Coraggio Consulting
Loudoun County Public Schools, Specialized Programs and Centers Committee Meeting, Monday, November 3, 2025

Date: Monday, November 3, 2025
Place: LCPS Administration Building / School Board Room, Ashburn, Virginia
Length: 47m (video)
Official meeting video (Vimeo / LCPS-TV): https://player.vimeo.com/video/1133533591?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.

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

[00:00:02] - All right, good afternoon. I'd like to call this November 3rd meeting of the SPCC Committee to order. My name is Dr. Rasheed and I'm the chair of this committee. We appreciate your presence today and your weight. So the purpose of today's meeting is to discuss, I believe three information items and I believe it's special programs admission data, the IB career related program, and the MCCCS amendment to the charter agreement.

[00:00:31] Before we proceed we value public input. If there's anyone from the public who wishes to address the committee, please fill out a speaker card at the registration table. And I believe we do have one person who signed up for public comment. We'll now open the floor to public comments. If you wish to speak, please come forward, state your name, and limit your comments to two minutes.

[00:00:51] Thank you. - Hi, Andrea Weiskopf. Middleburg Charter School and Banneker are five miles apart. They both have 150 students. Middleburg has no economically disadvantaged to 35% at Banneker.

[00:01:10] Banneker has twice as many IEPs and four times as many EL students. But when our public charter school has a problem child, even though they're getting money on the public dime and just convinced you to put them in the capital improvement budget, they want to be able to send the student back.

[00:01:31] In fact, their language says to return students so that their scholars can prosper. They want to be public when they need money. Otherwise, they are a private school that you are funding on my taxpayer money.

[00:01:50] This is not public education. Thank you. Black Lives Matter. Thank you. Thank you for your participation and for providing your comment. your input is valuable to us and we will now move forward so we need to approve the minutes from our last meeting from I believe October 7th has everyone had a chance to review the minutes are there any corrections or additions okay yes miss a bell you have a correction oh great awesome all right I entertain a motion to approve the minutes from October 7 20 25 so moved

[00:02:30] And I second so all those in favor say aye aye all right the minutes are now approved and now we'll move on we'll move on to our first agenda item which I think we are moving 4.03 Middleburg Community Charter School amendment to charter agreement to our first information item so I will turn it over to Ms. Lehman for further commenting thank you. Thank you Dr. Rashid you'll see on the agenda that Middleburg Community Charter School has is asking to add the proposed language which you can see on the screen and in section 8.0 of their

[00:03:05] existing charter agreement I'm going to have Mr. Robinson speak briefly about the reasons for this addition and I will before he speaks I will add that this was this language was included in the most recent renewal of the Hillsboro Community Charter Schools application so this is an ask to duplicate the language Mr. Robinson all right well good good afternoon thank you so much for this time as Lane layman stated that is his language that has already been accepted into the current charter for Hillsborough and having conversations

[00:03:42] with our board obviously we receive scholars from a call across the county and of course being a school that is a choice school we also make sure that we go ahead and ensure that in situations where a student or a scholar is impacting our school community as a student maybe who's able to select or be considered for a different school outside of their zone as they could do as well I believe that's a very similar process as well if they select a different school for whatever reason and that does not have or they're not adhering to the guidelines

[00:04:21] of that school they can be sent back so just kind of just piggyback off of what has already happened with Hillsborough. Obviously part of the conversation that I shared with Miss Elaine Lehman was that we would of course go ahead and consult with LCPS regarding that situation.

[00:04:39] Obviously we'd want to go ahead and just be a school that sends students back to their school for any particular situation but a situation that both us as a school but also LCPS feels that would be appropriate that would that child would go back to that home-based school.

[00:04:56] would be a conversation so obviously wouldn't be where we would be just you know any situation it would be a conversation with both our board as well as a lot in County especially the office of discipline based on the situation as well if we can't find a resolution for a situation as well so I've been here since 2019 I can think of maybe only one situation where we maybe even had this conversation so it's nothing that we would look to but just ensure that that's there and since also the other charter school had that added in the last

[00:05:31] charter agreement just be consistent in that regard we want to bring it to the committee for that conversation any questions so this is an info item tonight so for your consideration thank you miss layman miss LaBelle do you have any questions about this item yes I do thank you madam chair so what I'm hearing is is that this is the same process we use for students that are allowed to go on special permission to a school outside their district.

