AI-generated transcript of Communications, Strategy & Stakeholder Engagement Subcommittee Meeting

[Evangelista]: Hi there.

[Graham]: All right, so I'm going to start reading, because I have a whole bunch of things to read before we can get started. So Please be advised that on Tuesday, November 10th, from 530 to 630, there will be a communications engagement and strategic planning subcommittee held through remote participation via Zoom. Pursuant to Governor Baker's March 12th order suspending certain provisions of the open meeting law, general law 30A18, and the governor's March 15th order imposing strict limitations on the number of people that may gather in one place, this meeting of the Medford School Committee will be conducted via remote participation to the greatest extent possible. specific information and the general guidelines for remote participation by members of the public and or parties with a right and or requirement to attend this meeting can be found on the city of Medford website at www.medfordma.org. For this meeting, members of the public who wish to listen or watch may do so by accessing the meeting link contained herein. No in-person attendance of members of the public will be permitted, but every effort will be made to ensure that the public can adequately access the proceedings in real time via technological means. In the event that we are unable to do so despite best efforts, we will post on the city of Medford or other community media websites and audio or video recording transcript or other comprehensive record of the proceedings as soon as possible after the meeting. The meeting can be viewed through Medford community media on Comcast channel 15 and Verizon channel 45 from 530 to 630 PM. Since the meeting will be held remotely, participants may log in or call in using the following link or call number. The Zoom link is zoom.us slash j slash 98230466699. To call in, you can dial 312-626-6799 and enter the meeting ID 98230466699. So we'll call the meeting to order and take the roll. So member McLaughlin.

[McLaughlin]: Present.

[Graham]: Member Kreatz. Here. And member Graham here. So three present. The meeting objectives for today are really to focus specifically on Um, kindergarten. So to discuss plans for kindergarten information sessions, enrollment plans, and community outreach, um, to address the below approved motion of the school committee from back in February, which is the school committee refers our kindergarten orientation practices to the communications engagement and strategic planning subcommittee for review. The subcommittee will conduct current communication and community. We'll review current communication and community engagement practices related to kindergarten orientation. The subcommittee will recommend revisions to the current plan and or approach to the school committee by September 20th, 2020. So we're obviously outside of that target date given COVID, but we did in our planning meeting last month, talk about this being a specific topic of discussion that we will go through today. So we have a couple of folks from the community who have joined us. And the first item on the agenda is really to talk about our district timeline and how we compare to some surrounding areas. So I actually did a little bit of research to try to get some of that information so that we could have a productive discussion. And I actually went out and I'm gonna share this document with you all because I think it's easier to see in a chart form So one of the things that I did was put together sort of, and I'll say my recall of our typical kindergarten orientation practices. And we had some brief discussion about this at the last meeting, but we can start there. And then I also have some information about districts around us and what they're doing. So while we wait for Dr. Edouard-Vincent to join, I figured we can go through this. Can you all see my screen? Okay. So as far as I understand our current process, registration typically opens in March. Then in March and April, we have a presentation called Bridges to Kindergarten, which is like a parent information session about what to expect in kindergarten. And then the kindergarten visiting day where students and families are invited in for a short time to experience what it's like in the school that happens in May. Our kindergarten screenings actually don't happen until September. And generally speaking, we do not formally entertain tours of our schools. So that's my understanding of the current process. But before we go on, I fully admit that I could be incomplete about sort of my understanding of what our practices are. So if anyone has anything else that they want to toss into the conversation, we can add that now.

[Kreatz]: Maybe we could have virtual tours if we're not having them in school. I know that a lot of those virtual tours come out really nice in a video. That might be a good idea.

[Graham]: Peter, do you know, did we do any sort of virtual tours last spring during the pandemic?

[Cushing]: So not for kindergarten, but for the middle schools, we did those two virtual open houses.

