Coraggio Consulting
Loudoun County Public Schools, Specialized Programs & Centers Committee Meeting, Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Date: Tuesday, May 13, 2025
Place: LCPS Administration Building / School Board Room, Ashburn, Virginia
Length: 1h 07m (video)
Official meeting video (Vimeo / LCPS-TV): https://player.vimeo.com/video/1084240308?rel=0

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 2026-10-13. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:00] Alright guys, welcome. I hope everybody dried out because I know it was pouring out. So good afternoon. I'd like to call this May 13, 2025 Special Programs and Centers Committee to Order. My name is Dr. Samara Rashid and I'm the chair of this committee. We appreciate your presence here today. We really, really appreciate it. I know it was tough coming out here.

[00:00:19] so wait one second so we have several I know sorry I think I did this too quick so the purpose of today's meeting is to approve the minutes from April 1st and then we have some information items and then we are going to review policy 5095 which is participation in the TJ high school of science and technology transition center proposal special programs update and then the Academy of global and linguistic studies the host site selection before we proceed we do

[00:00:54] value public input and nobody really signed up for public comment so we'll just keep moving forward we need to approve the minutes from our last April 1st 2025 meeting so has everyone had a chance to review the minutes and are there any additions or corrections okay if none I entertain a motion to approve the minutes from April 1st 2025 yes Miss LaBelle I move that we approve the minutes from the last meeting. Thank you very much. Thank you, Ms. LeBaire. Do we hear a second? Second. Seconded by Mr. Estreffi. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed

[00:01:34] say nay. So the minutes are now approved. Okay. So just, you know, I'm just going to kind of do this repeat, just reviewing the agenda with the information items of 5095 for TJ, the Transition Center Proposal. We got special programs update and Academy of Global and Linguistic Studies host site selection. Are the any adjustments or additions to this agenda if so raise your hand and let me know your proposed change do i hear any okay that being none let's go ahead and move on to our first agenda item the first item is the review of policy 1595 participation in thomas in the thomas jefferson high school

[00:02:12] of science and technology i will now turn it over to ms catherine clark director of academic programs to present thank you good afternoon in your in board docs there is the red line version of the updated policy 1595, and I'm going to ask Wendy King to kind of walk you through some of those changes.

[00:02:37] Wendy King: I think you'll see here that we have very few changes. This is just our time for our five-year review of this policy. The first change is at the top there on line one, and it says that students in grades eight through 11 can apply to TJ.

[00:02:59] Well, it's actually eight through 10. So there is an 8th grade process for freshman year, there's a process for freshmen to apply and sophomores to apply. I will say that it is a very, very small application process for 9th and 10th graders to apply for the next year.

[00:03:20] And then if you look on line 11, and I'm not going to talk about the little edits that are made. If you look at line 11, that paragraph talks about if a student voluntarily withdraws from TJ that this the parents or the family would be responsible for paying back any tuition and we had just recommended that we would consider taking that out because we wouldn't want to penalize a student for realizing that maybe this wasn't the right fit or the right program for them and so we wouldn't want

[00:03:56] to penalize a student or a family for that I'm in the section D starting on line 20 this just talks about information that would be shared back with Loudoun County for students that go to Thomas Jefferson and we did strike scores on the Iowa test of basic skills because that's just not generally used it's not something that we would need and those are the recommendations that were made

[00:04:22] I'm just yes thank you madam chair on line 11 the the the section that talks about the repayment what can you explain a little bit about what the refund policy would be from Fairfax County if a student were to exit that

[00:05:02] program whether that's in the beginning of the year to or towards the end of the year how would that impact LCPS I'm gonna be honest and since I have been here working in this role I have not seen that happen and so maybe our colleagues from the budget office could tell us but I have not seen that happen So, I don't know if we would even have a situation where that would happen, but it is here in writing, so I thought we would address it.

[00:05:31] Any other questions, colleagues? Yeah, I have a question. And forgive me if you probably already answered my question, so forgive me for that. So just for my clarification, do students pay tuition for when they attend TJ, the school?

[00:05:52] LCPS students? LCPS is responsible for the tuition. And then, okay, so is there a limit to how many students currently, is there a limit to how many students that are accepted to TJ from Loudoun County? Or does TJ set that limit?

[00:06:10] There is not a limit. There are just a certain number of spaces allotted through our allotted seats. But there is no limit other than when we're talking about a freshman class, there are 550 seats total at TJ.

[00:06:28] If that's what they have, 550? yes for freshmen for freshmen and then for that freshman class or rising ninth graders so to say let's say there were like a whole bunch of lcps eighth graders rather rising ninth graders that apply if they get in and they meet the credentials and everything is there so you're saying it's unlimited it's unlimited tj can just they can set that limit and we don't they do set somewhat of a

[00:06:57] And that is that we receive allotted seats, which means for every middle school, there's a certain number of seats allotted for them. And it's 1.5% of their 8th grade class.

[00:07:14] So I just did a little math before I came here. So if we have about 6,500 8th graders, we have generally about 99 allotted seats. And then, but we have to keep in mind that there are also additional seats that are just, they are undesignated, and those are for students who just have very strong applications.

[00:07:37] So even if we say we met all of our allotted seats, which is 99, we could get 20 of those unallotted seats as well. But that gives you a general guideline. - I see, I see. Can that change, like next year, could that be different at all, or it's just by chance, whoever gets in?

[00:07:58] - I know that since the TJ application process changed a few years back, it has been the same ever since. And prior to that, I'm not sure if it was 1.5% of the eighth grade class, but there was something similar.

