Coraggio Consulting
Loudoun County School Board, Specialized Programs & Centers Committee Meeting, Thursday, November 16, 2023

Date: Thursday, November 16, 2023
Place: Loudoun County Public Schools / School Board meeting (see BoardDocs / LCPS-TV)
Length: 1h 42m (video)
Official meeting video (Vimeo / LCPS-TV): https://player.vimeo.com/video/885734041?rel=0
BoardDocs (School Board): https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/loudoun/Board.nsf/Public

Machine transcript (speech-to-text) produced by Coraggio Consulting. Not an official county record. Names and numbers may be misspelled; check the video at the timestamp before quoting.
Speech-to-text: whisper.cpp, model large-v3-turbo. Produced 2026-10-21. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:02] we have no public comment tonight I move to approve the draft minutes for the October 26 2023 meeting so nice to see you this is just a information item for

[00:00:41] you what is uploaded in board docs are very much working documents that we've been working on with both charter schools as well as division council so in looking over the charter school agreements over the summer months I noticed some inconsistencies in our current practice with the wording in both agreements so what these documents are is simply a chart I made for each charter school where that inconsistency occurs and our recommendations for how to bring it up to date so HCA a Hillsborough Charter Academy will be presenting their draft charter agreement renewal in December they will be

[00:01:17] incorporating these components into their draft renewal and MCCS we will be presenting an amendment which incorporates the things outlined in the checklist. Those will go to the new board for approval? Correct. Thank you for letting us know and keeping that up to date. Any questions or comments? All right.

[00:01:37] We'll move to 402 from the Department of Academics, Academies of Loudoun Admissions Update. Thank you, Ms. Sheridan. We're joined by Dr. Ryan Tyler tonight who will be leading most of this presentation on the Academies of Loudoun Admissions Update. Our agenda will include a program overview, an update on emissions data and trends, and then a brief update on the Office of the Attorney General Inquiry.

[00:02:16] As a reminder, our three curricular programs at the Academies of Loudoun are our Academy of Engineering and Technology, our Academy of Science, and the Monroe Advanced Technical Academy. So when we're using those acronyms throughout the presentation, those are what we're referencing. So with that, I will turn it over to Dr. Tyler.

[00:02:36] Thank you. Good evening. next several slides we're going to go through a journey of patterns we're seeing in our Academy's admissions data we're going to look at students who applied students who accepted we're going to look at representation from certain schools and we're going to introduce the idea of an index a way to look at a student groups representation of overall population relative to their representation in this case the academies so next the next slide so the The first slide gives you data here as far as the representation by different race and

[00:03:12] ethnic groups for Academy of Engineering Technology applications. So as you know, students are qualified or identified as eligible based upon a course progression and having to complete general assessments and other items.

[00:03:27] So this is the actual applicant pool. And you see here over time black and Hispanic students which have historically been under represented in some of our rigorous course pathways, we've seen increase over time, and we've seen a decrease for other groups.

[00:03:43] And we've also seen, as you see at the bottom, another data point, which is the total number of applicants, and you see there at the bottom, that is increasing at a rate much higher than our overall general population increase, going from 1,061 to over 2,100 students over that five-year period.

[00:04:02] So on the next slide. So looking at this data, a way to think about it with a metric that helps to explain that relationship between if a student group is 10% of the population and if they're more than 10% of the actual applicant pool in this case, they're overrepresented.

[00:04:19] So that is a representation ratio. So you look at their percentage in the applicant pool or in any other pathway you're considering relative to the overall enrollment. The example you see here, if 26.4% of applicants are white and over 40% of the students enrolled LCPS are white, it creates an index, and any index below 1 indicates underrepresentation.

[00:04:42] Any index above 1 indicates overrepresentation. So we're going to see some metrics along with the percentages and some of the ratios to give you an idea of how we're progressing. Next slide. So you'll see there, you saw the overall percentages. When you look at the actual ratio, one to one being parity or equal representation, we've seen an increase over time from five years ago for black and African-American students and Hispanic students, but not quite approaching the idea of parity of 1.0.

[00:05:12] The next slide. So now we're moving from applied to receiving offers for admissions. And you may wonder why we're seeing numbers above 150 slots. You will remember early on when the first offers are submitted to families in the late winter, early spring, there's opportunities for families to move to discover that they've We've been admitted to another academy, Thomas Jefferson in particular.

[00:05:41] That's why we always end up with more than 150 offers. And you see here over time, black and Hispanic students have increased over time, while other groups have decreased or stayed about the same. So you go to the next slide, our index, you'll see here that while there's been somewhat more improvement in the ratio for African American students, we haven't seen as much for Hispanic students.

[00:06:04] So the first slide applied, this slide is actually offered admissions. So the next slide will take you to specialized learners. So you will see in the slides for the last year, and I'm going to confirm this with the Academy's admissions process, I believe the last year for the 2023 cohort, I think we stopped counting monitored L's.

[00:06:25] So you may see a decrease in the representation, but I do want to confirm that with the admissions office, but that's what I remember from memory. So you'll see here in the applicant pool, significant increases for economically disadvantaged, some increases for students with disabilities, significant increases for English learners until the drop-off last year, and again, we'll confirm that it was the case that we were no longer counting monitored ELs, no longer receiving services.

[00:06:52] So the next slide, you will see the outcomes, looking at the ratios there, more progress for students with disabilities, and again, looking at a different trend for the other two student groups. The next slide.

[00:07:07] So looking at actual offers of admissions, there's applied, there's offered. And again, we see a pattern of improvement for students with disabilities and economically disadvantaged. And again, a different case for English learners. And if you look at the ratio on the next slide, you'll see that represented in the actual ratio statistic.

[00:07:31] So that should take us to the next slide. The last item we'll look at for AET is representation amongst our schools. These are our feeder middle schools. And in this particular case, we didn't do ratios because of complexity, but it gives you an idea of looking at which schools had a stronger representation when you're considering that roughly the enrollment is somewhere around that six or seven percent of each middle school has six or seven percent overall enrollment.

[00:07:59] You saw some differences in representation over time. That's for applications. In the next slide, we'll have offers of admission. So if we go to the next slide, so you get an idea of the pattern. So that was AET. We'll follow the same pattern for AOS.

[00:08:16] There are tables in the handouts there, and we'll kind of walk through some of the same results. And then when we get to them, we'll have an opportunity for questions. So for AOS, again, these are applicants, students who were eligible, who applied. And we saw increases again for Black and Hispanic students.

[00:08:32] And you may ask, well, why are we focused on those particular groups? We have had challenges with getting certain outcomes and opportunities with certain groups historically something we as a division continue to work on. So you see that's applicants and you see the ratio there, an increase and then a dip and then a slight increase for African-American students and you see it kind of level off for Hispanic students, the ratio there. The next slide takes you to offers of admissions, same data there, a significant decrease for Asian students and increases for black and Hispanic students and if you go to the next slide you'll see that

[00:09:10] in the ratio as well. And then the next slide will take you to specialized learners. Again, we'll confirm that data with monitored Ls. We do think that is the case from memory. But we did see some improvement for economically disadvantaged students of IEPs, slight improvement.

[00:09:32] And you go to the next slide, you will see the ratios representing that. The next slide will take you to the offers of admissions. We're just looking at applied. This is offered some of the same themes. The next slide will take you to the ratios on the chart. And then if we continue, that's the makeup again of the schools for AOS applicants. And then the next slide, you'll see

[00:10:02] offers of admission. So the last set of slides will take us into MATA. So MATA, if for those of you who were part of the MSAC presentation last night or previous presentations, these are all really highly sought after academies different experiences high quality instruction so in this case matter with some of these pathways you can see looks a little bit more like our general representation of our high school kids if you would look at our actual school profiles and you

[00:10:40] see for certain student groups or Asian students has increased over time next slide please and you see the representation of Hispanic African-American students very close to that actually above for Hispanic students, that ratio of one-to-one as far as representation, slightly overrepresented relative to their overall population, and close to it for African-American students.

[00:11:02] Next slide, please. And the offers of admissions, and you see the same patterns there, a little bit stronger representation from Asian students, and you see there right below that one-to-one threshold for representation. And then finally, the next slides will take you into some of the specialized learners.

