new land. All right. Good evening everyone. Like to call the May 5th, 2025 meeting of the Plymouth School Committee to order. Everyone, please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. All right. So, we have a a special uh evening tonight. We have a few items for uh public comment. Oh, wait. Actually,
before I get to that, I will do our land acknowledgement. Miss Jackson. We acknowledge that we are meeting on the unseated ancestral homeland of indigenous people whose enduring presence we humbly recognize. We honor the Wanoagic people as the original
stewards of the herring and the herring pond Wanoig as a surviving tribe indigenous to these lands. In our commitment to lifelong learning, we acknowledge historical injustices to the native peoples of this land and vow to educate ourselves, our community, and
our students on the first peoples and the hardships they endured. We offer this as a small but essential step towards building a culture of respect, truth, and accountability. Thank you, Miss Jackson. All right. Now, on public comment. So, first up, we have we are honored to have our state
representative, Miss Michelle uh Badger would like to say a few words. Thanks for having me. This is such a different site, a different way to view this crowd. So, thank you for having me. Um, it's an honor to be back here and um to be able to recognize Dr. Sorenson in
the time that you've given to our community both, you know, personally on the personal side, being always able to ask you a question and you having that institutional knowledge uh was really invaluable. And then obviously for our community to be able to take us from,
you know, a regional school district to our town of Plymouth and through all of the ups and downs and really kind of um have a hand in um the change and the evolution that has been the Plymouth Public Schools. You know, it's a different place than when I went. It,
you know, we you've really helped to uplift our community. So I am proud to be here to present a citation to you. And it reads, "The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the House of Representatives, be it hereby known to all that the Massachusetts House of
Representatives offers its sincerest congratulations to Dr. James Sorenson in recognition of over 30 years of dedication serv dedicated service on the Plymouth school committee demonstrating a deep commitment to equity and access
that leaves a lasting impact on generations of students. The entire membership extends its very best wishes and expresses the hopes for future good fortune and continued success in all endeavors given this fifth day of May 2025 at the state house Boston
Massachusetts signed by our speaker of the house Ronald Mariano myself and representative Kathleen Latra. So thank you Watch the cords. Yeah, you want to get the photo. Oh, there's
one more. Yeah. Tell them to go anywhere. Mr. Do you want me to Do you want me to get the Go anyway. All right. I'm going to make people get their steps in because not to be out
done. We'd like the Plymouth Public Schools and the school committee would like to recognize Dr. Sorenson as well. So, I have a wonderful plaque here um made here in the district. So, it reads in recognition of Dr. James Sorenson for his exceptional service to the Plymouth Public Schools and the community. Dr.
James Sorenson dedicated 35 years of service to the Plymouth School Committee, including many years as chair. His visionary leadership and steadfast commitment have significantly contributed to the educational growth and well-being of our students. In honor of his lasting impact, we extend our heartfelt thanks and recognition to Dr.
Sorenson. Presented May 5th, 2025, Plymouth Public Schools. Thank you, Jim. Thank you. Thank you, Reed. Thank you. So, I think we need another picture with you hold now. Is that a yes? Yes. Go get a phone.
Let's go. One, two, three. Thank you, everybody. It's not very often we have someone retire, so it's worth taking the extra time. All right. Next, we have uh Dr. Lisa White and think General Vainy present uh on some
uh and acknowledge the commanders club. Right. So, come join us. If you want if you want to do the introductions. Yeah. Thank you for having us. So, we're very
excited um to we always love being able to appreciate our community members and organizations that are so important to the success of our school system. And um for the second year in a row, we had a one district one author program with all of the elementary schools in Plymouth,
which is nice to have something with all of the schools. And we had uh author uh Kate Mesner who is a very prolific um children's book author. She's written picture books. She's written um novels. She's written non-fiction books. She's
written series. Um you might know her history smashers or Ranger and Time series. Um she's really a wonderful author and we had the opportunity to bring her virtually to into all of our schools and also to purchase books and
do a lot of activities for all of our students um to bring her into the world bring them into the world of an author. And so we wanted to thank um two organizations that were integral to allowing us to bring this to the district. um the Quanis Club and the
Plymouth Ed Foundation. And do you want to add anything on your end? We have Kathy Babini here and um John Machado and company. So he can he can he can introduce his other his other um members as well, but I don't know if you wanted to. Just expressing our tremendous
thanks for making this opportunity available having the students when they were virtually asking questions with Kate Master. We weren't really sure how the virtual format. We had a girl who was fully dressed as one of the characters from one of her books and we had another student who was in a full suit and we said, "Oh, were you dressed up as someone?" And he's like, "No, I
wanted to be wearing my best to meet Kate Messner." So, it was just really incredible to see those connections and they're across the board. So, whether you're in kindergarten at Cold Spring or whether you're at fifth grade at Nathaniel Morton, all of the students across the district got to interact and engage with her and all of the students
have text sets of all of her really rich stories regardless of where they are. So we're just profoundly appreciative for that opportunity for the students to engage with her but then also to have those materials henceforth moving forward. So thank you so much to PEF and
Kuanas for making that possible. Call them up if you like. Take your time. Do we want to do like first? Yes. So we can do um we'll do it doesn't matter what order we'll do we'll do Ed foundation first
maybe um so we have a commemorative um frame with pictures from the event and a thank you and then also um giving them one book um out of the many that we purchased um just as a way of thanking
them and also having it in full display for their members to see. So real quick. Three of you had three. We can do one at the end. Yeah. Thank you so much. I don't probably need a microphone, but I'm I'm John Mashado.
I'm the vice president of This is Jeff. Jeff Vella and then Joy Vella, Chris Raymond, Lee Kiy, Jenny Mashado, and Linda Flattery. All of us had kids. Well, most all except two people in our club have
had kids that went through um public schools and now some of us have grandchildren already in the public school. Some of them are a little bit too young. So, um this is something that Steve came up with this idea last year to start helping. It's something we continue to plan to do every year.
Because the missions of is to um support the children of the community. So everything we do is um for the always for the children of the Luis, do you want to Thank you. All right, that was wonderful. Thank you
everybody. Really appreciate that. Um, all right. So, we don't have our uh uh student representatives today and I'm sure they are as seniors very busy with end of year activities and middle of AP exams and everything else that they have to do on their last three weeks of school. So, we will excuse them for
tonight. That means we will move on to we have two elementary school improvement plans for review tonight. First up, we have um Cold Spring Elementary. Call Miss Stephanie Van Winkl. Hello. Welcome for the first time. Thank you. I appreciate it. Um, thank you Dr.
Sorenson for your hard work and dedication to the district. Um, and thank you all of the members for always supporting Cold Spring Elementary School and myself. Um, through my first year as the principal. Um, I'm not big on talking in public, but I'll do the best
I can. If you click the right button, it should progress. the right one. No. Um or why would that work the first time I'm here? Again, this is an initiation. Miss
part of the process. No, Mr. Gravio can probably progress it from on her end. Is it not moving? So, it's one slide. Nice job. Really? Thank you. You make me feel so
comfortable. Very comprehensive. I tell you, me and technology, we don't get along so well. Ah, there we go. All right. So, first I would like to say thank you to all of our uh school
council members. Um they were so helpful in helping me through the first process the going through this for the first time. Um Andrea O'Brien, Patrick Higgins, and um Barbara Pagnati, Amanda Pin Pinto, and Luis Pisano. Um and then
obviously me and then Oh, thank you. Um Cold Spring is really unique in the fact that um our demographic makes us unique and very special. Um 109 of our students are economically disadvantaged. Um at
this time we have seven different languages in the building. Um and then we have 39 of our special education students. Um so we are a very diverse group. Um and that's one of the reasons I enjoy working there. We offer many um
enrichment opportunities after school and these are just a few of them. Um all of our clubs are led by teachers um our school counselors and or paraprofessionals and each club runs for 10 to 16 weeks. Uh Cold Spring Elementary is a
whole school title one school which allows us to improve the entire school's academic program and achievement for all of our students, not just a select few or specific students. Um, we have at least 40% of our students are lowincome.
Um, we do the big brother big sister program where the bigs come into our school and they have lunch and recess with our students once a week. Um, which has been amazing for our kids. The Y does a mentoring program once a week at
the end of school for our older kids. Um, Gauznald counseling is really important because a lot of our students do um have some mental health issues and or challenges. Um, so it's been nice to have them in the building because a lot of our families are unable to get them
to um out of school counseling because they don't have cars or or they're working. So, this is an opportunity for get for them to get the counseling that they need. Um, last year we started the positive pins peer award where our uh staff and teachers nominate students for
going above and beyond the expectations of the school and being a really good friend. Um, they win a free game of bowling. Um, and they can win the positive peer award several times. It it as whenever a teacher's catching them doing something above and beyond. Um,
and then our PBS program is the Cub Coins. Students o o students earn coins for um when they're doing expected behavior in the building or they're um using really good manners, they can earn
a coin to put into their fishbowl in the classroom. And once they fill that fishbowl, the whole class earns an award and then eventually gets dumped into a whole school award system. Um, so we did a lot of really new things and I think they're pretty exciting in
the building. Um, this is the first year that we had um an open house that was specifically for our Portuguese-speaking families. We presented open house in English with my um interpreter that we have in the building. Um, we do a
morning mantra, which I'll talk more about in a couple slides. Um we do a monthly whole school meeting the first Monday of every month. We do a little social emotional lesson. Um and then or talk about the expectations in the building. We pro present our um awesome
attendance certificates. We do um our staff member of the month. We do our positive peer awards and we celebrate the birthdays of the month all together as a whole community. Um this year we invited um the C council of active living to volunteer in our classrooms
which has been super successful um for the volunteers as well as for our students. Um that generational um bonding has been amazing for a lot of our students that don't have grandparents around. We have a 90year-old that comes into one of our
kindergarten classrooms and they absolutely adore her. Um, we decided to celebrate all the different traditions and holidays throughout the building this year because we have so many different cultures in our building. Um, we recognized and celebrated
appreciation days, the arts and education week, the fire prevention. We had um the Plymouth Fire Department come with their fire truck and let off their hoses and the kids thought that was great. School of Psychologist appreciation. Um, we did aa safety and well-being presentation in Portuguese to
address the ICE and deportation fears of our families. Our attendance really went down um when the deportation talk began. Um, our families were very much afraid to send their kids to school. Um, so we did a presentation that told them that
they were safe. This is a really safe place for them, that we weren't ever going to report to ICE. And um we also provided them re with resources in case something happened that they would be able to know who to reach out to. um our core values. Um there are a lot,
but the main thing that we were are really trying to strive for is to create a welcoming, safe, and supportive environment where all students feel valued, respected, and safe enough to embrace challenges and see mistakes as opportunities for learning. Um, we've
worked really hard as a staff and faculty to create an environment where everybody who comes into that building feels like they belong and that they're part of our family. Um, which seems to help our students to be able to learn
and thrive academically and socially. We did um a parent survey um and some of the questions that we asked were like the rigor and challenge of the curriculum is do they feel like it's appropriate? Um 57 almost 58% of them agreed that um it was the rigor was
appropriate and 26 felt like they strongly agreed. Uh my child rest receives instruction based upon his or her individual needs. 68 and a half% um agreed and 26% strongly agreed. Um which is great
because that's one of the things that we really want to make sure is that we're reaching all of the all of our students where they're at and helping to bring them where they need to be to be successful. Um as far as the school culture went, the question was, I feel welcomed and encouraged to be a partner
in my child's education. Um 52 and a half% agreed. um and 36.8 strongly agreed. Um this year we worked really hard on getting parents into our building to volunteer in the classroom to read to the students, to play games
with the students, to work at um lunch and recess so that they would feel like they belonged. We also started a um weekly principal update newsletter so that they would know what's going on. and I have tried to make sure that we've kept the Facebook and social media pages
updated so that they would know what was going on. Um, Cold Spring pro promotes acceptance of all people and their abilities. 52.6% agreed. 36.8% strongly agreed. Um, obviously the leadership um
the principal does an effective job of communicating with us at home. Um, 68.4% strongly agreed. Um, I think that was something that was a little new for them is getting that newsletter consistently on Monday. If look, they
are looking for it. If it's not there by the end of the day, they're looking for it. Um, so that goes home every week with anything that's going on in the community. Um, the increased presence of Cold Spring on Facebook and the principal's new newsletter has given me a greater sense of school happenings.
52.6% agreed. Um then we had the voice your opinion. What do you um what do you feel should be top priority at Cold Spring Elementary School during the next few years? Um building updates which will happen obviously with our new school
when that happens. School safety. Um increased rigor of the curriculum, more focus on phonetic based reading and having a better plan for disruptive children that are in the classroom. Um, if you could change one thing about Cold Spring, what would it be? Nothing so
far. Um, the playground, using the space better for service providers, pave the bottom driveway. Um, I love CSES. I wouldn't change a thing. Um, the car line, um, putting air conditioning in the building, which we're working on.
Um, and more recess and time and longer lunch. And that's actually kind of funny because we did that. um third part of the third grade curriculum is that they have to write a persuasive um essay to persuade you to do something obviously
and their essay was to persuade me to make lunches shorter and recess longer and that was something that I felt was pretty easy to do and it kind of empowered them and helped them to feel like they had a voice and that they did
have a voice in what happens in the building because it is their building. Um, so we did we took some time off of lunch and added it to recess. So recess is now 25 minutes. Um, which has been really great for them.
The goals for the next three years um obviously improve the outcomes of all learners through an inclusive and equitable education. Integrate social emotional learning into the school culture. Promote positive relationships and a sense of belonging while promoting
diversity and inclusion. Establish strong partnerships with parents and families. And collaborate with the community organizations to support students and families. and then create a welcoming and inclusive environment fostering diverse perspectives and ensuring equitable access to resources
and opportunities. Um I am very fortunate our staff and um families all believe that the learning environment determines the success and motivation of the students to achieve. Um our students enter a building where they know they are safe, loved and that they belong. So
they are be better able to access the curriculum and learn. Goal one obviously was the to improve the outcomes. So, um as you can see, well, you really can't because it's small, but we we are right behind um the district when it comes to ELA on our
MCAST scores. Um but we're ahead of the state on the um ELA. And then for math, we are um a little ahead of the district and the state. Um and then we're slightly behind both in science. Um so we are really working on um bringing in
our science coaches to work with them on um doing the science notebooking, noticing and wonder and science modeling um to help bring up some of those scores. Um and that I think that's been really enjoyable for the students.
Um goal two was to integrate um seal into the school culture and promote a posit positive relationships and a sense of belonging. Um now this is a goal that's really all of them are close to my heart but because as a school adjustment counselor obviously social
emotional learning is really big for me and I think it was really big for us as a council and as a community. Um, so we're trying to really foster that positive and inclusive school culture. And one way that we do that besides the whole school monthly meetings is every
morning during our morning announcements, we do the what we call the CS morning mantra. Um, and if you are in our building during morning announcements, this is something that is very moving. our guests that have come in here have spoken about it often
because I will say to them remember you are and they say strong um you are important and you hear the voices in unison throughout the building at the top of their lungs and they're very proud about it um in fact um I we had an
IEP meeting recently with a kindergarten um family and the mom said that her little kindergartenner comes home and plays Miss Vam Winkle and he'll say, he says, "You are." And then he gets upset with her because she doesn't
know what she's supposed to say next. So, we sent home a copy of the morning mantra for her to be able to follow along with her son. Um, but it is really important and they for them it's I think it's might be the first time that they're hearing that they are strong and
that they're brave and that they're important. And I ended every time with um Miss Van Winkle loves you and is very proud of you. Make this the best day ever. And I think every student needs to know that they're loved. And sometimes
their parents are just really busy. Um and they might forget, but every day, Monday through Friday, they hear at least once that they are loved and that somebody is very proud of them. Um, goal three is strong partnerships with
parents and families. Um, this was really important to us that we really wanted the parents to be involved in the building and to feel like they could come through and and be comfortable. And for some of our families that are have students that are in our MLL program,
they don't feel comfortable all the time because they don't speak the language. And so we did get them to come in for lunch and recess to volunteer. We have them um coming in. Some of them said, "How am I going to read a book because I don't speak the language?" And I said, "Come in and read a book that's in your
language. That's only going to benefit our kids." And so we we've done a lot of that. Um we've identified and engaged stakeholders such as the Council of Aging, Active Living. I called it aging the first time. Um active living. um the
American Legion, the Big Brother, Big Sister, and the YMCA um which has provided so much um guidance and support for our students that it's been amazing. Um we send out the weekly newsletters to keep the families informed and to celebrate all the wonderful things that
are happening in our building right now because we have an amazing community at Cold Spring. Um goal four, create a welcome and inclusive environment. I feel like I'm repeating myself a little bit. Um, we wanted to celebrate all of the different traditions and the culture so
that the students in our buildings were hearing things about their culture, seeing people that look like them, um, and knowing that it was we could celebrate it. So, we had our our cultural club and all of the holidays that um, may not typically be celebrated
celebrated in our hallways. our hallways um all of a sudden became um Hanukkah and it became um Christmas and all of the different holidays that that we had. Um so we really wanted to try to make sure that they understood that we
understood the different um perspectives and um celebrate them. We also um reviewed our CST, the child study team process and the RTI to guard against over identification in special
education. We wanted to make sure that the students were getting the support they needed. Um but they it doesn't always require that they are on that special ed path. Um sometimes we can give them the interventions to give them the boost that they need.
Um, and then finally, um, are some of our pictures that we celebrated. Um, the Southshore Action for Hope elected Cold Spring Elementary School as the 2024 Gold School, stating that quote, um, we showed up stronger than ever this year,
and the close-knit nature and sense of community at Cold Spring is clear and inspiring. And I think that's what we all strive for in the building. Um, and obviously we have fun as well as trying to make sure that they're getting the
curriculum. We have one little student who was diagnosed with cancer um in at Christmas time and just came back to the building um a month and a half ago. So, we had a big welcome back party. We did our MA March Math Madness in the hallway
where we had all of the questions and the kids got to answer and add to the pot of gold. Um, and then the next one, I think it's the last one. Um, this year we started the Cubs Cafe, which Dr. Rogers has taken part
in. Um, our students get together and they, um, serve coffee, sodas, and snacks to our teachers on Friday afternoon. The teachers go online and order on the order sheet, and they put it all together, and they deliver it to us on Friday with a smile on their face,
and they do a lot of the please and thank you. So the manners are definitely there and they're little professionals when they come around. Um on in reme in remembrance of 911, we had our SRO officer Pat and my cousin so
gracefully gratefully came through. Um he's a Boston EMS. um he was part of the Boston Marathon um tragedy and he came in and read to our students and the students had amazing questions for both Officer Pat and the school um and for my
cousin Randy. Um our hope is to involve more of the community service providers next year in remembrance of 911. Um, and then obviously that's when the Plymouth Fire Department came with Lieutenant Walsh and they squirted the It was an
amazing event, but we all got very wet, but it was it was fun. Um, and then the last slide, the last um picture is our um be present pizza party with the principal. So we the kids with the
amazing attendance, it was two or less absences got a pizza party. Um, that was in February and then we'll do it again in June in hopes of bringing our attendance up. There you go. Awesome. Questions?
M. Jackson, I don't really have a question, but I just want to say that I really appreciate your focus specifically on the social emotional learning piece and the inclusivity because I feel like that so strongly mirrors what we have in our strategic
plan. and it really helps to give kids a really good foundation. So, I think you're doing a really great job. Thank you so much. I appreciate that. I also just want to mention I've had the privilege of spending quite a bit of time in Cold Spring this year with some of our special friends. Um, and every
time I go, everybody's in a costume and I can't keep up with it. So, I feel a little left out. But, um, the sense of community that you've built there has just been amazing. And I will also say the the morning mantra. It's my favorite. When I get there in the morning, I stand in the hall and I just
hear all the little voices screaming and it's amazing. And if you haven't been there on a coffee cart Friday, it is also amazing. So, um I don't know if you thought at the beginning of the year that you'd make it through your first year as a principal, but you've really done an amazing job
and we appreciate you so much. Thank you so much. I appreciate that. I'm I'm working really hard and it means the world to me. So, thank you. Awesome. Miss Awood. Um, it's not a question. It's more so just um a comment. I just want to um thank you. Just in listening to um uh
this presentation, you really get at the core of who the students are um and and frankly who the families are. Um and so and and so yeah, we always do talk about rigor as it relates to schools, but um in order to to kind of sustain rigor, to
support rigor, we we need to support people who are, you know, at their core um and and building them up um in a way whether it be through these mantras, whether it be through mentorships or other opportunities, even even the bridge that you are creating with their
families. um in terms of you know kind of maybe mitigating just some of their um you know um their fears um is is is what is is is what creates a whole child. And so I just want to thank you.
I know you were nervous but you did you did a great job. You did a great job in terms of presentation. You and and you appear to be doing a great job um in your first year. I appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you so much. All right, Miss Bryant. Hello. Hi. So, I speak quite
often of meeting people where they are and I could feel that through the entirety of the presentation. I think back to my own experience and would say you are creating the school that I
needed as a child. Um, you're seeing the child. You're seeing who they're connected to. you're seeing who they're not connected to by bringing in partners that can give them a different perspective, but again at that core
knowing that everybody there is because they love them and support them. So, thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Michelle. Um, move this a little closer. Um, just a just a couple comments again,
not not any questions, but I just a few things I noticed about your presentation that I really liked is that when you were talking about your mantras when you said that every child deserves to feel loved, you didn't you didn't put any blame on anybody else for a child not feeling loved. And I think that that's
really important to recognize is that, you know, you you you give people grace and and I think that that's very important. um and not pointing fingers or pointing blame and just making sure that you are responsible for children feeling love in your building. And the
other thing was the awesome attendance. And I really like that because I am I'm probably in the minority, but I I I don't like attendance policies. I don't like perfect attendance awards. Um and I think by doing awesome attendance and
allowing them one or two days or whatever, you're not striving for perfection. and you're striving for awesome, right? Um, and I think that that's really important and I think that's a really great way to frame um the attendance piece to be encouraging
and not, you know, oh, I missed today and now it's not perfect and now I can't get it. So, I think that that's a really great way to frame the attendance piece and being present is um it doesn't have to be perfect for you to be recognized for being good at it. So, I think that
that's really awesome. So, thank you. I think you're doing a great job. feel like it. I don't think there's a such a thing as perfect. And I think when we try to have students fit into that box of perfection, we get our anxiety, we get our depression, we get the fact that they don't feel good enough about
themselves. So, thank you for recognizing that. Thank you. Awesome. Yeah. Well, well said, Michelle. Um, just I two two comments and one question. One echo everything I've my colleagues have said. So, one, congratulations on great test scores. are, you know, uh, looking great. You
know, at least at minimum on par with the, you know, state averages. Um, like M or Dr. Rogers love the morning mantra and I'm sure in return that you are loved as well. So, that's awesome. Thank you. Um, my only question and the only reason I have insight on this is, you know, being on your uh, school council.
I know you made the transition from um, uh, Miss Morgan's uh, leader in me program to being a trauma-sensitive school, which I think, you know, that's you understanding um, you know, where your students are coming from. How's that transition been? And you have you had any families that are like, "Hey, what happened to leader and me?" I think
I think you were trying to keep some of the elements of that. Um, but how's that transition gone? So, we we have kept some of the elements. We we still do still do a lot of that goal setting that came from leader and me. Um, and parents, there were only a few that were because they hear the word trauma and
they don't understand it. But once we were able to explain it to them that it's every kid everybody can benefit from the the goals of a trauma-sensitive school, it ultimately just means that everybody's going to come in and they're going to feel safe. Um, we are
implementing a new program that's part of that where there's a little envelope that says fragile on the outside, handled with love, and the teacher can put a name in there and hand it off to the next teacher and specialist so that they know, you know, he's he's struggling a little bit today. handle him with a little extra love. So, I
think I think they were concerned about that word trauma. Um, but I think when we explained it to them that it's just another way to build them up to protect them, help them to feel safe and secure in the building. Um, sometimes our world is scary in general and the things that
these kids are seeing on the internet and on TV or even in their own home sometimes it's they need to know that they can come in this one place at least and feel safe and loved. And I get um so many hugs a day. It's like you can't not
like your job even on a bad day because I've got kids walking into my office because I have an open door policy and they give me a nice big hug and it's a great it's a great thing for me. Um so I I've got amazing families and we've got amazing kids and we have the bo best
staff in town. So I I'm very fortunate. Very fortunate. Awesome. U the the one great great answer um the one thing I forgot to mention earlier. Thank you very much for doing the uh that whole ICE and deportation presentation in Portuguese. I think I'm sure that made them be more feel even more welcome than
they already are. So I think thank you for doing that. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Thank you very much and congratulations on a great first year. Thank you. All right. Next up we have Nathaniel Morton. We have Miss Christy Chase and Taylor Soel Soul. Soul. Soul. Soul.
I'll try to be just as good. Sometimes it's harder to go second. Um Yeah, but you got you got backup. It's too long. I got I got backup, so we're good. Um no, but before I start, just a recognition and thank you to Dr. Sorenson. So 35 years is pretty
impressive. Um and so um congratulations and thank you. Um and then before I start just to the committee um and then to district administration, thank you. Um the first year has had some challenges. Um but
I've never felt alone and I've I've always felt supported. So um definitely to everybody here and really especially to Taylor because I think we've done a lot together. Um and we're figuring it out kind of together kind of as we go. But um it's great having having a
teammate that you can we can count on. So thank you. Um so we'll get started um with this plan. The first is really just Oh, I don't know if I can click and talk or Yeah. Okay, perfect. Um so school council members, we have a pretty big um
council um consisting of administration, parents, um teachers and um Christina um as the school committee liaison and parents. She plays a dual role. Um but just um you know thanking everybody um
for their for their work um being supportive and and positive and helpful. Um the meetings are always really um enjoyable for me um and and push me to be a little bit more reflective and and responsive too. So it's it's a great
group. Um we'll get into some of the demographics of Nathaniel Morton. We have 512 students K to5 um those are the student ratios. special education, um, English learners, um, economically disadvantaged, and we do have the two
special programs of, um, the bridge students and, um, title one. So, um, in addition to the English language learners, just to highlight that, um, we have the 40 students, but we also have 12 um, flip students. So those are
students who had been EL students who have kind of met their marks and tested out but are still within our school community. So um just a celebratory number and there's a slide coming up about that um moving forward as
well. Um vision and core values really hasn't changed over the years. So we still have um crew as our kind of over overarching PBIS um program. Um and so our we tied our
core values into crew where we build comp um competent students, resilient children, engaged learners, and welcomed individuals. Um we don't quite have the enthusiastic mantra of um Cold Spring. I might need to to copy some of that. Um
but we do say our crew pledge every morning. Um so the the crew pledge is that I um collaborate and cooperate with others. I respect myself, others and spaces in our school. I put forth engaged effort in everything I do and I welcome others with an open heart. So we really try to tie everything back into
crew and into those uh four areas that we really strive um for our students to maintain and staff. Um exciting, new and upcoming. We have um put in a lot of time, effort,
money, and energy into um the appearance of Nathaniel Morton. It is looking nice. Um so, a couple years ago, we had the roof project. Um and so since everything's kind of sealed in, we can start with the um painting and the and the
plastering. Um and it's it's been amazing to see the transformation. Um we got a new cafeteria floor, new gym floor. It was the original wood um in that gym floor, which is pretty incredible. We now have some of we've used some of that uh wood to build um
the frames of bulletin boards in our hallway. So, there's still a little bit of nostalgia in there. Um coming up, um we're going to continue with the ceilings and walls. We're going to add to some um new lighting, uh looking at the stairwells,
um improving the stairwells. Uh cooling stations is huge. We do have the um air conditioning units that have been installed in our cafeteria and we have some um big AC units that are coming for our gym and our library spaces and then
some other spaces around the school and then we are getting um an upgrade of some security cameras around um both the inside and and outside of our building. So um I think I can't get through this slide without a shout out to Mr. Abusei
um Robbie, our custodian. He's been involved in every single one of these projects as has been our, you know, the maintenance department as well. Um, and and Matt has been over in our building a ton. But, you know, Robbie gets all the guys to work around the schedules of the contractors. Um, really works with the
contractors, um, inspects their work, um, and and and he's he's amazing. So, just didn't want to get through that slide without a a shout out to Robbie. Um now we'll get into some of the goal
areas. Um first being academics. So really looking at analyzing the student data um to implement the the targeted um instructional interventions, holding the students accountable,
holding the teachers accountable, u making sure that we're responsive and looking for growth. Um so how are we going to do all of this? Um we're going to work with a schoolwide data team. So we've been This is something that we've
really tried to um focus on this year. Um we have a schoolwide data team. It's myself and Taylor um Jen Marxani, our math coach, our CTLs. Um and we look at the data, we look at the responses, we
look at the interventions, um and we really look at students. Um and then we do meet with grade levels. um on on the students as well. So um really looking to build that um method of of interventions um that
are happening at the classroom level and then beyond. Um focusing on some more inclusive practices so it's not as much pull out um more service in the in the classroom. um monitoring for student engagement and accountability um and all
sorts all sorts of practices that we're looking at to improve. Um but I I will say we're we're at a really good starting point. We're not starting from scratch by any stretch. Um I think we're in a really good place. It's just that we can fine-tune it and and really keep
the keep the drive and the focus moving forward. Um next is going to be our MCCAST scores from last year. um which um we were in most categories
um a little bit below both state and and district um except for our fifth grade. So um you know I think that these were some numbers that when we initially looked at in the fall we were like all right we we got to rein it in a little bit. We've
got to look at what we have in front of us and make sure what we're doing is the right match for some of our kiddos. Um, and we're in the right service plan and delivery. Um, and so, you know, it wasn't like doom and gloom, but it was a little bit like, okay, we got some work to do here, guys. Um, and I think
everybody really owned that. And looking forward um you can see how we're using like the MCCAST is one you know assessment measure but what we have um are our star data and that's the um district assessments that we give um
throughout the year. So if you want to go to the next slide with the star progress. So this is really looking at um the percentage of students that were requiring interventions um that as measured in the fall is like
the aqua and then the um darker blue is the winter. So um in almost all categories we definitely decrease the number of kiddos needing like intervention. Um and the some that are kind of flat we didn't parse it out for this because there's two categories.
It's urgent intervention and intervention needed. So where it says like it's kind of flat, it's we did still see a little bit of movement from like the um urgent intervention on. So this is the data that we've been looking at across the the grades to um really
focus on response to the intervention like is the intervention matching and then are we seeing growth. Um so tracking this and then tracking growth which is in the next slide.
um highlighting the average growth scores um from our fall to winter. So this is the slide that I think from that like worry of MCCAST gives us a little bit of like okay we are we are teaching
we are reaching um and we are we are celebrating some good growth. Um so we set the goal of a 40 to 60% growth um for each assessment period. Um, and for teachers it's at the student level. For us it's at the grade
level. Um, but we're seeing really great growth. Um, and again our fifth grade our fifth grade teachers are just kind of knocking it knocking out of the park here. Um, and I don't know what their magic sauce is other than third floor
and rooms with a view. Um, we're gonna figure out the sauce though. um when when you ask when I've asked them, I will say they've said, "We just have a great group of kids." Um but it doesn't just happen that way. Um but they're they're not going to give
themselves a ton of credit. But um not not to be shy of the other growth scores that are all well into the 40 to 60 um percent range. So I think, you know, this just shows our teachers really are working um and our students really are working um and they and they are
growing. So, um, you know, definitely want to highlight and and celebrate celebrate the growth. We have a sneak peek into some of the winter to spring data and it's and it's looking pretty good, too. So, I was happy to happy to see that. Um, the next slide, I will
say, is a is a great um slide to celebrate some great accomplishments. So, um before going through these numbers, just a little anecdote of a change that we've had to our EL um service delivery. So, we were lucky enough to hire a part-time um English
language parro this year who is bilingual. Um so, it's the first time that we've had a bilingual staff member at our school. Um and just just a story like within her first week, the teacher came the fourth grade teacher came down to me and she's like, "What a gift it is." I was like, "Oh, I know." and she's
like, "No, this is what just happened." Um, there's a field trip and the permission slip didn't come back for a new one of our newcomers and you know, we would just usually resend it, make sure it's translated and rescend it, right? Um, but Juliana sat with the
student to figure out like what's going on and got to the bottom of it that she's a newcomer. She walks she lives right up the street, walks to school every day and was just afraid of the school bus. but there's no part nowhere to put that on the form and when language is a barrier there's nowhere to communicate that. So it really hit me
like okay we've been translating for our families but we haven't really been communicating with our families or we've been communicating to but not with um so that was just like a little tidbit of like we've we can do better and now we
will like now that with that mindset and that approach. Um, so she ended up coming in early that day and went on the field trip and rode the school bus and the girl had the time of her life at the planetarium. So, um, like it was just an amazing like little piece of like what a
gift, um, it is to just have somebody be able to converse with kiddos in their home language, especially about something that they're nervous about, you know, um, and how we can get caught up in our ways of like, well, we translated it, you know, but it doesn't get to the root of the open conversation. So um to celebrate these
numbers though um so we have one and a half um e teachers at at Nathaniel Morton. So we share um one teacher between us and Cold Spring. Um and we this year um tested so 26 um students
well we tested 38 but 26 were the ones who had um goals. So you can't meet your benchmark or exceed your benchmark or be tested out until you have a benchmark goal. So tested 38 students, 26 had goals from last year or years prior. Um
so of those 26 um nine met their benchmark and eight tested out like so they they met the language proficiency. So we're at a 65% rate of students who were meeting or exceeding the benchmark. Last year it
was 51%. Meaning or exceeding. So I think we're doing a great job in that in that way. Um and like I mentioned in the previous slide. Um we have um 12 students who um are currently at Nathaniel Morton but have tested out of
the EL population and program. So um it's a it's a great model. Um, and it's great to see the kiddos um, you know, learn learn the learn English and be able to communicate um, really really well. Um, and it's it's exciting to to
see that. Um, for the next um, goal area, which is the um, social emotional learning, I'm going to turn over to Taylor. All right. So, um, some of the things I wanted to highlight tonight for our social emotional learning, um, you'll
see up there it says improvement in student behavior and decrease in office referrals. Um, a big piece of that is going to be going into our community meetings and I want to talk about that on the next slide. So, I'll dive a little deeper.
Um, so as I go through our things that we have going on, um, we have been holding bus expectation and safety assemblies with our, um, school resource officer, Vinnie Roth. And so we've done a lot on bus safety this year, starting
with kindergarten. Um, at the beginning of the year, they get to ride the bus with their families at our kindergarten orientation, get a feel for it, but also just teaching them from that young age what's expected. And then the followup with the school resource officer has been great. Um parents are super helpful
with that too. We're in constant communication about that. Just making sure our kids are getting to and from school safely. Um another thing that we do, admin, Chrissy and I, um our school psychologists and our adjustment counselor and the school nurse meet
every Tuesday. We sit together. We call them our seal meetings, but it's really to talk about kind of like the heartbeat of the school and what's going on um what's going on with our kids, who's seeking a little extra help, where are we at with certain um cases and things
going on in kids' homes, what are some resources we can pull together for these kids. Um it's been a great ad to have our school nurse this year as she's new and so it helps her to kind of get to know the kids on another level as well. They're not just coming in and out of her office, but we're looping her into
the bigger picture. It keeps us all on the same page. And I feel like for me being new at the school, this has really been the most important meeting every week is kind of looking at our kids and what they need more than their academics, right? Just like what's going to help them get through their day-to-day.
Um, we also meet with the nurse uh to address chronically absent students and getting to the root of what is causing that chronic absence. working with families to get kids to school and kind of seeing how we as you said before like Chrissy, taking away those barriers and
talking to parents about like what can help you get your kid to school because that's it's so important to start those good habits now at this young age um so that they carry through through their schooling in Plymouth. Um our school counselor does an amazing job with
running lunch bunches. Our school psychologists do them as well. Um this gives students opportunities to foster friendships and um work on social emotional pieces as well as um you know have time to practice some of the things
that they learn through our school counselor um on how to be a good friend and how to reciprocate a conversation and all of those little nuance things that are sometimes hard for kids. Um they work with them during lunch in a small group. It's a quiet setting. It's
a safe place and we've seen a huge improvement due to that time spent. Um, another thing that we are working on is creating our student ambassador program for fifth graders. Uh, we'd like to use these fifth graders to welcome new families, give tours of the school. It
gives them that little bit of a leadership opportunity, which is so important um as they are kind of the the big dogs, if you will, of um the elementary school. But it's time for them to kind of take that and assume that role as, you know, um, confident
leaders in their building. And so that's something next year we really want to push and continue more and giving those kids opportunities. Um, I was just saying I loved the coffee card idea. I'm like, our fifth graders could do that. I could use a coffee in the afternoon. Um, but I I think those those little
opportunities really do build so much in a kid for their future if you give them responsibility. They start to see themselves as a responsible person, as a leader, um, as somebody who can do things. Like I said, I wanted to go a little bit more into our community
meetings that we started this year. Um, and so kind of our crew meetings that it's all going to tie back into that crew quote that Chrissy had said at the beginning. Um, we started these um, in I think it was March this year. Um, but
looking at what our kids needed at the time. We had come back from February break and you know after a break we get like an uptick in behaviors and we were kind of thinking like well it would be great to roll back out those
expectations we set in September. Um we all need a refresher sometimes and so while Chrissy was able to run grade level data meetings and start looking at kids and how we're working on those interventions, I actually was able to take some of our pair professionals and
our school counselor. We met with each grade level. So we took all the kids. Chrissy took all the teachers. Teachers didn't have to write sub plans. Yeah. Um and so the first round of them, I just went over our crew expectations and what those look like in our school building
at each grade level. Um and this was great because I could kind of play like I'm new here. Can you guys teach me? You know these. You've been knowing these all along. Um, and you know, it's easy to say like be respectful, but what does that look like at Nathaniel Morton and
so we talked a lot about that. We um kind of built the rules out together and that's something that I will definitely continue next year. After looking at that um and attending grade level meetings and really sitting down with our school counselor Hannah Hoster, we
decided to kind of create a a more responsive approach to these community meetings and it worked really well. So, it's something we're going to continue next year um hopefully monthly. But you can see some of the topics that we did um in grades one and two, size of the
problem and how we respond. So, looking at like this is a problem you're going to face. Um how would you react? And because sometimes, you know, your pencil falls on the floor and you have like a big reaction. Well, let's help you match your reaction to the problem. Um and
there was a game to be played. There's a lot of scenarios to work through. The kids were having a lot of fun with it. And so we also created um a resource for teachers to take back to the classroom to then practice those skills with their class at morning meeting. Um with third
grade, we noticed that they really were having trouble with perspective taking um with friendships, a lot of things coming in from recess, a lot of things, you know, off the bus. And so we worked with them on taking different perspectives like this is the scenario.
How would one person interpret it? How would another interpret it? How can they find common ground? Um and finally with fourth and fifth grade we did positively solving peer conflicts. So many of our kids in fourth and fifth grade were struggling with how to like positively
end a friendship or to ask somebody to give you space. Um maybe just you know you don't have to be friends with somebody but you have to be kind. And so that was kind of a big topic. And so this is something we're going to continue into next year is really looking at what do our students
need and how can we address it there? What resources can we give teachers? And then what resources can we give parents? Because um after each one of these meetings, we'll be sending home a newsletter to parents with um some resources to tie it in at home if you want to talk about at home, if you want
to have your kiddo teach you what they learned today. Um and just really that carryover to create that homeschool connection as well. Think that's it. Got it. Um and that leads us into uh homeschool connection talking about community and family
engagement. So this is the last of our goal areas. Um and the goal being that if we can uh engage in consistent, transparent, culturally responsive communication with our families and our community, then we will foster an inclusive, trusting, and supportive school community. So, I think this is
something that just like at at the heart of our crew, this is this is what drives us. Um, this is what drives our school community. Um, to be a place where all kids feel welcomed, all staff feel welcomed, all families feel welcomed.
Um, and to continue increasing the communication, to continue building upon that, um, and and to continue welcoming people into our into our community. So, um, you know, we have great partnerships with our school council, with our PTA,
um, with, you know, organizations around, um, that we're that we're trying to, you know, partner with. We partner with High Point, um, for, um, in school counseling, um, and just trying to build upon more supports, um, for for
families, I think, is is important. But, um, you know, our PTA is is incredible. um and the way that they run different events to feel like it's not just fundraising events, they're like family fun community building events. Um so um
they've done a really nice job and continue to do an amazing job with all of that. One thing that we started this year um is um the coffee with the principal. Um so that's on the next slide. Um and it's just um what happened. So we were talking in the
school council about like a topic you know a hot topic and so one of the topics became like you know anxiety um and then um talking about like also social media and then we kind of merged them both with talk of the book the anxious generation um and talking about
how um you know kids right now are they're they have like a phone based childhood versus like a play-based childhood from a generation ago right so it's like the phone based childhood kids are um sedentary, they are isolated, a play-based childhood, they
were active and social. So, we're seeing those results. We're seeing like the results of the kids who aren't, you know, interacting and all those sorts of things. So the coffee with the principal topic was was started um through our school council and we um were able to
highlight this the social media smarts the things that we've done um what do we do how to we how do we talk to the to the classes in lits class like the library information technology in health class with our resource officer what are the conversations that we have about
social media safety um and then highlighted highlighted a little bit about the book the anxious generation with some talking points and discussion topics. Um and then we were I was sharing about that at um school council and one of the members was like looking she's like, "Oh my gosh, you're thinking
about March." Well, March 7th happens to be the national day to unplug. So, we built this kind of trajectory where it was the coffee with the principal on the 7th and then a schoolwide challenge to unplug on the Friday the 7th and then we decided to go and roll with that for all Fridays in March. So, calling them
screen free Fridays. Um, so gave the families lists of ideas and activities to do that are that do not involve screens. Um, and I we never really checked in to see who participated or how it worked, but it was just kind of a set challenge. But I think the more that we can do this kind of stuff where we're
saying like, you know, simple things like play a board game, you know, or um visit a local park or playground, go for a bike or scooter ride, like those kinds of ideas. Um, and just being able to um, unplug. You know, I always say like
the the in my home like my if I'm on my phone, my dog has no problem coming and like swatting my phone out of my hands. My kids know better. They wouldn't do it, but like the dog does. And it's like, but my kids probably want to like, you know, and it's how much how much are we separating out from the people that
we're just with. So that was kind of one of the messages that we were talking about in one of the challenges. So, that's something that I think we're going to continue with and maybe try to expand on that um as we come just to be able to to connect. Um and then the last slide just highlights um this was
probably one of the easiest of all the slides to put in there because I I could have kept going like this is um these are just some of the clubs activities that are run mostly by our um teachers and staff um and mostly after school. Um, I would want to highlight the
kindness club. That's something that started this year. Our nurse, um, Antonia started that and just an incredible, um, you know, that we can't have enough kindness in the world right about now. Um, and she just took that on and let like younger kids join and it's
just it's been a great um, experience for the kids. They they decorated the teachers room. They put notes all post-it notes about like you are loved, you are the best teacher, like just little things like that. um they really boosted up our our um I don't know the
kindness and the feeling all around the school. But they also took on um the Ashes to Action fundraiser. So that was um we partnered with a school in um Aladena, California. So it was the Odyssey Charter School and they were
completely destroyed with the California wildfires. Um and um we partnered with them. The kindness club advertised it. Tons of teachers came together. We had a raffle. We had a yard sale. And we raised almost $5,000 for the um school,
which we know isn't, you know, to rebuild a school is going to be a lot more than $5,000. But we also did a video message where our students just we had a video camera up at the yard sale and the kids just like spoke and these messages of hope and the principal of that school, I sent it to her and she's
like, "You have no idea the timing. like we have three weeks before spring break and our like we're shot like we're done and this is the most uplifting like message that I can share out. So yes, the money helps and we came together as a community, but the message of hope and the message of we care um and the message of like we're kind of all in
this together. Like I just think like the little bits that you can do to help the greater community um you can't hear that enough and practice that enough and that was just a real big highlight I think from students and staff this year. um all the other pieces, the PTA events, the fall festival, winter wonderland,
book fair, family night, um art show is going to be um on Wednesday night if you're really wanting to dive into the outdoors um on the inside. So, just incredible artwork is going to be on display, but um you know, it's not done
just by our teachers. We really have great parent involvement um that they come in and and help help. So, it's really great. Um, and just to um, so we we raised that money for the Ashes to Action, but we also just had a Ninja Fund run um, right before April Vacation
um, and we raised almost $17,000 for uh, um, playground um, upgrade. So, um, lots of great involvement um, and and lots of great things that are highlighted. We have that little um, crew journey um, video if you want to
click on that, Kristen. Um, so it's just a slideshow of certain things, some things that have happened throughout the year, if we're allowed to see it. I don't know. I put it in the slideshow, but did I not do it separately? Oh, sorry. Um, okay. Well, so there's a
video attached that maybe if you send it, you can see it. um it just highlights the pictures of all of those of those things um and just and highlights the smiles um of the of the kiddos um and the joy I think that's in our school. So um that's that.
All right, Dr. Sorts. Well, the my first comment uh is for both Cold Spring and Nathaniel Morton. It's really crystal clear that you all care for kids. It's crystal clear. you know, you go the extra mile to use that expression and and I think that's what our children
need today. Uh so that's wonderful. That's wonderful. And the your Tuesday morning meetings, those are wonderful because I think I think a child who has a need becomes the topic for four or five adults. What can we do for this him or her to get them through to that's
amazing. And you know, and if the parents ever knew that we their child was getting that much attention, that was pretty amazing. Uh so I really like that. I I want your your uh slide about screens uh getting off the screens. There's a group a study coming out of the UK that I think is rather
fascinating of MRIs. So this is a very wellfunded study of MRIs of a thousand students and they factored in time on screen to images of the in the brain. Yeah. And they saw and the number was
30. when they went over 30 hours in a week, they could actually see changes in the brain structure, which doesn't which doesn't surprise any of us, but it's the first study really to show that. So, that movement away from screens is is is fairly fantastic. Thank you. Yeah, I
think it'll it's hard. It is hard, but um but I think it'll be good. I cut you off. All right, Miss Bryant. So I'd like to say when you talk about trying to find that secret sauce, I
think for myself what's been consistent has been your leadership. So transitioning from uh vice principal to principal one would be worried about what's the dynamic of the school and how
would it change and I can say for myself as a parent there wasn't anything but a sense of relief from the day my child started at the school she was seen she was welcome um she started there
postcoid so she didn't know anything about being in the classroom. Um, as the youngest of five, I was completely worried about how do I keep her engaged
and focused? And you offer so many opportunities that I'm literally like there's not enough days and time in the week to do anything else. Um, but her eagerness to tell me about her day, it's
just such a very different experience. And so I know that by you pouring into your students and your staff, um, that you help contribute to that recipe. So, I would be remissed if I didn't take the
opportunity to say that. Um, I'm heartbroken that she's a fifth grader, but we're going to be okay. Um, but thank you. She's ready. Thank you. Thank you, M. Jackson.
Um, a couple things stood out to me about your presentation that I loved. Uh, the first one was the communicating with. I think that was a really strong important message that often we send out a lot of things in a lot of different
languages and we think how about how we are trying to be inclusive but the communicating to and the communicating with is a really strong message that we should all take with us whatever that that that's I shared that that hit me hard this year um and I'll keep that
I'll always be keeping that. Yeah. Yeah. Um, also your numbers. I mean, that was a really big jump and, you know, I think you should be proud of yourself for the job that you did with that. And the inclusivity that, uh, Taylor talked
about with getting the kids involved um, creates a stronger sense of belonging in addition. And I think that's also something to be really proud of. So, I think it's a really great job. Anybody else? Michelle, I just if you do
start the mantra thing, I'm I'm going to be the parent that needs you to send the sheet home because I'll get yelled at. You will be if I don't echo what's happening. If you don't get it, that's all. Awesome. Accountability. All right. Well, thank you very much and congratulations both of you on a great
first year. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Next up, we have superintendent report. Dr. Campbell. Thank you, Mr. Bizano. Um short um update. Um first uh Saturday we had beautiful weather for our fourth annual health and safety fair. It was truly
just a remarkable day. Um we started actually with the uh walk for hope with the yellow tula project over at the center for active living. Um followed by the fair which went from 10 to one. Uh great turnout. um just uh really just we
had 40 local organizations, nonprofits, you know, that were part of that. In addition to the early childhood portion of the fair, the touch a truck, um we had um a number of comfort dogs there to greet the families and to ride the bus,
school bus with the children, which was a big which was a big uh hit. Um so it was a it was a great day. The weather was a little iffy at the beginning of the week, but it was spectacular. I mean, we couldn't have asked for a better weather. So, really just great
thanks to just all the volunteers, the staff, um, all the just our partners here in the community for putting on a again a wonderful event. Um, as was mentioned by a couple of our principles tonight, we do have the cooling station. So we've this has been something that
we've been working on for many years as as you know and this has come up through our teacher advisory and and a lot of the work that we did through negotiations. So we are adding cooling stations at Nathaniel Morton Cold Spring Hedge and Manmat is also getting some
additional air conditioning units for areas that aren't equipped. So again this is really providing those non-HVAC schools uh with some cooling and dehumidification to help with that. So, we're hopeful that that will help um
when the weather gets warmer later later in, you know, May and June and and when we come back. So, I'm happy that we were able to to to do that. Um I just want to um recognize that today is the start of teacher appreciation week. Um so, just a
a big thank you to all of our teachers, our PAR educators, our specialists, everyone who is working u to have an impact on our on our kids. Um we're truly blessed here. Um having, you know, worked here for so many years, but having my children go through here, it's
it's a really it's truly an amazing district and it starts w, you know, with the people in those buildings um each and every day. So just thank you to all of our teachers uh for everything that they do. And then just a shout out because we won't have a meeting until
after uh this happens, but Wednesday is National School Nurses Day. So, it's really important to recognize our nurses and our school health aids. Um, coming from a family of nurses. Um, I I think I I think every neighbor I like I can't
and so many nurses growing up. Um, but I have a lot of family members that are in the health profession and nurses and and see what they do. But to know what our school nurses do each and every day too is really remarkable. It's um uh a very very much uh appreciated uh role that
they play. So, thank you to them. Um and just uh quick update, our high school students weren't here today, but we do have two things. Uh we have our senior showcase for our CCTE programs this week. So, um May 7th, Wednesday, is
North High School at 6 PM. So if you stop by North have any availability at six o'clock, it's an opportunity for the students that are in our vocational program to showcase uh what they've been doing all these four years, particularly their senior year. So that again, May
7th is north and south is May 8th. So a great opportunity to again to showcase our kids. Um and I'm going to turn it over to Adam in a second to provide an update on federal funding, the information that we're receiving. before I do because this will be the last time
that I'll be able to formally address Dr. Sorenson here. I know that we've done that. But again, Jim, I just want to thank you for um a remarkable 35 years of support for this community and and um at least, you know, over 12 years
for me personally. And I just, you know, two things that stand out to me about you um is your advocacy for all kids and your love for family, which I think you're you know, the two of them complement each other
and and you bring that you've brought that to the work that you've done for many many years. So, I just want to thank you for your leadership and your support. Thank you. Thank you. I turn it over to Adam just to say a few words about the federal funds. I echo Dr. Campbell's and I I know you from back on
the soccer field years coach him by the way years ago. Where was he? We won't go there. We won't go there. Um so I just wanted to update you just in regards to some federal funding um updates that we've just recently
received. I had a webinar on Friday with ASBO which is the Association of School Business Officials International. Um so the major key points for next year at this point in time is that title one, title four IDA would be level funded. Um
title two and McKini Vento funding could see some major changes. They didn't get into specifics as to what those are. Um title three was not discussed um the other day. Um they said that school meal program changes are not being considered at the House of Representatives level.
um which basically would pull it off the table of any changes to that. Um Medicare cuts are still on the table. Um and -ate is right now is being constitutionally challenged at the Supreme Court level. Um we receive um a lot of cable funding and a lot of
projects that we do to upgrade like our servers and so forth come from -ate. Um so that could have and that we usually can get a couple hundred thousand dollars from -ate every year. Um so those there's some unknowns. Um and that morning um the president's skinny budget
for FY26 came out. Um so they hadn't had time to re to review that but um after reviewing it um I think it was MASC or MASS, I can't remember which one. Um came out with a summary of some things. Most of that would affect us in FY27, so
not necessarily next school year, but the school year after. Um but some of the items that came up was and again none of this is is is solid at this point in time but um US Department of Education is slated for about a 12
billion cut. Um it basically um doesn't it talks about consolidating some of the grants. Um some of the areas nothing was specified in regards to what um but it does they they're kind of surmising that it does include some title two and title
four cuts. Um it the proposal does indicate title one funding would remain intact. Um it also talks about preserving IDEIDA grants um but consolidating them um and funding at level funds as well. Um they do do talk
a little bit about eliminating programs such as title three and teacher quality partnerships. Um and we do get title three funds. Um and they also talked a little bit about um increasing the money going to charter schools um and increasing those local options. Um
again, nothing's finalized at this point in time, but those are just come of some of the key highlights at at this moment and so we're hopeful for next year and we'll see how that goes for appreciate that up update. Obviously worrisome time, but
we'll take it one step at a time. All right. Anything else, Dr. G? Y. All right. Any questions for Dr. Campbell or Dr. Lazel? All right. Next up, uh, retirements. Dr. or Mr. Chopi? Yes. Uh, good evening. Uh, I can share with you that David
Crawford, our custodian on the second shift at West Elementary School, will be retiring uh, at the end of June on June 30th after 27 years of service. And then, of course, I can officially announce after 35 years, Dr. Sorenson
for all schools, students, families, and staff and his support uh effective Wednesday. Wednesday morning, Wednesday morning uh on May the 7th. So, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Jackson. You have some adding to do because I I know
I had to do the math. Uh we'd like to thank uh David Crawford for his 27 years of service and wish him the best of luck. And we would also like to thank Dr. Sorenson for his 35 years of service and wish him the best of luck. I know
it's been my pleasure and my honor to serve alongside him and he will be greatly missed with big shoes to fill. So, thank you very much everybody. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Tor. All right. Next up, uh we have any reports or proposals from committee
members? Nothing. All right. Uh anything from National Planning Committee, Mr. Morgan. Uh, no updates. We we just met last week, so Okay. Yep. And I know building committee doesn't meet until later this week. Um, so back to you, Mr. Trophy, for appointments, leaves of assets, and res and resignations. Uh,
just briefly, we had one appointment to share with you, and then we did accept three resignations. All right. On to uh unfinished new business. Do we have any unfinished business any wants to bring up any new business? Nope. All right. We're moving
swiftly along. We got the next up the consent agenda. We just have some hope homeschooling plan approvals and some accounts payable warrants. So, I don't think there's anything controversial there. Anything anybody wants to pull? All right. I think we're good to
vote then, Dr. Campbell. Oh, actually, we need a motion. I move that the public school committee approve the um consent agenda as presented the five May 5th.
Second, Mr. Bryant seconds. All right, that brings us to the end of our agenda. that we will adjourn. And Dr. Sorson, if you'll do the honors. I'm gonna adjourn this meeting. Dr. Meest Estus reminded me uh about an hour
or two ago that I've served I've sat at over 1,500 school committee meetings. So, I adjourn my last one. Thank you everybody.