Mission Moment
 

Katie shared that the Community Outreach Committee has officially launched and is already making a positive impact through community engagement, clean-up efforts, cultural events, and resource support for families. She thanked community members for contributing to the school pantry and invited others to join the effort.
 

• Sabine reflected on attending the International Festival, describing it as educational, fun, and well attended. 
• She also shared updates on the student trail project presented at the Bike Summit alongside Enlace students. Students spoke about the importance of safe walking routes to school, neighborhood accessibility, and community connection. Groundbreaking for the trail is expected in June. 
• Community feedback is being gathered from residents and local businesses.
  The proposed trail route would run through the Lafayette Square area.
  A community survey will be distributed to name the trail. 
• The 2nd Annual Bike Ride will take place on May 21 at 1:30 p.m. at Alamo Drafthouse.
   

Marc shared that he also enjoyed the International Festival and is working to connect Enlace Academy with local musicians who could provide jazz history presentations and performances for students.

Academic Update

Alison reviewed the Checkpoint 3, iLearn, data is available and reported that there is continued academic growth in both ELA and Math. 

• In ELA the growth was 37.8% proficient
• In Math the growth was 24.5% proficient in Math
• Combined the subjects meets the school's goal of increasing proficiency by 5%. The data compared to last year is higher this school year. 
• Third grade students must pass IREAD to advance to fourth grade.The school’s goal was for a 10% increase in scores. Current growth is at 8%, with additional summer testing opportunities remaining. Leadership anticipates meeting or surpassing the goal by the end of summer. The leadership team at Enlace believes that reaching a 70% pass rate remains achievable. 
• Second grade math proficiency dipped by 2%, though the team expects year-end performance to exceed last year’s results. Crystal Meiller will support summer school instruction.

Multilingual Learner (ML) Update

Crystal Meiller, Enlace Academy's ML Coordinator and founding staff member, presented updates on ML achievement and language acquisition progress. 

• WIDA measures academic English proficiency across four language domains.
  English language development is integrated into classroom instruction rather than taught separately.Students learn and practice academic language alongside grade-level content.
• This year included, a new iLearn assessment, a new WIDA assessment, continued implementation of NEXT GEN SIG grant supports, which included additional ML teacher and bilingual instructional assistant support. 

Student Achievement Highlishts

• 27 students exited ML services this year — the highest number in school history. 21% of multilingual learners successfully exited services.
• 14 fourth grade students exited services.
• For the first time, a second grade student exited services.
• 84 additional students scored in the early-exit range (4.3–4.9).
• Grades 2–4 met the school’s growth goal of increasing 0.5 proficiency levels.
  • Crystal shared that Indiana now allows students close to proficiency to demonstrate readiness through additional evidence, including: ILEARN performance, IREAD results, writing samples, reading samples, student portfolios reviewed by the state. 
    The goal is to help students exit language services before middle school, when academic demands increase significantly.

Key Factors Contributing to Growth: 

• The co-teaching model
• Strong classroom instruction
• High expectations with strong supports
• Staff commitment to language development across all content areas
  • Nine teachers earned their ENL licenses this year.
  • Enlace continues offering ENL licensing support free of charge to staff.
  • Funding support has transitioned from the Next Gen SIG grant to Lilly Phase III funding.

Katie shared that the Academic dashboard all areas on track to meet the academic goals. 

Finance & Budget Update

• Brian presented the April financials. The Governance committee met yesterday and reviewed the financials and reported that Enlace's finances remain in a strong position. 
• Although April reflects a temporary deficit, it is due to the timing of revenue recognition and does not represent an actual deficit. 
• The Lilly grant has been received, eliminating the temporary deficit. 
• Revenue from the Vital Foundation is deferred until next fiscal year and is not reflected in the current financials. 
• Enlace has received the first payment of approx. 230k in Ops Levy funding, with the second payment expected in June. This revenue was recognized in the prior fiscal year. 
• Capital expenditures include approximately 350k for cafeteria improvements and 94k for a new mini bus. These costs will be capitalized at year-end. 
• After adjustments, the school is projected to end the fiscal year with a surplus of approximately 362k. 
• OEI financial metrics temporarily show, "Not Meeting Standard" due to the timing of revenue recognition but are expected to return to "Meeting Standard, by the end of June. 

FY27 Budget Presentation

• Brian reviewed the FY27 budget, recognizing Katie and Denise for the extensive budget planning process that begins each winter. 
• The budget is based on an enrollment of 660 students, although current enrollment is approximately 680 with a waitlist. 
• Operating expenses are budgeted at approximately $6.4 million. 
• Projected year-end cash is approximately 21 million, including 12.9 million in restricted funds and 8.5-9 million in unrestricted cash. 
• Enlace is projected to maintain approximately 325 days cash on hand, consistent with prior years. 
• Personnel remains the largest investment with the majority of expenses allocated to salaries, benefits, and payroll taxes. Instructional staff represent approximately 84% of personnel costs. 
• The Board was asked to approve the FY27 budget, providing approximately in 13 million in spending authority to support staffing, instructional programming, facilities, and operations. 
• The Charter Innovation Loan will be fully paid off during FY27. 
• Cash balances will gradually decrease over the next several years as restricted grant funds are spent as intended. 

Lilly Phase III Investment

• Brandon provided an overview of the Lilly Phase III spending plan. With major investments including:
  • Kitchen and other capital improvement projects. 
  • Student enrichment and support services. 
  • Teacher development. 
  • Approximately $1 million for additional staffing including BIA's, interventionists, ML teachers, and admin support. 

The board reviewed the FY27 budget for initial approval. 

• Due to the property tax revenue process, the budget will require a second adoption later this year once final tax revenue figures are received. 
• The budget must be adopted before the state deadline, and all financial goals remain in green. 

Charter Renewal Timeline

OEI released the charter renewal letters. We are officially in the process for charter renewal. Next steps are interviews in October to early November with school leadership and board representation. The hearings will be in mid December. Right now it's a 7 year charter renewal, the intent would be to get a 15 year renewal. 

Something to keep on the agenda will be IPEC, Indianapolis Public Education Corporation. The group launched, public meeting their first step is to hire an executive director. then deciding next steps in property fall tax referendums. Their website is up and the next meeting is May 28. 

3 things are due at the of May OEI end of year assessments:

• Board self evaluations through Board on Track 
• Then evaluation of Katie in July through Board on Track
• Board assurances coming from docusign. 

Enlace just finished their first photo shoot. Katie will share the picture with the board. 

Match Day - May 14

8th Grade Graduation - May 15

College & Career Fair - May 19