Action Team Meeting Notes 5/1/23
ACSD Action Team
Meeting Notes 
5/1/2023
MUHS Library

• Welcome
• Framing our final phase of work together: creating priority recommendations to district
• Introduction of equity impact tool
• Divided into small groups by one of 3 board goals to begin discussion about strategies and action steps that have been generated so far to begin priority-setting work.

Action Team Meeting Notes 4/17/23

ACSD Action Team
Meeting Notes 
4/17/2023
MUHS Library

1. Welcome, Introductions, Brief Check In, Updates
2. Wrap up minoritized identities discussion 
3. Interactive Panel with invited guests and experts from our Action Team: This is the fourth of 4 meetings where we are inviting members of the ACSD and local community to help us draft strategies and action steps to help us meet the 4 board goals. The focus of today's discussion was Special Education and Students with Disabilities at ACSD.
   1. Invited guests were Amy Pyfrom, Special Educator, JT Henley, Special Educator. Jennifer Thompson, Parent and SEPAC co-chair and comments from a conversation with Parent, Anne Goldman.
   2. Panelists were asked to review the Board goals and share action items to add, prioritize and keep from our growing list. 
   3. In the discussion we asked: What are we getting right at ACSD and what do we need to change? We used this discussion to add to our growing list of Strategies and Action Steps.
4. Closing 

Action Team Meeting Notes 4/3/23

ACSD Action Team
Meeting Notes 
4/3/2023
MUHS Library

1. Welcome
2. Interactive Panel with invited guests and experts from our Action Team: This is the second of 3-4 meetings where we are inviting members of the ACSD and local community to help us draft strategies and action steps to help us meet the 4 board goals. The focus of today's discussion was Minoritized Identities at ACSD.
   1. Invited guests were Fernanda Canales, Multilingual Liaison (former principal and former advisory committee interpreter); Connie Mosquera, ACSD teacher; and members of our Action Team were Camilla Blanco, MUHS Student, Ben Long, MUHS Teacher and SAGA Advisor; Esther Charlestin, Dean of Students MUMS
   2. Panelists were asked to review the Board goals and share action items to add, prioritize and keep from our growing list. 
   3. In the discussion we asked: What are we getting right at ACSD and what do we need to change? We used this discussion to add to our growing list of Strategies and Action Steps.
3. Closing 

 

Action Team Meeting Notes 3/20/23

ACSD Action Team
Meeting Notes 
3/20/2023
MUHS Library

1. Welcome
2. Interactive Panel with invited guests and experts from our Action Team: This is the second of 3-4 meetings where we are inviting members of the ACSD and local community to help us draft strategies and action steps to help us meet the 4 board goals. The focus of today's discussion was poverty and socioeconomics at ACSD allocation in ACSD.
   1. Invited guests were Amy Masefield, Special Educator; Tammie Johnson, Counselor at Ripton, Salisbury, and Cornwall; Karen Reynolds, DCF Supervisor and from our Action Team, Chad Fredette, MUHS Student.
   2. Panelists were asked to review the Board goals and share action items to add, prioritize and keep from our growing list. 
   3. In the discussion we asked: What are we getting right at ACSD and What do we need to change. We used this discussion to add to our growing list of Strategies and Action Steps
3. Breakout into small groups and report back. 
4. Closing 

Action Team Meeting Minutes 3/6/23

ACSD Action Team
Meeting Notes 
3/6/2023
MUHS Library

1. Welcome:
2. Interactive Panel with invited guests and experts from our Action Team: This is the first of 3-4 meetings where we are inviting members of the ACSD and local community to help us draft strategies and action steps to help us meet the 4 board goals. The focus of today's discussion was resource allocation in ACSD. Invited guests were Larry O'Connor, MUHS Special Educator; Katree Fenster, Prevention Specialist at Shoreham; and Amber Bragg, School Counselor at Bridport and Weybridge. Members of our Action Team included Bjarki Sears, Principal Salisbury; Meg Baker Preschool Coordinator; Kelly Landwher, ACSD Nurse.
   1. Panelists were asked to review the Board goals and share action items to add, prioritize and keep from our growing list
3. Breakout into small groups and report back. 

