Welcome to the Monday, October 20th, 2025 meeting of the Dennis J Regional School Committee. Please stand and join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God
indivisibley justice. Thank you. Um student representatives report uh we hold off on our student is in uh sports and then they're still in the process after a discussion a couple weeks ago of appointing an additional person. Um they
have not come to a conclusion in that. Um, so we'll jump into Mr. Kulis and Miss Edwards to discuss a possible 2027 high school field trip. So, we'll invite you to the podium. I think we have you queued up on the screen, Mr. Kulis. >> Make sure the green light's on if it's
not or you could just be. There we go. Sorry about that. Uh, good evening. Thank you for inviting me to present. Uh, Miss Edwards could not make it tonight, but I am fully capable. I hope so. Our proposed trip is to go out to
Utah and Colorado. Um people looked at it and asked me why there said well it provides students with a different experience, new cultures, ways of life that they wouldn't have seen or experienced before. It's a very immersive trip. Put
them into new situations. Get them away from the screen, away from technology, and literally put them out in the wilderness. Um, we will visit national parks. We will go down a riverboat ride at night. Um, have a cowboy style dinner
out under the stars. Um, and it will, kind of in the vein of Teddy Roosevelt, get them to dare mighty things, right? Give them that new confidence they might need to go out into the world and give them that real world travel experience.
Um, it also exposes them to the nation's natural history as well as American history in general, science, um, and art while we're out there as well. And also for people on the East Coast, it's kind of an uncommon destination. I know I've
only had one or two friends that have gone out there in the past. Um, and the one who actually went out there for a while stayed out there. So, I'd love to have these kids experience that. Um, it would be a six- day trip. Uh, on
day one, we start in Salt Lake City, uh, move to Temple Square in Olympic Cauldron Park, and then travel to Moab. Day two, we'd go to Canyon Lands, see the Mesa Arch, um, and we'd hike uh around Canyon Lands as well. Then we
would hike to Grand View Overlook and enjoy the cowboy style Dutch oven dinner. And at night, take a flat bottom boat ride on the Colorado River. Day three, we'd visit arches, uh, go on a hike through the sand, uh, and then end up at Landscape Arch, Delicate Arch,
and the Window Arches. Um, day four, we would travel to Lenwood Springs, visit the Caverns Adventure Park there. It's the only mountain top amusement park in America. We've seen pictures and videos of it. It's actually kind of cool. You take a gondola ride up there. Um, and
you can ride the different roller coasters they have. We will also tour the Ferry or Kings Row Caves depending on the day. And then after that, we will travel uh to Denver and visit the Meow Wolf Immersive Art Museum. Uh this is
the museum is actually one of a kind. It is the brainchild of about a half a dozen artists and it creates this new world where they combine four fantasy worlds together as
if a meteorite had crashed into the middle of Denver. So it is different but it's going to give them an experience that they won't have anywhere else. Uh the last two days we are in Rocky Mountain National Park and then we
travel down to Boulder. Um again when we in Rocky Mountain we'll be hiking different trails and we will go for different walks and observe native wildlife while we're there. That night we enjoy dinner and explore Boulder. And on day six we go to Denver
early in the morning, get to see the city during the day and depart for home. For the cost, it's 3500 to 4,100 per student, depending on the amount of kids. We're hoping to get to the 3500
amount. Uh we would need about 40 kids. That covers airfare, lodging, food, tours, etc. No entry fees for them anywhere. Everything is paid for through that. Uh we are looking to give them fundraising opportunities and the company we go through, EF, offers
scholarships as well. have to write essays and send them in. Uh, and that will help offset the cost for students. It's why we're trying to get it approved so early. Uh, we want to give them the time to raise funds, do car washes, bake sales, and
put that money away right into the account so they can pay it off and give them an easier time of it. We also have about 1,500 saved up from previous fundraising for other trips that we've done. Um, and we are going to use it afford this as well and give
scholarships to the kids that you know may not be able to afford it. Um, we're aiming for April 2027, the majority over April break. We're hoping to leave that Thursday or Friday before
break and that way most of it will be that Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and they will not miss very much of school at all. Um, that is what I have. I gladly take any
questions if you have any for me. >> Any questions? Miss Landers, >> I love that this is a very different trip than other trips and I What a cool opportunity. I I see that it's for student leaders, >> right?
>> Well, so yes, student leaders, we take recommendations, but we are going to open it up to the student body. Okay. in general. Um, if there's a kid that's interested, I wouldn't want to turn them away. >> And so, since it's not like
all like in previous trips where it's like the robotics club, right, or kids interested in robotics go to Japan or something like that, this would be, >> you know, this could be a pretty wide, you know, varied group of students. And so I wonder how you will
either pre or postrip or both be focusing on the educational component where you know you're not going to have all these kids in one science class or all these kids in one history class. So you know I don't want this I mean it sounds like a great trip but it should
you know how are you going to put that in? So, we would want to focus a lot on beforehand, have them look at the history of the parks, look at the history of the interior department, um come up with their own little project, assign different groups to a different
park. Um, and then post trip, expand on that knowledge, expand on those projects that we have them do beforehand. Um, and then for the art kids, if kids are going and they're in art classes, you know, photography, taking pictures, they never had the
opportunity, some of them, to see majesty like this before, painting, sculptures, right? We would want them to come back and produce something for us, right? That would be the goal. And also the idea that they
will pick up some lifelong skills and be able to transfer them to DY. Uh, so again, like you said, it's not so much they're all in one class. It's not a targeted group. It's more of building community. >> Um, so I'm definitely in favor of it,
but I would like to see a formalized plan for whatever that looks like. Okay? >> Whether it's asking each student to choose a focus, art, science, culture, history, whatever it's going to be. And so we know that
>> they're doing work with you beforehand and that they would have some sort of project or presentation for afterwards based on >> Absolutely. We can bring them in for you too if you want. >> Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. >> Any other questions or comments? Miss Beus,
>> mine is probably an extension of that question. So is it uh because you're covering a lot of territory and the sites. So is it motor coach and spend a couple of hours at a national park and then move on or will students have the
opportunity to sort of do outwardbound hiking, dayhiking or you know adventure or leadership skills in some ways that way. >> Uh it'll be a mix of both right. We'll be in Moab for a couple of days. So we'll travel out to the parks around that area and we'll spend the day in the
parks. Um and then days four, uh three and four is a bit more traveling. Um and along the way they will stop to get out, explore different trails, different parks. The traveling there is done by motor
coach. It's a flight in and out, but the traveling there is on a bus. The company provides the bus. It's paid for through the fees the kids pay already. Um, but the goal is to get them outside as
much as possible out into the parks. So, they do try to break up the traveling quite a bit for us. Does that answer your question? Okay, Mr. Martin. So
I guess my question uh uh stems from the itinerary and um seeing the different locations and it's out in the Midwest and you know not only is there going to be you know especially in Colorado
there's going to be higher elevation but there's also um a lot of activity physical activity going on and I just want to know uh how familiar you are with the locations and the hiking trails
and such and how well a diverse group of physically active or not physically active students would be able to navigate the hiking and the physical part of it. >> I understand. Um I am not overall very familiar. I've not been out there. Um, I
do know that when we go to the different parks, they will provide guides who are from the area who have been in the parks. Um, I don't expect that we'll be going out into the back country. Um, we're going to be on the main trails for them. As for the different levels of
fitness and athleticism, we are we will have to make it plain up front that this is what is expected, right? Part of this is hiking. This is going out into the state parks, right?