[00:11:24] So even with the exclusion, in this case of monitored L's, we actually did see some interesting patterns for MATA. And again, I'm going to confirm that. That's my memory. I do want to confirm that that's the case. And we see actually slight decreases for students of IEPs and pretty steady for economically disadvantaged and English learners, a slight decrease for English learners.

[00:11:47] So those are the applicants. We'll go to the next slide, and you'll see the chart representing that. And again, close to that one-to-one ratio. And then the last chart for MATA would be offered, the next slide here, and you did see more significant decreases for English learners, students of IEPs.

[00:12:12] So the next slide you'll see the chart for that. And you have an opportunity to go back and look at, there's so many data points looking at one particular student group over time, looking at one student group relative to others. You could also see from MATA the number of applicants over time, and there's opportunities for secondary analyses.

[00:12:31] Some have already seen an interesting findings with a decrease for Asian students in one particular pathway and a dramatic increase in another if you notice that as well. So the final few slides after this should take you to the representation and again MATA is high school.

[00:12:49] I think students apply in their 9th, 10th, 11th grade years for a one or two year experience and you see the representation there for the applicants and then finally for the offers of admissions.

[00:13:06] next slide takes you to our wrap-up. LCPS continues to comply with action steps outlined in the 2020 Office of the Attorney General's Inquiry and Consolation Agreement, and the data presented this evening will be shared with the Office of the Attorney General, so we're continuing to be in compliance with that inquiry and agreement. So with that, we can take questions. Did you want to go first? Okay, go ahead, Mr. Beatty. Thank you, Chair. So, Dr. Tyler, about the representation

[00:13:44] ratio? Is that a metric that we've created or is that an industry standard that we're using? So there is a metric referred to as the risk ratio that is often used with the discipline, for example. We wanted to take a different approach to this and not have it, again, be phrased as risk. So the idea of a ratio of a student group relative to other student groups or a student group relative to their makeup of the population exists. I'm not saying we've invented anything here with our research office but phrasing it as a representation ratio is a little different take on that metric okay thank

[00:14:23] you so what are we doing to continue to increase the representation and get it to the one-to-one as we move forward with a new board what are the recommendations any other changes in the future we are we continue our outreach efforts with not only with what we're talking about the academies in this presentation but as we will be moving into our special programs update outreach

[00:14:57] to the community has been a big focus of ours we have so outreach communication family communication through students through all the possible avenues that we have putting going to schools our family engagement workshops going to our parent advisory groups but we've also invested as a division in early readiness and talent development pipelines and so we think about propellant level up we think about our computer science pipeline we think about our new health and medical science Academy we're not starting just on the admission process in eighth grade

[00:15:35] we're thinking about laying out the path for students early on so next week we're going to have a big event hit a number of our schools Sterling Seneca Harper Park Simpson where it's called bloom where we're introducing them to possible careers in health and medical sciences so in terms of you asking in terms of what we hope for support from the new board is recognizing that the work doesn't start in eighth grade it starts early it's it's about it's about engagement and making sure students see themselves going down that path great

[00:16:13] thank you and just the progress that has been made is is apparent and and I'm grateful for it because I know that the schools that I represent have always been in the underrepresented class and have fallen to that so it's nice to see those numbers are increasing at those schools too as you quickly went through the slides so I appreciate all the work that's been done but I would add as you mentioned that thinking about the work of this committee as as more opportunities are presented to students choice like people like their homeschools they like being a part of their homeschools and the more opportunities we have

[00:16:51] throughout the county there's gonna be more access points that fit the family fit the students so that's another continued focus we need to make as a division to build out seats like you see the number of applicants increasing and so there are there are there are students and families are looking for different opportunities within our high schools and middle schools and elementary schools so continued focus on the that development will be will be important and I appreciate I'll just mention and throw this out that you represented well and you and Katie at the Parkview community sessions and then you building in and finding out what they really want in that building a

[00:17:30] special program so that type of outreach prior to anything being implemented is also really important so thank you for those efforts as well any other questions

[00:17:38] all right we'll move to 403 update on special programs joined by miss Katie

[00:18:30] Clark here we're excited to give an update on where we are when it comes to our special programs a lot of credit is due to the governance and support from this committee and so we're just going to take a an opportunity to go through the different opportunities and where we are and then give you a little bit of an idea of some potential future academies we're going to be talking about our in international baccalaureate program our health medical science Academy give you update on that what's happening with dual language immersion and then give you a little bit of information about an early proposal on environmental science

[00:19:09] at Woodgrove High School that we want to share with you so I'm going to turn it over to miss Clark thank you mr. sloven as always we like to ground our work around the strategic plan so our special programs are directly aligned with aligned action 1.1 core academic excellence and 1.2 multiple accessible accessible pathways to success with that in just a moment you'll see our

[00:19:41] current special program status chart next line and now we'll move into our update about our international baccalaureate program so we are thrilled to share some remarkable news that marks a significant milestone in the journey of Heritage and Loudoun Valley High Schools. We are delighted to announce that Heritage and Valley have been officially authorized as IB World Schools, offering the diploma program. This achievement is a testament to the dedication and hard work of the school communities, including

[00:20:20] students, parents, teachers, and staff. The IB curriculum encourages critical thinking, creativity, and a deep understanding of the world around us. It fosters an environment where students are empowered to become lifelong learners and responsible global citizens.

[00:20:38] We are proud to be part of this esteemed network of schools, and we are excited about the opportunities it will provide our students here in Loudoun County. We do just want to take a moment to thank the school board for your support, especially this committee, for helping us get this program established for our students here in Loudoun.

[00:20:58] Can I interrupt you for a second? Are we ahead of schedule? Maybe you're going to tell us. I feel like we're ahead of schedule on the IB, or am I just, time's not a reality anymore. Is that what it is? We're right on schedule. So we did get our authorization back rather quickly.

[00:21:16] We had our visit, and it can take up to six to eight weeks, and we heard within just a few that we were authorized. So our visits went great, and we got lots of positive feedback about how we're implementing and where we're at with the program. So we were told this could take up to two years, but we knew we would be able to do it quicker, so we built that into our timeline.

[00:21:40] So Ms. Clark's being humble, but we did a great job, and the school did an amazing job navigating it very quickly. So we are ahead of schedule, or what we thought, at the worst of it, possible how long it could take. We're on the early end of what it could have taken.

[00:21:57] So we wanted to get to fall of 24 where students were sitting in IV courses, and we've done that. So don't be humble, brag all you can, bring it. - Thank you. So recent planning and implementation updates include the development of the 11th grade IB courses, creation of the corresponding course codes with the support of DDI, completion of 17 middle school visits where we visited all the eighth grade classes to provide information, participation in a community IB conference in Falls Church, which was attended by our IB coordinators, as you can see in that picture,

[00:22:36] along with some of our content specialists, and ongoing IB training for staff at Loudoun Valley and Heritage. We have the following upcoming events. We have our IB Information Nights scheduled for November 28th at Heritage High School and December 5th at Loudoun Valley.

[00:22:53] Additionally, student opportunities to express interest in the program via LCPS GO will open on December 1st and remain available until January 31st. And now I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Slevin to talk about IB exams. One item relevant to the FY25 budget and the superintendent's estimated needs, we're anticipating including the cost of IB exams based on board direction around AP exams.

[00:23:23] While this would be a future board decision, we just want to say publicly we do intend to cover up to six IB exams in the program. So that is where we are. Can I just get clarity that any student who qualifies for free and reduced meals would already be covered under that anyway?

[00:23:42] There are funds, there are differentiated funds for that already, but we're planning to follow the model that we have for AP for all students. I think that's great, but we all know how budgets go. So if it didn't happen the way we would like, then our free and reduced students would still have their exams covered.

[00:24:00] Thank you. And I would also note before we move on that we do plan on recognizing the schools at the December school board meeting, recognizing their accomplishment publicly at a school board meeting. So we'll have another opportunity to celebrate their achievement. All right.

[00:24:21] Now we'll move into some updates around our newest program, the Health and Medical Sciences Academy. So recent planning and implementation updates include completing, again, our middle school visits to all 8th grade students and the INOVA Dream Big Day, which was a huge success under the direction of Mrs. Renee Dawson.

[00:24:43] And then we have the current upcoming events scheduled. Mr. Slevin already mentioned the Bloom event that's coming up next Monday and Tuesday. And then we are working with two high schools on, or we're working with the two high school sites on identifying spaces needed for HamSci next year and in the process of scheduling a walkthrough with the facilities to identify any needs from that perspective.

[00:25:07] We have identified some industry credentials after looking at the current needs in the field of healthcare. Our next steps is to take these credentials and the requirements to CTAC and roundtable with industry experts and to get their feedback. We hope to gather that feedback and narrow down the credentials that we will incorporate in our curriculum and prepare ham-sci students for these credentials so that they are ready to enter workforce should they choose to go that route upon graduation. Just like IB, we have our information night scheduled for both high schools. We have November 27th at Tuscarora and November

[00:25:44] 29th at Briarwoods. And then lastly, the roundtable with industry experts and higher education representatives is scheduled for November 29th. Now we'll give a quick update on our dual language immersion program. So as far as planning and implementation updates, they include the development of the first grade DLI curriculum, DLI parent institutes. Three of those have been completed and the parents have been very happy and pleased with those events. And then participation

[00:26:21] by the DLI teaching teams in QTEL professional development has been completed. Some upcoming events. The community information nights have started. We've held two, one at Arcola Elementary and one at Emmerich Elementary, and those go throughout the county through the end of January.

[00:26:40] The DLI schools are excited to be the December School Board Showcase. We're excited to have them, and kindergarten registration will include showing interest in the DLI program, and that will begin on February 1st. We will also have a window where current first grade Loudoun County residents and fully enrolled students will be able to show interest in the program in the event that we have any seats available due to program attrition. And now I'm going to turn it back over to Mr. Slevin to give an update on the environmental science proposal for Woodgrove High School.

[00:27:16] We recently heard again from the staff of Woodgrove High School about their interest in developing environmental science pathways at Woodgrove High School. This has been a conversation that has been had in the past with the science office and looking at individual courses, looking at resources, looking at possible opportunities.

[00:27:42] We're at the point now where we want to move forward with supporting some early ideas around environmental science, recognizing there's a lot happening when it comes to special programs right now. One of the challenges we're going to have over the next number of years around special programs is when do we have the capacity to launch an academy, when can we start down the path of just offering some courses like we want to have a lot of opportunity a lot of different ways that we could approach innovation within this space we don't want to just say no to folks that don't that have an idea that maybe the time isn't isn't isn't fully there and so with woodgrove high school they have submitted a proposal for an environmental

[00:28:23] environmental science academy or environmental academy pathway and our science office has begun collaborations with their environmental science teachers to develop some specialized course descriptions that are going to be piloted next year at woodgrove high school for ninth graders at the school we recognize that the conversation around sustainability and environmental science is going to grow in loudon county public schools especially with the hiring of a director of sustainability and support services so we envision similar to the approach that we have with health

[00:28:58] and medical sciences having a roundtable focused on environmental science education and sustainability with community organizations and field experts at some point in spring of 2024 when the new director of sustainability is there this roundtable will likely cover you know what would be the priorities around sustainability for lcps as well as what are some opportunities for educational changes k-12 we are focusing on woodgrove with this proposal but there are opportunities to think about sustainable instructional experiences that we can

[00:29:34] guarantee students throughout their time in LCPS so we are excited about this we are moving forward and we are trying to support the school's interest and we do see this being a viable special program in the future so we want to start down the path by supporting our teachers through the science office and we're happy to answer any questions about that so that'll conclude our update on special programs and we're happy to answer questions or have any further discussion on the topics thanks appreciate the update on everything I feel like we're kind of wrapping things up tonight so I really appreciate

[00:30:09] getting the feedback and the and the update where we are with everything did you have any questions or comments mr. Beatty yesterday thank you so going back to the IB exam costs so you mentioned six but how many do we expect a student take each year. I mean six APs is a lot but I think with the IB program you would expect that they would take all of them or I guess how many classes. Can you talk about how many we're planning for anticipating? So if a child is in the full diploma the max amount of the IB exams would be six. There are six total they take six. Per year? No they're most of them will occur their senior year. The IB

[00:30:49] courses the majority of them are two-year courses so they span over 11th and 12th grade so they the majority of the exams will be taken their senior year but there will be some that will be taken after a year one SL course that would be an 11th grade and then go back to the environmental science curriculum that is not the farm classes that some have been some interest in that would those advisors have talked about putting it the Western Island schools right

[00:31:27] while it's not well it's not tied directly to agricultural education I think there will be opportunities to have those conversations through the roundtable and many partners that are aligned with that work will be at the table for example the board has recently received a resolution from one of our local environmental educators group and they also have an interest in school gardens and so what we're hopeful that the roundtable will do is give us some strategic priorities like where do we want to focus and perhaps out of that conversation an increased emphasis on agricultural education would come from

[00:32:05] that okay thank you and just to follow up we did several times try to have a representative from the farm community and we weren't able to get our schedules in sync so hopefully with the in the new year will be the next committee will be able to get some representation from that or especially at the roundtable so thank you for your efforts with that as well. Anything else? All right we'll move to 404 update on William Obadiah Roby High School. All right good evening

[00:32:41] Ms. Sheridan and Mr. Beatty. Thank you so much for the opportunity for us to provide an update on William Obadiah Roby High School and a brief update on the North Star School. William Obadiah Roby High School is Loudoun County's first non-traditional high school. We're really excited to have had the opportunity to create something from scratch that has never been in Loudoun County, and it's a great

[00:33:17] honor to have the staff who are here that I would like to point out to be in the audience to see the growth that they have made and the continued growth that we need to work on. All right, so slide three, please. In 2018-19, we began noting barriers for students who were dropping out of the comprehensive high schools. There were credit deficiencies due to a number of factors listed on the slide. A good number of these students were also English learner students. Coming in at the age of 17, 18, and 19, we all know that

[00:33:54] it takes five to seven years to learn a language. And doing all that we could do to support the growth of those students, we still had need for something different. A traditional high school wasn't meeting that. Slide four, please. So in 2020, we began discussions with the Virginia Department of Education. We presented at the CNI committee about a non-traditional high school to open in the fall of 2021. At this time, I would like to turn it over to Kirk Dolson, Executive Principal, and he's the direct support for William Roby.

[00:34:31] See I can't get it. William Obadiah Roby High School and the North Star School. So Kirk take it away. Next slide. Thank you Ms. Gonzales-Sales. So as Ms. Gonzales-Sales said And I'm gonna actually just say one thing I'm gonna kind of echo what Katie said. I want to thank the school board for supporting this. This was a Dream for me as a principal of a school that had a high need And with work with the Legislative and Policy Committee as well as the entire school board It came true, and I think what we're about to show you is this the success that these students and these educators are seeing in

[00:35:11] Robey High School as well as the North Star so I get to talk about one of my passions Which is alternative pathways towards graduation so as mr. Dawson I'm gonna interrupt you just for a second because you two are suffering from Miss Clark's humility and humbleness here and tonight we are celebrating all of the things that have happened because while I'm the chair of this and I like to make celebration and so I'm gonna point to dr. Sims and dr. Carol and you and all of the people that were involved in making Robey a reality because it goes

[00:35:46] back farther than 2018 it goes back to all the conversations we had when you were the principal of Parkview and the moment dr. Sims walked in whatever possessed you to hire her as an EP it was a good decision overall but what the first time I ever met dr. Sims she was and I have said this many times for seven years she was in my face about needing an alternative program for our students so let's just give the kudos where they where they belong and let's not be so humble everybody thanks I appreciate that so as you all know the

[00:36:23] class sizes at Robey are very small and they are they are designed for these the school and the teachers and the educators in the school to take a very personalized approach to coursework, to counseling, and to the United Mental Health needs of those students.

