Russ Battiata, Director of Operations, reported a total of 836 students enrolled as of October 22nd as reported in Skyward.  Skyward is a student management system that SIA uses. SchoolMint is used for the enrollment process. The goal is 870.  As of today, Russ made six offers (one each in K, 3, 5, 6,7, and 8th).

5th grade has 85 enrolled students, and the maximum is 96. It is lower than usual.   SIA posted a social media campaign but it was not successful.

Russ explains that every time a student transfers out, offers are made as quickly as possible.

Jeff Hyslop suggests tracking yearly trends regarding retention; Morgen will share the data 

The good news is that the school was able to retain 8th to 9th graders this year, with 109 students combined.

Brad DeJager, Director of Facilities reported.

Recent improvements to the building:

1. Building insulation - all three levels blown in soffit areas, as well as closed cell spray foam.

2. Insulated cooling tower lines and added heat trace lines.  These are ongoing maintenance items.

3. Eight new water source heat pumps were installed. There are about 90 heat pumps and the goal is to install 8 heat pumps per year.

4. Cooling tower was rebuilt in cell #2 and a new heater was installed in cell #3

5. Interior painting of classrooms, hallways, and cafeteria was completed this summer and is expected to  continue next summer

Future Projects:

1. Cooling tower rebuild #3

2. Landscaping, especially the playground area

3. Additional heat pump - plans to do this next year. Heat pumps cost $10,000-$15,000 each.

4. Lighting fixtures - will do LED retrofitting; LED will be more cost-efficient

5. Interior painting - an ongoing task. The Facilities department continuously fixes or repairs damaged or vandalized walls regularly.

6. ADA compliance doors - for the first floor 

7. Snow removal and Lawnmower/maintenance - Brad is looking into internal possibilities for lawn mowing. Currently, Lawn mowing services cost $10,000 per year.

Brad will prioritize mandated work by state law (Clean Buildings Act of WA) due in June 2027.

Building compliance and inspections - ongoing and take place annually 

The penalty for non-compliance is $1.50 per square foot. The target EUI (Energy Use Intensity) is 47; SIA is currently at 52.6. This means the school has to reduce its energy consumption to meet compliance. 

Brad will be meeting with an emergency consultant next week.  He will have an update in the next month or two. 

Caryn McGee, Director of Curriculum & Instruction reported.

Students take the MAP  test in Reading and  Math twice a year (winter and spring). 

Reading Goals:

• Goal for Primary Academy (K-5): Half of the students who scored Lo Avg (20th-40th percentile) on their Fall 2024 MAP Math and Literacy assessment will achieve their Fall to Spring MAP projected growth goal by the Spring 2025 testing session.
• Goal for Middle Academy (6-8): Half of the students who scored Lo Avg (20th-40th percentile) on their Fall 2024 MAP Math and Literacy assessment will achieve their MAP projected growth goals by the Spring 2025 testing session.
• Goal for High School (9-11): Half of the students who scored Lo Avg (20th-40th percentile) on their Fall 2023 MAP Math and Literacy assessment will achieve their MAP projected growth goals by the Spring 2025 testing session.

Math Goals:

• Goal for Primary Academy (K-5): Half of the students who scored Lo Avg/Lo on their Fall 2023 MAP math assessment will achieve their MAP Projected Growth Goals by the Spring 2024 testing session.
• Goal for Middle Academy (6-8): Half of the students who scored Lo Avg/Lo on their Fall 2023 MAP math assessment will achieve their MAP Projected Growth Goals by the Spring 2024 testing session.
• Goal for High School (9-11): Half of the students who scored Lo Avg/Lo on their Fall 2023 MAP math assessment will achieve their MAP Projected Growth Goals by the Spring 2024 testing session.

For Global Competency the goal is for 90% of students to participate in community-based projects. This year all grade levels are required to earn service hours.

The Math test was given to 1st to 10th graders; 428 students took the test this Fall. The tests for K-2 were read to them. For the first graders, this is the first time for them to take the standardized test.

Reading - goal is blue and green

1st grade - first time to take standardized tests

There are currently 106 sixth graders compared to about 70 last year. 94 took the Math test. 

50% of 6th graders who scored zero to 40th percentile are new students. They affected the overall scores for the 6th grade.  Caryn indicated that this was anticipated and therefore, SIA hired two additional Math teachers (1.5 FTE). 

In High School Math, 41 students in 9th grade took the test. The school currently has a large number of students with IEP in 10th grade.

SIA students take the Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA) once year,  in the spring. 

SIA is compared with Mead School District and Spokane Public Schools (SPS); then overall in the state of Washington. The report shows students on track for college-level learning without needing remedial classes as of Spring 2024. 

District     ELA      Math          Science

SPS               46.1         36.1                 41.2

SIA                 53.1         52.3                 64.1

Mead            60.4.       48.9                 47.3

WA State.    50.3.       39.7.                43.5

Note: 5th, 8th, and 10th graders took the Science test.