It's not one of those things you can say, "I don't want to do it today." Well, that's part of it, right? It's doing the hard thing, right? If that means going up into the elevation, that's what it is. And naturally, before we go, we run everybody by the nurse's office to make
sure that everyone can handle it who is signed up. This would be pretty far in advance. and make sure that any kids who may have an issue are cleared to go. And again, like you said, it's not the
normal type of trip. It is much more of an experience out in the wilderness. So, we would definitely keep an eye on kids that we would need to. Um, I hope that answers your question. If it doesn't, we can continue.
>> Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, it it does. just um um yeah, I guess I mean I I guess being I don't want anybody who wanted to experience this to be excluded because they have, you know, a respiratory issue
and they're 10,000 miles up in the air. You know, I guess it wouldn't be 10,000 miles, would Yeah. Thank you. >> Well, there goes my credibility, right? >> Can you tell I haven't been to Colorado either? Yeah. No, but I mean and then
the the the walking trails being a little more, you know, uh being being feasible for somebody who has, you know, differing ability or maybe a little, you know, a little bit of a a medical issue or a physical issue to be able to to be able to navigate and not miss out on something like this,
>> right? I mean, and I I I understand that. And when we do go up higher in the elevation, right, it is to the amusement park. We do take the gondola up. There is no climbing like I said in the back the back woods or anything like that. All the paths are well traveled. Um and
we do the best we can. I mean that's I hate to phrase it that way. If someone needs help, one of us would have to stay behind. You know, one of our um chaperones would have to be with
that person. That is why we take four or five chaperones. Okay, that that was going to be my next question. How many chaperons would be >> It would be four to five, >> right? That was my same question for the same reason. If there was different levels of ability, if there was a >> chaperon that needed to or could
>> And we when we've traveled previously, we have said, "Hey, today someone's going to stay behind, it's you." >> We have that already pre-sorted out before we go off for the day. >> Perfect. Um, and then it sounds like the this would be the current sophomore
junior class that's in high school now because then they would be the juniors and seniors in April 27th. >> It would be the sophomores and juniors and we were considering opening up to the future 10th graders as well. >> Yeah, it sounds like whatever you know
open it to the the narrower one and then if you know if you need to get to 40 or you want it larger than >> opening it up or keeping it to leaders >> interest. Sorry, I I spoke of you. I don't know. Not a problem. >> Yeah. Or if there's more or if there's, you know, to get more interest or if there's a lot of interest, it'd be
great. Um, sounds like a great trip. Any questions? M. Sanders. >> I move that we approve the trip as presented. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. Do we have any questions? All those in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? Any abstain?
Congratulations and uh we look forward to this opportunity and as you know, Miss Lander said, we always any trip that we approve, we love to hear feedback from the students. Um it just makes easier for us to approve the next one. >> Absolutely. >> So, thank you. >> Thank you. Have a nice night. >> Thanks. Great.
>> Uh next, we'll invite Miss Dickup to discuss the high school parking lot policy. Um and Miss Bennett, we appreciate you guys coming back. I know we had a lot of questions before, >> so thank you. >> Mr. Cool has turned the green light off on you. Sorry.
>> There it is. Thank you for having us back. >> All right, so here we go again. Um, the student parking policy at the high school. >> Oh, you got me. >> She's my Vanna White. All right. So, we decided as a as an administrative team,
we're going to revert back to the current handbook policy, the 2526 handbook policy for parking. It's actually under transportation in section E of the handbook. And basically what that policy indicates is that should students have excessive absences,
tardies or dismissals combined total of five or more or or and this really should say andor and or more than five disciplinary referrals and or on social notice they may lose their parking privileges. I went backwards.
Is that the right one? >> Yeah. Okay. So, why assigned parking? It supports positive school cult culture and community. And really what we want to do is create some new traditions. And we're going to get to that. I'll speak to that in a little bit. Establish clear
expectations for students. Um really tied to the handbook and based on accountability and responsibility for the students. Enforce existing policy more efficiently. Again, this would refer to the 2526 handbook. Ensure safety and accountability in the parking
lot. more organized parking, less chaos, administrative awareness, reduce stress on students, and also to remind our students that parking is a privilege, not a right, and we do have school buses for our students.
So, what we are recommending or asking is that students must provide a valid driver's license if they want to park on campus. They must provide a a valid driver's license and a valid car registration. And we are proposing a $20
parking fee that would be deposited into a rolling account that would go toward lot maintenance potholes, for example, filling those park parking lot painting. We may have to repaint the lines and future upgrades. So, as I said, assigned spots will allow
for reduced stress around parking. Um, so students basically you have a spot. It's there for you. It's your comfort zone. You know it's there. It's a comfort comfortable familiar place that you're going to park. You don't have to rush to school. So we're looking
for that safety that safety piece reducing chaos in the parking lot. And then the increased safety and track better tracking kind of goes hand inand the increased safety again as we will know who is on our campus, who's parking, who shouldn't be. And again, we
know it's as good as we are going to monitor it, and we haven't worked that out yet, but we're we will be working it out. We're going to try to monitor that as best that we can. Um, and then again, the clear consequences for policy violations as indicated in the handbook.
And students who are out of compliance may lose their parking privilege or they could face additional disciplinary action instead of that. So, where are we going? We want to use parking as a tool for culture change. So
we have brainstormed some ideas. Uh so so these are just some and there could be more. This isn't limited to this mystery dates. So pick a day random attendance kids who are there. Maybe we have put all the kids in a random
selection. You pick out four, five, one from each class and maybe they each get a $5 Dunkin dollar gift Dunkin Donuts gift card just to say you were here. Other kids will hear about that and maybe they'll want to come to school more consideration of future open
campus. We are preparing these kids for the future for the next step. And when you're seniors, the next step is college. You have a lot of freedom. So we really want to investigate looking at an open campus in the future. Not something we are ready to talk about
tonight, but something that is definitely on our radar. Painter spot. This is an open canvas for creativity for our students. They could decorate it with a club or sport they're associated with with the college that they've been
accepted to for the seniors. Um and it really is a lowcost lowcost initiative that has a huge return on investment for us building community and culture in the school.
And then preferential parking earned through positive behavior and attendance. And you know we want to think about that. So we're thinking about you know maybe it is kids who have great attendance. Maybe it is kids who have are on the
honor roll, but maybe it's also kids who have improved in an area. So covering all all areas of the school. So again, personalized parking for seniors is what we're exploring. Incentive based access to premium
parking spots, what what I just mentioned, you know, um so those kids might get um the premium parking spots, the kids that I just mentioned. Um, and there could be more. We're still brainstorming it. Recognition for students with strong attendance. Those
kind of go together. Um, opportunities for student leadership. So, this is a big one. So, our our upper classmen are our leaders and they're going to set the tone for our underclassmen. And if they are into the culture, the new tradition of painting the spots,
other younger kids are going to want to do that. If they abide by the policies, show respect, are respectful, get grades are the whole package. Other kids are going to want to do that as well. So that's really, you know, looking toward
our seniors, giving them and upper classmen, giving them an opportunity to be leaders and role models and mentors for all of our younger students. And we also want to survey them. So what's we're going to implement it, but what's working? What's not working?
Allow them to have a voice. So, it's about more than parking. It encourages accountability, promotes safety, recognizes responsibility, and builds community. So, we hope that you'll consider this policy. Thank you for your time.
>> Any questions from the committee? >> Be this is great. Thank you so much for coming back and presenting it. So, I guess my only question is, do we have to approve anything or just go yay?
Uh, I mean, is the $20 fee a new thing that would need our approval? >> Somebody Somebody's nodding at me. >> Well, I did present it last time, but I don't know. I think I would defer to you on that >> question. >> Yeah. So, really the only piece from a policy perspective would be the
additional fee, right? Um, they didn't make any changes to the their hand. They reverted back to the previous handbook. Um, and so from strictly from a Bosy perspective, the committee would be approving an an additional fee
and the committee would approve this. It wouldn't have to be a policy recommendation first. Technically, it's not really a policy. Uh, no, you're just approving a a user fee. Yeah.