[00:06:10] It's the exact same process. When a student is at another school not their neighborhood school on special permission and they have issues either with attendance or disciplinary situations they can't the special permission can be rescinded and they can be returned to their home school.

[00:06:27] So that would be the same process. Yes. Thank you. you so is that currently in place where if there's I guess there's a situation where a student it's not working out with HCA or MCCS do they go back to their home-based school is that what is what is happening right now that has not happened for any student thus far this is to my understanding from when we went through this with HCA and now I'm talking to Mr. Robinson about it what we're looking for is an opportunity to discuss with the Office of School Administration for disciplinary measures and with the Special Permission office for issues of attendance and things like that which is

[00:07:06] what happens for all the other schools. But there was just no language in the charter agreement speaking to the process that would be followed for any other Loudoun County school. And then and I was I was going to ask if there's any data that shows if any students have been have had that situation.

[00:07:25] I think you said I think you said one but I think that that was it historically speaking. You can speak to yours and I'll be happy to. Yeah so I don't want to go all the details but there was situation obviously we have a small school. We have only one class per grade level. And there was a situation that was I think we were at a conversation a few years ago Ms.

[00:07:44] Layman about a situation that it was a really unique situation that obviously a student in that class was felt very unsafe and because there was no other class in a grade level as only one class for that grade level.

[00:08:01] You know it was a situation that was very very difficult. And in that situation you know it would be that students could they wanted to stay in that in our school could for the remainder of that school year as well even though that student who was had the situation with the actual discipline action you know could stay there still as well.

[00:08:20] The student who was kind of the victim you know she was kind of forced to be in that class that situation. Fortunately it worked out but that's kind of where we are. And that's the only I think my six years that we've had a conversation we felt like that might be a situation as well.

[00:08:37] And also what do we what do we currently do when students are not when the situation is not working out outside the charter school and students are normally attending their home-based schools and it's determined that the student it's not working out with that home-based school.

[00:08:57] What do we do currently. Do we have them go to another school. It's a very rare situation that you're talking about but I think the question you're asking allow me to clarify is not in a special permission situation but in just a general education situation any school any student at their home school who's having disciplinary issues that for some reason would have them needing to go to another school that doesn't happen very often but that's the conversation with the Office of the School Administration.

[00:09:28] If a child and there are similar conversations that happen through the Title IX office and there are other other offices within LCPS that would be available to consult in situations like that. I and one of the reasons why I tread very carefully on this is because there was a case and I and I that's what LCPS blew up on about I think a student in 2021 and there was a student it obviously was like a hole.

[00:09:55] It hit the news and it was everywhere and it wound up that that student just went to another school. And the reason why I'm just very cautious about this is because it didn't solve the problem and then before you know it it was a repeat of action in the other school at another LCPS school and I know you understand what I'm saying so that's why just that just gets me a little worried because and I understand everything has to go through a process with committees or maybe even appeals committee or anything like that but that is something that I wanted to share my thoughts on Miss Abel do you have any questions.

[00:10:30] No I think that the process that we have of first consulting doing everything you can in the home school or the assigned school whichever it is and then if it can't be resolved within the school system then consulting with the Office of School Administration or other departments within the school system to see what other remedies we can apply is working out and it's what it should be we're not taking students out without due consideration there are other options for students certainly at the higher levels we still have North Star we

[00:11:07] still have tape we have whatever we need as well as being able to go to a separate school if the problem can't be addressed where they are. So that's that's where I sit on this.

[00:11:22] Okay thank you so much so I have no further questions but I'd like to move on to our our next agenda item. So where I think I believe this goes to our full board. This was an info item so I think it doesn't.

