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Ms. Schaefer shared that her freshman student enjoyed her  first SLC experience. Ms. Schaefer appreciates the community at Da Vinci.

Ms. Heimov shared that it was gratifying to hear a South Bay grantee's appreciation and enthusiasm for Da Vinci Schools at the LA 2050 Grantee luncheon.

Mr. Santiago shared that girls' volleyball made it into the CIF playoffs, winning their first game. They're heading out to Santa Barbara for their second round game.

He also commented on the great 3x3 meeting with Wiseburn, saying that the meeting was productive. He hopes they continue.

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Ms. Rodriguez gave a presentation on staff attrition and retention. 

Labor market trends show that overall teacher supply has improved, but significant shortages persist in special education and secondary math. About 90% of teacher vacancies are the result of teachers leaving the profession due to low pay, difficult working conditions, and inadequate support. Da Vinci tries to ensure that interns and first-year teachers receive more support.

At Da Vinci Schools it was evenly split between teachers relocating and leaving the profession. Regarding site administrator retention, after the post-lockdown dip in 2021 and 2022, retention rates rose for the past two years. There has been a slight dip this year, as two site administrators left. Teacher retention has been rising to 93% in 2024-25.

Hiring and retention strategies include the establishment of the Educator Advisory Council, conducting labor market analysis, building and supporting an educator pipeline, and conducting staff surveys to sustain Da Vinci's culture.

Mr. Santiago asked about the staff who left Connect. Ms. Rodriguez responded that she would send the Board that data.

Ms. Heimov commented that 93% retention seems great, and she wonders how it compares to other charter school groups. Ms. Rodriguez will send the Board that information.

The 2025-26 Student Board Advisors gave their first update of the year. Kristian Miller of Communications and Josiah Moody of Design are serving as coordinators as well as advisors this year.

Sophomore Penny Yang presented the Science update, sharing the Community Dialogue, 10th Grade Civil Engineering & Architecture (CEA) field trip to the Manhattan Beach Strand to study types of residential architecture, and the 9th grade trip to the California Science Center. She also noted SAT/PSAT day and Student-led Conference (SLC) week. Multiple college reps visited the school, including Brown, Vanderbilt, UC Davis, UCSD, Harvey Mudd, MIT and RIT. Upcoming events include the Da Vinci Science Parents' Association coffee and Youth & Government camp.

Senior Christopher Lopez gave the Design update, noting the Wellness Friday, a field trip to Downtown L.A., the Senior Sunrise, where seniors spent the (early) morning together watching the sun come up on campus, and the DVD News Channel, a student-led initiative to connect and inform the Design community. Chris also noted the upcoming Gatsby Gala dance, and the next day's SAT day, sharing that he would be taking the test.

8th graders Violet Schell and Honor Denis both presented the Connect TK-8 update. Violet shared that MAP testing had occurred. Honor noted that students attended Catalina Camp, though he didn't join (bugs, ugh!). Astro Camp for 5th and 6th graders was also enjoyed by students. Honor shared the ofrenda created for student Wallie Ogar, who recently passed away from cancer; students wore purple in his honor. Violet shared that she asked other students for their input, saying that some asked for phones in the classroom again, different sports, and morning announcements. Honor commented that construction on the field and play space slated to be completed in late November.

Junior Valerie Ortiz gave the Communications update, commenting on the Hispanic Heritage Month community dialogue, Spirit Week, and NHS afterschool tutoring. Lunchtime events in late September included Just Dance, arts & crafts, and karaoke. Other happenings were Senior Sunrise, SLCs, and college visits from Loyola Marymount, UC Riverside, and Syracuse University.

Junior Amirahlee Chea presented the Connect High School update. She shared upcoming events like the PSAT day, and all-grade-level Field Day, a first for Connect High. She looks forward to the event at which all grade levels and cohorts can bond. SLCs were held during the week, and UC Berkeley will hold an information meeting at Connect. Other events included the Fulcrum Freshmen in late August. Connect does not hold an overnighter, but this year, the 9th graders spent the day together outdoors, doing a ropes course and other bonding activities. Black Student Union hosted Spirit Week, Club Day showcased various clubs, and new this year, the school is holding morning announcements, about which she is enthusiastic.

Mr. Boston asked about the BFI acronym at Connect HS. Ms. Tami Christopher, Connect High School principal, responded that it stands for Building Futures Incorporated. It is an afterschool enrichment program open to both cohorts, and it supports students with community building, tutoring, arts & crafts, etc.

Mr. Amato went over the August, 2025 financials. 

Accounts receivable is lower than last year at this time, when grant funds were awaited. 

Cash for August's accounts payable is paid out in September. 

