News & Announcements

School updates, important dates, and other notices.

Board of Directors Meeting Minutes: January 17, 2017

  1. Call to Order, Roll Call and Recognition of Visitors and Board Co-Chairs
    1. Yelena Hardcopf: Present
    2. Elizaveta Lindman: Present
    3. Christian Schmidt: Present (7:00pm)
    4. Alekej Abyzov: Present
    5. Alex Brusilovsky: Present (6:56pm)
    6. Mark Eilers: Absent
    7. Paul Kinsey, Executive Director, ex officio board member: Present
    8. Visitors in attendance: Gedaly Meerovich
  2. Approval of the Agenda for this meeting
    Elizaveta Lindman
    Alex Brusilovsky
    4-0-0
  3. Read the Nasha Shkola Mission and Vision – Paul Kinsley
    Vision: To be an academically rigorous school preparing students for the world.
    Mission: Nasha Shkola will be a multi-cultural charter school committed to academic excellence, provide a highly structured learning environment based upon education best practices for students interested in the Russian language and culture, achieved through the collaborative efforts of parents, staff, and the communities we serve.
  4. Open Forum for members of the public wishing to address the board
    Gedaly Meerovich talked about the importance of marketing and enrollment. He stated that the school needs start recruiting new families immediately.
  5. Reports

    1. Chairs Executive Report: Yelena Hardcopf
    2. Executive Director report
      1. Enrollment: 107
      2. Student Achievement and LIT (Yelena Hardcopf)
        1. Achievement: School second quarter will be finished on January 26, 2017. Students will complete winter MAP testing in the second part of January. Team will look into assessment results, 2nd quarter grades and benchmarking results to determine students that don’t demonstrate the expected growth. The school admin will reach out to the parents to reinforce support services for these students.
        2. Other: Students in grades 4-8 will present their science projects at the middle school science fair.
        3. LIT: schoolwide PD: formative assessment (learning targets & criteria for success) and curriculum alignment.
    3. Financial Report
      1. Monthly Finance Report, Mark Eilers– Treasurer
      2. FY 16 Cash Flow update, Mark Eilers
      3. Revised Budget discussion.
  6. Consent Agenda
    1. Minutes of December 20, 2016 board meeting
    2. Financials December 2016
  7. Old Business
    1. School building update
      1. The boiler at school stopped working on the first Thursday of January 2017 resulting in cancellation of classes due to cold conditions in classrooms.
      2. The director of Nasha Shkola has requested all maintenance records for the boiler.
      3. MCA offered to reimburse the school $2,400 for the cancellation of school, this would not cover the expenses related to shutting down school due to cold.
      4. The heat seems to either be extremely hot or non-existent.
      5. Issues such as dirty floors, no removal of snow from sidewalks prior to the start of school. Staff and parents have shoveled snow so students have a clear path in the morning or afternoon.
      6. The board discussed the deadline of February 1st and what should be done in case MCA cancels the lease for the building currently occupied by Nasha Shkola.
      7. The board discussed possible locations and what the process of moving will be like.
      8. Motion to authorize the director to sign a non-binding agreement with Drew Kabanuk regarding the property in Crystal, MN based on the draft agreement presented to the board in case our current landlord MCA decides to not renew our lease on February 1st, 2017.Alexej Abyzov
        Liza Lindman
        5-0-0
    2. Robotics fundraising
      1. The board discussed the importance of offering robotics to students.
      2. The board discussed the need to integrate science curriculum with robotics.
      3. Our school needs to write a grant or use online fundraising to help pay for robotics in the future.
      4. Motion to use an internet fundraising website to raise money for robotics for second semester and the 2017-2018 school year.
        Liza Lindman
        Alexej Abyzov
        5-0-0
  8. New Business
    1. Grant Opportunities
      1. The board discussed the need to write grants and to get a template for grant writing.
      2. Staff need to take imitative and begin writing some grants.
        Motion to authorize the director to search for a person to gather information about Nasha Shkola to create a grant template to be used by staff to write grants.
        Alex Brusilovsky
        Alexej Abyzov
        5-0-0
    2. Update on board policies: outside weather conditions for children.
      1. The board discussed the policy of cold weather and outdoor play or activities. The board concluded that the board does not need to write a new policy on cold weather and that the current policy will be put into the newsletter for parents to read.
  9. Other 
  10. Adjourn
    Motion to adjourn meeting at 8:15 pm.
    Liza Lindman
    Alex Brusilovsky
    5-0-0

ACTION ITEMS:

  1. Follow up with IQS re training for the board members (the requirements and upcoming trainings)
  2. Look at the grants available for schools.
  3. Create a grant template.
  4. Assign someone to gather information to create a grant template.

About Nasha Shkola

Nasha Shkola — Russian for Our School — is an academically rigorous K-8 charter school, providing a highly-structured learning environment for students interested in Russian language and culture.

Contact Us

    School Info

    Nasha Shkola
    6717 85th Ave North
    Brooklyn Park, MN 55445

    Phone: 763-496-5550
    Fax: 763-424-8520

    School Hours
    Monday – Friday:
    8:30 am – 4:30 pm

    Office Hours
    Monday – Friday:
    8 am – 4 pm