[00:36:40] The great thing about Robey is they can accelerate their learning, so those students that have limited credits towards graduation can earn up to 10 credits in a year at Robey High School. And that actually accelerates their opportunities towards graduation, as well as it provides alternative pathway to graduate at any time during the school year unlike a traditional high school setting. Next slide please. So I'm not going to read this to you but these are words that are from Roby students as well as some of the staff with working with Roby High School. The teachers there are extremely

[00:37:17] dedicated and they personalize if you want to see a true personalization of learning Robey High School is where it happens. I visited not too long ago with the supervisor of mathematics Nicole Agone and I we went and she was amazed at what the math teacher was able to do in that classroom with the number of students that he is teaching and again these are quotes from students either that they have written or former speeches they've actually given to the

[00:37:53] school board next slide please and again you see other quotes from students they have adopted one of the courtyards at Dominion high school and it is their living biology experiment and they do labs out there and they're also doing some community service in that in this project as well next slide please so here's the great impact and this is graduation data what I will draw your your attention to is the asterisks those numbers represent the projected

[00:38:30] graduation totals for this school year so as you see as of right now Ruby graduated 47 students over the past two years and then this year with the possible addition of 33 they will be at 80 graduates next slide please so I'll talk to you a little bit about the enrollment process and this enrollment process is very iterative only because it's not something that is sustained in fall winter the way this maps it up this gives you a snapshot of how it occurs at the beginning of the school year so dr. Amy Carroll who is the school

[00:39:05] counseling director of Roby she presents to counseling directors and the school counseling departments when she's invited to do so by individual schools she also constantly is in communication at during their director of school counseling meetings monthly about Robey's opportunities.

[00:39:25] In the winter, we, as the high school office, ask school teams to start looking at grade data, both interim and quarter one, based on possible previous year's grade data. And we talk to principals and assistant principals, as well as directors of school counseling, about the plan, the graduation plans for these students.

[00:39:46] During, and I will just say, this says semester two, But actually, Dr. Tyler and his team have provided us this data, the data set that we just shared with principals at the last principals meeting on the look-fors. And when I say look-fors, it's a very extensive spreadsheet, but it's basically the at-risk-for-not-graduating-on-time data.

[00:40:09] And we share that with principals. And the thresholds that we provide them is if a student is four credits or less off cohort and graduation cohort, meaning that they're not going to graduate with the class they entered ninth grade in, we would recommend them being considered for the North Star School.

[00:40:29] If they are six or more credits shy of being on graduation cohort, we would recommend that they be looking at Robie High School because Robey can provide up to 10 credits per year and the North Star School can only allow, only offer eight because they're on a true four by four.

[00:40:49] Then in the spring, we share with principals and directors of school counseling that there is a March, May and June application deadline for attendance for the next school year. And then during the spring and summer, Robey communicates with students and schools about either the acceptance or the denial.

[00:41:09] And those prospective students must meet with Robey staff in order to enroll. Next slide, please. So how do counselors possibly work with students to refer them to Robey High School?

[00:41:25] Any student who is struggling, and I would actually say any counselor that has students that are struggling, should be meeting with their students about their graduation plan. that graduation plan might be able to be completed at their home school, or that counselor may have a conversation with those students about alternative options that exist here in Loudoun County.

[00:41:49] And one of those options would be Robey High School. So if that is the case and the student is interested, the student completes an application, Robey sends an email once they receive that application to the principal and the director of school counseling regarding that student application prior to moving the student forward to the admissions panel for consideration.

[00:42:10] We want to ensure that the sending school is aware that the student is interested in attending a school that is different from their homeschool. So the Robey, Director of School Counseling, Dr. Carroll sends a decision to the student family and the principal and the Director of School Counseling and then copies our office so we are all aware of the specific directions on next steps.

[00:42:36] And then, like I said, those accepted or prospective students must meet with the Robey staff to determine whether or not Robey will meet the students' graduation needs. Next slide, please. This is one of the slides that I am most proud to share with you all.

[00:42:52] And again, it is a testament to the hard work of Dr. Carroll and Dr. Sims that Robey High School has a representative from every student from every one of our schools in LCPS. And that is a, I met with the student from Woodgrove when I was in that math class last week, and I asked him how early he has to get up to get on the bus, and he said 545, because his bus picks him up at 615, because school starts at 8, and didn't seem to bother him because of what he was getting at Robey.

[00:43:27] So it was probably one of the most inspiring conversations I've had with a student in a long time. But I, and again, it's a testament to the Robey team, I am very proud to say that this is a school that is serving all students in LCPS.

[00:43:42] Just so you're aware, the T1 and T2, so Term 1 and Term 2, we really have to look at it as Semester 1 and Semester 2, so you will see more higher numbers in T1 than in T2, and that is based on the number of seats that Robey is allocated based on staffing, but also based on the number of graduates that they graduate at the end of Term 1.

[00:44:06] And the end of term one is traditionally January. Sometimes those students complete as early as December, and they are graduated because that offers them the ability to apply for financial aid in schools such as Northern Virginia Community College.

[00:44:25] Next slide, please. So our next steps with Robie, November 30th -- you can go to the next slide, Neil, sorry. November 30th, we are required to provide the Virginia Department of Education a draft application for alternative accreditation that plan will be presented to the board as an information item on the 28th and it will be hopefully presented to you all as an action item on december the 12th and then december the 13th a signed final application has to be signed by the local school board chairperson and the superintendent and it's then submitted to the

[00:45:04] virginia department of education and in february and march of next year the board the virginia board will review that and then approve or deny our application next slide please now off to the North Star School the North yes absolutely so I do have a couple of questions did you have any one about the acceleration credits like how exactly does that work it's acceleration because in a traditional high school you take seven classes and so and some of those classes may or may not be

[00:45:42] towards graduation requirements so the way that we accelerate at Robie is we can offer up to five classes per semester it's probably a very traditional or it is a traditional school model it's what like what I went to high school with which you take a 50 minute block of time instead of a 90 minute block of time so they're able to do five classes in one day whereas the other schools are doing four classes in a day and it's on a rotating block so within the five by five students can accrue up to five credits towards graduation per semester so that's the acceleration model so if you're under credited by eight credits

[00:46:21] and you go to Roby for one year you've actually excelled and you pass all your classes you've accelerated and now you're two credits ahead towards graduation so the credits are based not necessarily on the minutes of instruction but the fact that they're meeting number of days it's it's well it's actually it's it's the same minutes of instruction it's just they meet every day versus on our traditional AB block you meet every other day so for example students in algebra one at Ruby take algebra on Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday if you're at Riverside high school you take algebra one Monday Wednesday Friday and then the next week it's Tuesday Thursday but you're doing that five classes for one semester and then with the four by four you're doing

[00:47:00] it for the whole year is that yeah so five classes in one semester and then five classes in the next semester yes you get the ten credits correct you and And Mr. Beatty, just to clarify, once we go on to the North Star, they're on a 4x4, same model, it's just one less class.

[00:47:18] All right, you ready for my questions? Mm-hmm. All right. So, first of all, congratulations for the success that has happened in a very small amount of time. I think when, I'm not sure, you can probably tell me the time from when you were approved to the time you opened was this big?

[00:47:37] About a couple, it was a matter of months. Two months. Two months. two months. And how much does a traditional high school have to prepare and get ready? One year. Yeah. So kudos for getting this up and running and servicing all those students. Nobody does it alone, but it certainly takes a huge effort from those that are actually doing the work. So thank you. And so we're anticipating after this year having 80 graduates. That's amazing. I've been to the graduation ceremonies, which are also amazing, and I've had the pleasure of meeting many of the students and those are those are 80 people that's not just a number those are 80 people that now have high school diplomas that otherwise would have

[00:48:15] dropped out and who knows what would have happened to them those are 80 people who are struggling who now can get jobs because they have a high school diploma and perhaps even go on to receive higher education in that in the perspective of how many students we serve in the 83,000 range 80 doesn't seem like a lot but if you're one of those 80 students let's just take a minute and think of the impact we've had on those lives the lives of their families and and the lives of perhaps their children and I mean it's it's an amazing thing that has

[00:48:50] happened here and I thank you for that so one thing you said maybe you didn't mean to say it the way you said it but I want you to clarify so that I'll know you said that Dr. Carroll when invited by counselors in high schools why is it not something that is scheduled so that we when we're producing a list of our students I think you call them at risk for not graduating we know who they are because dr. Tyler can produce that list we know students who perhaps are pregnant or who are working those hours so when you said when invited was that