Accrued liabilities include those "due to grantor governments," which are government overpayments that the State collects back over time via autopayments.

Deferred revenue is grant funding to be spent over the course of the next year or two.

Due to/from Other locations represents funds owed by RISE to Da Vinci for services.

Mr. Boston inquired about an update on investment vehicles. Mr. Amato shared that he was successful in getting Banc of California to increase Da Vinci's interest rate from 3.5% to 3.85% in return for keeping the funds at Banc of California. The Banc initially communicated to Mr. Amato that they would decrease Da Vinci's interest rate to 3% due to the Fed's interest rate cuts. Mr. Ochoa, as Board Secretary, and Dr. Wunder signed the paperwork to open the new higher-interest rate account. Mr. Amato negotiated with Banc of California so that Da Vinci will not bear the full brunt of federal interest rate cuts. There will be some small fluctuations (~1%) throughout the year as the Fed changes rates, but Da Vinci's rate will be fairly stable.

There is no minimum balance. Da Vinci's relationship with Banc of California is very good. Mr. Boston inquired about the interest rate on other vehicles. Mr. Amato's response was that other vehicles were short term, 3 or 6-month CDs, T-bills, bonds with a 4% rate at the highest, but considering the cost of the time it would take to manage them, and the fact that the short terms are subject to Federal interest rate changes, Mr. Amato felt the Banc of California vehicle would give Da Vinci the most interest income over time.

Mr. Amato went on to discuss health benefits renewals, which renew on a calendar year basis. Last year, the increase was 11% on average. This year, CharterLife is going through some turmoil, and so Mr. Amato and Ms. Rodriguez have met with the insurance broker, who presented a promising option for similar plans at a small savings ($25K) with another vendor. Staff would be shielded from large premium increases. Ms. Rodriguez and her team have worked hard to minimize the disruption for staff in changing vendors. An official recommendation will be presented to the Board for approval at the next month's meeting.

Dr. Wunder shared that Ms. Rodriguez and Mr. Amato went through each employee's benefits. Ms. Heimov inquired about the number of plans offered. Four options will be dropped. There will be 4-5 Kaiser plans, and 4 other medical plans. 

Ms. Schaefer inquired about the cost savings of using fewer plans. Discussion ensued about State plans for charter schools. Dr. Wunder shared that the large pool of State benefits plans are not dramatically better than shopping around. Ms. Schaefer noted that in New York, there is a State benefit plan, and if you are a New York teacher, that is what you use - no shopping for plans. Mr. Amato commented that the team would look into it.

Mr. Bravo shared the cafe bid opportunity was posted in the Daily Breeze for two weeks. 15-20 companies attended the mandatory job walk to determine if they will bid on the project. NAZ is overseeing. The deadline to submit an electronic bid is November 4, 2025. Mr. Bravo anticipates a November 19 Board presentation. The winning bidder would be given a notice to proceed on November 24. Construction would start on December 8 to take advantage of three weeks of winter break. Construction work time will be 5 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The completion target date is March 30, 2026. 

Summer construction project update:  Last week's rain offered a chance to look for problems. Photos were taken before, during, and after the rain. The landscape company identified issues and addressed them. The field has been mowed and low spots reseeded. The field will be accessible in late November.

Ms. Rainey gave a presentation on student achievement, thanking Gloria White and Chris Miller, the data team, for their contributions.

The Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) model is centered around Academics, Behavior & Attendance (Engagement), and Social Emotional well-being.  The supports are differentiated, strategic, and intensive, as needed for each student. Supports are provided by Site leaders, teachers, counselors, intervention & support staff, student services, education services, curriculum & instruction, and the data team.

MTSS cycle: Assess, Plan & Prepare, enter the cycle of Implement, Monitor, Improve, and exit to Sustain/Scale Up. The cycle of Implement, Monitor, and Improve may be a quick sprint, or may be multiple cycles or a year-long cycle or multi-year cycle.

Guiding Data:  Core metrics being used are State CAASPP testing in ELA, math, science in grades 3-8 and 11. This data represents different students each year, and only one year of high school. So Da Vinci uses NWEA MAP testing in ELA and math, given to all grades so that year-over-year data can be seen. The trick is to balance having enough data and not over-assessing students. Can the PSAT/SAT be replacement data for the NWEA?  Attendance, graduation progress, and ADA/engagement, are additional core metrics. All sites including RISE have aligned LCAP and WASC goals. 

Student achievement is shown not only by test scores but by attendance, engagement, growth over time, well-being, and readiness.

Regarding attendance at DVC, DVD, DVS. Each school experienced a dip after the Covid lockdown.  Last year, 2,400 days of attendance were recovered. This year so far, 370 days have been recovered. The closer the schools get to the goal, the fewer days there are to recover and the more legitimate the reasons for absence. At Connect, ADA is strong but mirrors the dip and recovery at that of the 201 schools.

