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Grandfather Academy Advisory Council November 18, 2016 Page 1 of 3 Grandfather Academy Advisory Council Minutes November 18, 2016

The Grandfather Academy Advisory Council met on the Hayes campus of Grandfather Home for Children in Banner Elk at 9:00 a.m. 2016. Proper notice was given to comply with the North Carolina Open Meeting Law.

Trustees Present: Susan Staton, John Merritt, Katherine Gatewood

Trustees Absent:

Others Present: Wendy Turbyfill-recorder, Michelle Griffin-Principal

Call To Order: Michelle Griffin called the meeting to order at 9:04 a.m. and reviewed the agenda. She informed the council that she needs to discuss a personnel matter that is not listed on the agenda. The council was in agreement to accept this addition to the agenda.

Reading of Mission Statement: Everyone read the mission statement aloud: To provide special education opportunities for students who have been estranged by emotional, sexual or other abuse.

Review and Approval of Minutes: Mrs. Griffin asked for a motion to approve the open session minutes from the October 21, 2016 meeting. John Merritt made the motion for approval and Susan Staton made the second. The motion passed unanimously.

Discussion of Charter Renewal: Mrs. Griffin gave an update about the presentation with the Charter School Advisory Board on November 16, 2016. She said she attended the meeting along with John Koppelmeyer, Stephanie Knowles, and Chris Jones. She said one of the board members interrupted Mrs. Knowles during her presentation and offered his thanks. He told her he does not usually say thank you to schools with an “F” for a performance grade but he recognized we have the hardest school in the state. She advised the board voted unanimously to award us a 10 year renewal pending a clean financial audit. Mrs. Griffin said they looked at us on an individual basis instead of going strictly by the framework. She said they were all very supportive of what we are doing. Grandfather Academy Advisory Council November 18, 2016 Page 2 of 3 Mrs. Gatewood asked how the teachers responded. Mrs. Griffin advised she has not been able to meet with them yet because she just returned to school this morning but they are all aware of the renewal. She said she plans to sit down with them today and talk about it.

Discussion of Library Dedication: Mrs. Griffin advised she was unable to schedule the library dedication today due to a scheduling conflict with the Foundation Office. She said the dedication has been postponed until December 16, 2016 at the next meeting.

Instructional Methods: Mrs. Griffin discussed new instructional methods that are being implemented in the classrooms. She said since enrollment has been down, they combined the students into two classes which gives the teachers a free block in addition to their planning time. She said when the teachers have a free block, they go into one of the other classrooms and assist. This gives them the chance to work with small groups or pull the kids out for one on one assistance while the other teachers works with a different group of students. She said the goal is to focus more on small groups and less on lecturing.

Mrs. Griffin said she has been looking at data with the teachers and they are creating personalized educational plans for each student. She said when the students arrive they take the Wide Range Achievement Test and this helps to determine their basic skills level and what their deficiencies are. She said they copy and paste the state standards for subject areas into an Excel Spreadsheet and when the teachers see a student master a skill, they check it off with the date and time. She said they want to be able to track over time that they consistently meet these goals. She said this method of teaching allows the teachers to hammer in skills and helps close the gaps.

Mrs. Griffin stated they have also started working on running records for reading to see what their comprehension skills are. She said Mr. Banks goes into Mr. Harris’s classroom when he is free and helps split the kids into small reading groups. Mrs. Griffin said she hopes as more students transfer in, the teachers will be in their comfort zone on how to look at what the students need and address those things. Mrs. Griffin said there is a lot of potential there but the teachers are a little overwhelmed with all of the students coming and going so quickly and teaching multiple subjects and grade levels in the same classroom.

Mrs. Griffin told the council that Lisa Maris is currently working three days per week to help out with daily tasks so Mrs. Griffin can spend more time in the classrooms and help change how we look at assessments and implement them in the classrooms. Mr. Merritt applauded Mrs. Griffin for getting into the meat of this and trying to make a difference. Mrs. Griffin said we have the opportunity here to take the time to sit down and get to know these kids and help them reach their potential. She said teachers in bigger schools don’t always have this chance and students like ours often get overlooked because of their behavioral problems. She said we can help them while they are here and get the behavior issues under control. Mrs. Staton asked if we Grandfather Academy Advisory Council November 18, 2016 Page 3 of 3 receive any feedback after the students leave. Mrs. Griffin said she has asked in the past about seeing their test scores but other schools won’t share those. She said she has talked to staff about creating a form for parents and guardians to sign allowing us permission to obtain their test scores after they leave to help us track our data better. She said she feels like we don’t get any credit for the students that begin the year with us and leave in February or March then do well on their tests. She said there might be a possibility we can get some medical exemptions for students who come in right before testing and are unstable.

Other Business: Mrs. Griffin asked for a motion to go into closed session to discuss a personnel matter. Mr. Merritt made the motion to go into closed session for the purpose of discussing information that is privileged, confidential or not a public record as per N.C.G.S. 143-318.11(a)(1)personnel. Katherine Gatewood made the second and the motion passed unanimously.

The council returned to open session.

Adjourn: Mrs. Griffin asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Mrs. Staton made the motion. Mrs. Gatewood made the second and the motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 9:52 a.m.

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