[00:49:27] intentional so I wrote it to be intentional yes because I don't know that dr. Carroll is going to break down the doors of a school that I think she's not I know that we and what I can say is that miss Gonzalez sales and I we share the data I shared it with assistant principals today Because I wanted them to also understand and what I said to the assistant principals this morning was just know that this is one data set But what you brought up the students that are Might be parenting the students that might be dealing with other life circumstances that are beyond but are doing great in school

[00:50:07] Roby is still an option for those kids because maybe graduating in December Would offer them six more months to work outside of having to attend a traditional high school We are getting we are seeing a lot of students coming in to LCPS right now that are coming from I'll just say it places where they're having to flee their countries and those students have been educated and well-educated but they also want to come here get a high school diploma and go to work and so dr. Sims is is we had a conversation yesterday about a specific student and

[00:50:45] She said I think I can get this kid through and I said that let's let's go forward and let's do that so I think it the intentionality of what I said was the specificity on what other programs and how they are delivering what they offer is I think that's a growth area for us and Ruby high school so let me ask my question in a different way why wouldn't a high school invite Roby to come and educate their counselors on what Roby is offering so that the students who would be able to be successful at Roby and under different under the circumstances at their home

[00:51:24] school may not be why why wouldn't that why wouldn't a high school invite I mean dr. Carroll is very nice I've known her for years why wouldn't they be why wouldn't a high school want to bring those that information to their counselors so that students can get that service right that's that's a great question and we can certainly follow up with dr. Carroll in the schools where that's having an impact but I do know that dr. Carroll does present to the all the directors of school counseling at that meeting and they also take the information back so okay we have to probably just because in the previous

[00:52:01] presentation we hear about DLI we're going in and doing that we're making sure kids know about the academies and we make sure kids know about all the other offer and the IB program and we have those information nights it seems like we should make sure that the students who need to know about Robie know about Robie so that's just my message from sitting over here and you don't ever have to listen to me again so I thought I'd say it tonight so interesting too as you get to the North Star that the North Star can't take the students who need the ten credits because they're they're different programs I'm not sure I was

[00:52:40] aware that I understood the difference between that so I appreciate knowing that it's the accelerated that allows Roby to help students that need six or more correct okay yep great so are there limitate this is my last question I promise are there limitations to the number of students that Roby can serve because they're in a different building?

[00:53:02] Are they at capacity? So the conversations that we've been having with our Robey folks is that if we have more kids, then we talk to Dr. Brewer or whoever we need to to get more space. We potentially maybe look for a location elsewhere.

[00:53:22] We will utilize our differentiated staffing. So that is not a barrier. So as they come and as we try to finalize a staffing standard It takes time to build that when you start from scratch So that we can ensure that budget understands what the needs are based on what's occurring so that each year we build To expand it a little bit more and I don't I don't think we should intentionally expand just to expand But I think if I think we would naturally expand maybe a little bit faster if students were aware and we made sure all the counselors were aware and everybody really you know that

[00:53:59] one-on-one conversation that could happen with Robie staff and the other high school staff by doing those information sessions with parents maybe having a present at back a presence at back-to-school nights I don't know what the right way to do that is especially particularly for students who are are fending for themselves and acting as adults absolutely and I and I will say that schools with high numbers of students who have high dropout rates you know as we learned through Parkview while Kirk was still principal and we

[00:54:34] worked with in 2018 when we started the VDOE process schools like that have they double block certain courses as well so they can try to accelerate kids within their building because they have so many and kids sometimes want to be at their home school so it did their choices sure I understand the choice part of it I just want to make sure that everybody's aware and I think you know whether it's IB or dual enrollment no matter what or any of those things students being aware is is what happens and it took so long to get this into place and to offer this to our students I want to make sure that everybody who

[00:55:13] who has an opera who would be eligible has that opportunity to make the choice any other questions all right those are all my questions for now I might come up with another one go ahead I love questions okay so now we're going to go on to the North Star School absolutely just what do you think there's a risk about the alternative accreditation plan I mean it's been the program's been successful now is there any risks as this goes through the video we process I don't think there's any risks I mean what you probably know and you see as a school board member is that some of the thresholds that we have to meet for high

[00:55:50] schools and for graduations, Nettie and I always say we feel like they keep piling things on the high schools, and so that is the only, I would say, caution that Dr. Sims and I have many, many conversations about, but I feel that Dr. Tyler and his team support the development of that plan, and the research office, our office, and Dr. Sims and her team are talking strategically i mean she is talking meaning dr sims to content supervisors about how to better fit the needs of her school and the makeup of her school because some of the elements that

[00:56:29] a traditional high school can meet without blinking an eye it's more more challenging so that would be the only but i don't think it would be a pitfall it's just the constant redevelopment of that plan so i don't think that plan is going to be something that is just a copy paced every year it's going to be we're going to have to look at what we did well the previous year what are the new board expectations and then how are we going to meet those for a school that is doing really really well but i do think dr sims loses sleep overnight sometimes when she's looking at um you know what what's looming um and yet to come

[00:57:07] can i i had another question it's mr baity's fault though how often is that accreditation plan have to is that annually annually yep okay so can i would just like to address dr sims do you have any concerns that maybe we haven't considered that the school board should be aware of and there's a mic right there if you have something you want to share you got to be more specific can you come to the mic so it gets recorded on the on the meeting thank you it's okay

[00:57:41] you'll be fine you know i think one of the things um you know the obviously the more kids we can take the more kids we can help right so I think that's one of the things that we look at and you know I I feel like you know more space allows that I feel like with more staff it allows that and and Nettie and Kirk have been wonderful in terms of doing that I know space is not infinite and I know at one point we talked about a building and a space for Robie specifically so you know ideal that

[00:58:18] would be wonderful it sounds like as you naturally grow and people become more familiar and people more students are referred to Roby hopefully that natural progression will happen and it won't happen where you have to turn around two months again but congratulations on that but I just I want to make sure that future board members know how important this program is and that small numbers do matter that small number of students is very important so it's one of the reasons I asked for an update on Robie because we hadn't hadn't had an update in

[00:58:55] a while and wanted to make sure that this information that is current is available to our new board members to have and not just because every once while you hear somebody say oh I didn't know about that I had somebody who was was working a friend of mine was working handing out ballots on election day and talking to a candidate who had no idea about that Roby existed so we want to make sure just like they all the other great programs that have come through this committee and all of the innovative things that we're doing that Roby's included in that list because those 80 people are really important and they're part of our community so it's just one of the reasons I wanted to

[00:59:34] highlight you guys but also do in person say congratulations and thank you And if I could add, I have an incredible mental health team, and last year in compiling data for our accreditation plan, you know, three people or four people did 2,100 individual counseling sessions with students, and that's not abnormal.

[00:59:58] So, they work hard to meet the needs of kids, and we have been blessed with, you know, being asked often, you know, what do we need? And so, it's just trying to make it all work. Great. Thank you for your efforts, and thank you for, it's not just an effort, it's success.

[01:00:15] And so, thank you all for that, and please extend that to your staff if I don't get there by the end of December. Thanks. All right, go ahead, Mr. Dolson. Maybe we won't interrupt you again. All right. So, now we're going to talk about the North Star School.

[01:00:31] So the North Star School is a program, it is not a standalone school, unlike Roby. Roby is a comprehensive, it's not a comprehensive high school, it is an alternative high school. But you need to understand that students that attend the North Star are concurrently enrolled in their homeschool, whereas students that attend Roby are only attending Roby.

[01:00:51] So at the North Star, we offer two programs, the Alternative Education Program, which serves undercredited students, much like Roby does. I explained the difference between the four by four they can only accrue eight credits in a year the AEP much like Roby offers 10 to 1 ratio an alternative block schedule they emphasize organization skills and personalized instruction to help students experience success the students at the North Star take or learn everything just like any other students do at the comprehensive schools they also will sit for the SOL test at the end of the school year

[01:01:30] at roby next slide please they are obviously adhering to the same behavioral expectations uh openings are limited and they're based on referrals made through the home school they are like i said concurrently enrolled with their home school and they have an opportunity to participate in home school activities including graduation and the bell schedule at north star closely mirrors a typical high school day to allow those students to go back to their home schools and participate in athletics and clubs.

[01:02:05] The other program the North Star offers is the Individual Student Alternative Education Plan, which is also referred to as the ISAEP program. That is the pathway to earning a GED for students age 16 to 18. The program requires pre-testing and that the qualifying scores then are -- a student has to qualify, I'm sorry, based on scores that are set by the VDOE's ISAEP qualifications.

[01:02:34] And then those students as well may participate in graduation activities and graduate from their home high school. Next slide, please. And just so you're aware, these are the numbers of students right now that are active in the North Star School. One additional program that is housed at the North Star School is our OSA program students, And those are students that are serving disciplinary infractions that are still being tied to their education at their home school.

[01:03:01] And so those students are assigned by the Office of School Administration. But you can see the number of students that are in the AEP program and the number of students that are working towards earning their GED. And that is all. Good, because I have a question.

[01:03:17] What is the total capacity of that building? The total capacity of that building is approximately 400. to coven they were at Douglas school which capacity they were overfilled at 220 some students okay so when you said it's you said limitations can you go back to the slide about enrollment where you said openings are where did I see limited and referrals are made so the school the buildings not full are there

[01:03:51] not staffing is it it's a staffing issue so is that a staffing standard issue or there just is not enough staffing for that building is that there's not enough people to expand enrollment based on the ten to one ratio is there a need to expand enrollment yes but they but they are literally yeah it's a staffing is is not not there I mean every school is feeling that right now I'm gonna try and

[01:04:28] ask this in a polite way is it that we can't find stuff that want to work there or is it just the overall teacher shortage that is affecting that I would say it's the latter not the former okay that's unfortunate especially if we have a critical need for students and so I also want to thank you for I know I asked for this very late in the prep for this meeting so I realized I don't have all the information that you gave tonight about the North Star which means our incoming board members don't as well so I really appreciate you putting this together and making sure we have this information for the public as well

[01:05:04] absolutely thank you do you have any questions mr. really just one about transportation how are they getting to and from that is that from their home school or is there a separate bus network to take them so the North Star students are Ruby students okay I'm gonna have to ask a friend for because it's different it is different it's different transportation is amazing and our kids are picked up where they reside so they don't have to go to the school we're so early that we just couldn't do that so

[01:05:42] that's we're a little different and so we arrange transportation and many of our kids are McKinney-Vento so some of them may get different modes of transportation as well if we haven't established the buses thank you for that and when you say they're picked up they're picked up at their home residence yes that's fantastic and what time is your start is it 8:00 and then in regards to the North Star I am actually going to be there tomorrow I want to I'm going to tell you what I think is accurate and then I will follow

[01:06:18] up with mr. Slevin if this is not inaccurate it is based on the school so some students arrive at their home school and then there's a bus that picks them up and drops them off at the North Star and then they are dropped off at their home bus stop some schools have students picked up at their home bus stop and then they are transported and the reason is because geographically it's more difficult for some of our students to get to their home school than it would be for them to go to their bus stop and then wait for the the bus to pick them up but they are transported the the North Star school starts a little bit later in case those students that are picked up at their home schools

[01:06:58] I should say in an effort to have those students that are transported from their home schools arrive to the North Star on time I will say that to echo what dr. Sim said transportation has been amazing this year in the past it's been a little bumpy at the beginning of the school year but miss aaron's minnenberg has been very complimentary of this year's efforts that have been made and so it's been I'm not gonna say perfect but it's been much better and so students are arriving there on time and able to start school with breakfast and get to class on time and then are they leaving earlier in order to get back yeah they

[01:07:37] leave a few minutes earlier I don't have their bell sculpture memorized but they leave a few minutes earlier so again they can be picked up and they can be dropped off at their home school to ride their bus if they need to and/or then participate in athletics and activities after school okay thank you mr.

[01:07:54] Slavin I'm going to ask that even though mr. Dolson is going to get that information tomorrow we may get part of the minutes just as like a side note from the minutes to get that transportation update so that we're it's part of the record absolutely thank you thank you all for the presentation really appreciate it and we'll move to item 405 early childhood education school-led learning labs take the Sheridan so we'll be joined by dr.

[01:08:21] Smith and mr. Renee Dawson for this presentation as they come up I'll get us started as we discussed briefly during the expansion of step presentation at the school board meeting on Tuesday I made a reference to the relationship between ECE labs and the conversation around step so in order to try to give some clarification a little bit more information to the board in the community, Ms. Dawson and Dr. Smith are going to talk through some of the things that we're

[01:08:54] looking at when it comes to our ECE learning labs.

[01:09:12] Next slide, please. Well, thank you both for your support just for CTE and for early childhood education as well. So my name is Lee Smith. I will start today's presentation as we talk about the learning labs associated with ECE. So today we will provide an overview of the early childhood education levels one and two courses. We will explore what the early childhood school-led learning lab entails and then review the regulatory guidance for unlicensed daycares. We will touch base on some

[01:09:47] program benefits and inconsistencies with each of the three learning lab models that we have in the school division. We will then provide a concise plan for next steps. Next slide, please. So the The course Early Childhood Education 1 and 2, it allows high school students to focus on the planning, organizing, and conducting of meaningful play and learning activities.

[01:10:17] High school students do child monitoring and supervision, and they also perform record keeping and referral procedures. Early Childhood Education courses are designed to provide our high school students with the knowledge and skills necessary to work with young children to prepare them for kindergarten.

[01:10:35] These courses aim to prepare students who strive to be educators, caregivers, and professionals to create developmentally appropriate and stimulating learning environments for our high school students. These courses are double-blocked high school elective courses where 140 hours are dedicated to theory and instruction and where another 140 hours are dedicated to practical or hands-on learning for our high school students.

[01:11:05] The school division offers a combination of academic and dual enrollment early childhood education courses that are taught by family and consumer science teachers who are licensed in grades 6 through 12. Next slide, please.

[01:11:23] Within the school division, there are three different learning labs for hands-on experience that is associated with early childhood education 1 and 2. These learning labs are school-based enterprise learning labs, also known as school-led learning labs, STEP preschools, and Head Start preschools. The school-based enterprise is community and tuition-based where schools have oversight and autonomy. Staff at these schools have access to enroll in their children in this option. Students are admitted and processed at the school level.

[01:11:58] This initiative is a twin of the 17 high schools in the county. We also have a partnership with STEP, where this program is state funded and it has prescribed state state guidelines. The STEP and the Head Start office also has oversight and admits students by those guidelines. This option is available at one high school and that is at Heritage. Finally, we have a partnership with Head Start, a federally funded program with oversight from the STEP and Head Start office. Students are admitted by federal guidelines and this partnership is at four high schools that

[01:12:37] are on the slide. Next slide please. As a reminder this school-based enterprise learner lab option is at these ten high schools. Historically this option has been in place at these ten high schools since the schools were built. The preschool lab classrooms are part of the educational specifications regardless of the model. Schools determine what the parent guardian agreement entails, what the student application looks like, what student health information is collected, and what the

[01:13:12] public information is displayed. Schools also determine the length of time for each learning lab experience, and the safety and supervision of the program is determined by each school. Tuition fees, oversight, and support are determined by each school. School-based enterprise learning lab students must be potty trained and must be between the ages of three and four years old.