[00:11:40] Oh that's right action item for you first got it. Okay forgot about that thank you you. All right we will now move on to our next agenda item which is 4.01 for now special programs admission data and I'll turn it over to Mr. Sevin to present. Thank you Dr. Rasheed we are here today to present the comprehensive special programs admission data for the past 2025 enrollment cycle the objective of this presentation is to provide a detailed data-driven analysis of applications admissions and key demographic trends across our diverse portfolio of special programs this report reflects our commitment to transparency and our continuous effort to assess program

[00:12:19] accessibility and equity for all of our LCPS students here is our agenda for this presentation we plan to review LCPS reference data admissions criteria in the process for each program we'll share the 2025-2026 admissions data the outreach efforts and next steps Ms. Clark and I would like to recognize the effort of our research department particularly Dr. Tyler and Dr. Blakelock and their entire team for their support in providing this data packet for us this afternoon we don't know know what we do without them so thank you all very much so I will turn it over to Ms. Clark at this

[00:12:53] time thank you Mr. Slevin we thought it would be helpful to provide you with the reference data as we discuss specific programs throughout this presentation so this slide here offers a snapshot of all currently enrolled LCPS students using data from the LCPS dashboard as of October 21st which encompasses a total enrollment of 80,614 students.

[00:13:20] The student body, as you can see here, is highly diverse. Our major demographic groups include students identifying as white at 38.9%, Asian at 27%, and Hispanic at 19.5% of the total enrollment. Furthermore, we must note that 12.9% of our student population are identified as students with disabilities.

[00:13:43] 13.7% of our student population are identified as English learners and 21.2% are identified as economically disadvantaged. This system-wide data serves as the critical benchmark against which we evaluate the representation and enrollment within our special programs.

[00:14:03] As we review each program, it is important to note that each program's data set represents the program enrollment as of September 30th. Each program data slide will show the program applicant data and enrollment data.

[00:14:18] So next, we'll delve into each program, discussing the admissions criteria and process, followed by a demographic breakdown of applicants and enrollment. The full packet of data is available as an attachment in the board documents.

[00:14:36] This afternoon, we'll start by discussing the three educational programs that comprise the Academies of Loudoun. We'll share emissions data for the Academy of Engineering and Technology, known as AET, Academy of Science known as AOS and the Monroe Advanced Technical Academy known as MATA. We're going to start this afternoon with our MATA admissions criteria as we recently updated its admissions criteria which was modified for the 24-25 admissions cycle for enrollment in this current school year.

[00:15:09] In order to apply students must have been enrolled in Algebra 1 or above at the time of application. There was specific minimum GPA requirements for specific pathways and be on time for graduation. A lottery was conducted only if the above requirements are met and the number of applicants exceeded the available program slots. This ensures that admission to these CTE programs is offered exclusively to qualified applicants. So here is our MATA data. We had 3,025 students who applied for admissions for our MATA pathways, which are

[00:15:48] available to 10th, 11th, and 12th graders. We saw a 35% increase in applications from 24 to 25 school year. This application data generally aligns to the overall LCPS student population. We had 854 students who are currently enrolled as of September 30th in one of the MATA pathways for the 25-26 school year. We note that we had a slight increase in our female enrolled students in the MATA program. We saw an increase in Black, Hispanic, English learners, students with disabilities, and economically disadvantaged students who are enrolled from

[00:16:27] last year to this year. Next, we'll talk about AET and AOS. They each have a merit-based admissions process. To be eligible for admission for both AET and AOS, students must be enrolled in Algebra I or higher at the time of application, complete a writing assignment, and a STEM thinking skills assessment and have final grades of C or above in math and science courses from grades 6 and 7 as well as the first semester of grade 8. All applicants are evaluated by a blind panel based upon the merits of the entirety of the

[00:17:04] published admissions criteria. So here is our AET data for eligible students who applied. We had 1,864 students apply for this program which is a slight decrease since last year it is important to note that we have more special programs available to students than in prior years which could have impacted the applicant numbers we saw an increase in Asian and black applicants and a slight decrease in Hispanic applicants from 24 to 25 school year we continue to see a

[00:17:39] larger number of male students apply relative to female students we have 150 ninth graders who are currently enrolled in AET male students represented 73 of the enrolled students in AET. Other than gender, representation demographic numbers for admitted students in AET generally paralleled the numbers for offered students. We do note that the percentage of students with disabilities admitted to the program increased when compared to last year. Next we'll take a look at AOS data. This data shows that application numbers have remained strong

[00:18:18] but have slightly declined over the past few years. From a peak of 1,798 applicants in 2023 to 1,619 in 2025. Despite this modest decrease, the program continues to attract a large and competitive pool of applicants for the 150 available seats. Demographically, the applicant and enrollment data remain relatively consistent, with Asian students continuing to represent the largest group of both applicants and enrollees. Among applicants,

[00:18:51] female and male participation is fairly balanced however enrolled students again skew towards male representation among economically disadvantaged students english learners and other under represented groups remains below overall lcps levels highlighting areas for continued outreach and access efforts now let's move on to discuss the next program our naval junior reserve officer training corps. As of 2025, NJROTC is Loudoun County's only reserve officer training corps.

[00:19:30] Loudoun County High School offers this program. It is our host site, which is open to rising ninth grade students from public, private, and homeschool. Prior to the upcoming 26-27 school year, only out-of-zone students were selected through an admissions committee and interview process, which included a writing prompt, two recommendation letters, and parent approval.

[00:19:52] All students zoned for Loudoun County High School had access to this program upon request with no admission process necessary. This process is changing for next school year as we've discussed at a previous meeting and all applicants to NJROTC will be subject to the same procedures regardless of zoned high school.

[00:20:12] So here's our data. With the inclusion of our NJROTC into our annual outreach efforts that are led by our supervisor of academic programs Mr. Grant Schaefer. We have seen a significant increase in interest in this program over the past two years.

[00:20:30] We have 24 out-of-zone 9th graders who were enrolled. Although the demographics of this program track county demographics in many ways, one area of interest is the increased level of interest in our Hispanic, English learners, and economically disadvantaged students.

[00:20:48] We note that although male and JROTC students continue to outnumber female and JROTC students, These numbers have shown significant improvement over the prior year. Next, we'll explore the International Baccalaureate IB Diploma Program.

[00:21:06] This globally recognized program is designed to develop knowledgeable and caring young people. In this program, students study six subjects across disciplines, complete a 4,000-word extended essay, engage in the theory of knowledge, and participate in creativity, activity, and service projects.

[00:21:25] This program is recognized worldwide for its challenging curriculum and holistic approach to learning. The IB program is currently available at Heritage High School and Loudoun Valley High School. Rising 9th grade students from public, private, and homeschool can apply with out-of-zone students selected through a random lottery.

[00:21:46] All zone students at Heritage and Valley have access to the program, which requires a four-year commitment making out-of-zone students full-time attendees at their respective schools. In an effort to better monitor student interest, we are asking that all students, including those zoned to Heritage and Valley, submit interest in the program this year.

[00:22:07] However, the data currently available only shows information for out-of-zone students. Assignments to IB schools is based on zone high school, and no school selection is permitted. Meaning, if you are zoned to Woodgrove High School, your assigned IB school is Loudon Valley High School.

[00:22:24] Or, if you are zoned to Rockridge High School, your assigned IB school would be Heritage High School. Here's our data for IB at Valley and Heritage. There are some interesting data points in the IB admissions data.

[00:22:40] As you can see, we continue strong initial interest in the program across both schools, with Heritage increasing applicants from 266 to 276 and Valley increasing from 234 to 314. However, this interest did not necessarily result in those same numbers of enrolled students at both schools.

[00:23:02] Of note, all students interested in IB were offered admission, and no wait lists remained prior to the start of the school year. However, among those interested, only 51 ultimately enrolled at Heritage and 35 enrolled at Loudoun Valley. Although these numbers are both modest increases from last year, there are several reasons that this may be the case, including transportation times and the availability of additional special programs throughout the county.

[00:23:32] As a reminder, this data does not represent the entire program enrollment, as students zoned for Loudoun Valley and Heritage High School did not show interest through the admissions process this year. Next, we'll transition to discussing our Health and Medical Sciences Academy.

