. Thibodeaux and Dr. Clark led the session on goal setting for FYE 2025-2026, highlighting the need to differentiate between board goals and school goals
- Board affirmed FYE 2025-2026 CEO goals
- Board agreed to goals for each committee to achieve during FYE 2025-2026
VIII. Debrief: Next Steps
A.
Debrief: Next Steps
Mr. Thibodeaux led a brief discussion on next steps. Each committee was to work to come up with goal setting plan to achieve each goal with FYE 2025-2026. Committees will present goal plans at August 2025 board meeting
Mr. Thibodeaux gave a presentation on what it means to serve as a charter school board board member. Areas covered in his presentation include: