Back to Basics Charter School Foundation, Inc. Board of Directors Meeting

Wednesday, September 14, 2016 Room 208 In attendance: Ms. Lynne Volpe, Lew Kirk, PhD, Ms. Alba Mas, Mr. Gil Schisler, Mr. Todd Amaden, Ms. Tahvia Shaw, Mrs. Ruby Anderson, Mrs. Tiffany Sperry, Mrs. Karen Orbegoso, Ms. Stephanie Hill-Kennedy, Mrs. Tracie Hiller, Bonnie Salazar, PhD

Absent: Mrs. Carol Hines-Cobb

Call to Order – Ms. Alba Mas called the meeting to order at 6:00PM.

Public Comment on Agenda Items – There was no comment from those attending on the

agenda items.

Approval of the August 2016 Minutes – Ms. Mas asked for approval of the minutes. Mr. Schisler moved for approval; seconded by Ms. Volpe. The board then voted unanimously to approve the minutes.

Treasurer’s Report – Mr. Gil Schisler (Attachment #1)

Principal’s Report – Ms. Tahvia Shaw (Attachment #2)

Ms. Shaw asked for a motion to approve Erin Murray (7th grade math) for teaching out of field in

ESOL. Mr. Schisler moved for approval; seconded by Ms. Volpe. The board then voted unanimously to approve the motion.

Ms. Shaw asked for a motion to approve submittal of Mrs. Tracie Overdorff’s application for the “Best and Brightest” scholarship. Mr. Schisler moved for approval; seconded by Ms. Volpe. The

board then voted unanimously to approve the motion.

Faculty Report – Ms. Stephanie Hill-Kennedy reported (Attachment #3)

PRA Report – Mrs. Karen Orbegoso reported (Attachment #4)

Committee Reports

Development and Finance Oversight – Mr. Gil Schisler reported. The committee did meet. There were no budget issues to discuss. The Business Development Subcommittee met with the PRA representative and is

coordinating some additional fundraising activities.

Governance – Dr. Lew Kirk reported. The committee did not meet. Dr. Kirk welcomed our new board member, Tracie Hiller.

Building – Ms. Mas reported. The committee meet.

Discussion was held about repairs to the floors in the building Academic and Standards – Ms. Lynne Volpe reported.

Ms. Volpe followed up on last month’s discussion on retention rates. She did meet with the GLAs following their analysis of the school data. Upon analysis, there is evidence of places where conversations can be had; none due to incompetent instruction. Perhaps, rather, judgment about how grades are reported in the classroom. Ms. Volpe encouraged introspection, discussion and reflection; Ms. Shaw agreed that a conversation on this topic will be opened.

New Business Ms. Shaw presented a revised calendar due to Hurricane Days. We had one day built into

our calendar. February 20 is proposed as the Hurricane make-up day. It is currently a teacher work day. Decision regarding this calendar change will be contingent upon the state’s decision about whether these days need to be made up. Mr. Schisler moved for approval; seconded by Dr. Kirk. The board then voted unanimously to approve the motion.

Mr. Schisler presented the annual audit for review. On pages 34-35, he pointed out that we no longer owe anything on the MOSI lease. He reported that we received a clean audit. Mr. Schisler moved to accept the audit; seconded by Mr. Amaden. The board then voted unanimously to approve the motion.

Old Business

Governance training scheduled on October 12 from 5-7pm. Training is to be conducted online. Board meeting to follow at 7pm. Samantha Kahn will follow up and determine if the training can be conducted online at home. If so, board meeting will be at 6pm.

Public Comment

Jeremy Reimer. Son Jason is a 7th grade student. Expressed concerns about the way his

son is being graded in science class. Ms. Shaw is following up with a parent/teacher conference.

Adjournment – Ms. Mas called for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Mrs. Volpe motioned; seconded by

Mr. Amaden. The board voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 6:47PM.

Minutes taken by: Bonnie Salazar, PhD Minutes respectfully submitted by: Bonnie Salazar, PhD

Attachment #1

Back to Basics Charter School Foundation, Inc. Terrace Community Middle School

Finance Committee

To: BTBCSF Board Members & Finance Committee

From: Gil Schisler, Treasurer

Date: 09/07/16

RE: August 2016 YTD Operating Results

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

These results, as outlined in this report are based on unaudited financial data, and as such is to be used for informational purposes

for management only and is not intended to convey Foundation financial data to the public.

Revenues:

YTD revenue total $ 831.1k versus the plan of $ 756.3k for a favorable variance of 74.8k. Early in the year, FTE revenue

slightly up, but the SIT funds are off after the first two months, not unexpected. Fund raising ahead of plan thru August. Will

advise as any issues develop.

Expenses:

YTD total spending totals $818.1k vs the plan or $ 799.9k for a variance of $ 18.1k unfavorable. Again too early in the year for

issues, F&D will advise Board if there are issues developing.

Net Asset Changes:

YTD Net asset changes are of $12.9k versus the plan of ($43.7k). This is favorable variance to the plan of $ 56.7k, this

combination of revenues and expense changes already discussed. Mostly timing issues.

Cash Balances: Cash balances and working capital liquidity increased by a net of $ 64k month over month to $1,416.8k. Of the cash balances

$1,111k is encumbered by the bonds and associated mortgages. The balance of $ 306k is available to meet current foundation

needs.

The next Series A bond interest payment of $ 136,069 occurs November 15, 2016. The next principle payment of $135k will be

due on May 15, 2017. These are all covered in the encumbered funds balances and are funded monthly with our “mortgage”

payment. All Series B bonds have been retired.

All required tax obligations and bond covenant filings are current and up to date.

Respectfully submitted,

Gil Schisler

Attachment #2

Principal’s Report September 14, 2016

1. Tonight I would like to introduce our new computer teacher Karen McCartney and the new 8th grade science teacher Mrs. Tanya Holder, who took the position vacated by Tracie Overdorff. I would also like to introduce our new 7th grade GLA, Mr. Dan Oswald. Please stand to tell our board a little about yourself.

2. Each school year, TCMS is required to notify its board of the teachers who are teaching out of field or are out of field teaching ESOL certifications at this time. The recommendation is to approve the following teachers: Erin Murray, 7th Grade Math in the area of ESOL.

3. Once again the State budget provides a teacher scholarship for the “Best and Brightest” this is a scholarship to attract highly intelligent professionals to the field of education. The criteria for this scholarship is the individual must have scored in the 80th percentile during the year in which they took the ACT/SAT and must have rated highly effective on their most recent evaluation. This year I have received the required documentation from Mrs. Tracie Overdorff. I am required to present this to the board for approval.

4. We are completing our NWEA MAP testing. This is our nationally normed adaptive assessment that measures the level a student is performing in reading and math and provides teachers with data that lets them know what the student is ready to learn.

Attachment #3

Faculty Report September 14, 2016

New Teacher Introduction

o Ms. Karen McCartney

Mix-It-Up Day

o Friday, September 16th

during 6th

, 7th

, and 8th

grade lunch

o Mix-It-Up Day – National campaign launched by Teaching Tolerance a decade

ago

o Encourages students to identify, question, and cross social boundaries by moving

out of their comfort zones to sit with someone new during lunch; a simple act

with profound implications to help reduce prejudices, biases, and misperceptions.

o The theme this year is cards. Students will be able to play card games with each

other while sitting with new peers.

Classroom Happenings

o Critical Thinking (6th

Grade) with Ms. Whittemore – Helpful Homework Strategy

Experimenting

New Strategies Taught Weekly: quiet, consistent study area; using a

variety of non-lyrical music/ambient sounds to increase focus; limiting

distracting electronic devices and submitting a 60-second “recap” video

interview of how it’s working; using a timer; organizational methods and

planner techniques

o Art (8th

Grade) with Ms. Miller – Recycled Cardboard Artwork

Students recycled cardboard and made symmetrical designs using a word

of their choice at least 5 letters long. Students paint this black when

finished and sponge metallic paint over top and use strategies to texturize

the artwork.

o Math Tutoring (8th

Grade) with Mr. Conover & Ms. Lee – “Breakout” Challenges

Students are given a lockbox with 6 different locks to open within a time

limit to earn a prize. Each lock requires different math skills to determine

answers in order to open the combination, word, numerical TSA locks.

The puzzles had the students moving around the room to find hidden keys

and discover black-light messages. Students were successful and enjoyed

“bragging” about it to peers the following day – asked to do this again!

Math is planning to make this a monthly activity for their tutoring.

o Language Arts Department (6th

-8th

Grade) – NWEA Testing

Athletics

o Seasons are off to a great start! Earlier start in the school year allowed for tryouts

and practices to begin a week before seasons started.

o Results

Girls Volleyball JV 1-0

Girls Volleyball Varsity 2-0

Boys Soccer 1-0 with 1 tie

Boys and Girls Cross Country participated in Pre-Heat Meet in Lakeland,

Florida on September 9th

– Boys placed 1st, and girls placed 3

rd (top two

places were running clubs, not schools)

TCMS Literacy Symposium

o March 13th

, 2017

o See attached letter and proposed scheduled from Ms. Turner (Social Studies

Department)

September 9, 2016 Back to Basics Charter School Foundation, Inc., d.b.a. Terrace Community Middle School (TCMS) RE: A LONG WALK TO WATER (LONG WALK), by Linda Sue Park

The annual, 2017 TCMS School-Wide Read and Symposium. Sponsored by the Social Studies Department

Dear Members of the TCMS Board: I’m enthused about presenting to you the Social Studies Department’s proposal for this year’s school wide read symposium! One of this year’s selected symposium themes is POTABLE WATER - the over arching quest for clean water worldwide. Two thirds of the world’s population has to walk over a mile to obtain it. A 2011 CNN article supporting this water crisis can be found at http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/04/29/drinking.water/ How many sojourning miles of that quest for a basic need – 2016/2017 – continue to be traveled by people who do not own shoes (I wonder)? In conjunction with this worldwide water crisis, the symposium will address the LIVES OF SCHOOL CHILDREN coming of age in WAR TORN South Sudan. Civil War has raged in Sudan in modern times since 1962. Visit a BBC timeline at: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14019202 To foster an appreciation of these themes among TCMS community members, the Social Studies Department has chosen A LONG WALK TO WATER (LONG WALK), by Linda Sue Park (a Newberry Award winner for A Single Shard). LONG WALK, designated as historical fiction, recounts ACTUAL events in the life of Salva Dut who, in 1986, at age ELEVEN, because of Sudan’s civil war, runs for his life from school – and HOME – to a refugee camp in Ethiopia. Park also develops a fictional Sudanese girl named Nya in LONG WALK. Nya and her family/tribe migrate annually in search of water during South Sudan’s dry season. Nya and her tribe’s culture are set in 2008. Civil war in Salva’s Sudan rages still in 2016. Migrations in search of clean water still plague OUR TIME. Joseph Akok Deng, a Sudanese contemporary of Salva Dut, has agreed to attend our symposium. Joseph’s life mirrors Salva’s. The Impact Club of TCMS will spearhead a drive to gather first aid supplies for the people of South Sudan for Mr. Deng’s foundation. An ABC Action News account of his work on behalf of his homeland can be viewed at http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-pinellas/unique-friends-send-hope-to-south-sudan-via-big-hearts In addition to Mr. Deng, Miss Meira Kowalski has also agreed to attend our symposium. I am extremely excited that Miss Kowalski has agreed to visit us because she will positively impact our students. As a freshman in high school this year, she lives her life “paying it forward,” as do many of our own students. ONE GOAL I want to highlight from the following proposal is that, on symposium day, the Social Studies Department envisions “HALVING” every TCMS homeroom. Homeroom teachers will lead half of their students in reading LONG WALK while listening to an audio rendition. (Incidentally, there is positive precedent for reading while listening. Common Core supports it. A school in Pasco County had 500 freshman read – while listening to – Night, by Eli Wiesel. See

http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/daylong-reading-event-in-pasco-keeps-students-rapt/2166697 ) The other homeroom halves would, ideally, be lead in the same fashion by you – the board members of our twice awarded national Blue Ribbon School of Excellence – Hillsborough County School District charter school administrators, and interested community volunteers. As the proposal states, all volunteers will be provided with the necessary instructional materials/prompts. The students we serve are “a class act”. It would be an honor for the Social Studies Department to provide to you this experiential activity with the students you serve! Finally, my sole desire is to continue the time-honored TCMS school wide read tradition – from 2002’s A Light in the Forest, by Conrad Richter, to our top notch Language Arts Department’s heart-tugging read of (and symposium on) Wonder, by R. J. Palacio, in 2016. That tradition is to celebrate the “Community” aspect of our school’s public name. I close with a portion of our school’s Vision statement: “The founders believe that parental and community involvement is crucial to the success of the students and the school as a whole. Therefore, opportunities [school wide read symposiums] should be created for the parents and members of our community to come to our school [school wide read symposiums] to learn, to teach, and to work as a team with the students, teachers, [and] administrators, ….” I hope that I have passed on to you my excitement concerning upcoming symposium possibilities! However, at the very least, thank you all for everything you continue to accomplish for our children! Judith Turner A member of the Social Studies Department at TCMS

TERRACE COMMUNITY MIDDLE SCHOOL 2016/2017 School Wide Read & Symposium Proposal

Symposium Date: March 13, 2017 Coordinator: Judith Turner

2016 – 2017 School Wide Read:

A LONG WALK TO WATER (LONG WALK), by Linda Sue Park. Ms. Park is a Newberry Award winner for A Single Shard (2011).

BOOK SUMMARY: LONG WALK toggles between Salva Dut’s account of his exodus from Sudan to Ethiopia during the Sudanese civil war in the 1980’s and Nya’s annual journey from her tribal lands during the Sudanese dry season in search of water in 2008. Salva’s portion is a real life account of his coming of age in war torn South Sudan; Nya’s story is fiction but very much based on current events.

SYMPOSIUM ACTIVITIES:

This year’s March 13, 2017 symposium schedule framework is as follows: 8:30 – 11:55 a.m. (This includes time for the reading of LONG WALK and four, ten-minute small group discussions)

-All homerooms will read the book in homeroom. Half the homeroom students will be lead by their homeroom teacher. Half the homeroom students will be lead by a TCMS board member, Hillsborough County Charter School Administration staff and Parent/Community Sponsors. Other interested stake holders are also welcome to participate.

LONG WALK audio book:

-Ms. Turner provides the audio component for the school wide read. She also provides discussion questions for four – five to ten minute – intermissions. She has purchased an Audible version of LONG WALK. This version is set to be broadcast on symposium day.

12:00 (noon) – 12:30 LUNCH

6th through 8th grade will have lunch (staggered). 12:35 – 1:00

Half the school addressed by keynote speakers Joseph Akok Deng and Meira Kowalski in the gym. Mr. Joseph Akok Deng is a contemporary of the Sudanese civil war who has his own poignant story to share. Miss Kowalski is a St. Petersburg high school student who spearheaded a first aid drive, during her 8th grade school year, for Mr. Deng’s South Sudan. TCMS and its IMPACT club will spearhead a similar drive.

Half the school addressed by USF Professor of African Studies on the basketball court [EXAMPLE ONLY – NOT OFFICIAL]

1:05 – 1:25

Flip the halves. 1:30 – 1: 50

Half school water activity in gym/front parking lot [Clean water experiments? EXAMPLE ONLY]

Half school water activity on the basketball court/PE fields. [Students carry gallon water jugs up to a mile? EXAMPLE ONLY]

(Contacts for water activities: Board President Alba Maas, Johann Wahnon’s father-in-law, and SAL Tracie Overdorff)

1:55 – 2:15 Flip the halves. (ADDITIONAL POSSIBILITIES: Bring in experts concerning the impact of civil wars raging worldwide and experts committed to teaching tolerance. Long time TCMS Educator, Mr. Rixie Burroughs, has a Rwandan genocide refugee possibility.) 2:20 – 2:45

Back to Homerooms to watch a documentary on what Salva Dut (the main character in LONG WALK) has done to bring potable water to his homeland (Sudan). Ms. Turner has and will provide the documentary.

2:45 – 2:55

Impact Club presentation on the collection of first aid supplies for Sudan over WTCMS.

2:55 – Dismissal

Wrap up discussions. Final announcements from administration.

SCHOOL YEAR ACTIVITIES

The Social Studies Department will guide TCMS students toward the March 13 symposium day by orienting students to the unique aspects of the continent of Africa – specifically the northeastern African countries. For example, Sudan (the setting of LONG WALK) is the location of the ancient kingdom of Kush (Nubia). Kush, located south of ancient Egypt – at points in history – rivaled Egypt in accomplishments/splendors. Sixth grade can have presentable student work based on Sudan’s geography and ancient history. Seventh grade can spearhead presentable student work on Africa that is based on their civics infused curriculum. Eighth grade can formulate presentable student work based on U.S. History and the continent of Africa. These are examples for now. The Social Studies will continue to discuss strategies and implementations as the school year progresses.

Consider the March 13, 2017, Symposium Day, like many of us anticipate a special holiday. We understand the holiday’s history; it’s been handed down by generations. We wait, most excitedly, for all the holiday surprises. OUR SYMPOSIUMS SUPPORT OUR MISSION, VISION, GOALS, and GUIDING PRINICPLES

MISSION (in part):

Terrace Community Middle School is committed to the following values:

recognize that parental and community involvement is crucial to the success of the students and the school as a whole;

help guide each child to develop his or her character in a program that builds community and stresses respect.

VISION (in part):

The founders believe that parental and community involvement is crucial to the success of the students and the school as a whole. Therefore, opportunities should be created for the parents and members of our community to come to our school to learn, to teach, and to work as a team with the students, teachers, administrators, and directors….”

GOALS one and three are:

-Highest student achievement for ALL students -Engaged and supportive parent and community involvement

GUIDING PRINCIPLE three is:

-Success for students is a shared responsibility

THIS SYMPOSIUM SUPPORTS COMMON CORE STANDARDS FOR THE STATE OF FLORIDA

In order to analyze how our traditional school wide reads support Florida’s Common Core Standards for reading literature and informational text, kindly access the following website. Look at the 8th grade standards. Our Blue Ribbon middle school has successfully fostered an environment that builds up to – and beyond – these standards. http://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/5390/urlt/0081014-lafs.pdf

Attachment #4

PRA Report September 14, 2016

Barnes and Noble Night

*profit $2648.72

Moe’s Spirit Night *profit $262.59

Team Tornado *Ongoing fundraiser, approx $52,000 plus as of 9/13/16

*continues till the end of September

*signs were dropped off Monday to administration for car line display

Book Fair

*lead PRA (Natasha Richardson) was connected with PRA person who lead the event last year

for guidance (Vicki Campasano)

Fall Festival

*7th grade Coordinator (Maureen Ash) overseas PRA Lead (Toshi Newkirt)

*Volunteer needs were emailed from administration to 7th grade coordinator 9/13

*sign up genius needs to be created next week

Box Tops *6th grade Coordinator (Nakia) is working with the box top parent to come up with incentives

for individual students and classes to promote participation