Action Team Meeting Minutes 2/27/23

2/27/23
MUHS Library
3:30-5

1. Welcome and update

2. Update from cochairs meeting

3. Continuation on discussing options to support BIPOC students in this space

4. Breakouts out by role-alike

   1. Look at the strategies and action steps that were accumulated last time: what’s missing, what needs editing?

   2. Reporting back from small groups

Action Team Meeting Minutes 2/6/23

2/6/23
MUHS Library
3:30-5

1. Welcome

2. Acknowledged group agreements and Overview of where we’ve been

   1. Ok on the group agreements and any questions from last time

   2. Discussion of lack of BIPOC adults on this committee

   3. Discussion and questions while reviewing of the Board’s goals around Access, Success, and Belonging to help inform our work 

3. Election of Co-Chairs

4. Small group breakout 

   1. The groups began to look at data and feedback 

   2. Made notes about what rose to the top, began to sort data and categories 

   3. Begin to track gaps and identify experts to convene in March/April 

5. Homework: 

   1. Review the draft list: what is missing, what do you want to add

   2. Brainstorm other ‘Experts” to invite to our discussion

Action Team Meeting 1.23.23

ACSD ACTION TEAM MEETING
1/23/23
MUHS Library
Meeting Minutes

1. Welcome

2. The group read and discussed group agreements (slides 3-5) noting anything that stood out or comments/questions they had

3. The group did a reverse networking exercise (slide 6)where they formed pairs and shared what makes them who they are today and will add value to our work. They then introduced each other. 

4. Emma shared an overview of the work that has been done so far with the strategic planning phases including the Advisory Committee’s work and the Board’s process (beginning on slide 7). The Action Team discussed and clarified their role, asked questions and had clarifying discussions about what had been presented. 

   1. The group had been sent pre-reading of the Advisory Committee’s recommendations (and a link to the Advisory Committee’s full report) and the ACSD Boards 3 Strategic Planning Goals and components. The committee discussed and appreciated the work that had come before, which helped inform the discussion about their roles and responsibilities. 

5. Action Team members were asked to consider whether they would be interested in a co-chair role, which would increase the diversity of voices that comes out of the Action Team's work. The co-chairs would not be asked to facilitate any meetings, but would meet with staff to share areas where the group may need additional support or clarity. They would also work with staff to send regular updates about the Action Teams work to the community and may present some of the work to the board at the conclusion of the Action Team’s time together. 

6. Next meeting is set for February 6th 2023 in the MUHS library. 

   1. Emily will send pre-readings in advance. 

   2. Minutes and other documents will be shared on the ACSD Strategic Plan Action Team webpage. 

Action Team Members

Alixis Williams, 9th grade student MUHS
Aislynne McGill, 10th grade student MUHS
Camila Blanco, 12th grade student MUHS
Chad Fredette, 12th grade student MUHS
Samantha Paine, parent Shoreham and MUHS
Jess Vennable-Novak, parent Mary Hogan
Linda January, parent Bridport 
Ben Long, MUHS math teacher and parent 
Kelly Landwehr, Lead Nurse and parent 
Meg Baker, Pre-K Coordinator and parent 
Bjarki Sears, Principal Salisbury School
Esther Charlestin, MUMS Dean of Culture and Climate
Nicole Carter, Director of Equity and Student Services
Caitlin Steele, Asst. Superintendent of Teaching and Learning
Matthew Corrente, Director of Finance and Operations

Staff + Consultants
Emily Blistein, Director of Communications and Engagement eblistein@acsdvt.org 802-382-1183
Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, Consultant emma@emstrategiesvt.com 

Note: To load the full document, click on the image or click here

Note: To load the full document, click on the image or click here. 

COMMITTEE ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES 

The Strategic Planning Advisory Committee was asked to advise ACSD in four ways:

1. Help define equity in the planning process
2. Advise how to better engage the community
3. Provide input on what data should be collected by the district, and
4. Work in partnership with the board and staff to develop priorities and then determine how to work towards those priorities.

Please read more about the scope of the committee's work here for ENGLISH and here for SPANISH.

The committee to met between December 2021 and September 2022. Most meetings will took place after 5pm with a couple of meetings held in-person and others fully online to minimize transportation logistics and follow COVID safe practices.

ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP

ACSD Advisory Committee 2021-2022
First Name	Last Name	Town	School	Role
Amanda	Gomes	Middlebury	Middlebury Union High School	Student
Addison	Copeland	Middlebury	Middlebury Union High School	Student
Abigail	Sunderland	Bridport	Middlebury Union High School	Student
Christal	Brown	Middlebury	Middlebury Union Middle School	Parents/Caregivers
Ruth	Shattuck Bernstein	Shoreham	Middlebury Union High School	Parents/Caregivers
Liam	Battjes-Greenwood	Vergennes	Middlebury Union High School	Educators/Staff
Claire	Benjamin	Middlebury	Cornwall Elementary School	Educators/Staff
Christina	Wadsworth	Weybridge	Weybridge Elementary School	Educators/Staff (New Seat)
Michael	Little	Middlebury	Middlebury Union Middle School	Community Members At-Large (also parent/caregiver)
Jessie	Witscher	Bridport	Middlebury Union Middle School	Community Members At-Large
Alejandra	Perez	Bridport	Middlebury Union Middle School	Community Members At-Large (also parent/caregiver)
Esther	Charlestin	Middlebury	N/A	Community Members At-Large/Elected Leader
Justin	Campbell		Middlebury Union High School	Principal
Nicole	Carter		Central Office	Director Equity and Student Services