Landers. >> Um, thank you for coming back. I really appreciate the the positive tone here and you know, you heard us. That's for sure. Um, I like that we are incentivizing.
Um, and that, you know, this is really about positive culture and, you know, I love the painting of the spots and earning better spots, whatever those might be. Yeah, I can't >> we can set some aside like we're going to figure that out, >> right? I mean and and that's where
you're going to want obviously to survey the kids and find out, you know, what's most meaningful to them, but um I really appreciate the tone of this and um I don't have concern about the $20 fee. I think if you're, you know, if you've got money to put gas in your car and do all
those things, then you should probably be able to come up with $20. And I'm sure if there were students who were struggling, you would find a way to help them. So, um, >> yeah, I'm I'm uh pleased with this. Thank you, >> Mr. Martin.
>> Good to see you again. Thanks for coming back. >> You, too. >> I do I I I I'll echo that the whole tone of this has changed. Yeah. And that it's it's a lot more, you know, positive and, you know, you're u it wasn't really the incentive part of it in the last
presentation. And um I think this is a much better a much better tone overall for the project. I guess my only question and you had mentioned that it wasn't really worked out yet would be the um the part of who is
who's in charge of patrolling and and keeping the lot accountable, you know, because that the way the way I'm picturing it in my mind, it's kind of a uh it's kind of a triple check for each car. You got to see if you have the pass in there and then you have to see if the pass matches the car and then you have
to if the car matches the number that they're parking in. Um, so that's going to take time. >> That's going to take somebody's labor hour, you know, to, you know, that they could be doing that. That's really not their job. You know what I mean? It's so, so that's my concern.
>> Um, >> can I answer that? >> Yeah, absolutely. >> I think it's a great concern, great question. We haven't worked it out yet, but I think between the administration, the SRO's, we can work something out. And I don't think it's going out into the lot every day checking every car. I think maybe it's random selection here
and there. I mean, we're not looking to find somebody doing something wrong. So, I think it would just we would randomly go out and and check some cars. >> And do you have um how how many how many student parking spots are there?
>> I knew this. Um 273, I think, if that's on the top of my head, but that's that's staffing I think as well. as well. So, I mean, is it about 50/50 split between staff and things? >> We don't currently have a parking issue like with not having enough spots.
>> Yeah. >> You know, we could someday, which is why this might be a good thing to put in place and maybe if that ever happened, you'd have to go to a lottery or something, but we're not there. Um, so I think it's about that, but yeah, it's probably a 50-50 split with the
teachers. So, and and as far as the decorating of spots, we're just we're talking about allowing the students to just kind of paint their spots and decorate it the way that they >> Yeah. Give them some ownership and some pride and build some culture, you know, >> and then if they lose their spot, the next kid that comes in has to park over
an Auburn sign. >> Yep. >> Well, that's where the rotating account comes into place. We'll paint it. >> Okay. Um All right. No, I mean I I I do I do like this version a lot better than
I like the la last version. So I mean and you know there's some things to work out, but I mean you're aware of that and so I and I'm I'm feel a lot better about this today. >> Thank you. I appreciate you coming back and putting the effort into this. I know it's I know you're trying to get
something new and it's always hard to make change. So I think it'll be a great thing and I think you'll know when you have a problem when someone says there's someone in my spot. I think that's going to be the time when you when you have to do it, right? Because once you assign it and then someone's in the spot. I live in a condo, so I know >> they leave they leave they leave
stickers on your window. They leave you love love love notes. It's great. >> But uh perfect. I see no other questions, Miss Landers. >> I move that we approve the parking fee as part of the overall
uh parking presentation. >> Perfect. I'll second that. We have a motion and a second to approve the user fee for parking in the amount of $20. Any questions or other comments? Seeing none, all those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Any abstain? Congratulations
and thank you again. >> Thank you. And just so you know, we're looking maybe to implement this second semester. Okay. >> Thanks. >> Thank you. Uh next we'll move to subcommittee representatives leaison reports. Uh school committee leazison to select board. Start with
sorry I made it. Are you guys okay that I just skipped down? I already checked it off. I'm gonna invite the principles up for in school improvement plans. We'll start with elementary principles.
I see Miss Mahades coming up. Hi, I'm Carol Mahade. the principal Margaret Small and we've all done this together. I I need a Kendra. Um so what we've done is we've outlined the strategic objectives and then each of us
will say how we align with that. So the strategic objective number one is to eliminate disparities in access and achievement for every student by providing learning experiences that promote student independence through strong tier one instruction utilizing
high quality instructional materials. leveraging district resources of staff, administration, curriculum, technology, and professional learning structures and strengthening and fostering relationships with students, families, the community, and all stakeholders
at Margarite Small. This first one aligns similarly to what you saw a year ago and that's to support the implementation of district curriculum by focusing on observation and feedback on instructional practices that impact
student learning and to make sure that those instructional p practices are consistent with the HM new implementation, the literacy collaborative and Eureka math squared. And of course the point of this is to ensure
academic opportunity for all of our kids. The second one is that um we have a new rubric, not new to the state, but new to us that the uh DEA and a group of
educators worked together to have us accept this year. And it gives us the opportunity because we changed a lot of timelines in that so that teachers can make their student learning goals and professional practice goals around the
data that's reflective of the students right in front of them before before the MAP or other assessments were in they already had to decide their goals. So this is a much better way to go forward with this and we're excited about that.
Finally, at Emmy Small, we've created a student attend. We want to increase student attendance rates and we've created a committee that looks at this. We're looking at um working with families. We have an attendance team and we communicate timely. If we don't hear
from you by 11:00 in the day, you get a nice little um phone call and a little parent square reminder um just saying, "Hey, we're missing Jenny today." Um so, thanks Good evening everyone. I'm uh Pat Riley.
I'm the principal at the Ezra HBaker Innovation School. Very pleased to be uh joining you this evening and uh presenting our school improvement plan for you. Uh at the Ezra HBaker Innovation School, uh we would like to uh align to the strategic initiative by uh leveraging the innovation scheduling
model uh to refocus our efforts to improve uh student writing outcomes. Uh we've done some analysis of the uh student responses to the MCCAST writing prompt over the last few years and um are identifying areas working with our
our coaches um where we can um promote improvements uh especially with student response to writing. Um Kevin Deppen uh started that last year and uh that's an initiative that we'd like to uh carry forward. uh you'll see some similarities between
uh some of the items here with the other elementary schools. Uh implement the updated PLC model and handbook to establish educator learning. Uh one of the uh strategic objectives this year is to uh have consistent uh professional learning community practice uh across
the district. And so we've taken measures uh at Ezra Baker already this year to uh put those structures in place and to uh lead uh right out of the gate with uh consistent um agenda formats um and scheduling our coaches to be at
those PLC meetings regularly uh for uh conversations and planning with teachers for literacy and math. And then uh similar to any small, we certainly want to have our students in the seats uh so they can work with our wonderful teaching staff um and do all
their best learning. And we know that attendance is one of the biggest factors in that. Uh so similar to Emmy Small, we are going to be promoting schoolwide practices that encourage consistent attendance. >> Hi, I'm Valerie Kelly. I'm the principal at Station Up. Uh we have similar themes
to the other two elementary schools. We again this year looked at our master schedule and reconfigured things so to allow for long uninterrupted subject area instruction as well as common planning and structures to PLC in alignment with the district strategic initiatives.