These are the Action Steps the administration plans to take for improvement:

• Teacher collaborative meetings with instructional coaches
• Emphasis on vertical and horizontal alignment (class equity)
• 2nd year partnership with Instruction Partners
• Teacher goal setting based on site-specific goals
• Data Days to analyze student data
• Sub out days to plan for instruction and observe in other teachers’ classrooms
• Daily walkthroughs by admin and coaches to observe teachers and provide frequent and timely feedback using Schoolmint Grow
• Coaching cycles for primary teachers to provide in class support, modeling, and help with lesson planning

Bob Castle asked about ways the school can help with teacher retention. Morgen responded that SIA provides high-quality professional development.; continue building a community through the Wellness Committee; and implement a Mentor-Mentee program this year. 

See more of the MAP and SAB report here. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/13M70pGe_AoKE6cKQxSq_r-pInXLUhpR9cEQHS6iNpr4/edit?usp=sharing

Morgen Flowers-Washington, Head of School October update:

1. Refining Systems and Procedures

• Mentor-Mentee Program: There are 12 participants in the program. 6 Mentor teachers who have all completed mentor training through OSPI, and 6 mentees. All mentees are teachers in their first or second year of teaching. The goal is to help our teachers feel connected, create a leadership pipeline for our teacher leaders, improve retention, and build the capacity of our teaching staff to have a positive impact on student learning
•  Behavior and Emotional Learning -   Early data audits have revealed “hot spots” throughout the building. In schools, we address behavior issues using a tiered approach. The majority of our students are behaving appropriately. This means that our systems are working. We do have students that are not responding. Those students require a fair amount of support at Tier 2 and Tier 3. We are making individualized plans, and working very closely with families. This has surfaced for us a need to build capacity in our teachers around working with students in trauma. We are partnering with the Community Resilience Initiative to do resilience, trauma, and training on the brain to better prepare for the varied needs that these students demonstrate.
• Circle of Security- Parenting Support- We are excited to offer a Circle of Security 8-week course to our parents. The course is being taught by Monica Lively (Kinder teacher) who is an official trainer. We have 12 parents participating in the 8-week course. Using the COSP™ model developed by the Circle of Security originators, our trained Facilitator works with parents and caregivers to help them: 

                   Understand their child’s emotional world by learning to read emotional needs 

                   Support their child’s ability to successfully manage emotions

                  Enhance the development of their child's self-esteem Honor the innate wisdom and desire for their        child to be secure

•   MTSS App- We are now using an app that provides support for both our teaching staff and students. When a student is struggling in a classroom environment the teacher can note this on the app, and it sends a message to the admin team to respond. This is called a Just in Time. We can then respond to the student and provide real-time support for the teacher. The app also has other features such as the Needs Hope, Celebration, and Active Support Referrals. These functions allow us to take data, and monitor student behavior and our response. 

2. Refining Our Program:

• Offering athletics this year with Cross Country for Middle School and High School students. 
• Instruction Partners - SIA will continue to work with Instruction Partners to ensure teachers are focused on rigor and standards alignment in the classroom.
• After-school tutoring - targeting students who scored below 40% on the MAP assessment in ELA or Math. Over 100 students were recommended; tutoring begins in November.

3. International trip to Costa Rica - Fewer than 10 students have signed up for the trip. It is about $4500 total. It is a full immersion trip, without service. The goal is to promote the trip and net larger participation. Fundraising efforts would help this considerably.  Dr. Chandi Wood, Associate Principal for 8-12th will be this year's trip coordinator. 

4. Phoenix Love - Community Service Program. Students in K-4 complete 10 hours of service per school year, and Grades 5-12 complete 20 hours of service per school year. Students may

complete these hours with their class during the school day (on approved service-oriented field

studies) or complete these outside of class. 

5.  Staffing Updates - Morgen introduced two new hires Zach Wolflick and Angel Troutt (present at this meeting) as Community Organizers. These positions are funded for one year by a grant.

Read the complete report here - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1h0wKiHKApwXy-PWsClPXu9F-mBiQDrnsg0BkNcY4j8M/edit?usp=sharing

See above report.

Reach out to Morgen/Myra if you would like to attend any school event in November and/or December.

Cassie Anderson thanks the Board members who have completed their training.  A reminder will be sent by Myra Keast to those who have not completed theirs. 

The following are due on November 15th:

• OPMA
• PRA
• Credentialed Staff Training
• Permitted Uses of Public Funding  

A committee sign-up form was emailed to all Board members. Cassie Anderson recommends at least 3 people per committee.  Myra Keast will email everyone on each committee. Cassie suggested that each committee meet, choose a chairperson, and set goals. The first meeting should take place in December through June 2025. 

Morgen Flowers-Washington invites the Foundation committee to attend the November 6th fundraiser meeting. Myra Keast will send the details.

The Board agreed to move the November meeting to  November 20th at 4:30 pm.

The November Finance meeting will be rescheduled one week prior. 

The December meeting is still to be determined.  One suggestion is moving the meeting to December 18 

Sam Schweda suggests sending a calendar survey for December and/or holding the board meeting on the same day as the finance meeting, which is scheduled for December 19th.