[00:08:15] - Okay, okay. And I don't know who to ask this question to, but when it comes to LCPS transportation, are we obligated or is there a cap on how much transportation we could provide to that amount that gets accepted to TJ on that year, for example, or next year?

[00:08:33] - I just know in the policy it does state that we will provide that transportation. - Yes, Ms. LaBelle. - When you give us the total of 1.5% for the middle school children, that's not counting the students that are 9, 10, or 11 who are going to be continuing in TJ, is that correct?

[00:08:55] - Yes. - So approximately, what is the number of students that we send every year, is there a cap, or what would that be? - We did have a, I don't know if this document was included, but last year it was 397, I believe.

[00:09:14] - Okay, thank you. - Yeah, and we do have a TJ historical document where we have those figures back for several years, so we can also provide that. - Okay, thank you. - Thank you so much, and my other question was, could there be a limit on, and I'm assuming, well, we already know that it's not in the policy.

[00:09:35] The policy is that we provide transportation to all TJ-accepted LCPS students, but could there be a gap? Could there be a cap on how many students are accepted? Could there be a cap on how many can we provide transportation to, Just so that other areas or other necks of the woods in Loudoun County, in case in the future, let's say there's a lot of obstacles where we don't have enough buses, for example, or we don't have enough bus drivers and we're in dire need, could we pull back and say, well, we can't, is the policy open for us to say,

[00:10:13] can we pull back and say we can't provide transportation to all the LCP students because we simply just, we don't have the means. We have to provide it for Loudoun County. And it's just a question of curiosity. - So I'll take that question if that's okay. So I think I would separate your questions.

[00:10:31] First is a cap on student participation in TJ. That is something that if the board was to direct staff to communicate to Fairfax County Public Schools that we would like to cap students, I would connect that to the contract that's currently being considered by the full board.

[00:10:49] So that'll come to the full board at the next, I believe at the May 20th board meeting for action to consent to continuing our agreement for school year 26. And that would obviously start with the rising freshman class for that cap, knowing that we've already accepted the students that will be sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

[00:11:10] And staff will be responsive to board direction if that were to be the case, and we would communicate that to TJ. The policy is silent on a cap. You could add something, but that's not something that would be necessary.

[00:11:26] As for transportation, the policy does currently state that we do provide transportation, so that particular line may need to be modified to meet the spirit of what you're suggesting. I think we would need some level of thinking and input on how that decision would be made around transportation, who would be the one to receive it, and that would come through discussion.

[00:11:53] Again, similar to the CAP, I wouldn't necessarily tie that to the contract, though, because transportation is not part of the contract with TJ. Would you add anything, Ms. Clark? So I appreciate that they're two separate entities. So when it comes to transportation, this current policy doesn't really pertain to transportation, whether we want to put a cap on it or not.

[00:12:15] We just want to see if we could continue contracting with TJ on the whole. Am I correct? Well, for this particular policy, the contract is the contract for TJ. the policy on line 17 and 18 section c we do state the school board policy does state that we will provide transportation for students attending so i'm not sure what the exact language would be but a motion could be made to allow for consideration of a cap on transportation or some other way of approaching transportation depending on what the board ultimately decides but i think a cap for for transportation would be more appropriate

[00:12:55] for discussion within the policy. - So I'm assuming this will be a action item for our next SPC meeting in June? - So without different input from the committee, we would plan to bring this back for action and we would also want to send this out, we would want to send this policy out to the community for feedback.

[00:13:16] - Okay, but if we were to put, okay, so if we put it out for feedback from the community, let's say one of us has or some of us have amendments this would we do feedback after the amendments or before I don't know that part like if I were to amend line 17 just you know and say well LCPS will provide transportation to LCPS students attend that's a very that's a that's a pretty big statement in regards to providing transportation let's say we want to put a limit on it or we want to put a cap on it would we amend line 17 and then send it out for feedback or beforehand dr. Rashid I think in terms

[00:13:54] of transparency to families it would make the most sense and be most transparent if you have significant changes that you as a committee want to make that you make those now and before we put it out to the public so they are have an opportunity to see it and give feedback do we have to provide that today or i know it has to be provided before our next spc meeting or action item but could be be provided tomorrow or the day after or something like that so oh yes mr.

[00:14:31] streffi I don't want to speak for staff but I think at least my version of that answer is both right as early as we can make as members of the committee as early as we can make suggestions or or amendments even as it's an information item but plausibly like when this goes out for public feedback we could look at that feedback and then make additional amendments as well so it's both right yes and I think if you are going to stay true to the policy revision process if you're going to make amendments that

[00:15:06] you are considering right now I would make them today before putting that out for public feedback or direct staff to wait until you have an opportunity to do that in a in a public meeting I don't I don't recommend sending us amendments and then sending the policy out for public review yes Miss Abel if we were to change line 17 I think what you're saying and correct me if I'm wrong that Loudoun County Public Schools will provide

[00:15:40] transportation to LCPS students attending TJ as available is that kind of what you're getting it I'm looking for a little bit more this is a very vague statement and in my world my only worry just for the sake of transparency to my colleagues. My only worry is if we decide that we have issues with transportation in the future, provided that we said this in line 17, we can't go back. Like, that's it. We have to stick to having transportation, whether we have 500 students going there, 600, or whatever it is.

[00:16:12] So I'm just a little worried or in deep thought for line 17. Yes, Mr. Struffy. Thank you. I definitely appreciate that, Madam Chair. I think from my perspective, Just hearing kind of how this has trended over the last few years and kind of those allotted seats that come out of TJ, I don't see – I think drawing a line in the policy at this point to me seems a bit premature.