[Graham]: OK. Okay, so I don't think we've done virtual tours in the past, which, and I did, I have that down as sort of a revised step, Kathy. So hang on to that thought. The other thing I did, and I think you can see it, it's just a comparison of some of our neighboring districts. Basically, what I tried to do was just get an understanding of what schools around us were doing. If you recall from the conversation back in February, which might have been a few million light years away, we were talking about this in the context of, in particular, families weighing charter schools as an option and having to make those decisions about charter schools long before we even start our processes. I did actually go out to two of the local charter schools that is sort of my impression are the biggest charters. So the first being Mystic Valley and the second being Prospect Hill. Their registration processes are, Mystic Valley's process is open and it has been open for some time. And their lottery submissions are due on January 4th. So anybody who's considering go, trying to get through the lottery process at Mystic Valley, their applications are due on January 4th. They do host open houses traditionally starting in November. Their website didn't talk about tours explicitly and their website also didn't have any content like specifically oriented to kindergarten. Prospect Hills registration process seemed a little to slide back a little bit and really be lottery in March, so applications due in late February. But on their website, there was definitely a clear place for you to request information about an open house or even tours. And there was definitely some specific content about kindergarten on their website. So then I went and looked at some of the area districts and what they do. I wasn't successful in collecting information in all cases, but there were a couple that were sort of interesting. For Melrose, their registration process opens in February and they are a feeder school to Mystic Valley as well. But their open houses start in January. So they do open houses, January, February, there did appear to be options for tours in February, and then registration starts in February as well. They did have kindergarten-specific content on their website over in Melrose. Wakefield was similar. They actually opened their registration late January, early February, and they had some informational meetings starting in March. And then Somerville actually, what I have been able to glean is the first thing that they do is they email eligible families who have kindergarten and eligible students for the upcoming school year in November. Their registration process starts on January 12th, but they also start info sessions in November and they appear to be doing some virtual tours even before January rolls around. That was what I was able to sort of glean from neighboring districts. So I'll stop there and just ask if there's any questions or other comments or things we want to add. All right. The next piece on the agenda was really for us to talk about things we may want to do in the future in this process, really around our outreach plans and our timing. A couple of things that came up in our last meeting was the discussion around the usage of census data and how we might use that in our process, which seems to be what Somerville is doing on their end. And then also we talked a lot about community resources like Medford Family Network and reaching out to area preschools. So what I wanted to do today was talk a little bit about other thoughts that we had in terms of outreach plans, things that we're thinking would make this process more effective given that we do appear to be a fairly late process as it compares to, in particular, the charter schools that we are competing against, I guess is like sort of an awkward way to put it, but where some students from Medford ultimately go. So I just wanted to open the floor for other thoughts about outreach plans. And if any of the community members who have joined us have thoughts that they'd like to share, I'd like to sort of open it up to you all as well. Member McLaughlin.

[McLaughlin]: Yeah, I'm just thinking about outreach plans. And I know the mailing here is being mentioned, but I'm just thinking back to the, you know, brochure days and getting quotes from parents and, you know, pictures of kindergarten day and just those sorts of things like building a base of PR materials on a Google Drive with quotes, you know, asking family members, And others to, you know, give quotes that again are things that can be used for mailings or any of those things, because I think that that's sort of, you know, elements of PR. OK.

[SPEAKER_00]: Jennifer, hi. Hi. So just to clarify, the Brooks School, the principal on July 26th did send like a virtual kindergarten open house. It was great as a new person coming into Medford Public Schools. And with a little tweaking, it would probably be something that would not just be for kindergarten and could easily be put on the school website or the district website for incoming people to see well before July. So just a thought.

[Graham]: Lisa, hi. Oh, you're on mute.

[Evangelista]: Sorry. I know the Columbus and McGlynn also did one. I'm not sure about the Roberts, but especially because we were out due to COVID. the schools did do a virtual kindergarten welcome, so it was done. I think each school did it on their own, but I'm going to make the assumption Roberts did it, but I just didn't see it, but I know the McGlynn and the Columbus and the Brooks, they may even be on the website under K, so just so you're aware.

[Graham]: Awesome, thank you. Miss Lucy.

[Galusi]: I was just going to chime in that every school did do their own tour just might have been a little different in the format, but they did. And I'm sorry. I apologize for being a little late.

