M. Dixon read the mission statement.

D. Palmer read Zoom meeting protocols.

Sridhar Dasu - President of the Foundation welcomes the new Executive Director and the Board of Directors. 

• Beautification Day was a tremendous success with about 35 volunteers.
• Discussed the Scholars Academy Open House - Successful fundraising for the PTO and 8th grade. Mr. Carper was able to meet a lot of parents and students. 
• First week with the Teachers and Staff. The following items were discussed during the week:
  • Expectations and Procedures
  • Increased Safety and Security measures
  • Health and wellness procedures
  • Infinite Campus training
  • Technology Training
  • School Improvement Team / Teacher Leadership Team - adding a staff Sunshine Committee for celebrations and morale-boosting.
• Traffic Plan
  • Main entrance to the school and lower parking lot will be open from 7:30 - 8:30 AM and 2:30 - 3:30 PM only. During other daytime hours, these entrances will be closed for construction for the foreseeable future. 
  • The Board of Directors will follow up with the construction crews to continue to get updates on the construction schedule.
• Title II Funding
  • Document must be signed by Mr. Carper to receive the grant. 
  • The funds will be used for professional development for teachers to include the gifted conference and attendance at the NC Association for Gifted Children annual conference.
  • The total grant amount is approximately $13,600.
  • Started receiving this funding about 5 years ago. The school receives an allotment each year. Each year, the allotment increases slightly.
• The Bell schedule was discussed. 
  • The school doors will close at 8:05 AM. 
  • During the first week of school, the dismissal procedure will begin by 2:50 PM and children will be ready for dismissal by 3:05 PM.

• We are now in Year 2 of the Renewal Process.
• Key milestones:
  • February 2025 - The final vote will likely occur in February 2025. 
  • April 2025—The Office of Charter Schools (OCS) will send schools their new Charter Agreements, which must be signed by the Board Chair, notarized and mailed back to OCS.
  • May 2025 —The State Superintendent will sign the Charter Agreement.
  • June 2025 — Schools will receive a digital copy of the Final Charter Agreement via email. Final Hard Copy Agreements will be filed in the OCS.
  • July 1, 2025 — New Charter Agreements begin!

Ari Pieper discussed the amendments to the Education Plan and the Curriculum Plan for the Charter Renewal. The original charter was written in 1999. At that time, the template for what was required was slightly different than what exists today. Specific references to outdated curriculum and testing have been removed and more generalized language has been added to the current charter plans. These amended documents will need to be approved by the Board of Directors.

The Board has received, reviewed, and shared the 2024/2025 Staff Handbook and Parent Student Handbook.

• The parent's guide to student achievement, as voted on last year, has been added to the Parent Student Handbook.
• A website was created per the statute and published for parents to be able to click on and review the Parent Student Handbook and access the parent guide to student achievement information. 
• The information has been submitted to NCDPI.

• September 20th - first Foundation meeting of the school year.
• Early Eagle pledge form and a fundraising chart were available to families at the Open House. 224 families walked away with the envelope of forms.
• Liliana mentioned that the fundraising sheet was very helpful and recommended that the form be shared at other fundraising events. 

• The 2024-25 budget has already been approved by the Board and will not require a vote tonight. There is no committee update at this time.
• The finance committee is looking for volunteers to join the committee. You do not have to be on the Board of Directors to join.

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