[00:16:43] And I would want Mr. Lewis also to weigh in on whether the current situation that we have right now is tenable. Like, what is the urgency that we should be feeling as board members around transportation? I know in finance and operations, we get our reports.

[00:17:01] We haven't had one in a while, so we can go back. And then we also receive reports, transportation reports, as it pertains to special programs. Just to really understand the true nature of this, I would also hesitate, even from a cost-cutting perspective, on throttling the number of students that have access to this very unique opportunity based on cost-cutting measures alone or even some concerns around transportation and the availability of transportation.

[00:17:36] If we saw big swings in the number of students every year and that making it really hard for the transportation team to plan, maybe I would feel differently. But I just don't know. I don't know the real utility of limiting this.

[00:17:53] And I do agree that this might need a little bit more thought before we make such a big jump in capping or, you know, capping transportation. There were a lot of questions that come to my mind around who would get transportation, who wouldn't, what would be that model, are we picking students up from their homes, or is it kind of the hub model, so a lot of questions around that as well.

[00:18:23] So that's just my two cents. I appreciate that. I had two issues. One was the time. I know June is next month, so I know that's right around the corner. I'm not saying anything, just an answer to Mr. Streffi.

[00:18:40] I'm not saying an answer to a specific area in Loudoun County, but if we were to weigh in for Mr. Lewis, I think we will miss our time frame. I don't think we have the time for that. So unlike the contract, we do have some time with this policy.

[00:18:57] So with the contract that's going through the board currently, we have a response due to Fairfax by June 1st. With this policy, with the understanding that the students going into TJ in the fall of 25 are receiving transportation, we're not proposing any changes for students that are currently enrolled.

[00:19:17] We're talking about school year 26. If we did bring this back as an information item again in June to give the board time to propose amendments, to consider amendments to make prior to giving it out to public feedback, that would not be uncommon.

[00:19:33] We've brought back policies multiple times as information items. We could then send out the policy as amended, if amended, for feedback. And then in August, when the SPC meeting meets, it would be an action item in August.

[00:19:49] We would try to get it into front of the board as an information item at the August meeting, if everything goes well. And then it would be voted on at the first meeting in September. That would give time for communication to families that are applying to TJ. It would inform budget decisions.

[00:20:06] We would still be within our timelines, assuming it doesn't go beyond that. that is if the committee feels like they strongly they would like to amend the policy to get more flexibility for transportation and we're not ready to make any of those amendments tonight. Thank you, Mr. Slevin.

[00:20:22] When you provide this feedback, walk me through the steps of asking for feedback from the community about this. So generally, a number of things happen. I know that the policies that are currently being revised are included in the superintendent's newsletter.

[00:20:43] There's information that's posted on our website. I believe our advisory committees get invitations to provide public comment. And then other channels of communication happen as well. Were we going to do that anyway, regardless of our thoughts?

[00:21:01] Yes. So just for, again, we mentioned for being transparent to the community, if we had different thoughts of altering anything here, and I'm a little redundant in repeating myself again, And do we propose that? How would we fit that in, in those steps that you had mentioned?

[00:21:21] So what I would recommend in talking with Dr. Ellis briefly on this would be if this were to come back as an information item, the committee could make a motion to direct staff to add specific language to the policy prior to it going out for public feedback.

[00:21:39] And so we would then update the policy as directed by the committee and send the amended the amended policy out for public feedback and we would get input on the policy as amended beyond what the staff has brought today. And we could do that, can we offer those amendments or changes in June?

[00:22:00] Is that possible? That would be, yes. Yeah, okay, perfect. I just want to make sure that we're not expiring on anything. Right, and you could do that in June. We wouldn't pass it as an action item, but we would send it out for public feedback and we would bring it back in August for, and just to confirm, When do students typically start applying for TJ for the following year?

[00:22:20] Is it generally October? October. So we would recommend having clear decisions made for our families before they start making these hard decisions about applying. Yeah, of course, of course. Ms. LaBelle, you had a question. Yes, thank you, Madam Chair.

[00:22:35] I was just wondering, Ms. Clark, what is the tuition per student? Do we have that data here? Yes, we have that data. So, for the 25-26 school year, it looks like it's going to be $21,873.

[00:22:59] And for the 24-25 school year for TJ, it was $20,563. Thank you. Is there a – yes, Mr. Streffi. That was for TJ. What is the tuition for LCPS?

[00:23:16] Sure. Sorry, I should have given that to you. For LCPS for 25-26 – I'm sorry, I think I gave you the wrong number. I'll do it again. LCPS 2526 is 23,757, and for TJ, 21,873. And then for this current year, 24-25, the LCPS is 21,793, and the TJ was 20,563. Board members, any other questions?

[00:23:51] Yes, of course. Mr. Striffon. Thank you, Madam Chair. Just a brief comment. So just to be on record right I think it's uh there are a bunch of questions that I think would help would inform me going forward I think um in discussions with maybe Mr. Lewis or others on the staff around um if if some hypothetical examples if if transportation were to be cut in half for TJ would what would that make any significant change in um our bell schedules would it would it allow us flexibility in ways that are significant to maybe warrant reducing access

[00:24:31] to this opportunity for some students, right? So hypothetically, some students wouldn't be able to take advantage of TJ if they did not have transportation offered by LCPS, right? So what would make this, the driving questions for me at least, or what would make this, you know, worthwhile for the division, you know, to that end?

[00:24:58] and what would saving some of these routes allow us to do in the division and what type of difference would it make. So those are some driving questions that I can think of now that may be helpful to put on record. Yes, Dr. Ellis.

[00:25:17] Can I just ask a clarifying question? Mr. Streffy, when you say being the benefit to this, are you talking about specifically reducing the transportation provided? Yeah, if we were to reduce the transportation provided. Okay, I thought so, I just wanted to be clear.

[00:25:34] Yeah, what significant benefit would the division have? Okay. Are you asking staff that question or your fellow board members? I'm going to ask staff that question, but we don't have to answer it now. We can maybe involve Mr. Lewis or others, or you can feel free to wait. Okay. Do you have something to say, Ms. Clark? I was just going to add, I think we've stated this before, in 23-24 and then 24-25, the current year, it's eight buses that we are utilizing.

[00:25:58] So to answer your question, that would be, if you weren't to offer transportation, that would be eight buses that we would have back. - And then, maybe the question to Mr. Lewis at that point would be, do those eight buses change the game for us as we think of solutions to bell schedules and some of the other issues that we've been discussing in committee?

[00:26:26] - I just have a question, I don't know who to ask, but do the two have to be hand in hand? Or rather, I don't have a question, I was gonna tell the board members just as a discussion. it's just my thoughts that do the two have to go hand in hand like however many you accept is however many you have to provide transportation or could it be where there's a ranking policy i'm i'm just opening up my thoughts a ranking policy with those people that get accepted the first i don't know uh 80 or 50 that got accepted get accepted based on whatever ranking tj would provide and then the remainder would have to seek their own transportation something of the sort

[00:27:03] again it's just a thought out loud I do want to be equal but again I'm not saying let's eliminate transportation completely but I do think that Loudoun County has to make sure that their own students are taken care of prior in terms of transportation prior to venturing outside the county that that's where my thoughts lie I do think it's a wonderful school it's a great curriculum but it's just something to be thought about any any questions board members any comments it's a great topic all right yes Miss LaBelle just in line with

[00:27:38] what you're thinking if we cut the numbers of buses available and there is a limit to how many students can be on the buses then we are also capping or cutting the number of students that we can send so that is something that we can think about as well that is part of the equation I believe and like you said they are tied. Great point. Thank you, Ms. LaBelle. If no more further questions or comments,

[00:28:13] we'll move on to our next agenda item. And that would be 4.02, Transition Center Proposal. I'll turn it over to Ms. Tedra Richardson, Assistant Superintendent. Thank you, Madam Chair. Actually, Dr. Paige Carter and Ms. Jenner Arndt, our Supervisor of Transition Services, are going to get us started. I'll hand it over to Dr. Carter now. Good afternoon, and thank you for this opportunity to share about the transition center. We are super excited about the opportunity and

[00:28:50] this week we had the opportunity to host a roundtable and gained lots of feedback from the community and we're going to talk a little bit about that with you today as well. But I'm going to turn it over to Jenna Arndt for the program overview and then I'll come back with some information about goals for the program. Thank you, Dr. Carter. So our goal with the transition center is really to provide our students with disabilities, our students with IEPs, the opportunity to meaningfully engage in activities that can benefit them in their life

[00:29:30] after high school. Workplace readiness, independent living, these are skills that our students need to be successful and that while we touch on in some capacities, we don't always get deep enough in with some of our more impacted students and with our students who maybe need additional practice and more time to work through learning the skills and generalizing the skills outside of a building. So our transition center will serve high school students with disabilities, but we also are excited to provide opportunities to our middle school students, as well as potential

[00:30:07] entry opportunities to our elementary school students. We plan to provide career exploration and vocational evaluations for our students, and we intend to have a multidisciplinary team of credentialed CTE and special education teachers, vocational evaluators, job coaches, behavior assistants, related service providers, and administrative and support professionals in the building. So we want it to be a well-rounded opportunity, and we want to pull from everyone's strengths to ensure success for the students who participate.

[00:30:45] So as we're aware, individuals with disabilities, not just students, but even adults every day with disabilities, face significant barriers in accessing employment, in becoming employed, and in remaining employed. And part of that impact is perhaps they didn't learn the skills necessary before they entered that work world.

[00:31:06] So our goal of this program, to say again, is really to provide that opportunity to our students in a more robust way than we're currently doing. We offer a lot of transition services and supports in special education, but this would be the next step to really support our students and have more positive outcomes for our students.

[00:31:27] As indicated in the 23-24 parent survey conducted by SEAC, satisfaction does fall below 60% in the areas of vocational evaluation, independent living labs, and access to skills profiles. So those are all things that we hope to address and improve on through the center.

[00:31:47] We want to look at inclusivity in the building. We talked a lot about how we will invite students to participate, what that might look like. And so we're really mulling that over. And then of course we want to see our students have personal development and growth.

[00:32:05] We want them to be able to leave, become employed, live as independently as possible, as independently as possible and take care of themselves. And our program will focus on vocational skill development, workplace readiness, and independent living skills.

[00:32:22] So through this model, we not only want to teach students potentially trades and specific skills that they can take with them to work, but we also recognize that they have to be ready to go into any workplace. So that is really the focus on workplace readiness skills.

[00:32:38] And those are skills that you need anywhere. Problem solving, communicating, working with a team. Those are skills that we can hit on harder, but in very specific areas when we have the students at the center. And then independent living is very important.

[00:32:55] Probably many of our high school seniors that go to college don't know how to do their laundry, but even more so, we want to make sure that these students can do their laundry, maybe cook a simple meal for themselves, so that they do feel that sense of independence and it's something that they can do regularly and feel proud of.

[00:33:11] I'm going to talk a little bit about initial goals that we identified for the center. You can see them on the screen, but it's really important to note that we were not only looking at all of the areas that Jenna mentioned with post-secondary outcomes for our students and vocational skills, but also that independent living.