[01:13:37] hours vary by school and should be based on when the ece course is offered now i will turn it over to renee dawson director of community connections and programs so i'm going to tell you a little bit about the virginia code that if you have a program that is outside of a licensed daycare what are the provisions and requirements under code so i want to read this to you i know this is on the but a program that has exemption from daycare license or a program offered by local school division operated for no more than four hours per day on a full

[01:14:14] instructional day or more than four hours per day on a shortened instructional day or non instructional days staffed by local school division employees and attended by children who are at least three years of age and are enrolled in a public school or preschool program within such school division such programs shall be subject to safety and supervisory standards established by the local school division offering the program as you can see we are in the process of reviewing this to make sure and to ensure that we are following

[01:14:50] Virginia code so if we go to the next slide please based on the code and the current practice at the school level we know that there are areas that need to be shored up and we are going to take the necessary steps to do so these changes will impact how these learning labs or preschools are organized but I want to make very clear that this will not impact the ability of our high school students to meet their requirements of their course so if you notice on that

[01:15:27] we're on the third slide so if you notice on this there are some reporting requirements that need to occur we need to report to the superintendent on any incidents of injury and that's one of the requirements and I won't read through all of those we also need to post in a visible location on the premises a notice that the child day program is operating as a program exempt from licensure with base the basic health and safety requirements but has no direct oversight by the department so I'm going to turn it over yeah yes

[01:16:05] Education Department of Education mm-hmm I have to stop you because I need to go back to slides and I'm all for autonomy but this seems loosey-goosey and each school can unless you're gonna continue to do this in the I just want to not skip over that slide so fast if you're gonna continue to address I'll be quiet

[01:16:40] but the first slide I think is what I'm speaking about so we we are going to talk about what we're going to be addressing we are we are going to address the autonomy and that's what we want okay because I had one question coming into this meeting I have 20 now so go ahead so I'm going to turn it over now to Dr. Smith and she's going to provide some examples of different across the Commonwealth different types of these models that are associated with the early childhood education courses thank you so much Ms. Dawson so we

[01:17:18] reached out to several school divisions in surrounding counties and across the state of Virginia. The goal was to explore how school divisions were providing hands-on experiences in ECE courses. From the feedback we received, there are two school divisions, Stafford and Culpepper, who have on-site preschools. We know that these school divisions are smaller in size with fewer high schools. Next slide, please. Sorry, going back to the bit with the regulations and

[01:17:57] stuff are we implying that we haven't been following these regulations at all or and as we're like reviewing what's going on we realize we should be doing this or what's going to the status on that there there are opportunities for us to shore up to be in compliance with regulation there there are well-designed programs teachers that are supporting students but there there are things that we need to be doing in order to make sure that we're more in compliance with expectations around these programs as well as there are alternative ways to to meet the needs of the ECE classrooms that could be sustainable such as the

[01:18:36] STEP and Head Start models yes and we're going to talk about that if I could get my computer to work I'm not sure what's happening so I will say that while we're waiting that the school-led preschool model or learning lab model has been in our division for 20 plus years while we're reading for mr. Slevin I can ask the question I came in with how are students enrolled in the preschool where

[01:19:14] they how do they know about it how do how are they out for lack of a better word chosen selected to be part of the program as a preschooler so that is at the discretion of the school so the school communicates the program to their community many schools have current and up-to-date websites that reflect that information and how students are admitted will be at the discretion of this school. I'm really just glad we're not on camera because I can't hide my

[01:19:52] face. In our research we found that many school divisions are offering the early childhood education level one and two courses at their technical centers.

[01:20:07] Sponsylvania, Arlington, and Virginia Beach all offer ECE levels one and two at their technical centers. Sponsylvania offers these courses at the tech center and have partnered with local daycare centers to provide the practical experience. Students are required to provide their own transportation according to their brochure. Arlington has an on-site career center preschool with a second on-site daycare program.

[01:20:38] They have also partnered with the Montessori Public School of Arlington, where high school students assist teachers in pre-K through fifth grade. Virginia Beach has a preschool that operates under the supervision of two high school teachers at their technical center.

[01:20:55] Next slide. Thank you. In our research, we also found that Alexandria and Chesapeake partner with the Virginia Preschool Initiative, or VPI, to support hands-on learning lab instruction. Fairfax County provides a combination of on-site preschools and off-site experiences where students visit local daycare centers to supplement their hands-on learning hours.

[01:21:18] Other large school systems partner with Virginia Preschool Initiative or other local agencies to fulfill the work-based learning requirements. Next slide, please. The school-led learning labs offer a range of benefits for both high school students and the community.

[01:21:37] This model is community and tuition-based where high school students can participate in authentic and meaningful learning lab experiences by working directly with preschool students in the school-led learning lab. Our high school students are collaborating with ECE teachers and preschool students to provide structured and educational environment that promotes early learning.

[01:22:00] Preschool children are exposed to age-appropriate activities that enhance cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development. Finally, LCPS has had a long-standing tradition of having these school-led preschools associated with ECE courses.

[01:22:18] As I have shared earlier, staff have access to enroll in their students or their children in these programs. Along with benefits, there are inconsistencies in the school-led learning lab. Preschool students are not registered in the student information system, also known as our SIS, which causes issues with providing preschool students with accurate information in a single service portal on attendance, health services, emergency contacts, parent, guardian support.

[01:22:52] This registration also impacts OSHA and the 20-student maximum class for ECE and preschool students. Once preschool students are registered in CIS, schools will have a maximum of 20 high school students and preschool students for that respective class and period and block.

[01:23:10] We found that the oversight for this program varies at each school. Some schools have oversight that rely solely on the ECE teacher, where other schools have both school-based admin and teacher oversight. The cost varies at each school, and this is due in part to when the class is offered and what is posted on their preschool website.

[01:23:32] If the class has one section, then there will be a limited number of hours for the preschool. If there is more than one class offered, then there will be additional preschool hours that are offered. Finally, since there is a division of schools supporting this effort, there is a lack of standardization on the parent gardening agreement, student application process, student health forms, and the public patient information.

[01:23:58] Next slide, please. I'm going to talk about our partnerships with these ECE courses with STEP and Head Start. What might be some of the benefits that we have with STEP and Head Start?

[01:24:15] ECE students experience high-quality preschool classroom setting. They are taught by licensed early childhood teachers under VDOE and Virginia quality birth to five guidelines. It allows the ECE teachers to participate in an authentic teaching environment within a fully functioning, or ECE students, pardon me, to participate in an authentic teaching environment with a fully functioning classroom.

[01:24:41] LCPS students are able to accumulate the required work-based learning hours by participating in a school-led learning lab, or in the learning lab. Step and Head Start can partner with ECE in high school and elementary locations. High school students are scheduled in a class that is separate from the preschool lab, and it allows at-risk students in all LCPS communities to be engaged with school-based curriculum and activities to support school readiness.

[01:25:16] Next slide, please. So Step and Head Start do have a different approach in terms of how the students engage in that work-based learning experience. So five students at a time would rotate into a classroom for 45 minutes, and then the next five students would rotate in.

[01:25:32] And high school students are scheduled in their classroom that is actually separate from the preschool lab. So that is a different approach. And now I'm going to turn it over to Dr. Smith to talk about some other types of partnerships that are available. So one opportunity that was closely examined when speaking with other school divisions was a potential partnership with local daycare centers and preschool agencies outside of the school division.

[01:26:01] Some pros include high school students visiting those local daycare centers to receive authentic hands-on learning. Another pro was this would allow the school division to expand business partnerships within the community. The challenge associated with this model is the trip time for students and the transportation to and from the preschool facility.

[01:26:27] So we received stakeholder feedback regarding the current state of our school-led preschools. We distributed a stakeholder feedback form. We met with teacher leaders to gather their feedback. We collaborated with staff in various departments, such as the Department of Student Services, DDI, the Department of Digital Innovation, and the Department of Human Resources and Talent Development.

[01:26:56] We have also toured the schools with Head Start and Step Staff to visit school-led learning labs to understand the differences in the programs. And we also held virtual drop-in listening sessions. We made phone calls in a group.

[01:27:11] We've made phone calls on a one-on-one setting. And we've held principal meetings with level directors as well. We've also received various stakeholder feedback.

[01:27:28] Some examples from stakeholders include teachers, teacher leaders, principals, administrators. That includes affordable tuition in some schools along with real-world experiences. Some concerns that have been raised are preschool students are not LCPS students.