Two summers ago, the Education Code changed the rules around independent study, which opened up the opportunity for Design, which had the lowest ADA of the 201 schools, to implement a robust plan for attendance recovery. It also opened up the opportunity to create Community Learning Days (CLD). The team is still working getting CLD right, but the engagement is important. The State has released an Attendance Recovery Plan, which allows proactive and retroactive attendance recovery.

The Da Vinci Schools Data and Reports Center is helping the data team. The Counselor dashboard shows the interventions that counselors are logging. There are also RWL and ADA dashboards. The data team is also constructing a CAASPP dashboard which will help the staff see subgroup data.

A new initiative is Focused Interim Assessment Blocks (FIAB) Assessments which give a quick, targeted look at student performance on specific California State Standards. Dr. Wunder shared that the push to look at data, particularly math, comes from the Board and from Wiseburn, Da Vinci's partner and authorizer. 

Next steps include collaborating with leaders and the data team, norming data collection, strengthening MTSS protocols, Math support, MBL, site-based presentations each month.

Mr. Boston thanked the team, saying he appreciates that this is extra work. He hopes that communicating the work helps the staff as well. He feels that looking at the whole human is done well at Da Vinci, but he would like to see the academics done as well. Not to say that we should become test-driven schools, but when students take tests, the outcomes should show certain levels of achievement across the board. It's a matter of striking the balance between not corrupting the culture but holding ourselves to account for seeing the test outcomes move to the next level.

Ms. Heimov was surprised to see Da Vinci looking at SATs when colleges are moving away from them. Ms. Rainey shared that the use of SATs varies by site. NWEA results are being fed into the curriculum, showing what needs to be worked on, but for most Da Vinci sites, it is showing up in their LCAPs. Sites are using the SAT for the compliance data and using the FIABs as the quick sprints (here's what you were taught, did you learn it?). Incorporating FIABs more fully means the NWEA results are less helpful. For students taking the tests, even if they don't need it for their college applications, will still need to be able to take tests like that in their future.

Dr. Wunder shared that the Profile of a Learner draft will show areas in which Da Vinci can partner with Wiseburn that will benefit all students.

The high schools' work around career technical education (CTE) often drives down into the middle schools. High schools have access to CTE funding, and if the high schools offer certain elements, the middle school can take advantage of those programs and the funding associated with them.

There are non-State funding opportunities, and Da Vinci would like to create more connective tissue with at least the middle school and our high schools, and have offered to help Wiseburn with the funding of those programs. Dr. Wunder looks forward to Wiseburn's response to various offers that have been made.

Dr. Wunder then read from a list of partnership events prepared by Carla Levenson.

• Da Vinci's enrollment team presented at the Wiseburn 6th grade orientation, sharing Da Vinci's part in the education eco-system
• There have been Wiseburn Math nights at which Da Vinci students have volunteered, working with elementary students.
• Da Vinci is supporting the Spooktacular at Wiseburn Middle School.
• Da Vinci's External Relations team has reached out to the Wiseburn's marketing team, and there is an interest in working together to show the collaboration of Da Vinci and Wiseburn.
• A Roundtable event on February 2 where both entities will come together.

Mr. Boston commented that helping Wiseburn build up practices similar to Da Vinci's signature practices like POLs and SLCs. There can be culture shock for 9th graders, so perhaps creating similar practices in middle school could be helpful to students. Dr. Wunder shared that this could be a discussion in a 3x3 meeting with Wiseburn.

Ms. Rainey shared that Mr. Erin Whalen and Mr. Chris Miller looked at the old plan from 2018 and looked at current practices and what the schools are doing. 

Mr. Whalen shared that adjustments regarded professional development and parent notifications, so they were minor changes aligning to Education Code. Mr. Whalen and Mr. Miller wanted to ensure that the plan was representative of Da Vinci's various communities, as some sites have specific ELD courses, so the team wanted to ensure that was accurately reflected. Da Vinci is currently in the auditing process for the coming school year, ensuring that we continuously have the right supports for each of our school sites. Some of the sites have over 21 EL students, so the team worked on making sure the master plan is accurate and up to date.

Closed session entered at 7:48 p.m.

Public session reconvened at 9:10 p.m.

Mr. Santiago reported that no action had been taken in Closed Session.

Ms. Wohlwerth informed the Board members of changes to the California Brown Act due to the signing into law of SB 707. The remote attendance requirements for emergency circumstances and "just cause" were streamlined and expanded to include, among other things, remote attendance due to military service and disability per the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Board was also reminded of their obligation to complete ethics training by January 1, 2026.