[00:33:38] And as you look at the goals, the first one is just about student enrollment and participation, hoping to enroll at least 100 students in the first year, by the end of the first year, and then full capacity at 500. But when we were looking and talking about these goals at the transition roundtable, it was incredible how much feedback we got on each of them.

[00:34:05] Did you think about this? Did you think about this? And what about that? And would they all come on the same time? So it was really getting into the minutiae about it, and it was evident that everyone at the roundtable was truly invested in this project and making it something that is not only achievable but excellent for our students.

[00:34:27] So this first page of goals talks mainly about the things that Jenna talked about, but the feedback, including is that high enough of a goal? Is that too high of a goal? How can we manage that there? You know, those kinds of questions.

[00:34:42] So we are really looking forward into the coming weeks to take the goals and the feedback that we received and really make these a more finite presentation of what our goals are for the center. But, Neil, if you go to the next slide.

[00:35:01] And I should go there, too, huh? The one goal that we have is community engagement and partnerships with businesses. And that is a real challenge because we want businesses to be part of what's happening at the center.

[00:35:19] We want opportunities for students to have internships and even a job coach with them out in the businesses. And not every business can do all the things that we want them to do. So really strategizing a way to add a certain number of businesses every year to really grow the program.

[00:35:37] And what is the best recruiting strategy? How can we partner with our community and engagement office to build with the relationships that we already have here in the division? We have a goal here of increasing by 10 business partners by the end of the first year.

[00:35:53] And then there was a lot of discussion around that as well. How much is that enough? How can we meet all the needs? And so we are excited about the feedback. It tells us that we are really on to something with this center and expressing the need.

[00:36:09] The last thing I want to say about this is that we want it to be something that the entire school division is proud of and can access. And when we toured the facility that has been purchased, we could envision so many things at the same time that this really could be a place where all these goals could be achieved right here in Loudoun for our students.

[00:36:35] So we were very excited about them. And as the director of special education, measurable goals are so very important to me. So getting all of the feedback from stakeholders at our roundtable was, it was very powerful for the team.

[00:36:51] And we began to look at that this week and really dissect it. So our goals are ever-evolving, but the main thing is excellence for our students so they're ready when they leave us.

[00:37:10] Right. And this really is talking about the program capacity. And as we design the building and figure out all of those things, these will begin to refine as well. But this is sort of a summary of what Jenna and I talked about, how important it is that all of these things are in place so that we can achieve the goals that we've outlined. But the maximum number of people we thought 500 would be full capacity, 10 programs of exploration there for our students. So, for example, cosmetology, hospitality. And just to give you an example of where our thinking is

[00:37:50] going, for hospitality, for example, we thought what opportunities could be here for our students. Could we have a space where people could bring their meetings and our students could practice hosting those meetings while they're there? Could we host meetings for the community? And that really got us thinking into what other forms of hospitality could there be.

[00:38:11] These grounds are beautiful. Could we also have a greenhouse? So we are exploring what those 10 programs will be and exactly what they'll look like. And then we have to have the staff that match the programs that we've identified. And we'll need our local business partners and community to be able to take it from the center into something that our students can begin to generalize.

[00:38:34] Next slide. Thank you. As we jump into our timeline, it's important to note that it is subject to change depending on construction schedules and permit approvals.

[00:38:52] I want you to proceed with caution, right? However, we are committed to maintaining transparency as we bring this vital experience to life for our students and families. We are currently in our program approval year, so we have a core design team that has been meeting on a weekly basis.

[00:39:16] Ms. LaBelle has been able to join us for a few of those sessions, and we are bringing it here to the Special Programs Committee, and then on June 3rd, we'll be taking our proposal and naming recommendation to the Finance and Operations Committee.

[00:39:34] Once we move through this sort of foundational year, that's really where the rubber hits the road next year for you all as school board members as we're thinking about FY27 and really having to build out the budget, right?

[00:39:50] So once we move through our approval process and our budgetary and staffing infrastructure, that's when we really will approach year one. And that's where planning moves into action. That's hiring our leadership team.

[00:40:06] That's hiring our staff. That's finalizing our curriculum and building and putting those finishing touches on our design. Looking ahead beyond to those out years, that's really focusing on growth, student enrollment growth, program expansion growth, and long-term sustainability of our transition center.

[00:40:30] We'll focus on deepening our partnerships with our community partners, and we had so many of them represented at our roundtable last week. We'll also focus on our parent and family engagement aspects because the skills that our students will be learning at the Transition Center, we want to make sure that our families are well informed and equipped to help our students to carry those skills in truly over into post-secondary life and then of course we want to make sure that

[00:41:06] by year five year six we're at full capacity we do understand that the total enrollment of five 500 was a conservative number. And so as we move through developing the program and getting it launched, we'll have a bit more clarity with how many students we will truly be able to serve.

[00:41:29] Once at full capacity, of course, it's looking at that program evaluation. How are our systems working how are the infrastructures working how are our program and partnerships moving forward so that we can make sure that we are responsive to the needs of our students and families and that we are empowering our students to successfully transition into adulthood next slide here's the important slide right again as you as school board members move into next year's

[00:42:08] budget season, you are going to have some things to consider. The budget for our LCPS Transition Center is structured to support a phased rollout over five years. It's reflective of anticipated growth in programming, staffing, and student enrollment. And now we are available for any questions or comments that you may have. I know that you have the full proposal linked in board And it is staff's recommendation that, you know, after any questions that you may have,

[00:42:44] that the SPC Committee approve the LCPS Transition Center approval, um, proposal. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Richardson. Any questions? Board members? Just, uh, I think Mr. Estreffi had one question.