[Graham]: That's okay. That's okay. So, um, we, um, we actually looked, um, before you jumped on at what some of the, um, area cities and particularly the charter schools are doing in terms of their relative timelines. Um, And I picked these cities just like more for your information. These are all feeder communities to Mystic Valley in particular. So I was just curious what some of those folks were doing to start to think about like where could we line up our practices a little bit different. So we were just talking about things that we could be doing that would move the timeline a bit. And Jennifer, I think you have a new K student this year, correct? Correct. So, um, as the resident, um, kindergarten parent on the phone, I wondered if you would just be willing to share sort of in your recall of what happened and obviously like sort of the pandemic definitely got in the way of things, but, um, what was your reaction to the, to the process as you went through it and what were the things that you were thinking about along the way? And am I correct in remembering that you are also a teacher?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yes. Okay. I'm a special educator in Cambridge. Got it. Thank you. So The process in March, I went to the Bridges to Kindergarten, the one event that actually happened before the world changed, at least here in the US. It was really informative. Everyone that spoke gave us information. We got, I filled out all my forms that night before it closed. And I think some, of the forms that we filled out didn't get where they needed to get to. I mean, everything just sort of Changed everywhere really quickly. So I ended up doing some of those forms again, um, which wasn't a problem And then I didn't really hear much Until the summer so there was sort of a lag time between when um, I Anticipated sort of knowing what was going to be happening in the fall And then in july when towards the end of july when things started coming um back um Guess I guess when the district started making more decisions about what might be happening. We started getting more information You know you you sort of know what people had done in the past and I was hoping for Outdoor kindergarten meetups and you know playdates and things like that, but those weren't able to happen officially and I guess that Or maybe somebody saying, sorry, we can't do those this year because, instead of people just sort of hoping it was going to happen. And then once the end of August, pretty regular emails, but I was also somebody that signed up for the A to Z and all of the different ways that I could get information. So that made it a little easier for me, but most everything I found out was through Facebook first anyway. That was, and it is my go-to place for finding information. Do you have any other questions?

[Graham]: No, I think that was helpful. Thank you for sharing. And I think one of the things that we talked a little bit about in the last meeting was this idea that we should be proactively reaching out to prospective kindergarten families through the census and setting some expectations about what Um, what's to come. And I think one of the things that happened last year, although I'm going to guess it wasn't necessarily on the roadmap was we went to, um, online registration, um, out of necessity, but now that it's here, we've worked out those processes. I think it gives us some interesting opportunity when we think about. Um, being proactive, um, really even, even now, even in November and in December in some way, shape or form. to let people know what's coming and what we're expecting. So I certainly wanna see us explore some sort of mailing to be actively reaching out to families via the census information, which I know we have to sort of work with city hall to make that happen. But if we can be reaching out for that reason, even in early December, I think we sort of get ahead of what becomes an annual set of questions on social media about what's happening, when does it happen? How does it happen? Who do I talk to? How do I get X or Y or Z? Perhaps there's a way for us to put a letter together and maybe there are some nice quotes from people who have been through the process even this year, right? Where it's so unusual. that could be styled into the outreach just to let families know what's coming and what the plan is for this year in terms of registration and onboarding. So that's certainly something that I would like to see us bring forward to the school committee and recommend. But I also think we talked a little bit last time about some sort of Q&A sessions happening and perhaps even before the Bridges to Kindergarten presentations, which used to happen in like March and April, I feel like those even should slide back into like the February timeframe. So this is just, this section is just sort of my thinking about all of this and happy to tweak and change any of this based on this discussion, but it was just sort of a starting point to say, how could we be thinking about this and what is reasonable for us to try to achieve this year? So, really thinking about how do we start the process in December so that we are ahead of those lottery dates that are as early as January 4th, actually this year, over at Mystic Valley, so that when people are looking for information, they can have it. Thoughts about December ideas, Ms. Glucy?

[Galusi]: Um, I think that I think that a mailing in December to start to lay out what the process will be is something that would be very helpful for families I have no problem getting behind that work and moving it up to December to try and Capitalize on the audience. And I also really appreciate how Jennifer shared about the videos. And I think that streamlining that so that the four schools are kind of doing the videos with similar content is a nice way to showcase Each public school before all of the registration pieces start. And especially right now this year, not really knowing if we'll be able to have, or probably won't be able to have an open house within the buildings would be something that we could also move up to more of that, maybe January timeframe with the bridges to kindergarten being a few months earlier. I'm okay bumping it all up a little bit. makes sense to me.

[Graham]: And the online registration, I'm making an assumption that it's sort of good to go for forever more. Is that true? I didn't want to assume that, but yes. And is it intensely manual on the back end or

[Galusi]: No, not at all. I think it's up as a link on our website all the time. So it's ongoing throughout the year so that as families move in or as kindergarten approaches, that is one of the options for families. And there's always a follow-up. someone from the Parent Information Center will call just to go over the last few pieces to finalize the registration, which does have to go through the nursing department, may have to go through the special education department, depending on the student, but all of that is handled in-house through the Parent Information Center. And also, if any information is missing through the online registration process, then it's followed up through the employee at the Parent Information Center just so that it can be finalized. But it is a streamlined process, but we do offer both. So if families need some more assistance with the in-person registration, that's also available. OK.