We are supporting the um we're not calling it pilot classes the pioneers the HMH pioneer teachers uh for the implementation of our new curriculum. We are continuing the But I need the wind block during the extended learning time that was initiated last year. This
allows for in intervention and EL instruction to happen outside of tier one instruction, affording more time for in-class uh availability for those students. And we're trying to be responsive to our MCCAST data and focus on uh specifically early numer as well
as um an intentional focus on fractions for math for ELA a renewed focus on the daily writing and uh for reading focus with um folktale proficiency and finally we're going to uh do
continue with many walkthroughs u the focus being on priority standards and high leverage instructional practices. All right, good evening. So Tim Blake, principal of DY Intermediate. So same goals. So based on MCCAST data, we have teacher goals that focus on writing and math. So similar to what you've heard
before. So in literacy, we're working with the curriculum department to support the new curriculum. Uh we're asking students to write at least twice a week in response to text and at least once a month on a longer writing assignment that's more revisable and editable. And we're utilizing PLC
meetings to analyze student writing with the end result of we could then go into your class and see an observable writing strategy. In math, kind of a similar kind of like flow to this. We're going to add more math fluency activities based on target standards. So, I can certainly start
reading the standards that we need to do better on. You might stop me after a couple, but fourth and fifth grade, lots of fractions, lots of math fluency, knowing your math, facts, and division. Um and then utilizing our PLC meetings to analyze end of module assessments and benchmark assessments to create
observable teaching strategies based on student performance. So we just actually did that today. Um there was one standard where the students didn't do as well as we hope on measurement and so then we got into their next module identified the specific lesson and how
we would modify some things within the prescribed curriculum that we think would help improve student achievement. And then last one is utilize ST Math, which is a tier 2 curriculum resource for all students at least 60 minutes a week. That's where studies have shown we get the most kind of bang for the buck.
Um, if you had a fourth and fifth grader and asked them about Gigi the Penguin, they might be able to tell you a little bit about it. But this is kind of where Stath where it's all problem based. Um, if I gave you all an iPad and said, "Here's a problem." You would probably say, "Tim, there's no directions there." And I would say, "Rock on. Figure out
how to move it." Some of you might jump on it right away and some of you might give me the iPad back, but um it's definitely a good curriculum resource that we're using. Um once we get to the third goal, you'll see why I'm not allowed to come up here and talk about anything. So, I got
another one here. So, part of this goal is to create a sustained and positive classroom community by addressing students socio emotional needs. Um, I know I spoke about this a little bit last year and we've moved from zones, which if you ever seen the movies with like all the characters that are
different colors, so kids at a young age describe themselves at different colors. Well, that's been kind of a part of kids elementary upbringing. Last year we introduced Boston's vers Bies and allin as a way to promote um approach anti-bullying, but now we have a new
district resource which is wayfinder that's going to align all these efforts. So really at our school was kind of to, you know, I hate to say scrub out all the old things because they're not old bad things, but to make sure that we're all using the common resource and kind
of moving on from those past resources because that's where kids are going to be used to K to 12. So our goal is really classroom teachers complete a specific 10 lessons by the end of May. So they've been trained and they're ready to go as of November 1st. uh our related arts staff within Wayfinder.
There's a collection on absenteeism, so they're going to make sure all kids get that. So, it's not just in their regular classrooms, but it's also related our teachers as well. Um I know this was brought to school committee at some point. We're making sure we have calm corners in classrooms. All classroom teachers will complete my saber
screening. So, we just did that recently and I know some interventions have gone into place like literally today. Um, I know I can't click there, but there'll be a little bit more details there. I'm still Carol Mah.
Strategic objective number two, establish consistent district-wide systems to support organizational effectiveness that support student learning, effective communication, development of a positive public image of the district, and allow DY to be able
to respond effectively to changes in the educational landscape as they occur. Um at Emmy Small we're going to continue what we began last year and was really successful a monthly cycle of our professional learning communities
focused each literacy math then on data and data driven decision making and then connected to those PLC's around data we're going to utilize the multi-tered support system to continuously review and analyze current and relevant data in
order to deliver instruction across classroom tier one intervention and also specialized settings. Um I'm very excited and if you haven't um seen this yet, we've really um embraced our social media presence this
year and um we've been just post focusing on posting simple but positive um experiences that students are having in school on both Facebook and Instagram. turn off. So, um when I thought about um
strategic objective number two and aligning this, uh school improvement plan, uh one thing that um came to mind for me was that uh thinking about systems. Um we want to put things in place that aren't person specific, but
that can be sustainable across several years. and no matter who's taking the lead on different initiatives and different things. Uh so part of my work uh my entry work uh following someone who has been uh a really strong leader at Ezra H.Baker Baker for many years um
is to really identify all of the different committees, we'll call them, or different um support groups of adults that work to um address different levels of student need across the school and really identify what the purpose of all
those different working groups are and um what opportunities we have for realignment or redistribution of those responsibilities so that we're not duplicating efforts across different uh committees and groups and things. that we have working uh whether it be the student support team or the PBIS team uh
or other um teams, child study uh things that we have in place right now um that again um thinking more from a systems approach. How can we make that work efficient and sustainable um so that it can continue and be successful for for
several years uh to come. So, um, part of that work, uh, I'd like to codify that by creating, uh, MTSS, multi-ter systems of support handbook to provide consistency and how we look at the whole student and support their needs from that, uh, classroom level, tier one instruction all the way through
any interventions they may need uh, if they're not responding uh, to that that main uh, classroom instruction. And uh another uh really important goal uh for this is to uh reestablish our student our school council uh which
hasn't been in operation for at least a year or so. Uh so efforts are already underway to uh get some nominees and uh go through the process of electing uh educator and uh family and community representatives.
At station a this year we have adopted the Finn. Uh we copied Miss Bennett at the high school. Every Monday morning we meet with our social emotional team which is our assistant principal, school social worker, behavior teacher and school psych to talk about needs related
to attendance, academics and behavior. Um in alignment with this we're trying to increase connectedness to school and reverse any negative absenteeism trends. Um similarly we have created uh enrichment block with our related arts
team which meets for 25 minutes a day uh with a focus on SEI or SEAL um to help some of our students um increase their connectedness to school in different ways and for our multilingual students to have another opportunity to review um
that contextual language that is offered in those related arts groups. We are trying to focus this year on having shorter data cycles to foster instructional responsiveness to performance data and timely implementation of interventions for academic behavior and attendance. And
finally um similar to the other schools, our child study team or student support team um meets collaboratively to discuss and support dynamic needs of students using evidence-based and datadriven practices. All right. So, the way I'm going to
explain this last goal here for me is it's a little bit between the first goal strategic objective and the second one. So without just kind of reading from there, what this looks like is for years we put a ton of effort because in fourth grade is the first time all the kids from Dennis and Yarmouth come together
and you need to spend a a lot of time, you know, creating a school community and I feel we do a pretty good job of that. So there's a couple ways that we know that between some PBIS surveys that the kids take. Um there's some it's called vocal surveys at the end of MCCAST where we've got some some pretty
good feelings about how the kids feel about that. um sometimes complex things I feel like have a little bit like simple solutions. So when we looked at some of the we did a family survey parents in terms of they rated their belonging to the school was good but it
really wasn't where we wanted to. So the way I've been explaining this to people is as much time as we put into the kids getting to know each other not really the adults. So, what that ends up looking like, I'm gonna pick on Miss Landers just for a second. No, I
know you wouldn't mind. So, if like Miss Landers was a new fourth grade parent and her son came home and said, "Hey, I'd like him to come over to our house." That parent might really say, "Well, I don't really know who he is." Because you don't know the family. So, as a
member of our school council said, it's hard to be a community when you're all strangers. So, we're putting a considerable amount of effort of having a couple different where not just people come to the school, but they would come to the school and meet the other families that they're in their kids' home room. So then those hopefully those
kind of like social networks can increase. So that's basically what it says all up there. So we did a music bingo night for the first night here, which was really not a not it wasn't an academic night. It was just a fun night. So if you've ever maybe been out at a
restaurant where they had music bingo, that's exactly what it is. Whole families came in. They sat with their families. We had enough popcorn to feed like probably the high school from the 99 which was great. Um, and we just had a great event. We had fourth grade all by themselves. We had a ton of people
here. We did for fifth grade. We still had a ton of people here. So, we're pretty excited how that went. So, we want to plan one more night before we get into the holiday season. So, we're planning we're meeting this Thursday like a little taste around the world night on the 19th. So that hasn't solidified it yet, but really we wanted
to get some other nights when parents come to school, have a chance to meet people, and it wasn't like parent teacher conference or open house. So that's what we did. Thanks, Sam. I taught him
everything he knows. Not really. Um, strategic objective number three is to address the district's short and long-term facilities and capital needs. Not that I know anything about that. um by developing a multi-year capital plan,
collaborating with the appropriate governance boards to appropriate funding and securing support of stakeholders to ensure a safe and 21st century learning environment for all students and staff.
