Mission Moment 

• Enlace is working on a partnership with the Patachou Foundation and shared their vision for the next school year. 
  • Matthew is the executive director of the Patachou Foundation. Beth Blessing is the child nutrition director who focuses on compliance. Shannon Mitchell is the culinary director. She leads menu design and development. Bryan Daniel leads community support, working with families and conducting focus groups. 
  • Patachou helps enhance what schools serve in the cafeteria. Focusing on the highest quality of food. They have been working on putting together a bid for contractors and have been working with IPS. The plan would be to start the 26-27 school year. 
  • A survey was given to staff, students, and families. The results showed an overwhelming response for improving quality, temperature, and taste. The next process is to do focus groups and taste testing. Across the board, everyone was pro-change. 
  • The Patachou Foundation has helped Adelante upgrade its kitchen and food services. The response overall has been incredibly positive. 

Academic Update

• Katie shared that Enlace had its strongest outcomes in WIDA. This is the first year of the Next Gen SIG grant. Enlace invested in the multilingual team and focused on staffing. The recommendation is to have 1 ML teacher for every 30 students, but it is an unfounded mandate. Without grants like Next Gen SIG, it would have been challenging. The culture in the 6th-8th grades has drastically improved. The celebratory piece has been impactful. 
• Carlota shared that WIDA is a test we give K-8 EL students. The students are screened at the beginning of the school year. The data doesn't give great info, but it says they qualify for services. WIDA evaluates their English language acquisition academically. They are listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The report with the results isn't shared until April, and there is one semester to push student language. Students took the test in January. The goal is that they grow .5 levels each year. That goal will change in the coming years, per OEI. 24 students tested out. These students scored a composite score of 5 or above, so they exit the program. This is the highest number of kids who have tested out. An additional 19 kids can be exited because they are approaching proficiency. IDOE will finalize when evidence is submitted. The success has been due to the ML coaching, talking about high schools, the importance of grades, and their future. They were taught the value of confidence, ability, and the students wanted acknowledgment. 

Katie shared that this was a long legislative session. Two updates, first is that Bill 1499 did pass, thanks to the collaboration from this board. Schools with over 50% ML are exempt from the SB1 retention clause for the next two years. 

Funding is largely unchanged as it did not decrease. The only difference is facilities grant we received was not renewed. Funding will be secured and consistent for two years. 

The EOY assessments are coming and will be coming via board on track. Katie's eval is due July 12, and iLearn outcomes will be available then, along with board assurances. 

Lilly Grant Update 

As of today, there has not been an update regarding Phase II from Lilly. This money will be used as an extension for SIG. Enlace will be invited to a formal Phase III application over the summer. The decision will be made in October and November. 

Key Grants and Agreements

NextGen SIG fund is largely used for the ML intervention team. The IPS innovation agreement continues to provide for our building. Once Enlace starts receiving property tax, and once that amount hits 300k, IPS will no longer fund 300k towards transportation. 

The current charter application, which gives Enlace the ability to operate, ends in June of 2027. Next school year will be the final year to demonstrate to OEI the academic data updates. The charter renewal process will happen in the fall of 2026.

Brian shared the proposed budget for the 25-26 school year since the legislative session. Other schools are struggling due to a loss of funding, but Enlace's overall budget position is stronger than what other schools are facing. The budget summary shows 660 students. It is still a conservative number. Per year, almost 10.8 million dollars. 30k per day operation, a lot of growth since the first year. Break even budget includes a kitchen renovation. Days' cash on hand at 262. Enlace doesn't have any debt service. 

1 million for Patachou includes 500k in equipment costs, which includes a new hood. 500k of capital, installing electrical upgrades and plumbing. Ken proposes that a project plan be presented to the board and that a general operating budget for the kitchen project be provided. 

This was Ken's last board meeting and he will be missed as he has brought. 

Events coming up:

Match Day May 15

College and Career Fair May 21

Graduation May 16