[Graham]: And so I guess I'm not sure I'm clear on like the the lift or how viable it is to do some sort of video like cross schools video tour. Really, I mean, December, January is like right around the corner. I don't know if that's a big lift or a little lift or I think what I would call her.

[Galusi]: Um, no, I think it's achievable. I really do think it's achievable I think it's something that I would work with the, the principles on I really appreciated Jennifer's feedback I know that. part of the focus that Mrs. DeMoss and I had on creating that video during the closure last time was really having the parent lens of what we thought the parents would want to see, which is pretty much a typical day in the life of a kindergartner so that you can see the spaces that your children will visit. And the classes and specialists that they have in the cafeteria space and some of that. I mean the logistical nuts and bolts is really I think probably better at individual school, whether it's virtual or in-person meetings, where you can specifically talk about what does arrival and dismissal look like, because that's unique to each building. But doing something that's an overall capture of what is the life of a kindergartner, I don't think is too heavy of a lift. Last, during the closure, we had Jack Dempsey, who is a, retired Medford employee. He does a lot of our documentary and our film. And he was very helpful. He went to all four schools and helped us with that video. So it's something that I can just discuss with the principals and circle back to Jack too, just so that we're all on the same page. Great.

[SPEAKER_00]: Jennifer. So in my district, the schools are fortunate enough to have a family liaison at each school. And I know, I don't think Medford has that, but I was wondering, and the way it works is that person is the contact person for all incoming families. And if tours need to happen, then they go through the family liaison to make the tours. Obviously there's no tours right now, but I wonder if something like, There could be a contact person in the PTO to sort of help guide incoming families through that process. Or if somebody was asking for a tour, if there was like a point person that could send them the video or whatever becomes available between now and December, if people are asking to visit a school or something like that.

[Galusi]: No, that's a great idea. I do know that just because from being at the Brooks, that was something that was in the works. As Jenny is aware, we did have a point person through the PTO too, that were working on that. And we had created a frequently asked questions document for parents that was posted on the website, which is something that again, you know, have that conversation with the principals to see about tweaking that to the individual schools and reaching out and partnering with their parent teacher organizations to streamline that a little bit more for incoming families. It's a great suggestion, thank you.

[Graham]: Yeah, I think it would be great to be able to publish something on the, on the website so that if somebody is reading, like I was actually today going out to all these websites and saying, who even has kindergarten specific content on their website? And it was a bit of a mixed bag, but there were places who I think did a good job of describing kindergarten on their website, or at least in a sort of, I'll say simple way, but it was something to grab onto, particularly if you are a new family to the district. I did like what Melrose had out on their website. It was simple. I don't think it would be like overly complicated to publish something global, but I think even some of those FAQs that certainly churn up a lot of questions over time and in all kinds of different places. that would be great as well to be able to have that on the school website level. So I think that would be really meaningful as well. The other I was sort of making an assumption that there would be no tours this year. So in terms of like the notes and things we would be doing when we report this out to the school committee, I was making an assumption there would be no tours planned for this year, at least not at this point, but that, you know, perhaps these other things that we're putting in place could sort of help bridge that gap. I guess one question I had is like, when do we plan to open registration for students? Or if we had thought about that, I mean, I think it would be great if we could open that in January, especially because it is online this year, but I don't know how that fits in with all the other processes that have to happen to start to officially sort of pull people into the district.

[Edouard-Vincent]: So. So I just was gonna. Hi. Hi, everyone. Very interesting conversation and idea that did just come to mind based on what you were just saying, Jenny. The fact that at this point in time, where we were keeping the group small while school was in session, one option could be the Wednesdays, which are non-instructional days for our students to possibly do small open houses because if we still have the restrictions in terms of how many people at a time, we could potentially, I would say not right now, but wait until things are better, do small tours of 10 to 15 people at a time on the Wednesdays when school is not in session so that at least they could physically come in and see the space, and we wouldn't be having a whole group of people coming in. But to be able to say, this is a sample kindergarten classroom, this is what our gymnasium or cafeteria looks like. The only thing that families would have to keep in mind is because of COVID right now, they would be seeing the plastic shields that are up. So it wouldn't look Like a typical kindergarten classroom had they visited the district last year or if they had other children that are in upper grades, when they could see all of the centers fully active, but if it is something. you know, just for them to kind of have an idea of what the buildings could look like, that could be something that we could try in the spring time, you know, we would be done with the snow storms hopefully and have better weather and at least be able to let them physically see the buildings if that's something that they truly desired. So that was just something that for right now, I think, You know, it just probably wouldn't be prudent right now, but definitely, you know, as the weather comes back and maybe springtime, that that could be something that was a real viable option where we'd advertise it, they'd know in advance and they'd have to register and try doing it that way. So then parents could have the option of looking online to see a video or seeing the schools virtually, but then in the spring, give them an opportunity possibly to come and visit. depending on where we are at at that point in time.