Oops, back me up. Thanks. Okay. Um at Emmy Small, first and foremost, as all of you know, is to continue um our work as the building committee and to comply with all timelines and tasks as outlined by
the MSBA. Um could not be happier about that opportunity. Um and then to continue to work with DY facilities personnel on internal improvements and repairs. Um, I don't know how much you know about this, but last year we had a
I affectionately called it the MEES makeover committee and we made a long term a long list of building improvements, but we also figured out shortterm solutions and we shared it with um the facilities department and we
have really burned through that list. If you haven't been at Emmy Small, the newly painted entryway is just a phenomenal improvement and many things along the way. So, it was definitely a many hands make light work um endeavor
and we're going to continue on that. And then finally, and this is long and short term, is to collaborate with families and community groups and local government to facilitate the improvements that all of our Emmy Small
students and families deserve. Thanks, All right. So, um very similar to uh Emmy Small uh working uh with our facilities department um and technology personnel on internal improvements uh and repairs that we can make within the
building. I always like to say we may be the oldest building in the district uh but we don't need to look like we have old things in our school. uh our students and our teachers um and families deserve to have a school that's welcoming and inviting and have um
instructional resources um and equipment that are geared for 21st century learning. Uh so again with the school council uh prioritizing areas for facilities improvement um and making sure that we have this list uh ready to present to
any um relevant capital planning stakeholders or committees. Um the school council is going to be a really important um body to uh provide that insight. Uh and then uh along with that uh making sure that we are keeping our
eye on the upcoming centennial celebration um because uh the building was uh built in 1930. The main part of the building uh the first class of students was welcomed in 1931. Uh but we certainly want to celebrate that that cornerstone 1930 centennial that's just
a few years away actually. So, um getting into the initial stages of planning for that and um really uh because I I imagine that will still be there in in uh 2030 um the uh MSBA while they're while they're a great
organization, they do tend to move a little at their own pace of course, right? Um so we'll still be there in uh 2030, we hope. And um we want to make sure that that's something that we that we celebrate. station. Uh spirits are up with the realization of the long awaited
playground. We are in the final stages. Um there's just a few steps left and it's mostly just pouring the footing and um the port in place. So it'll be we will have a fully functional state-of-the-art playground that's fully ADA compliant and accessible for all of
our students. And for some of our students with different needs, this will be the first time they'll be able to access the whole playground. So, it's a very, very big deal. And students are getting to watch this happen in real time every day. They're watching the the progress and asking questions to the workers. And it's it's um it's really
great to see. We have a new librarian this year and we've been working to innovate the station library um and taking a look at ways we can enhance our maker space and technology resources as well as revitalize our book collection. We are still addressing some of the
overcrowding that occurred at station a over the the past few decades. And um part of that course correction is creating traditional spaces for important therapies to take place. And so this year um we were able to instill um to create a proper occupational and
physical therapy space for those um services to be provided which is a a big deal. We also um have a new harbor program which for is for students with social emotional needs. And we were able to get support um from the district to get optimal furnishing and sensory
sensitive um tools for students in that program to be really truly set up for success. And it's been successful um launching so far and this year is the 30th birthday of Station AB. So, we have some long-term capital planning to
consider. And so, we're trying to map out kind of what updates and replacements of bigger systems like the roof or um exterior doors or the furnace, boiler, fun things like that. Um what that would would entail and how
to properly plan for that fiscally. >> And I think Tim wasn't allowed to >> I think because Mr. Blake had two pages earlier. >> Yeah. So that concludes the K5 school um
improvement planning and we are open for questions. >> Wonderful. Yes, I I see he did two pages so we didn't have to do one at the end. Um any questions or comments from the committee? >> Tim, you used some um acronym my saber
something like that. What's that please? >> It's the social emotional academic behavior screener. Um, it was purchased separate from Wayfinder, but it's basically a risk screener to help
us identify students um who are at risk in any of those domains and afford us um a meaningful vehicle to get them the right supports. >> So, all students are screened >> grades two through eight and they can opt out. Yeah. >> Thank you.
>> Yep. >> Any other questions? Perfect. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Soon we'll move up the grade to the middle school. >> Good evening everyone. I'm Mike Deino, uh, principal here at the middle school.
So, we're really focused on um the strategic plan number one that Carol read to us. Um our our goal for this is to really uh focus on student engagement
and student ownership of their academics. Uh we are accomplishing this through three different initiatives. We are um starting student led conferences this year. um we have a wind block and um continuing our work with in PBIS and
using live school. So when we're looking at conferences um we were noticing that there was a downward trend of uh student student ownership and as well as uh family
participation. So, as a middle school, we wanted to really start um focusing in on our students, kind of having ownership and um working through accountability of their own
academics. uh these conference over the past week or so um students have been working on building a portfolio or a slide presentation that will um be used during these conferences this week on Tuesdays and Thursday. Uh students will allow the
will attend the conference with their families uh and present how they have been doing throughout their um academics so far this year. Within the portfolio and presentation, there are also some other reflection
areas that focus on um areas that students might be doing well in or areas that they might need a little additional support. So they're again taking ownership and kind of reflecting on uh what they need from us as adults.
Hopefully through this initiative, students will have uh feel a sense of accountability and we will see an increase of uh stu uh family participation and in the spring students will continue to build off this portfolio so that they
can see the progress they've made throughout the year. So our second goal is um adding in a wind block similar to station a. It is a uh block within the day that we have
been able to use uh kind of as a flex block. Initially we frontloaded all of our social emotional wayfinder lessons within there. So they've been working with their home room. So, they've been creating more of a smaller community
within the the larger school community. And now, as we continue to move further through the first trimester, we're going to start uh grouping students into uh various groups that can either work on
uh areas that need support or uh areas that can be advanced or accelerated. those uh groups will stay stay together for five weeks. They'll focus on a specific learning task or area um that can either catch them up to their peers
or advance them in a certain uh area. We are using data to uh identify these groups and and build these groups. So the the three main re data resources we're using is our uh fall map data that
was taken schoolwide. Um we are utilizing so students um have a uh individualized pathway in EXL that they can work through and that provides us kind of where they are compared to to their
peers and then obviously the day-to-day uh class that they're doing within their um curriculums. And so teachers are taking those three data points and building uh the groups accordingly so that they can focus on certain uh
learning tasks. And thirdly, to continue to improve our school climate, we are continually building on our PBIS um initiative that is districtwide. Um the one thing that the middle school does a little bit differently than um
some of the other schools in the district is we have a a program called live school. So live school is a uh incentivized program that when students are caught doing the right thing, staff members have the ability to uh give them
points within the program. And then we have um various incentives uh being able to climb the rock wall after school with a staff member. Um purchasing stuff at our uh school store.
