In Attendance:
Board :: Amy Brown, Barb Nagle, Patty Nordahl, Suzy Schweig, Nina Simonowicz, Alan Stone
Absent :: David Parsons
Others :: Deb Dwyer, Jeri Person

4:20 Call to Order
by Barb Nagle
Welcome; and reading of mission by Nina Simonowicz
 
4:22 Approval of Agenda
Motion: Patty Nordahl moved to approve the amended meeting agenda;  Nina Simonowicz seconded; ayes all. Amendment: Add open house under Old Business; add temporary help under New Business; add food report from Jeri Person under Committee Reports.   

4:25 Approval of Minutes
Motion: Suzy Schweig moved to approve the minutes from the  December 1, 2003, Great Expectations school board meeting; Patty Nordahl seconded; ayes all. 

4:30 Treasurer's Report

Nina Simonowicz reported that the Finance Committee has met twice since December 1.  Copies of a revised Operating Budget were distributed.

Motion:  Nina Simonowicz moved to accept the revised budget; Suzy Schweig seconded; ayes all.

Mark Vermette from Boundary Waters Bank in Ely, MN will meet with Nina, David Parsons and Deb Dwyer on Thursday to discuss a line of credit for Great Expectations.

Motion:  Nina Simonowicz moved that Great Expectations open an account at Boundary Waters Bank; Alan Stone seconded; ayes all.

5:30 Committee Reports

Jeri Person, co-chair, reported that the Food Committee met today to review activities during Learning Block 2 and plan for Learning Block 3.  Families have been updated on food service in the newsletter.  The kitchen has been approved and hopefully will be delivered and installed over holiday break.  Families need to pack lunches until the kitchen is operational.  Sue Gecas, a licensed food service manager, will train the food coordinator and volunteers. 

6:00 Educators' Report
Suzy Schweig and Amy Brown reported that progress reports based on student’s Personalized Learning Plans and educators’ observations have been written and will be sent to parents on Friday.  The reports are all narrative and include information on social and emotional growth of students as well as academics.  It was suggested that progress reports and conference schedules for the remainder of the year be incorporated into the Academic Goals established by the board and educators in late October. 

Educators continue to develop curriculum and resources based on the EIC theme of “origins and beginnings.”  Susan Larson Kidd, Ph.D., our advisor from the University Minnesota Duluth will be meeting with teachers on January 14, 2004, to continue their work on curriculum and assessment.

6:30 Director's Report

Deb Dwyer reported that the building lease has been submitted to the State of Minnesota Department of Education for approval. 

Great Expectations students have an opportunity to serve on an editorial board for a charter school newsletter being produced by ARTech. This would require students to go to St. Paul once a month and return on the same day. The board asked Deb to report back on teacher interest and parent involvement.

Mike Link, director, Audubon Center of the North Woods, and Tony Murphy, professor at the College of St. Catherine, will be at GES on Wednesday to talk with educators about EIC.  Joe Nathan, director of the Center for School Change at the University of Minnesota Humphrey Institute will attend the Open House on Tuesday, December 15, 2003.

Tom Dwyer has volunteered to be a coach for a Destination Imagination team. The cost for one team is $100; for multiple teams $175.  This prompted a discussion of developing a budget as well as a policy for reimbursing volunteers for materials used in the Wednesday afternoon activities. The Finance Committee will bring a suggested policy to the board in January.

Deb has sent a letter of intent to the Beaumont Foundation for a technology grant.

6:45 Old Business

Great Expectations’ first community open house will be Tuesday, December 16, 2003. The program will include a dedication by the students, an original play by grade 3-5 students; and holiday songs sung by the choir.  Visitors will be invited to visit classrooms and refreshments will be served.

The Transportation Committee will meet January 15, 2004, at 2:15 p.m.

6:55 New Business

The board, staff and educators will submit a list of operational tasks to be accomplished in Learning Block 3 which will be discussed at the next meeting.  

Educators requested that the board change its regular meeting days in order to allow sufficient time for staff meetings on Monday afternoons.  Beginning in January 2004, the regularly scheduled board meetings of Great Expectations School will be held on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month from 4:00 – 5:30 p.m.  

7:00 

Motion: Alan Stone moved that the board recess until January 7 at which time staff and volunteer tasks and responsibilities will be determined for Learning Block 3 and beyond; Patty Nordahl seconded.  Ayes all.
  

Respectfully submitted,

Amy Brown

Secretary