[Graham]: Member McLaughlin?

[McLaughlin]: Yeah, I think that's great. I think that I would also just advocate even beyond COVID and the pandemic, just leaving both options available, a remote, you know, virtual tour for families and also just thinking about, you know, certainly sometimes parents want to come look at the school, but maybe the child doesn't and they can show the child the school online and just, especially in terms of multiple modes of representation, it's good practice. So I think I would say continue both for sure.

[Graham]: Yeah, I mean, one of the things that I heard and it's certainly not since the pandemic, but pre pandemic is that there didn't appear to be a process to reliably request a tour and have somebody engage with you about how that might happen. So I heard, you know, I've heard from families, I asked for a tour and no one got back to me. And I think part of that could simply be who Who did you ask and did that person have the right tools to say yes or no to that request? And so maybe as we think about post-pandemic options, if there was a structure in place that would allow us to give tours, maybe Wednesdays are a good day to do that under our current time out on Wednesdays. Or maybe there's other, you know other times on a monthly basis or something where those tours could happen but just to think about how do we make sure that not only that we have these options but that there's like a clear path to access the option so that we don't have people in the community thinking that we're being non-responsive but instead that there's you know there's a clear protocol if you want a tour this is how you do it. I think one of the schools had a like a form like a Google form that said, fill it out here and tell us what you are looking for from us. And then presumably there was some process on the back end that they could, you know, engage with those families. So perhaps there just has to be an actual way to ask for those things as well. So that we centrally have a good feeling that those things are happening when they're being requested, and that we can keep tabs on the fact that we're not like burdening any particular school or building principal or administrator to try to sort of manage all of this, that there can be a more systemic approach to doing some of those things, which I think would be important. I also had on this list that sort of everything would slide back into like a slightly earlier spot in the year with online registration happening as early as January. And then those bridges to kindergarten presentations may be happening in February. I wasn't sure if that felt like a good timeline for you all in terms of what those activities are that It takes to sort of put on bridges to kindergarten. I'm sort of assuming some of it's going to be virtual again this year. The reason I think it's important for us to sort of spec out the timeline is because if we're gonna send something out in December, I would want that letter to be able to say, this is sort of when you can expect things to be happening like Bridges to Kindergarten, because a truly new family would not even know to expect something like Bridges to Kindergarten unless we've told them that that is something that's coming. So just trying to think about that with an eye toward like, something going out in December is sort of where my head was at as I was trying to think through all of this process. One thing I was not sure about was whether we needed to officially recommend to the school committee that we adopt that we asked the school administration to work with the city to collect the census information to be able to enable that mailing. I wrote a resolution that we can talk about. I wasn't 100% sure how was the best way to do that, but if we think it's necessary, I wrote it so that it was easy enough for us to adopt. If we don't think it's necessary, that's fine too. I just don't know. I didn't know Dr. Edward Benson, if that helps sort of move things along more fluidly when we're sort of crossing outside of the school district. bounds that the school committee is officially saying, yes, we're behind this?

[Edouard-Vincent]: I think in the past where we were able to get the fact that the census took place this year, hopefully a lot of the information is just all in one place. In the past, we've reached out to the local surrounding daycares and preschool programs and got access to that information and reached out to families. And we also, and you might have said it earlier, Medford Family Network is like a jewel in Medford. And so Marie Cassidy has tapped into a significant number of families and even if they're not kindergarten age ready but she has a very wide network there so we're also able to tap into that resource where you know, it's housed, they're housed right inside the high school. It's very easy to be able to connect with her as well. I have no issue with the earlier timetable, none whatsoever, to move it up to December and just see what recruitment and numbers could look like. I think that that is doable. And now that we've been able to make it over the hurdle of actually having online registration, which didn't exist, same time a year ago, I believe, in the makings. So the fact that that actually exists now, I feel like a lot of this is doable. bridges to kindergarten presentations, they will most likely end up being virtual. So February, only because we don't know what kind of a winter we're going to have. They're saying it's going to be a real winter, but we don't know. And so sometimes you plan out and, you know, you get snowstorm after snowstorm and people just aren't going to travel for that. But to plan on doing something virtually, sending out a communication in December, I think all of that is doable to work on that, work on an FAQ, and try to figure out if we can do the videotaping or some kind of virtual tour so people can see all of the kindergartens are well provisioned, well stocked, they all have centers, all the schools have wonderful playgrounds, beautiful gyms, so that the kids are going to be in a beautiful facility. doesn't matter which school they end up at, they're all beautiful facilities, that every classroom has a bathroom and those kinds of things. So just to maybe put their anxiety or stress at ease for them to see that all schools are offering you know, essentially the same physical layout and access to the same resources. It's just in your particular neighborhood. And each school has its own individual personality. But I think that that is definitely, even though this is an earlier timetable, I feel that it is doable. So those are my comments.