[00:43:01] He had to go to the Finance and Operation Committee meeting. But what is the relationship between school-based transition staff and transition center? That's what he wrote down. the messenger so our school based transition staff will remain school based because we will have students at the high school level and in the middle school level and even elementary school level that are requiring transition supports and transition planning that may not access the transition center so there will be continue to be school-based transition staff and then the

[00:43:35] staff that participate as educators in the transition center will be a separate bucket I do see an opportunity for collaboration for you know really working together to make sure that we are preparing the students at the high school level to enter the transition center if that is the path that they're choosing to make sure that we're getting the information that we need and that they're having the opportunities at the high school level to start building skills before they would come to the transition center.

[00:44:09] If I might add that just like in special education, as required by regulation, there's a continuum of services. Some students only need consultation all the way to students who require even something more therapeutic or restrictive than we can provide, right?

[00:44:27] So it's a continuum of services, a little bit to a lot of need, right? And transition falls along that same continuum as well. So there may be students who only need a vocational assessment and a check-in through their school counselor and the transition provider to get what they need as they go on to, you know, a four-year university or another opportunity, all the way to students who require several years at the transition center to accomplish their goals.

[00:44:54] So I think it's important to think about it along the same continuum as we do for special education. Thank you. Board members, any other questions, comments? Yes, Ms. LaBeau. Just a comment, and I'd like if one of you ladies would confirm that not all students will receive transition services at the transition center.

[00:45:17] We're looking more at the ones that need less help, not the ones that are terribly needy and have a lot on their plate in accommodations and transition goals. Am I correct? I'll take that, and I would say partially, yes, and.

[00:45:36] But what we're really looking at is students who require very specially designed instruction for transition. So to me, that are not the students who require, for example, nursing services all day.

[00:45:51] Or, though it might, but not likely, like in our multiple disabilities program, perhaps some of those students may not access the transition center on a full-time basis, maybe for one thing or another, but not maybe one of the 10 pathways.

[00:46:08] But the next level of students are the ones who really require specially designed instruction to move through these years and may require those postgraduate years as well to achieve those independent living skills. They would access the transition center.

[00:46:26] And then the students who do not require that level of transition services but only need think about the continuum and that consultation level of services or maybe an assessment and some path direction. Just like all our students with career exploration, they would not access the transition center in the same way.

[00:46:45] But the 10 pathways to me are for the students that are in that, of the three examples I gave, in the middle there to answer your question. So that's helpful. Thank you. That's what I wanted to have clarified.

[00:47:01] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for this information. I think it's a great cause. Can't wait to, you know, get it on board even faster than it is already. But I have no further questions. I appreciate all the details that was provided.

[00:47:17] I look forward to it. Thank you so much. And Ms. LaBelle, I know we're going a little over time. I'm okay. You're still okay. Okay, thank you so much. I will get to dinner in time. Then you get to dinner in time. That's good. I'll join you. It's my husband's birthday. Okay, that's okay. We have reservations.

[00:47:33] Okay, awesome, awesome. So that leads me to our next information item, 4.03, which is special programs update, and I will turn it over to Mr. Neal Slevin, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning. - So I'll start as our presenters are getting situated.

[00:47:49] As you may know, we do have a requirement by policy every year to provide an update on our special programs. So this evening and next month, we'll have a number of our programs here giving you all an update on what is happening in the programs, and we are going to turn it over to Ms. Clark.

[00:48:08] - Thanks, Mr. Slevin. Just due to time, I think we can skip through some of our initial slides. So if you can go to slide five, please. So as Mr. Slevin said, we are here due to our policy and regulation to provide an update on our Dual Language Immersion Program, our International Baccalaureate Program, our Health and Medical Science Program, and lastly, our NJROTC.

[00:48:38] So each program will share a program overview, a quick program data update, and a program highlights and accomplishments with you this afternoon. And I will immediately turn it over to our program owner of Dual Language Immersion, Ms. Kelly James.

[00:48:55] - Thank you. So to give an overview of our DLI program, we have two schools, Potomac Elementary and Sanders Corner. LCPS offers a 50/50 two-way immersion model that begins in kindergarten and progresses through fifth grade. Students spend half of the day learning Spanish and half of the day learning English.

[00:49:14] We have limited seats, so a lottery is held for those who complete the DLI lottery registration form before the deadline, and a wait list is established. Right at kindergarten, we have 50 seats at Potomac and 50 seats at Sanders. Transportation is not provided for students living outside of the DLI attendance area.

[00:49:33] So the first data point that we have for you is our retention versus our attrition. So at Potomac Elementary, we're seeing a 98% retention rate from kindergarten through second grade with an attrition rate of 2% during that period.

[00:49:51] At Sanders, the retention rate is slightly higher at 99% with an attrition rate of just 1% from kindergarten going into second grade. These high retention rates at both schools demonstrate strong family commitment to the program, satisfaction with learning experience, and the stability in the DLI pathway.

[00:50:09] The data suggests that students are seeing value in maintaining their children's participation in the programming, reinforcing the importance of continued investment and support. And our top reason for attrition is family relocation, just in case you wanted to know why there are students leaving the program.

[00:50:27] We also have some student progress data. So we use a nationally recognized language proficiency test that is aligned with national language standards. It's a benchmark used to measure listening, speaking, reading, and writing in Spanish, as well as English.

[00:50:44] At the kindergarten and first grade level, we are primarily measuring listening and speaking. So our first progress point is for Potomac Elementary, and the data demonstrates consistent language development across both English and Spanish.