[00:23:51] This program is designed to prepare students for careers in the health care field through rigorous coursework and hands-on experience. Just like IB, the Health and Medical Science Academy is located at two locations at Briarwoods High School and Tuscarora High School.

[00:24:08] Rising 9th grade students are eligible to apply from public, private, and homeschool backgrounds. There are 150 seats available with up to 75 seats per school site. This program requires a four-year commitment, and out-of-zone students who are accepted will become full-time students at either Briarwoods or Tuscarora.

[00:24:27] Similar to IB, assignments to ham-sci schools is based on zone school, and no school selection is permitted. So here is our ham-sci data. We had a total of 811 applicants across the two schools.

[00:24:43] We have a lot of interest in health care. It is important to note that out of the 811 applicants, 598 of them were students that were zoned to schools that were assigned to feed Briarwoods High School for the ham-sci program. Although participation at Briarwoods remained high and a wait list remained at the start of the school year, the same cannot be said of Tuscarora.

[00:25:08] Although 213 students expressed interest, only 56 ultimately enrolled. Furthermore, although not shown in this slide, we note that interest among zoned Tuscarora students dropped dramatically over the last year. Female students make up the majority of interested and enrolled students, suggesting that the program may be more appealing to female students, though there is no selection bias due to the random lottery.

[00:25:37] Next, we will share data for our newest LCPS program that enrolled its first class of grade 9 students this year. The Accelerated College and Employability Skills, known as the ACCESS Academy, is an innovative partnership between George Mason University's College of Education and Human Development, Loudoun County Public Schools, and Northern Virginia Community College.

[00:26:01] The academy currently serves students in grades 9 only. 9th and 10th grade will be housed at Potomac Falls High School, and 11th and 12th graders will eventually take classes at the George Mason Fuse Center. Access Academy enrolled 44 grade 9 students in our inaugural year, and our data shows that we have an enrolled population that is an excellent representation of LCPS.

[00:26:31] We did see a higher interest in this program and overall program enrollment for male students compared to female students. I will note here that we were supposed to have 30 seats per grade level, but since we did not have qualified students that had taken the correct coursework for 10th, 11th, and 12th, George Mason allowed us to enroll up to 45 potential students.

[00:26:56] So that's why you'll see 44 enrolled students. Next, we'll transition to discussing our elementary special program, the Dual Language Immersion Program. This innovative program aims to develop bilingualism and biliteracy in students from an early age.

[00:27:14] Currently, the Dual Language Immersion Program is offered at Potomac and Sanders Corner Elementary Schools. LCPS provides a 50-50 two-way immersion model starting in kindergarten through fifth grade, where students spend half the day learning in Spanish and the other half in English.

[00:27:32] Due to limited seats, a lottery is held for those who complete the DLI lottery registration form before the deadline, with a wait list established. Each grade level has up to 50 seats per school, divided equally between in-boundary and out-of-boundary students, and between Spanish and English other language speakers to the extent possible.

[00:27:55] So here's our data for our DLI kindergarten class. We had 427 interested kindergarten applicants this year, 294 at Sanders Corner, and 133 at Potomac Elementary. You will notice that higher number of applicants for Sanders Corner.

[00:28:13] This kindergarten program was at full capacity on September 30th with 100 students, 50 in each program cohort. This year, we now have 300 total students enrolled in the program across the two schools in kindergarten through second grade.

[00:28:30] Since this is a Spanish language program, you will notice that 55% of our students admitted in kindergarten are Hispanic. Regarding the other demographic areas, we note that most of the categories generally track with the overall LCPS student population, with the exception of our Asian student population.

[00:28:51] Next, we'll discuss our outreach efforts for special programs. We'll highlight the strategies we've implemented to raise awareness and engage with the community, ensuring that all students and families are informed about the opportunities available. At the elementary school, we have developed a special programs one-pager and have worked with the counseling office to support upcoming lessons to inform and engage our elementary school students.