So based on their points, they can purchase uh different things at at the school store. That happens every other week during uh lunch blocks. Um so it's really trying to catch students doing the right thing. Um this past Friday we
um all the students were rewarded with uh snow cones provided by the administrators because the whole school by October 17th um had reached 40,000 points as as a school whole wide school.
So, um, we serve them all ice, uh, snow cones on Friday afternoon and, um, kind of incentivize and have those larger schoolwide, um, promotions. And then, just like everyone else within our district, we are continually working
on our students attendance rates. Um, we are strong believers that students need to be in the building and in the classroom to receive the high quality instruction of our teachers. um from our teachers this year. Our social worker spent much of his
much time this summer to look at uh students past history and try to be ahead of the curve on student attendance. He connected with families and students that have had chronic absentee in the past. Um, we sent out commun we send out communication through
parent square daily if um we haven't heard from family members of why a student may be absent from school. Obviously the these communications don't excuse the absence um but it just helps us understand how we can support the
family and students kind of moving through the school year. Um and then we are collaborating with various organizations like pass program and the district attorney to um really
kind of have a stronger handle of of the students that do have uh continually chronic absentism. So really uh obviously the first step was to implement the um
student led conferences this past fall. That was a big initiative of ours to get it off and running by um this week. So that's been a a big focus this past fall. Um the next step for me is to really
find a or develop an assessment tool or a survey to provide to families and staff and to see how the student led conference compared to the traditional um parent teacher conference. Um and
then obviously continue communication with all stakeholders throughout the process. Thank you so much, Mr. Mino. Any questions or comments for the middle school? Seeing none, we'll let you run and
invite up Miss Bennett. >> Good evening. I'm Kendra Bennett, principal at the high school. Um here we have our 2026 or sorry 2526 school council and you know they're a contributing part
of the school improvement plan. This is um we have seven objectives in our five-year plan. So the first one is to increase the quality of tier one instruction which refers to the general education provided to every student which is crucial for enhancing overall student achievement. and you'll see it's
aligned with the district strategic objective of eliminating disparities and access for every student. So, I began with a three-year plan and this was the progress that was delivered to the staff during the August um professional
development days. So, I'm really proud that, you know, some items that we had slated for year three, we've already started some work on. Um, but we have met our year one objective last year of defining those expectations for tier one
instruction and continuing to improve on that through scaffolds, professional development, and um our curriculum audit and alignment in years two through three. And currently, we're in year two of the school improvement plan. Objective number two is to develop a
strategic plan to address the NEAS 4 focus areas. This is aligned with the district strategic objective of establishing districtwide um systems and supports for organizational effectiveness. So the four areas that NIAS two years ago in our collaborative
conference they identified in partnership with us were the school improvement plan, our vision of a graduate, our interventions of support and our consistent curriculum across all courses that we offer. Um we have our
dennial visit in March. So that's when we'll be putting we have the report written and all the evidence to show the two years of work from the collaborative conference. Um, so again, a lot was met in year one. Some goals from year three
were met because we have the deadline of March 8th to show them all of the work we've completed. Objective number three is to develop a resource to communicate progressive discipline effectively to teachers that is essential for maintaining consistent and fair disciplinary practices across
the school. Again, this is aligned with the strategic objective of um consistent district-wide systems. Um our handbook of course was a really great tool to um enhance the communication of the progressive discipline and with the
handbook as a resource we were able to meet and be in progress for our goals. Objective number four is enhance systems to support the dolphin way um which is our PBIS model in uh environments beyond
the traditional setting. So hallways, cafeterias, um property fields um and again aligned with the districtwide systems of support for organization organizational effectiveness. Um, and we
have, um, I'm proud to say we have in year two moved bathroom duties to hall duties and all bathrooms are open. So, again, I'm really proud of the progress that we have made. Um, we again have a dolphin away rubric in areas beyond the
classroom. So, we have posted that and handed it out to every classroom teacher um, the beginning of year two. Um and having clear behavior expectations. Objective did I skip one? Yeah. Um for objective number five is
increase academic achievement and access and enrichment opportunities through the dolphin time. Um which again is our flex block for intervention or enrichment. Um and this is aligned with the district objective of eliminating disparities for every student. Um again we have a lot of
goals aligned with improving dolphin time. So we have a mix of meeting and in progress um and you know for what is next I am implementing a committee of interested staff that want to work dedicated on improving um dolphin time.
I've noticed academically it is increasing the number of students that are on honor role. So it is working but like anything else it can be improved. Number six is increase effectiveness of the leadership team which is derived of
the department chairs. Um and again lots of goals to meet and we're improving that. We have revamped the structure of leadership. We meet um once a week and um you know are again breaking up it's a
group of about 13 department chairs breaking up into smaller groups to get tasks completed during that weekly hour. Um so moving beyond just meeting and really have action steps for that for those weekly meetings has been um incredibly
beneficial. And then the seventh objective is to increase the effectiveness of the high school administrative team um to enhance leadership improving operations and fostering a positive school environment. Um and again we have I've limited myself
to two years. I don't want to wait for any three-year goals on this one. Um and we are you know a mix of meeting and in progress but um we have three different types of meetings now that the administrative team um they participate
in and so we meet to three to four times a week with different targeted objectives for those different meetings um and again really enhancing the leadership and operations of the high school. So, some things I just wanted to note
moving forward. Um, before I get to questions, um, just like again all the other schools, we are, um, again, this being a five-year school improvement plan. Something I'll want to add is our focus on attendance as well. Um we are
implementing um we were an innovative uh career pathway school and now we're moving to career pathways which is going to be another initiative that's going to take every teacher and every content area to execute. So that will be towards the end of this school improvement plan.
And then um keeping this progressive work moving, identifying areas that we want to be included in the school improvement plan with the teachers and the school council and then designing committees to get that work moving. I was um I had the benefit of NEAS to
create that organizational structure, but I don't want to wait for NEAS to keep that going because we got a lot of work moved forward. Um so that's what's to come in future school improvement plans. Thank you. Thank you so much, Miss B. Any comments or questions? Miss Landers
>> on high school objective number three, which is um develop a resource to communicate progressive discipline effectively to teachers. The third thing says a system to document nondisciplinary responses. What is that?
>> So we have implemented um a plugin in powers school. So it's a for your information um can log maybe I'm my expectation with teachers is that tier one and two behaviors are handled in the classroom. So maybe there's a mechanism a teacher has implemented that's working
it doesn't rise to the level of disciplinary but you want a log of it um we have a mechanism through uh for that through powers school. Additionally, if a social worker is meeting with a student and working with them on something that we don't want it to rise to discipline, but we want to be aware
that someone support staff is working with this student on um you know this type of behavior. Maybe it's tardies to class. Um it's there's going to be a log of it, a record of it, but it's not rising to discipline.
>> It sounds like in HR the note to file >> in your HR. It's in your It's in your record. Um, objective number five, dolphin time. So, it says for instance, year two,
personalized learning through individual support and differentiated instruction, year two met. So, what does what does that look like? What where do I see that in >> Yep. Um, thank you. Great question. So,
again, this was uh I mean, look, I don't think you're asking how the grid works, so I'll save that. >> No, I mean, so like as a parent whose son has dolphin time. Yep. >> Where where's that happening? >> Yep. So, a teacher can um like, so an
example, I just met with a teacher today, a science teacher. Um students, we have tiered approach. They meet with Dolphin home teacher, have a conversation how they're performing academically. So, if a student is struggling, um, you know, they might say, "Hey, you got to see your science
teacher." Um, in our handbook, it states that a student shouldn't be told more than two times to go to a teacher because you don't want to fill up the four dolphin times of that week with the same science teacher. It's meant to give them some enrichment, a little bit of a break. So, the dolphin time, dolphin
home teacher may say, "You have to go see science." So, what this science teacher has um described to me in her class is for that individualized approach. It's more small group, but she's physically designed her classroom
to be the first two rows. Kids are working on um you know, makeup assignments, possibly a makeup test. Then she's got a row in the middle where she'll print them out. This is what you're missing in class. Um sorry, she explained the first two rows as high leverage, so those big assignments. the
second row. Um maybe a homework assignment or a classwork, maybe it's a lab that they can work on together. And then further back in the room, kids um they are there because they chose to see this teacher and um and maybe some enrichment, some extended lab. So
teachers are identifying individual approaches to meeting students needs as they're scheduled for them in dolphin time. And is that and then in year three you had data driven decisions met. Can you tell me what that means?