[Graham]: Oh, Lisa, did you have a question?

[Evangelista]: I was just going to suggest that community development in City Hall, they always have the most updated census but obviously the census was just completed so you would be getting the census information. Last census so I'm not sure it would be helpful. I think that's the hottest pot and trying to reach kindergarten. families if they have nobody else in schools. So it's just something that you might want to check out. I don't know if you have to do it, you know, through the school committee, but maybe contact Alicia Hunt. I believe she's the acting director right now, and maybe she could offer some assistance.

[Graham]: Okay, so I know that we fill out a Medford census every year. I mean, I'm sure it's not I'm sure the data is not quite as complex and rigorous, right?

[Evangelista]: I think that goes to the city clerk for voting, right?

[Graham]: Correct. But in that census, and I think this is what Mr. Murphy was talking about in the last meeting, in that information, you do outline all the members of your household and their ages. So there is data. I'm not, it sounds like it may be in the city clerk's office. So I sort of think that one of the things that we should do out of this meeting is vote on this resolution and bring it forward as an output of the meeting for the larger school committee to vote on so that we know that the entire committee is in agreement that we should be sort of actively promoting this mailing. Because I think without this information, it becomes harder to mail. We can rely on what Marie Cassidy has, it definitely will not reach everybody.

[Edouard-Vincent]: I definitely, I mean I think this information should be presented to the larger school committee as part of your report out and updates of one of the key pieces that has transpired. I don't think it necessarily needs to be a resolution because The fact that I can, I can, I could reach out to Adam by week's end, Adam Hurtubise, and, you know, I can definitely, you know, Marie, I can, I can talk with her by week's end as well to get that official, to get the official mailing and those pieces done. I think you should let the school committee, the larger body know that this is something that we're gonna be doing on an earlier timetable of what had happened in the past. So I feel like this is a key piece of information to update them, but we can definitely follow up and just request the census information and I can speak with Marie Cassidy and get that so we can have a working list and work with the team to get that official list that's available. And we know on average, it's about the low 300s. That's usually what we end up with. So it's not like we're expecting 700. And if it was a list that only provided 100 children, we would know, well, where are the other 200 coming from? So on average, It's about low 300s. And so we know the number of students, that's a very manageable number, divide and conquer, and we could get it done to get that communication out in December.

[Graham]: Member McLaughlin.

[McLaughlin]: Thanks. Yeah, I'm just thinking for posterity and for process, it's great to have Just a process memo that has that right. So when you're saying Maurice about getting the information out to the school committee, I think back to Jenny's point as well about sort of a timeline around when these things are going to happen and what the process pieces. I think just adding this to the process memo for know again for posterity for you know the year that maybe you're not here and i'm not here and jenny's not here and anybody else is looking around at how do we actually make this kindergarten thing happen again um it's all sort of in a place where it's documented and folks know what the process is annually so if if you're saying process or if you're saying policy to create it as an official policy then that would go into um Right, I'm not saying necessarily that you need to create it as a policy, because you're saying that you don't think you do. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying process so that it's documented that that's what needs to happen annually. I don't necessarily think it needs to go into policy. It seems like it's a pretty straightforward ask, but I'm just thinking in terms of process and documenting that that should be part of what needs to be done. Just like the form, Jenny, that you were talking about filling out, for any tours or what have you, just again, sort of any parts of the process that can be outlined annually. So people aren't reinventing the wheel every year or going back to the table to try to figure out what was done the year before. And the consistency across like schools, just like Ms. Galussi was saying, you know, each school, you know, created their virtual tour. It's like, you know, just having a step in the process where each school is working together, sharing whatever their virtual tours so that there's some consistency across the videos or what have you, but just a step process.