 

NON VOTING PARTICIPANTS IN COMMITTEE MEETINGS

Peter	Burrows		Central Office	Superintendent
Emily	Blistein		Central Office	Director of Communications
Fernanda	Canales		Salisbury Elementary School	Interpreter/Principal
Lisa	Ryan	Rutland	N/A	Racial Equity Coach for EMStrategies
Emma	Mulvaney-Stanak	Burlington	N/A	EMStrategies consultant

 

COMMUNITY SELECTION & ENGAGEMENT:

The district invited committee members to be partners in the work to develop a strategic plan that meets the needs of our entire community. Particular attention was given to selecting members who hold underrepresented identities (ex: Black, Indigenous, people of color, LGBTQ+ folks, people living in poverty, people living with a disability, etc.). The committee has 13 members. 3 students, 2 parents/caregivers, 2 educators/staff, 4 community members at-large, 1 principal and the Director of Equity and Student Services.

Even if not selected for the committee, there were numerous, ongoing opportunities for committee involvement. This is an overview of the original timeline in ENGLISH and in SPANISH. We sent numerous community-wide emails from the Co-Chairs as the committee began (those updates can now be found HERE), created an online form open and available for all to provide feedback for several weeks, and continually welcomed any community members to reach out with any questions or for conversation. 

CONTACT:
ACSD hired consultant Emma Mulvaney-Stanak to plan and guide the committee's work. For questions about the committee's work you may reach out to Emma directly emma@emstrategiesvt.com or contact, Emily Blistein, ACSD Director of Communications and Engagement eblistein@acsdvt.org 

 

 

[Please note: the following updates were sent in 2021-2022 by email to the ACSD community. We have tried to remove all of the links that are no longer active]

May Co-Chairs Update

• Students' social emotional experience is connected to some degree to their academic programs. Students want to feel valued despite what academic program they are in and also seek more integration as a whole community.
• Some structural issues with schedules, courses, class size, concentration of resources impact ability for students to engage fully in school community and programs. How do we customize learning paths for each learner?
• Social hierarchy can be attached to academics, ability, disability status.
• More should be explored on how the district uses data and how to best use it to inform district decisions and priorities. Qualitative vs quantitative. Be aware of bias in analysis. 
• Prioritize underrepresented people in gathering more information. 
• Prioritize mental health of students. 
• We encourage everyone to fill out our community feedback form [this included a prior link] which helps us gather our community's thoughts about what ACSD is doing well and what we can improve to ensure all students feel included and supported. 
• A sub group will meet to discuss additional outreach to prioritize hearing from our entire community. We had discussed hosting in person events in May at our elementary schools to hear from parents. Scheduling made this difficult in May, but we will prioritize parent outreach. We welcome your thoughts on ways to engage ACSD community members, especially those who have barriers to engaging with our schools or sharing their perspectives: email or call Emily Blistein eblistein@acsdvt.org 802-382-1183

• Dear ACSD Community,

  Below please find an update on our most recent meeting and opportunities to engage as we move forward as an Advisory Committee working to center educational equity in our next strategic plan.

   

  Overview of our May 16th meeting:

  We checked in on the progress of our work and what we need to fulfill our advisory role to the school board as they embark on the new strategic plan this fall. A sub-group also led a discussion about the social emotional environment for students. A sub-group academic environment but slides were shared from the small sub group’s work on this topic and more will be discussed on June 6th. An earlier meeting on May 2nd was canceled due to illnesses and last minute conflicts.

  We had an open dialogue about how this process is working and shared reflections about how we can adjust our approach to ensure we have time to complete our work and feel it is thoughtful and meaningful. We agreed that we need more flexibility to finish this work and may need to extend our time frame slightly into the summer. This will allow our group to review all the resources gathered to date, deliberate on main priorities/goals and identify areas that still need more work by the Board as we move into strategic planning. For comprehensive meeting minutes, please visit our strategic plan webpage. We have one more meeting scheduled on June 6th and discussed opportunities for additional meetings and community engagement.