>> Yeah. So again decisions made on dolphin time are all data driven. Um again even students that have the choice they have the autonomy the data backs up that they're able to have that choice um through their academics. So again with
map testing we have uh the PLC's are analyzing in the math English science and social studies state testing they might curate some small groups um that are necessary so all of the decisions made for dolphin time are data driven
>> at at the level of like the dolphin home teacher reviewing the students current grades or is that combination student. So, Dolphin Home teachers can schedule students, but also teachers can bring groups in. So, again, I have a
teacher on Thursdays, he brings in a small group of students that need specific work and that will be he will curate that group. So, by the time they're at Dolphin Home, they're already locked in with that teacher. Um, so it's a combination,
but data is driving all those decisions. >> Thank you. Any other questions? Thank you. It's a it's a lot of information and I know we have the specific plans uh behind um that we've all reviewed and can look back if we have any other questions. But thank you
to all the principles and uh staff for putting this together to help us understand where where we're going with our students, with our families, and you know in line with our district goals. So thank you. I already checked it off. So that's
complete. a little early. Uh we'll move to subcommittee representatives leazison report school committee leaison select board the town of Dennis I know we have their town meeting is town meeting uh
for the town of Dennis is tomorrow and the performing arts center next door auditorium nothing school related on that one uh for the town of Yarmouth I know they are uh for our vacancy they are taking application people who are interested
can fill out form on the town website believe they've taken applications or uh nominations until the 31st I believe which is a Friday and then on that meeting following on the Tuesday they will uh either make an appointment or
make a different decision on that date. Um and then town meeting for the town of Yarmouth is Monday, November 17th. Um and we do have um an item on the warrant uh regarding uh Margarite Small um information for on that uh which we'll
talk about shortly. Perfect. Uh next we have uh information for quarter 1 uh for July to September 25 about the Cape Cod collaborative and I'll pass it over to Dr. Smith. >> Thank you. So in the packet once you get
past all the school improvement plans um there is a uh quarterly report from the Cape Cod Collaborative uh just uh stepping in for uh Mr. Morris. Um, and so we uh attended the
or I think as I've mentioned to the committee before, I do sit on the um the collaborative board as the superintendent uh liaison. So I'm not a voting member of the board, but I'm the liazison to the superintendent. Um and
so there's a as part of uh the collaborative board's responsibilities is the school committee members to come back and provide the representative school committees with a quarterly report. So this is uh again in the packet a copy of the quarterly report.
goes over topics um from um just sort of a spotlight which looks at um some pieces from the summer program um and ASLP uh to a summary of the executive uh director's report. Um as you may remember a new executive director took
over mid year last year. Um and then to some to their key programs um their star program which runs out of the Austinville campus to the waypoint program which is the one that runs right out of here in Yarmouth. Um and then as well as some facilities updates. Um but again the the reports there in detail
for um the committee to review at your leisure. Um I wasn't able to attend the entirety of the meeting because that was the same night as the um finance committee meeting uh to meet in Yarmouth to review um the Emmy Small um Warren
article uh with finance committee. So I was only able to be there for a little bit in the beginning but Happy to take any questions if there are any questions about the collaborative. >> Any questions on the collaborative uh we'll move to MES building committee.
We had a great meeting last week. Um we did appoint vice chair Kurt Sears has accepted the role of vice chair um to assist us with that. He was he has continued to be a great asset in the in this school. uh one of the only members
that's still active. Um we don't have a need for the entire committee, but he's been a great active person in the punch list and making sure everything's completed here. Uh so we're very happy that he accepted the role of vice chair for the MES. Um we did come up with and
are finalizing a fact sheet. Um it's going to be a one-page double-sided. We asked for one page. So uh we were given a onepage double-sided fact sheet uh about uh what we are asking for uh in
the warrant and why we are asking for it. Um it was brought up by the committee in our first meeting that um the voters may not understand, you know, what we're looking for, what of what is a feasibility study? Um why do we need $1.5 million uh to investigate what we
could do? You know, it seems like a lot of money. U but we put information on facts on previous projects within the state of similar size. You know the average was 1.2 to 2.5 um with schools similar to our size. Um but the most
recent one was 2022. So when you look at you know what the cost is of the average of 1.2 to two that 1.5 uh seems um to be a good average. It also includes what is included in that. Um you know the hiring
of the firm uh investigating all the options whether it is uh a renovation of the current building whether it is an expansion of uh a current building like station a um acquiring uh another building in town that we may already own
or the town may own or building a a freestanding building. Um so it includes all the options that could go into play. Um, we discussed the actual warrant article as it would be presented. Um, it
is very wordy as was uh as was stated uh by the town administrative. However, it was a collaboration of the MSBA of what they required us to put in, what the town lawyer asked for us to put in, what MSBA reviewed it as, and then what our
council uh asked for it to be in. Um so is a there's a plan for a presentation at town meeting to you know read the warrant article but then explain uh what it is. Uh the town has recommended that we request free cash um versus um
getting a bond or getting um having interest on a loan. um as well as highlighting uh the fact that uh if accepted into MSBA, the minimum uh contribution that can be um not refunded
but uh reimbursed is 57.1%. So, you know, it's a benefit of the town of using free cash and not taking a loan out uh of the 1.5 million and then being able to give 57.1% of, you know, things that can be reimbursed back to the town.
Um So there's an explanation of all that. Uh I miss so yeah. So a lot of a lot of great things we um a lot of great feedback. Um and then you know it'll it'll be on um
members of that committee and members of you know the town at large to make sure um as in every everything that we have in town specifically town meetings, town elections that people show up, their voices are heard and that they they get out and vote. Um so that's a very key
and important thing in both towns uh that people utilize that opportunity uh that they have. >> Dr. Smith. >> Yeah. Just uh just a couple updates since that meeting. Dr. Gillson and I went in front of the capital committee right prior to this meeting. So I gave
that group uh an update on um because they'll have a voice as well um on the $ 1.5 million ask. And then Leela and I met today to take the feedback from the committee. Uh she reworked the draft.
