Le Monde Immersion
Board Meeting
Tonkon Torp LLP – 1600 Pioneer Tower, 888 5th Avenue, Portland
January 13, 2015
5:45-8:45 PM
Present: Shouka Rezvani, Dory Hobbs, Karyn Warner, Nicole Aas-Rouxparis, Karen Kitchen, Jeff Scott
Educators present: Anou Stahl, Genevieve Maull
- Nicole moved to adopt the December board minutes, all were in favor.
- Karen Kitchen, a new board member, was introduced and welcomed. She is the Program Director for PPS Title VII Indian Education. She is interested in Montessori programming, which is often inaccessible to the communities she represents. She has spent time living in France, and is happy to see a public French immersion program in Portland.
- Jeff Scott, our second new board member, was introduced and welcomed. He has been a teacher in Beaverton for 11 years, in a Title I school. He worked with the AmeriCorp program, doing outreach, and is helping his school implement the Primary Years IB program. Jeff is familiar with PBIS, which is used at Le Monde. He has preschool age daughters in French
immersion in Portland. - Teacher update: They are really happy with Chantal’s leadership. They would like a scope and sequence for the school. They have questions about how Normandale coordinated their FLA and ELA learning. Jeff will provide some support materials for developing and refining our own scope and sequence. They would like dental included in their health plan, and 100% coverage for teachers and families. Shouka will look into options; rates have sharply increased and finding a good, affordable option is becoming difficult. The ability of the school to do this is dependent on the current market and meeting fundraising goals.
- John Lenssen and Nancy Meltzoff, our Equity in Education consultants, met with the group – John in person, and Nancy by phone. John works with school equity teams to create thoughtful, sustainable long-term equity plans. Nancy has been working on multicultural education, cultural competency, and equity for many years. The Growth Mindset, Culturally Responsive Teaching, and Courageous Conversations are among the approaches John & Nancy discussed with the group. The writing of Geneva Gay, Carol Dweck and Paul Tough are recommended reading. John will provide a list of books and articles he would encourage the board and teachers to read, including Changing The Discourse in Schools. Per John, the Tigard Tualitin school district is the only one in Oregon making progress closing achievement gaps and reducing disproportionate discipline. They use a culturally-responsive version of PBIS, Courageous Conversations, and a strong focus on reading and math. Montgomery County in Maryland is also a leader in the national movement toward equity.
- Le Monde Programs LLC—Programs is now able to payback its start-up loan from LMI and should do so later in January or early February, along with a distribution of revenue. The AFCA program is operating well.
- Executive session. Employment matters were discussed.