[01:27:45] Oversight varies from school to school. Liability issues, too much risk, it's not formally operating as a preschool in the state of Virginia, and it's not licensed as a preschool in the state of Virginia. We know that under the provisions of the Virginia Code, school divisions can operate an effective and efficient instructional program that is exempt from daycare licensure as long as we adhere to the to the requirements of the Virginia code so now I'm going to tell you about the next steps after we've gone through this process we've reviewed where we were

[01:28:23] received stakeholder feedback viewed our Virginia code so what might be the next steps that we have we are going to assemble and convene a work group with various school-based and central office stakeholders for recommendations to create consistent systems and practices that are aligned with Virginia code in this group we will define the purpose of school-based preschools in relation to an ECE program we are going to have a single point of entry to school-based enterprise which would be our sis we will have consistent tuition based on cost of program this is our hope consistent base of cost on program

[01:29:03] implementation the school-based oversight of student records school level administrative oversight the communication will be consistent the management of health and medical records will also be consistent there will be consistent curriculum and standards for schools to effectively implement and monitor the program and who might be some of these stakeholders that we would want to make sure to have at the table we want to have our early childhood education teachers principals assistant principals student services DDI the office of career and technical education and we recognize we'll need to add some additional stakeholders one of the things that we really want to focus on

[01:29:43] is to make sure that we have with our students being registered insists we will have all of that information that you would have in the student information system available in our schools we'll shore up the application process and all of those other things that we've mentioned previously we also are going to consider opportunities to expand work-based learning experiences part in partnerships to include elementary school partnerships and head start and step partnerships and at this time so I will I'll just reiterate the last statement continue to expand the conversation between the expansion and

[01:30:22] step and our ECE programs are connected in that partnering with step has been a successful model for step and head start has been a successful model for ECE programs at five of our high schools and the the list that is above is going to be significant and so we are talking with schools about the possibility of partnering with step to meet the needs of the ECE programs and that may that may be the case but it's not a matter of taking one thing away to provide something else we need to really take a look at our practices around these preschools to make sure that we're doing them correctly so we are we are

[01:30:59] trying to get ahead of it we want to notify you all of this that we're working on this and this is part of why you're getting feedback from the community and we want to be responsive to that thank you chair so one concern with the potential move to full day head start or step step step was getting rid of these labs but from my understanding is those students that are participating in that lab program could potentially move into this this step

[01:31:34] program and they could be they get the learning experience by working in a step class high school students yes correct okay and correct and there are also opportunities for the high school students to go to elementary schools so for example Dr. Brewer at Dominion has a partnership with Meadowland and students go to Meadowland to visit some of their pre-k programs I have a couple of questions so my first one is students or parents community parents who students are enrolled in these programs are currently paying tuition I think you

[01:32:13] said the range was 100 to 825 per when is that month week that is per year per year so clearly some of the programs are already addressing students if it's only a hundred dollars per year it's it's in a associate students with socio-economic disadvantages is that is that why that's so low or is it we're saying that the range of decision-making high schools have made and so we are one of the things we want to address is to define what is the cost of this program what would be an appropriate tuition if it was to continue consistently across our schools.

[01:32:52] And where does the tuition money go. Right now it's a school based enterprise so it's tied back to the student activity account at the schools. Okay. And just to be clear on the record head start and step there is no charge for those programs. So if we were to expand those programs students who are potentially currently paying tuition is being serviced by these other programs if they were to qualify would now have no tuition.

[01:33:18] Okay so if students aren't in the database for that building and they're there for up to four hours a day what happens when they go to the nurse and they're sick or they fall and get hurt on the playground.

[01:33:34] So we there are some informal systems in place and there's collaboration between the ECE teachers and the school nurses but that's one of the things that we want that we are addressing currently because we have students in these programs but that's something that we want to address with the work group. because the alarms that went off in my head is a student who is diabetic or a student who any other medical condition that is not in the record like there's there's no record that is like really alarming to me and then I think you mentioned parent contact information might not be accurate and up-to-date where it would be it could be difficult to contact parents and I know in some of

[01:34:13] our schools we have that difficulty anyway but it seems like not not even putting them in the system is is worse if we're not really tracking it down I will say that the schools the ECE pre teachers they are the ECE teachers do have an application form and so they do have that parent information on file with them but it's different by school it is the application form is even different the application form is different okay so when was stakeholder some of the stakeholder feedback is that coming or you've already collected stakeholder feedback we did that happen we have done informal conversations we

[01:34:52] have done we have that meetings work feedback has been given in we do have a survey where we have some early read-on that we've included but it doesn't close I think it closed today and so we're going to process that and include that in the discussion with the workgroup okay transportation how are these students getting to our program parent drop-off okay if we were to combine like the model at Dominion and Heritage I believe there's five schools that have the Head Start step and this EC program combined correct so if we were to

[01:35:32] combine the rest of them perhaps if that's what was determined to be the best the CT teachers I assume are our pre-k certified is that some of them some of them are but many of them are family consumer science and I would say that there is nobody's job at risk.

[01:35:52] The high school. That was my next question that we can make the assumption. If you still need a part of the part of what we're trying to communicate is that the ECE teacher is teaching a full load of high school students and they're also running a preschool with in collaboration with the students through the school based enterprise.

[01:36:11] Okay. And so at Dominion for example we have the CTE teacher focused on the CTE experience for the students the preschool focus on the preschool and there's collaboration between the two and so if for example step was placed at a high school there are some issues there in terms of space there are schools that have space issues we may need to look at opportunities to partner with a local elementary school when we if assuming we do get an expansion of step think about that in terms of placement will there be access issues are there other ways that we could get the work based learning experiences if we if we went down the road of having step in place of the ECE

[01:36:51] labs okay so just putting it out there again there is no real risk of rift for our current CTE teachers I do want it I think part of their concern is they they believe students really this is a popular elective I mean these are cute kids students want to students want to get involved and they want to be a part of it and so it attracts it isn't something that students look forward to as well that's I mean Miss Dawson I went out to visit an ECE teacher today and they were adorable and so so so far they are so part of the concern is that the numbers but this is also tied to our teacher cadet program we do have healthy

[01:37:29] programs and we also have good numbers at programs that dominion and inherited people are involved so we are confident that the programs could be met but we have heard the feedback from the teachers and we realize we need to have more conversations before we really come down to the next step on this sure I'll just go back and say that I certainly appreciate the standardization of the program and while I'm all for autonomy and you know what arts and crafts you might do on a day I don't think autonomy with forms and how we do things and what how much something costs that I don't think that that is okay so the

[01:38:08] standardization of the of this program is certainly essential so I appreciate that and I think that this needs to be brought to the full board's attention so I don't know are we planning sorry are we planning on having this as a presentation at a board meeting because this is so in the public now and we continue to get feedback from our CTE teachers I will I will take that feedback back to dr. Smith and talk to him about the possibility including this as an information item and I think further information because I think we started talking about it on Tuesday and certainly we're getting

[01:38:46] feedback in our email about how it's unfair and it's not a good idea for our high school students and their experience but I think I really think the board and needs to be aware that the of the standardization that's required and what what is not happening so far I think that that is really going to be key information when the you know it won't be our decision for the budget but in order to have all the information when the new board is considering the expansion of head start and step or it's not head start but the step program in combination with this

[01:39:22] program or parallel that they have all the information so I think that this would be really key for the board to hear even if it's not until these at the December meeting it's just my opinion mr. Beatty thinks I agree this would be good especially with the step policy that's coming up just more information forward if you could tackle along with that thank you so much for putting this together it I just say one more thing absolutely it cannot be repeated enough the expansion of step is not dependent on anything that I fully understand that we have we have here we're saying the reason it is connected is it is one

[01:40:00] solution possibly to standardization and in many cases it's it's a good one but part of it is working with our teachers to help them understand and getting their feedback before we make that right and I don't think there's any harm in if if LCPS can offer even more preschool spots right.

[01:40:18] Like that's not a bad thing if we can keep all of the programs expand step and keep this program. But the standardization of this program you saw my mouth drop open when you started reading. So like it's shocking to me. So that is key and I think I think we just that needs to be some because the standardization could have a budget impact it might be minimal but it could.

[01:40:42] So the board the incoming board members need to be aware. So I would request that this presentation and maybe it would be able to include the survey results. You know by the next by one of the next two board meetings. Understood. Thank you. All right.

[01:41:04] I will again apologize for being late. I was in the other committee meeting. I apologize for this committee meeting going as long as it has. Who put the agenda together. Mr. Slevin. But I did want to say as this is the last meeting of this committee for this term.

[01:41:21] I want to thank everybody who participates in this regularly and has brought. I think I've chaired this for the last two years. At first I was like oh no not again because I served on the charter committee for all the years except when I was chair of the board.

[01:41:38] And but what this committee really has evolved into are all of the great things that we're doing outside of our regular curriculum. And kudos to everybody that's left in the room. We've done some incredible work here. Staff you have you have challenged us to meet the needs of our students and I thank everyone who has done that and brought that to this committee so that we could further it to the board.

[01:42:00] So thank you all very much. Any new business. Seeing none we're adjourned. Thank you.

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