[00:29:18] At the middle school, our efforts have been at each grade level for 6th graders. We will be holding resource visits to introduce them to the available programs. Our 7th graders will participate in counselor lessons to further their understanding of special programs as part of the course planner.

[00:29:35] Additionally, we held middle school assembly visits during the month of September for eighth graders to ensure they know about all the opportunities that are available as they enter high school. After each of those visits, our amazing communications department supported us with sending out emails to both students and families with key information about upcoming deadlines and information nights.

[00:29:59] We also provided each middle school counseling team and family liaisons with a packet of information regarding special programs to support them with outreach at the school level. At high school, students benefit from advisory lessons, school visits, and tours to explore both advanced AET and MATA programs.

[00:30:18] This year, we hosted two secondary special programs fair events, one at Heritage High School and one at Parkview High School, to showcase the wide range of opportunities available to LCPS students as they prepare for high school.

[00:30:34] Each event featured a student panel and breakout sessions, giving families a chance to hear directly from students and coordinators about each of the offered programs. We were thrilled with the strong turnout and engagement from our community. In addition, we launched our first-ever Special Programs Magazine, created by our communications office, which highlights each of our unique offerings and celebrates the incredible growth we've seen over the past three years.

[00:31:04] This expansion is a direct result of the support from our superintendent and school board, whose commitment to innovation helps students envision and pursue their future pathways. We also host individual program nights to provide families with detailed guidance on special programs.

[00:31:23] To ensure transparency and alignment, we regularly present updates to LCPS committees and maintain consistent admission deadlines across programs, making the process easier and more predictable for our families. Next, we'll outline the upcoming steps and open the floor for discussion regarding our special programs.

[00:31:45] This will ensure we continue to improve and expand our special programs to better serve our students and community. So here are some proposed improvements to special programs admissions. Streamlining our procedures each year, the program owner and coordinator reviews the admissions data and updates the standard operating procedures for each program to improve clarity and efficiency yearly.

[00:32:11] Our NJROTC alignment, as mentioned, we are aligning that admissions process. That has been revised to ensure consistency for both zoned and out-of-zone students. Expanding school priority DLI models.

[00:32:27] With Potomac's DLI program shifting to a school priority model, we're exploring the possibility of expanding this model to other schools to increase access as early as next school year. Assessment review for AET and AOS. We're reviewing the admissions assessment to ensure alignment with program goals.

[00:32:46] Enhanced counseling support. We're continuing to partner with our counseling teams at both the middle and high schools to ensure schools have the tools and information needed to guide students through the application and acceptance process. And lastly, collaboration with the Family and Community Engagement Office.

[00:33:05] We plan to work with this office on personalized outreach to families regarding special program opportunities. Some continued and new outreach initiatives. In terms of outreach, we plan to continue and introduce new initiatives. This includes elementary outreach programs, and the communications office is helping us create videos of all of our programs to assist with course planning.

[00:33:30] We are currently hoping to link those in school links for our students and families to view. Additionally, we aim to explore more targeted outreach and support for groups that are currently underrepresented in our applications and acceptance rates.

[00:33:45] For example, this may include identifying peer ambassadors to become involved in outreach initiatives. And now we would like to open the floor for discussion and feedback regarding the data and information shared this afternoon. Your insights and suggestions are invaluable as we strive to enhance our admissions process.

[00:34:05] Thank you so much, Ms. Clark. That was a lot of information. Yeah. A lot of oxygen that was used. So that's great. I only had, it's very detailed, all the information you gave. But I had one question that kind of dealt with both of the programs for HAMSci and IB.

[00:34:25] When, well, one is more of a comment. So I'm very interested in knowing that when there was a slight decrease from ninth grade to 10th grade, I think, I don't know if I read that chart correctly, very slight, almost negligible.