[Graham]: I just wanna be mindful of the time. The other thing that I had on the agenda was some discussion about a survey of impact. So I think when we started this discussion, it was really around how, we weren't even beginning our process until after many of the charter schools were already like sort of well down their path, right? So I think sliding this whole timeline and doing some of these things that we've talked about will make a big difference. But I also would like us to think about how do we provide some sort of survey Maybe like in July or something that allows people to tell us in a more formal way that they felt like they got what they needed from the process or not. And I feel like the sort of the farther away you get from the timeline at the harder it becomes to remember sort of how you were feeling in the moment right like either you either you remember it fondly or you remember it like in a more escalated way, even than it was happening in your world at the time. So I would like to see us also... do a survey and think about how do we ask the right questions, both of those families who registered and those who didn't. So if we start with census data, we know all the people who have potential enrollees and then we also could know who did enroll and we can ask them questions about the process and did they feel like the timeline sort of met their needs and those kinds of questions but also we could then target those families that didn't enroll to understand like why didn't they enroll and If the answer of I didn't enroll because I moved, that's fine. But if they didn't enroll because they chose another option for their child or children, we don't have any insight into what those issues are right now, except for sort of general anecdotal information like I think Lisa at the last meeting you talked about child care being a big driver for some folks to go to charter schools. I think we should start to collect that data so that when we think about what are those impacts and how do we stop sending $7 million to charter schools like How much money would we have to spend to save $7 million going to charter schools right is, is there some equation there that some action on our part or some programming could make a difference so I would also like to see us. do an official survey this year and really on an annual basis this could be sort of a trial run year where we're looking at if you registered sort of how did the process work and what would you want us to do differently but then also if you didn't register why not for us to start to collect information about like what are those opportunities for us to make sure that our Medford kindergartners come to Medford public schools? And maybe there isn't an opportunity, but maybe there is. And I don't think we really have good data on that right now. So that was the other thing that I wanted to talk about. I'm totally open to discussion. Obviously, it's not something that has to happen right now, but thoughts about survey? Member McLaughlin?

[McLaughlin]: I guess I'd want to know, you know, so this, both the qualitative and quantitative data I think is really interesting and important if we're, if the objective is to really drive that number, that 7 million number down, which I actually just wrote a note cause I want to know where the 7 million number actually comes from. And cause I've tried to get that from the state delegation and there's, it's, it's soft. It's like, I don't, nobody seems to have a real hard answer as to where that 7 million number actually comes from. So I want to know, is it really 7 million? Is it more than that? Is it less than whatever? But then the other is how many of our students are actually incoming kindergartners, which I know this is the kindergarten specific, not charter school specific, but as we're thinking about the kindergarten piece of it. You know, how many are incoming kindergartners that go elsewhere? And then the attrition rate at other levels is sort of the, you know, again, dive deeper into the data. Like at what, you know, are we losing a lot of students at, you know, middle school? Are we losing a lot at third grade? Are we losing, like, where is the attrition rate and how do we see it, you know, go up and down or high school for that matter? Maybe we're losing them at high school. So, and then we have better data for targeting, if again, the goal is to drive that 7 million number down, you know, a survey to kindergarten families, if everybody's leaving in eighth grade is not really the most effective, right? Although I do think that the survey is important because we won't know that until we start getting some data. But I think we should be thinking about other aspects of the data if the goal is, if indeed, which I think the goal of this meeting is not, is necessarily that it's about how to do family engagement around kindergarten. But if there's a subset of a goal around how to drive down that number, then we should be thinking about those other pieces. Yeah.

[Graham]: I'm just making a couple of notes here. Yeah, and I think to your point, The place that I always look is on the cherry sheets for those numbers, but I don't even know if those are the like precise numbers because they are tied to enrollment. So those are just estimates is my understanding as well. So I think that's maybe a separate conversation that we should think about having. And maybe we can work on a resolution to do that in an upcoming meeting or something. Um, but certainly I think the, again, the sort of anecdotal conversation around charter school is certainly if you lose somebody at the kindergarten level, you have lost them times 13 years of fees leaving the district, um, which is why kindergarten is such a critical pivot point. So, um, I do think doing some serving both for those families who enroll to make sure that. we can continue making small changes that meet the needs of the community, as well as really starting to think about those folks who are not enrolling and sort of why that is, I think would be really a helpful start from a kindergarten specific space. Lisa.