  We also reviewed our scope of work: 1) Focus at a high-level 2) Identify core areas and draft recommendations to be considered by the board for the strategic plan 3) Use the committee’s equity definition as a framework when making recommendations 4) Deliberate and document where more information/work is needed

  Themes shared from the small group on social emotional environment for students:

   

  Opportunities for community engagement:

  Thank you, 
  Amanda Gomes (MUHS '23) Esther Charlestin (Middlebury Selectboard Member)
  Co-Chairs

April Co-Chair Update and Opportunities to Engage

Dear ACSD Community, 

The focus of the Advisory Committee's work is to gather and understand the views within our district about areas ACSD should prioritize in its upcoming strategic plan. Below, please find updates from our recent meeting and opportunities to engage. You can find all of our updates here: 

April 4th Meeting:

Opportunities to engage:

Our work will conclude with recommendations to the school board as they begin our next strategic plan. We welcome all staff, caregivers, and students community members to share their thoughts about how ACSD is doing creating a welcoming and inclusive environment: What is working well? What could we improve? What should we prioritize? The equity survey was one way the district is gathering data. We will soon have an analysis and interactive dashboard for you to review the results of the survey. You can also:

Upcoming meetings and topics: All meetings will take place at 208 Charles Ave in Middlebury.

Thank you and take care,

Esther (Thomas) Charlestin, Middlebury Selectboard Member & Amanda Gomes, MUHS '23
ACSD Advisory Committee Co-Chairs

• We discussed two areas of the equity survey: staff perceptions and community outreach and engagement. Each topic had a small group which reviewed the Hanover survey results in more detail and prepared questions for the entire committee to discuss. 
• The staff perceptions discussion highlighted the need to build trust between staff to do the equity work needed in the district. This includes taking time to build relationships between staff and district leaders to form collective ownership so we can truly do this work together; to look for ways to involve students in rethinking the learning process; and to seek direct input from all staff and use this feedback to further develop trust and consistent engagement in equity work by staff. The group noted the importance of regular and clear communication in this work between leaders and staff (and also students and larger school community).
• We discussed several one-on-one and small group meetings that have occurred with staff, students, and families since our last meeting. We focused on a meeting with several ACSD families from the migrant farm worker community. Key takeaways included that families appreciated direct, in-person communication they receive in the first year, but after that it is hard to navigate the dense communication sent only by paper, or email. Creating and maintaining relationships between families and schools, specifically parents and teachers, is the most important thing. Migrant and multilingual families experience uncomfortable interactions with some negative interactions based on racism. We need to focus on systems and relationships so that all families feel safe and included. 
• The community engagement and outreach discussion highlighted the lack of two-way communication between families and schools. We must decrease the reliance on heavy written communications, understand barriers, and make our communication more concise and focused and accessible. Relationships between families and schools drops as students move up grade levels. Need to increase engagement beyond use of standard parent teacher conferences and events. Also, let’s work to better understand a problem before jumping too quickly to fix it.
• Share your perspective and experiences in this community feedback form.[updated note:  link is no longer active] Responses will be anonymously shared with the advisory committee. 
• We are planning 2 or 3 in-person events to listen to parents and community members about their perspectives and experiences with how ACSD can create an inclusive environment for all students and families. We will host these events at our elementary schools in May, please look for those dates in email and on our strategic plan webpage within the next week.
• If  you would like to share your feedback in a discussion, contact Emily (eblistein@acsdvt.org 802-382-1183) and we will connect you with a member of our advisory committee.
• You can find comprehensive notes from each of our meetings on our strategic plan webpage.
• May 2th, 6:30-8pm - academic environment.
• May 16th, 6:30-8pm - social environment. 
• June 6 (final meeting to set recommendations). The committee will draft a report by mid June for the board.
• August 27th, committee members are invited to meet with the ACSD school board to offer recommendations with discussion.

March Co-chair Update + Opportunities to Engage

Dear ACSD Community, 

Last month, we introduced ourselves and the ACSD Advisory Committee's work. As our committee work continues, we will provide updates by email and on our strategic plan webpage. The focus of the Advisory Committee's work is to gather and understand the views within our district about areas ACSD should prioritize in its upcoming strategic plan. 

Opportunities to engage:

We welcome all staff, caregivers, and students community members to share their thoughts with us about how ACSD is doing creating a welcoming and inclusive environment: What is working well? What could we improve? What should we prioritize? Our work will conclude with recommendations to the school board as they begin our next strategic plan. We hope to hear from many members of our ACSD community. The equity survey was one way the district is gathering data. You can also:

Committee updates: 

Upcoming meetings and topics: All meetings will take place at 208 Charles Ave in Middlebury.