[00:51:01] The DLI, this shows DLI program bilingual growth that exceeds the one-year expectations in both listening and speaking skills. Speaking skills are often the most difficult to develop, but these show exceptional growth rates, especially in Spanish, of 112 percent.

[00:51:18] And these results reflect the success of early language immersion, strong instruction, and a balanced approach. Moving to Sanders' corner, this is the next one. So for those, those are meeting or exceeding benchmarks in both languages simultaneously supporting the program's goals of biliteracy and academic achievement.

[00:51:43] The data is reflecting a strong foundation of oral language skills, preparing students for reading and writing development in both languages. In terms of some overall program highlights, there is a video that's linked in these slides.

[00:51:58] But last summer, we hosted our first Summer Science Fiesta Immersion Camp, which was free to all of our program students. A two-week, four hours a day immersion experience over the summer, and the participation was strong, and we're looking forward to continuing that this summer.

[00:52:16] We had events of Cafe Con Padres. We had the Parent Institute, which developed information sessions to help our families better understand the program goals, structures, and how to support bilingualism at home. We had activities and celebrations over Hispanic Heritage Month, as well as a Veterans Day DLI presentation, community information sessions, a DLI international event, and we are looking forward to an end of year first steps to bilingualism celebration of our kindergartners who just completed their first year in the program. And we are also looking forward to our school reflection and planning

[00:52:54] meetings for the upcoming school year. I'm going to turn it back over to Ms. Clark. Thank you. I think I'm up next. Hi everyone. I'm Vandana Sharma. I'm the coordinator for Health and Medical Sciences Academy. And just to kind of say something that we all know, it's a program dedicated to preparing our students for careers in health and medical sciences. It's focused on providing our students with multiple pathways for success upon graduation.

[00:53:20] A brief overview, HamSci Academy is at Briarwoods and at Tuscarora High School, and it is open to any rising ninth grade student who resides in Lawnham County. Admissions to the academy is through a lottery selection process. It is a four-year commitment, and any student in this program will be a full-time student taking all their classes at either Briarwoods or Tuscarora High School.

[00:53:45] Next slide, please. So we kicked off year one of Hampsi Academy at full capacity, welcoming students from across LCPS to our two program sites. Since the start of the year, we've seen five students leave the program, three from Tuscarora and two from Briarwoods, bringing our current attrition rate to just 3.3%, which means we've retained nearly 97% of the current students who initially joined us.

[00:54:12] And it's a strong indicator of our early success. So of those who left, three moved out of state, and the remaining two, one from each school, returned to their base schools due to family-related circumstances and other personal factors.

[00:54:27] Looking ahead, we remain committed to strengthening both outreach and retention. We plan to continue leaning on incredible support from EL services, the Office of Special Education, school counseling teams, and the building administrative team.

[00:54:43] This collaborative effort has played a major role in helping our students thrive at these two school sites. One of our key goals moving forward is to expand work-based learning opportunities. I'd like to take a moment to highlight one such example in our next slide.

[00:55:00] One back. So this year we had the incredible opportunity to welcome 28 healthcare professionals into our HAMSci classrooms to speak with our students. Dr. Rasheed was just there this morning. These guests represented a wide range of roles across the healthcare field.

[00:55:19] giving our students a real look into many paths a career in healthcare can take. Thanks to our amazing partners at Inova, Lawton Fire and Rescue, HealthWorks, Northern Virginia Community College, and Stone Springs Hospital, these professionals generously donated their time to share their personal journeys, experiences, and advice.

[00:55:39] They encouraged our students to believe in themselves, take risks, and explore new possibilities. Our students were fully engaged, and Dr. Rashid could vouch for that. They asked really good questions, which basically shows not only that their learning is growing, but their genuine interest in the healthcare field.

[00:55:56] We're really proud of how impactful this guest speaker series has been, and we look forward to continuing and expanding it in the years ahead, as we bring even more meaningful experiences to our HAMPSAI program. Thank you.

[00:56:11] - All right, Grant Schaefer with IB. For the sake of time, I will just remind you of the IB Schools Heritage in Loudoun Valley. Again, it's a four-year program following the same format of HAMSI as we just went over. I'll talk about the data here.

[00:56:29] The main thing I want to let you know is that the program is growing. So the diploma program are those juniors who have committed to taking the seven courses in junior and senior year. It's a very rigorous commitment. And so you can see that those numbers are increasing.

[00:56:45] But also I just want to point out the amount of students who have access to IB courses. So you can take them as an elective as well at Heritage and Valley. So we're excited about the growth. I want to touch on some program achievements and highlights on the next one.

[00:57:04] So starting to the left, we had our first IB exams for juniors the last two weeks, and that's a picture at Loudoun Valley. And then next one over is a picture of a Heritage literature, IB literature class, taking in a performance in D.C., theater performance.

[00:57:23] And then up here at the top right is Loudoun Valley High School. Both schools had information nights for prospective students and parents. That's Valley and having the student panel. The parents really appreciated hearing about the program from the students, and I thought it was pretty remarkable that the students were able to speak so fluently about IB, having only been in the program for about a month at that time.

[00:57:50] So, and lastly, this is a picture of a heritage literature and language course doing a Socratic seminar. The last thing that I'll share with you are a few quotes here from some students about their time so far.

[00:58:07] They've said, a learning experience in time of personal growth, a very positive experience doing IB, and I enjoy its more communicative-centered curriculum. And the student said, I really enjoyed my first year of the IB diploma.