[Evangelista]: You know, I hate to mention this, but I think it's become an issue with COVID, but we did lose students to parochial schools. And although, I mean, money does go from our budgets in different ways to the parochial schools anyway, but, you know, it's like, how do we get those kids back potentially too? So, I mean, if they start in kindergarten there, you may have lost them at least K through eight. So that's just another layer because of COVID.

[Edouard-Vincent]: Yes. Although I will say the, I think because of COVID, and families made decisions that they felt were best for them. I do feel the challenge between the charter schools and the parochial schools is going to be the cost factor and the tuition factor, that some people did make that decision temporarily waiting for things to go back to a normal schedule. I think some people we will lose, but I do think financially, you know, I can say even though Medford Public Schools, it's free public education, it's an excellent education and I would be hard pressed to say that what we're providing is not better than what students are being exposed to in some of the charter schools. And that we have great programming, great facilities, a lot of resources that, again, if anything, it would be a scheduling piece. I feel for those A few hundred students that are in the charter world right now that aren't attending Medford public. It's not because they feel that there's better programming, it was the extended day services that kind of kept them there. Because I also had spoken with a mom at one of our schools who, for whatever reason, transitioned her child back to public schooling. And she was so happy with what her children were being exposed to from the arts, music, instruments, the clubs, and all of those other things that Now we have the courts at the middle school level. So there are a lot of opportunities for our students. And I think it's about marketing, getting the message out there early, starting kindergarten enrollment in December, and communicating at the same time that our competition is actually communicating with families that they can say, oh, you mean this is what's available? you know, being able to answer their questions and letting them see how happy the kids are and what we actually do offer. I feel the marketing piece and communicating earlier will bring families back to our public schools. That's, I mean, I'm an optimist, but I actually feel like if they knew what was happening in the schools and they could see for themselves, whether it's through video, whether it's through the projects and things that we're saying and showing, these are what Medford public school students are doing, that they would realize like, I've got something great in my backyard and I don't need to drive down the street to another community to get something that isn't at the same standard. That's just my take. I feel it's going to be about marketing and communicating earlier, which we're saying we're going to do. We're moving the timetable up. And so it'll be very interesting to see how families respond to that.

[Graham]: Any other last thoughts about this topic? There was at least one parent who said they had some thoughts and some comments, but wasn't able to come to the meeting. So my plan is just that I will share out whatever those comments are at the meeting on Monday. And if we adjust the plan based on that, I think that's totally fine, but I wanna make sure that, I told her not to worry about trying to get me an email before the meeting that I would just include it afterwards. Any other questions, comments, thoughts about kindergarten?

[Edouard-Vincent]: I just want to say our kindergarten staff, our kindergarten programming, I know I'm talking a lot, but the kindergarten team, they are wonderful. It's developmentally appropriate practices for children. It's about centers. We got them in early. It's socialization, it's play, learning through play, but they're also learning. Some of our students are early readers. they are exposed, whatever level the children come to us at. At the end of the year, they've made significant progress. And again, kindergarten is a foundational year. And I feel as parents are thinking about where I want my child to go, that they should not count out Medford Public Schools. Your child will receive a great kindergarten, a great foundation. And I think they'll be so pleased with the foundation that the kids receive, that they will wanna continue. and see what happens by the time they get to high school. So I would really encourage people just to wait to see the videos and the marketing that we're going to do to really show all the great work that is happening and let the great work speak for itself.

[McLaughlin]: There's your soundbite right there.

[Unidentified]: We should just get right in.

[Graham]: No, and I think that's true. I think, you know, When I hear people talking about having questions, it's that they just don't know, and they don't even know where to go to get their answers. So I think if we do a better job of anticipating what those questions are, and I think we can be reasonably good at that, and letting people hear from us in a proactive way, I think that will go a long way to establishing a good foundation And we've already written half the video right here live tonight, so. Is there a motion to adjourn?

[McLaughlin]: Motion to adjourn.

[Kreatz]: A second.

[Graham]: Okay, so I have to call the roll. Member McLaughlin? Yes. Member Kreatz? Yes. And Member Graham, yes. Motion to adjourn is approved and I will see you all later. Have a great day. Thanks, everyone. Bye.

Graham total time: 31.01 minutes total words: 4535	McLaughlin total time: 5.02 minutes total words: 916	Kreatz total time: 0.2 minutes total words: 37	Galusi total time: 4.6 minutes total words: 710
Edouard-Vincent total time: 12.76 minutes total words: 1776