Thank you and take care,

Esther Thomas & Amanda Gomes (MUHS ‘23)
ACSD Advisory Committee Co-Chairs

• Share your perspective and experiences in this new community feedback form [note: form not longer active] Responses will be anonymously shared with the advisory committee. 
• We will have small group and one-on-one discussions to hear directly from you. We are prioritizing outreach to traditionally underrepresented voices, but welcome an invitation to speak with any group or individual. Contact Emily (eblistein@acsdvt.org 802-382-1183) to set up a meeting for you or a group you represent.
• We held our third meeting in March just after the district-wide equity survey concluded.
• At this meeting we worked to finalize our definition of equity. The definition will be used as a guide when looking at data from the equity survey and other data and feedback from our ACSD community. 
• The committee also reviewed the raw data from the February survey. The group organized into four small groups to look at four main areas over the next two months: academic environment, social environment, staff perceptions and district engagement and outreach. The small groups will identify additional information needed to fully examine these topics and lead the full committee in a discussion on each topic. 
• The committee also developed a graphic to illustrate its work over the next three months. View the graphic in English or Spanish
• April 4th, 6:30-8pm  - 2 topics: staff perceptions on equity work and district engagement and outreach with the school community. 
• May 2th, 6:30-8pm - academic environment.
• May 16th, 6:30-8pm - social environment. 

February Co-chair Update + Equity Survey Reminder

Dear ACSD Community, 

We are writing as the co-chairs of the newly formed Advisory Committee to the 2022 ACSD Strategic Plan to offer a brief introduction of our work. 

First, we want to encourage you to take the Equity and Inclusion Survey [note survey no longer active]that Superintendent Burrows sent earlier this month (the deadline was extended from 2/21 to 3/2 to allow for more participation). We hope you will take the opportunity to share your experiences with ACSD. The survey is one way we will collect data on current experiences and will be one of several upcoming opportunities to help inform ACSD about your current experiences in the district and how we can build a more equitable district. 

We have just begun our work together as an Advisory Committee, and we want to briefly introduce that work to you.  Our primary goals as an Advisory Committee will be to: Help define equity in the Strategic Planning process; Advise on how to better engage the community in the process; Provide input on the data that is collected and what additional data should be collected by the district; and work in partnership with the ACSD Board and staff to develop priorities and determine how to work toward those priorities. 

We look forward to engaging and encouraging as much community participation as possible. We invite you to stay up to date with our work via the strategic planning page and look for upcoming opportunities to engage with us and provide feedback as we work together to ensure bright outcomes for all of our students. 

With thanks, 

Esther Thomas & Amanda Gomes (MUHS ‘23)
ACSD Advisory Committee Co-Chairs

p.s. If you have immediate questions about this work, you can reply to Emily Blistein, ACSD Director of Communications and Engagement, at eblistein@acsdvt.org or 802-382-1183

 

Equity and Inclusion Survey - open until 3/2/22

Dear Parents/Caregivers,

As part of ACSD's commitment to all students and to better understand who we are as a community, we are launching our Equity and Inclusion Survey. This is a chance to hear directly from you about our ongoing efforts to create a welcoming environment for our students, parents, and teachers from diverse backgrounds. 

 

CLICK HERE to take the survey on your phone or computer. It will take about 15 minutes to complete, and will ask you questions about your experience in ACSD. The survey window has been extended to March 2nd at Midnight. It will also be sent to teachers and staff and students in 6th-12th grades. Students will have an opportunity to complete the survey during their advisory time, with more information coming directly from MUMS and MUHS.

 

This survey is part of a greater effort to address equity in our district. We have partnered with an education market research firm, Hanover Research, to undertake a districtwide effort to better understand how we are doing and how we can build a more equitable district.

 

This survey and other outreach this year, led by our Strategic Plan Advisory Committee, will provide critical information from which the ACSD Strategic Plan for Equity will be built. Your opinions, perceptions, needs, and hopes will help us set a path for what equity can look like within our schools and district. 

 

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts.

 

With appreciation,

Peter Burrows

 

Strategic Plan Advisory Committee

To help guide this work, ACSD sought applications for an advisory committee that would represent a diversity of perspectives from the ACSD community to help guide and inform the foundational equity work that will inform the 2022 Strategic Plan lead by the ACSD Board. Applications were accepted through November 2021 and the group will hold their first meeting in December 2021.

 

The Advisory Committee will meet roughly monthly through the fall of 2022 to help define equity in the planning process, advise ACSD on how to better engage the community, provide input on what data should be collected by the district, and, work in partnership with the board and staff to develop priorities and then determine how to work towards those priorities. For more of the Advisory Committee's work you can visit the page HERE.

 

From the work of the Advisory Committee, the ACSD School Board will launch the full strategic planning process.