Uh, and so that set we had one message ready to go out today already on school safety week. So we didn't didn't want to jumble the messages out. So probably by tomorrow, if not Wednesday, that message will be ready to go out. will go out on
all of our channels and we'll put it out a couple of different times on reminders out to folks and then we'll also push uh send it to the town of Yarmouth for them to put it out on their um their communication channels as well. >> Then the last thing that I that popped in my head is we're also having an open
house at Emmy Small. Um I believe it's a it's a Wednesday, November 5th, if I have the date correct. >> Yeah, I believe so. >> It's a it's a Wednesday night. It's prior to their normal PTO meeting and we're inviting anyone in the community community who is wants to see in with
their eyes uh the things that are mentioned um from security concerns to um you know the building itself that they have the ability. Um it was that was recommended by the committee that you know some people may want to see it in real life. Um, we have a plan to have
pictures from the Cape Cod Times rolling in the in the foyer of the of some of the back of the house stuff that maybe they can't get to. Um, but and you know, we're working. >> Yeah, >> we'll hope it's raining that day. >> We're gonna the the fire department has
offered to spray the hose over the building >> um to uh make it seem like it's raining. >> It's November 5th at 5:30. >> Yeah. So, November 5th at 5:30, but we want to give all the opportunities to the town uh to the people uh that have questions to ask the questions and and
see it before the meeting. Um we've taken some great feedback from the community on, you know, making sure that uh they know what they're voting for, where their money's going. Any other questions on uh next we move to the superintendent
report recognition donations and acknowledgements. >> All right. Thank you. All right. So, starting with some recognitions uh this week uh as was mentioned by Mr. Bavina, we have family teacher conferences uh most of the schools in the district. And
I just want to take a quick minute to recognize and thank the PTO's at each of the schools. U PTO's do many amazing uh things for our students. Uh they provide additional social and extracurricular opportunities for our students, but they
also do an amazing job of taking care of our staff and they're providing lunches at each of the schools for our staff on at parent teacher conferences. So again, just want to just big thank you out to the PTOs for supporting not only the students but supporting the staff on
days like um the upcoming uh teacher conferences over the next couple of days. Um Tim stole my thunder, but I wanted to recognize DYI for the previous family fund night that they had. You know, they recognized as a school recognized a missing need in they as the
school that brings fourth graders together for the first time had done a bunch of work to bring the kids together, but recognized the gap around families. Uh, and so Ken done some purposeful work to structure events meant to bring those families together
um in a way as Tim mentioned where um it's about getting to know the the parents of the kids that my that my kids are in class with, right? Um really facilitating those relationships. Um and and again the last one was a success and
I have another one planned as as as you as you heard. Um, and then the last was on Friday. A couple of school committee members were volunteers and I know a couple other school committee members have volunteered in the past, but we had the credit for life fair, a great event at the high school for our high school
seniors. Um, and it's really just a great partnership um between our community volunteers, a great community partner organization in the Cape Cod 5 uh and our hardworking DY staff that really make this event possible. It was
a huge success um in a large to all the the hard work of the people who make it possible and just creates a great opportunity for our students to get um a little bit of a taste of um financial literacy, get a real it's a if anybody folks who haven't been, they it's a
simulation of um what life's like, you know, living out on your on your own and get and having to figure out how you actually make ends meet with a certain salary and how you make all that all that work. And it takes a team of volunters in order to make it happen. So, um, thank you for Cape Cod 5 for
organizing and thank to all the DY staff and make it happen and all the volunteers who make the simulation come to life. Uh, couple other updates. Uh, again, some of this my thunder got stolen, but um, as uh, Principal Kelly
mentioned, the SAPE playground is like super close to being done. Um, if you drive by, you can see the concrete forms are already all laid. Um the concrete would have got started pouring um this week. We've had you know we didn't have rain for ever and then all of a sudden
the rain is well and I guess we were due but um so the rain impacted the pouring of the concrete it is scheduled should get done this week. Um then once the concrete is done and set that's largely like pathways and the edging and then
once that's in and set then the poured in place the colors have been picked. So port in place should go in next week again barring any weather complications. You need no rain and you need solid temperatures above 40 degrees. So as long as we don't get those two things
then we should uh be on schedule for the end of the month because then the last bit after that is like hydro seeding and a little bit of fence work. Um and that project will be done and then you know a little bit of light clean up but uh and then that moves us to the turf fields
again a little bit of slowdown with the rain. Um although they have been they were out laying before the rain started today. So they're working around as much as they can. So they're still working on sewing in or glue. I guess it's like glue that they put the pieces together
with a little bit of sewing and gluing. Um they're working on the um the logo currently. Um so once they get the last bit of the pieces all put together, then they'll start putting all the infill in. They spread it all around. I don't know if anybody watched them do it last time, but they put it in and they come in with
a big not really a lawn mower. It's like a thing with a giant brush. Move it all around. It's kind of kind of cool to watch. But anyways, um so that then they'll get that in. Then they'll test um our engineers will come back and test it. Make sure it all drains the it's
supposed to. Then once they that uh they move on from that, then they'll work that the upper field has the track around it. So then they'll pave the upper track. Um and then the last is fencing. So they've taken down the fencing um to bring all the machines in
and out. So then they'll finish the fencing and then that project will be done. Again, some light clean up, some grass that'll have to be fixed. like they never ultimately ended up using the um JV like outfield, but there's been like some staging along the edge sort of
the I don't know would be sort of like foul territory on the left on the left field side. Um like some some light repair work along that edge um as they're on their way out. And then
um last is uh last so not this past Friday but the Friday before on the 10th was uh octo was all cape inservice day um for professional development and our staff participated in a wide variety of professional development activities
um organized by our instructional leadership team. Uh this included but wasn't limited to language ambassador training which is um largely for how staff work with
um staff who are interpreters. Right? So there's a there's a training for and we do have we're blessed to have uh access to a fair amount of interpreters in the district. Um and so this training is for how do you effectively when you're in a
situation where you know the parent or the other community member or perhaps a student is their first language is not English and you need to work with an interpreter and you're you know I'm an I only speak one language so if I have to work with an interpreter what are the effective
strate strategies for me to work with an interpreter um so that was what that that language ambassador training is um and then some folks were getting training in the new our new K12CL curriculum which you heard
that's been kind of in phases. So, some people had it at a different date, other people had it on the 10th. Um, there's training for some folks in the new ELA curriculums. Again, some people are in pioneering for the HMH, some people are in our six to eight curriculum.
Um, we had some targeted PD for special educators. Uh, myself and some others were in the SEAG training. Um, plus a wide host of other offerings, some offered by the collaborative. Um, Anyways, it's is all part of our commitment to the core value of
excellence. Specifically, we have a behavior that states that we empower students to take accountability for their learning and equip educators to master their craft using evidence-based and innovative models for instruction and uh in classroom management. So, it was great just to see that all come to
life on that day. Took a lot of planning and effort by our instruction team. Um you should see the massive spreadsheet where literally every person has all these different places they have to go. Um, I I don't know how it all comes together, but it does. Um, it would give
me an ice cream headache just to it gives me an ice cream headache to look at the spreadsheet, let alone trying to put all those all those pieces in all the right places. So, that is it for me. The chair take any questions? >> Any questions?
Seeing none, we'll move to school committee business. Uh, the consent agenda. Consent consent agenda has minutes from June 2nd, 2025 and June 16th, 2025. We have a motion and a second. Any questions? All those in favor say I. I.
Any opposed? Any abstain? Perfect. 4. Numbers are small getting a little larger each week. The next one five uh bills, requisitions, and pay walls. A reminder, please check your email, district email, and make sure that when uh those come around that you are
signing them in a timely basis so that bills can get paid. Um it speeds up the process so that we don't have to sit here and sign them all and they don't have to wait for our meetings. Um next is calendar school committee topics. Um as mentioned numerous times
this week is parent teacher conference week. Uh this Tuesday which is tomorrow and Thursday the 23rd. It's a half day for all schools. The town of Dennis will be having their special town meeting again tomorrow at 7 pm.
And then topics. Our next meeting is November 3rd. We will have an executive uh session at 5:45 uh as briefly discussed at the last meeting in regards to uh litigation on the turf fields. Um and then we'll have a curriculum update
and then information um about bids and notes of bids for money that has been um borrowed in the van and then uh we'll have a quarterly finance update which we're excited to hear. Um anyone in the the public looking to
speak? Seeing none, we will skip that public comment. Marilyn's looking to make a motion. >> Motion to adjourn. >> We have a motion in a second. Any questions? Seeing none, all those in
favor say I. I. All oppose. All abstain. Thank you so much.