[00:58:23] was a huge fan of the unique way of learning from numerous different perspectives. We were never explored in normal classes. That's what the student said. And lastly, two anecdotes from teachers. IB English teacher said, it's cool to watch the kids dive into the idea of global mindedness and exploring that idea in all their subjects. They can make some curricular connections.

[00:58:51] And then lastly, IB History said, this program is really raising global awareness. So those are some highlights and achievements, and thank you for your time. Hi, George Bishop, representing Naval Junior ROTC program.

[00:59:11] I also have with me Captain Bill Johns, who is the senior military instructor. And the program is housed over at Loudoun County High School. We've had this since 2009. basically the same situation as the other special programs that are coming in uh you want you're going to come into the program be a full-time student and we you know expect that you'll be a full-time four-year student okay um right now we have 166 students in the program that program is growing again after covid we saw a little dip but we are coming back up to speed and at this time i'd like to have captain john speak to what has occurred over the past year and during his tenure

[00:59:51] because he is departing the pattern at the end of the school year and we were going to sorely miss his leadership. So Captain Johns. Thank you and thank you for this opportunity to speak Madam Chair and ladies and gentlemen. First off I want to recognize my colleague Gunnery Sergeant Dennis Gatins in the back there. He's one of three instructors including myself. It is a team effort making sure that the 166 cadets are doing the right thing. It's a cadet run program and I I want to hit a couple of highlights this year.

[01:00:24] George asked me to talk about some of the things we've done. We have a lot of first-evers this year. The picture that you see in the middle there last year was the first time our unit was designated as the most outstanding unit for our area. We compete against 28 other schools.

[01:00:40] We were notified last week that we've won it again this year for a second consecutive year. Other things that we're proud of, we have 41 seniors graduating this year. 40 of them are going into college. We have four service academy appointments, three of them to the Naval Academy, one to the Coast Guard Academy.

[01:00:57] Multiple scholarships, both ROTC and not ROTC, not ROTC. We manage and coach seven competitive teams. Some of these teams have won national championships. Some of them are going to international competition.

[01:01:12] So the major draw is not our teaching ability or our good looks. It's usually the teams and how much fun that they're having. And in those teams, that's where they expand their leadership, their discipline, and their dedication, not only to the teams, but to the unit.

[01:01:27] So we're really proud of them. So on behalf of CTAE, just a small token of appreciation, Skipper, thanks for being here. We appreciate you. Again, congratulations on your retirement.

[01:01:51] Thank you for all of your service in Loudoun County. That concludes our update, and we'd be happy to answer any questions or any comments that you have. Thank you so much and congratulations, Captain Johns, for all your service, for all your help and all your guidance.

[01:02:08] You're going on retirement. Take us with you is what I want to say. Well, thank you so much. I think the updates are phenomenal. I can't wait to hear more in the future. Board members or board members, any questions, comments, anything like that?

[01:02:25] I'm really impressed by all of the programs that we are having here in Loudoun County Public Schools. It just shows how much leadership we have coming back after COVID and getting all of this up and running again.

[01:02:41] So thank you very much. And with that, oh, yes, Ms. Clark. And then with that, I think I'll just go on to tell you guys our next meeting is scheduled for June 3rd, 2025.

[01:02:56] We will have one quick item. We will have the other item? Okay. It'll take just one minute. I was sorry about that. So we will, yeah, we don't want to. So we will go on to our next agenda item. My apologies, 4.04, Academy of Global and Linguistic Studies host site selection.

[01:03:12] I will turn it over to Mr. Slevin for presentation. Thank you. Ms. Clark. All right, thank you. Thank you for fitting us in this afternoon. So on the screen here is our decision process. It's the same process that we have used for our other programs when making a host school selection.

[01:03:32] So we did hold two high school principal sessions where we provided information about the program. Those principals were sent the interest form and had until close of business on April 4th if they were interested in hosting this program. We did hold a committee that met and looked at the following criteria.

[01:03:52] As you can see there, we went through four key criteria. We looked at the alignment with the community survey. we looked at ensuring the Academy would support the local population we looked at school leadership interests which we know that plays a pivotal role ensuring commitment and support for those at the helm we looked at building capacity that was considered to guarantee the Academy's feasibility within existing resources and then lastly we looked at transportation and location when we met

[01:04:25] as a committee. And we are excited to announce this afternoon that our recommendation and decision for the Academy of Global and Linguistic Studies is Dominion High School. And this afternoon we have with us Dr. Brewer, Principal of Dominion. We appreciate, yep, go ahead. We appreciate his interest in hosting the program. They've done a lot with the International Summit and we look forward to his leadership with this program. I also want to just take a moment to thank, I know

[01:05:00] he was here, Jeff Roundsley, Kelly James, Danielle Graham, as those are our program owners for this academy, and they are here this afternoon as well. So thank you all for your leadership, and we look forward to getting this academy up and running. That's it. If you have any questions, comments.

[01:05:19] Thank you so much, Ms. Clark. I don't have any questions or comments. I can only commend everyone you know for all their help board member mr Bell do you have any questions or comments okay I'm just extremely happy that we're putting this program in place being both a former foreign language major as well as a special ed teacher and a career person who likes to do career assessment I think this is a really really exceptional program that will place our students in the forefront of global linguistics work in companies government international policy whatever

[01:05:58] thank you so much I just want to be super careful that I'm not going over over me but any new business before I move on to closing yeah all right our next meeting is scheduled for June 3rd 2025 at 3:30 mark your calendars and if there's no further business I understand a motion to adjourn the meeting. Yes, Ms. Labelle. I move to adjourn the meeting. Okay. I second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Okay. All right. This meeting is adjourned. Thank

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