[00:34:42] do we give these students any type of like survey to say hey you know were there any was there any reason why you left or was there any reason why you dropped out and I apologize if you already mentioned that. For all of our programs we have an exit interview process the coordinator obviously tries to work with the student tries to support the student through multiple steps before allowing a student to return to their home school our ultimate goal is to keep them in the program but obviously sometimes there are situations that arise but they

[00:35:18] do an exit interview and a permission click and they talk about why they are leaving so yes we have that data. I ask because I'm also interested in knowing if they just simply say you know what it's not for me something of the sort and then when it comes to the applicants and I think there was one I forgot one high school that had decreased in enrollment from the applicant pool if they also felt that you know what I got accepted to another program like for example if I got accepted to you know ACL or TJ I was always I'm always curious about that because I know that one of the reasons why we have these programs is to show the community that we have other opportunities for their kids so as

[00:35:57] proudly as I say it that we do have all those opportunities I'm always curious to know that breakdown data or that percentage of answers that answered yes to any particular survey question but thank you so much Miss Abel did you have any questions I was wondering could it be is one of the questions or one of the answers you receive for changing programs transportation that it's not working out as they thought it would.

[00:36:23] Yeah I think I mentioned some of our schools that are a little further distance transportation does play a factor in students staying in those programs. So sometimes students do start and then they just realize that the commute is just too long for them to sustain that for four years.

[00:36:43] And HAMSci you said that the students are chosen by lottery. What other programs are chosen by lottery besides HAMSci. All of our programs except AET AOS and advanced AET are chosen by a lottery.

[00:37:04] OK. And you said you have a special programs magazine. Does that go out to all the parents or. Great question. Is that online or is that handed out. OK.

[00:37:21] Great question. So it is online. It is live on our special programs website. Ideally we would love to have this for to hand out to all eighth grade students when we go to visit because there is room for them to take notes and kind of go home and have discussions.

[00:37:37] We didn't quite have it published in time for all of our visits but we did have this available at both of our special program fairs and all of the committees that we have visited. But it is online and live for anyone to view. And can we get the board get a copy of that as well.

[00:37:52] You have some in storage. So we are happy to give you as many copies as you'd like. We will get you one at the end of this meeting and we'll make sure you get one when it's updated. Thank you. Thank you.

[00:38:07] Does this item go to the school board the main school board meeting it doesn't. Practice has been this is where we share the data. And so it'll be sent out in the weekly update and the board will see the summary of the they'll have access to this just as the public does.

[00:38:23] And could that include that data for the survey responses. I'm always curious to know and I don't know if that data result has returned or come in yet. Because I don't know the timeline exactly. Are you speaking about the specialized program. Yeah the ones that you just mentioned all of that feedback.

[00:38:39] It'd be great to know their reasoning. That is when a specific student leaves a program. The coordinators keep track of that. So I don't have that data right in front of me. I'm sure we could compile that. Yeah in the future I mean it's just good to know for you know future improvisations. We'll have a conversation about that internally and see what we can provide at a future looking forward to it all right well thank you so much all right so i think we are moving on to four okay we are because when i saw it blended in there all right we're going to move on to 4.02 international baccalaureate career related programs i'll turn it over to miss katie clark to present thank you again thank you i'm joined this afternoon for

[00:39:18] this presentation by grant shaffer supervisor of academic programs and we're excited to share with you a potential expansion opportunity related to our international baccalaureate program that is already established at heritage and loudon valley as you just heard and we are currently in the candidacy phase at parkview high school this plan for potential expansion for implementing the international baccalaureate career related program or better known as ibcp is a powerful step forward in expanding career focused academic opportunities for our students this afternoon

[00:39:55] we'll walk you through what the IBCP is, how it works, our proposed timeline, and the potential budget needed to bring it to life here in LCPS. So the IB Career Programs, CP, is designed for students interested in pursuing a career-related education in the final two years of secondary school, so during 11th and 12th grade. It provides them with an excellent foundation to support their further studies, as well as ensure their preparedness for success in the workforce.

[00:40:26] As mentioned before, this would be an expansion of our current diploma program that we currently are authorized to offer at Heritage and Valley and potentially at Parkview once we're authorized. The IBCP is a unique blend of academic rigor and career readiness.

[00:40:48] It's designed for students who want to specialize in a career pathway while still engaging in challenging academic coursework. The program has three main components. First, students must pursue a career-related study. This could be anything from engineering to business to health care.

