The HOS presented her Monthly Report.
Grandparent's Day was a great success..Seventy Six grandparents attended the event and were enthused by the school and its offerings as well as their grandchild's enthusiasm for their school.
The first Open House of the year was attended by 36 groups and, to date, 31 applications have been submitted. Half of the applicants were from Marblehead residents and two thirds ware applications for 4th Grade.
Two further Open Houses will be held on Wednesday 1/10/18 and Saturday 1/20/18.
The Enrichment election process has been streamlined and students were able to make their choices online for the first time thus saving the school time and money.
A lockdown drill was conducted successfully and without incident.
Judith Nunez is continuing her work on her Attrition/Retention Project. To date, 14 have responded to her requests for information via email or phone. Judith has also met with current 6th & 7th Graders as well as current 6th-8th Grade parents to hear there thoughts regarding attrition and retention.
HOS provided a brief update on MCAS 2.0 and stated that the students did well with the new versions of the tests.

In the Board Clerks absence, Karl Smith graciously agreed to take the remainder of the meeting minutes.
The Board reviewed the results of the BOT assessments and discussed various of the questions and answers provided.
ACTION ITEM: Board Chair, Jen Jewell requested that each Board member highlight 3 areas of, or specific questions from, the survey or results to discuss at 1/30/18 board meeting.

 Board Chair, Jen Jewell requested that all committees be prepared in advance to present for review and approval all of their goals and job descriptions. Jen also noted that clear communication will be sent outlining the deliverable dates and expected preparation to ensure that January's Board meeting is efficient.

Governance Committee member Paul Baker left early. The HOS presented Governance update in his absence. Board has 10 current members. A potential new member will be interviewed at the next Governance meeting on 1/9/18.

Karl Smith noted that the Finance Committee did not meet before the Board meeting and that both November and December financial statements will be presented at the 1/30/18 Board meeting.
Karl distributed Goals & a Job Description for the entire Board to review. Karl will update the Calendar before the next meeting.

Personnel committee Chair, Katie Hope provided an update and indicated that the next Personnel meeting will be held on 1/11/18. There was no Personnel meeting held in December.
A brief discussion ensued concerning the challenging nature of of the 42 element rubric and that committee members had proposed focused discussion points  be determined and presented at the 1/30/18 Board meeting.
ACTION ITEM: The Board is requested to complete a mid-cycle review form in advance of the January meeting.
The group must determine the cadence , nature and timing of deliverables required for the HOS evaluation and review.
Goals and a Job description are due at the January Board meeting.

Academic chair Sean Killeen was not present. In his absence HOS noted that the overall purpose and nature of the committee is to review compliance to standards. The committee is searching for additional members and the Board were asked to seek out potential non-parent members from the academic community at large to provide the expertise needed for a well-functioning and effective committee.

Ellen Lodgen & Martin Trice updated the Board on ongoing advancement efforts and strategy, noting that most of the semester's efforts have been focused on internal review and evaluation.
ACTION ITEM: 100% Board of Trustee participation in the Annual Fund is strongly encouraged to demonstrate our dedication to both the school and any potential donors.
Mr. Trice noted that year-end giving requests will be sent out prior to the end of the week.
Further discussion will ensue to formulate plans for additional events and activities for the remainder of the school year. Fundraising goals are also being discussed and determined with a focus on realistically increasing the anticipated Annual Fund amount.

Co-chair, Fred Ferris and Martin Trice provided a brief update regarding ongoing discussions and work with Gary Bernstein. It is anticipated that Mr. Bernstein will will meet with the Board at least once before the Board Retreat in June. The goal is to have a draft strategic plan for the Board to review at the June retreat.

There was no public comment