[00:41:06] And Mr. Schaefer has already worked with the schools to kind of determine what are the highly enrolled courses that maybe we could offer through this program. Secondly, they take at least two IB Diploma Program courses to ensure they're academically challenged.

[00:41:23] And thirdly, they complete the IBCP core, which includes personal and professional skills, language development, a reflective project, and service learning. These elements help develop critical thinking, intercultural understanding, and ethical decision making, skills that are essential for both college and the workforce.

[00:41:45] Now I'll turn it over to Mr. Schaefer to talk about the potential timeline and budget for this new initiative. All right so when we're looking at rolling out the CP it would be in the spring and summer of 2026 we'd plan on submitting our formal request for candidacy to the IBO the International Baccalaureate Organization so this kicks off the candidacy phase which will run through the 26 27 school year and during this time we'll train staff develop curriculum for said

[00:42:20] courses that we just went over and preparing our schools for implementing the program then in the 27 28 school year we'll welcome our first cohort of career program 11th graders if all goes well and we are aren't there authorized at that point this phased approach again is trying to be deliberate and thoughtful and making sure everyone's prepared and that all the schools feel ready to implement so speaking of implementation uh the budget so when we look at fiscal year 27 we would

[00:42:55] need $25,000 cost of for the the career program fee for the three schools this would be $8,500 a piece and in the following year 2028 is when we would project a total of a little over $322,000 this budget would include the fees again there you can see the yearly fee supplies for the schools and then And the larger expenditures would be the $2,575 stipend for the reflective project and service learning

[00:43:29] that would go to a staff member, similar to how we have stipends for the IB diploma program right now. And then lastly, you can see here, obviously, the largest budget item would be just over $102,000 for the FTEs for this.

[00:43:48] So that 0.8 FTE would be split between the professional and personal horse there, 0.6, and the CTE lead, 0.2. Again, the CTE lead would help to manage this entire project and then look forward to the reauthorization process and work on that.

[00:44:11] So those would be the budget scope there. And I think at this time we'll do want to ask for some any questions you might have. Thank you. Thank you so much.

[00:44:27] Once again a lot of detail short but a lot of detail. Just for clarification so is this for 11th graders and or 12th graders or is this for 11th graders and they have to be entered into a specific cohort and then they go into 12th graders being still a part of this program.

[00:44:47] That's a great question. bring in our IB students in ninth grade to really make sure they're on the correct pathway and are eligible to take those DP courses. So that would stay the same here. What would happen here is in 11th grade we would have an option for our students that are interested that maybe came over for the diploma program but decided the six courses are just maybe too much of a load they would have an option to do just the career program instead where they take the two diploma classes and the career pathway.

[00:45:18] the other core elements that align so this would give us actually kind of two pathways when they hit 11th grade but you are correct most of the IB diploma program starts in 11th grade we just prepare them in 9th and 10th with the learner profile and ensuring students have the correct sequence of courses so that they are eligible for the diploma program when they get to 11th grade same thing here they would start at 9th we would make sure they're eligible for those coursework but they might choose the career path

[00:45:50] instead of the full diploma. Yeah that's accurate because they would have to have that career sequence and we're working with Dr. Grubbs and the CTE department on what those sequences would be.

[00:46:21] So I just as with many things that come before committee this is a proposal it will assume inclusion in a future budget whether it's this superintendent's estimate needs or superintendent's estimate of needs or a future one.

[00:46:40] There are a number of things we bring to this committee just so you all know this is something we're considering for future expansion of special programs. So if it did make it into the budget we'd be talking more about this during the development of the FY 27 budget. Things to think about. All right.

[00:46:57] I'm going to go ahead and wrap up. I think we finished all our agenda items. And our next meeting is for December 8th 2025 at 3:30. Mark your calendars. Any new business.

[00:47:12] And if there's no further business I entertain a motion to adjourn the meeting. So moved. Okay, and I second, and the meeting is adjourned. Thanks, guys, for coming out.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Coraggio Consulting · aguyonx.com