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
   4. Alekej Abyzov: Present
   5. Yelena Kurdyumova: Present
   6. Mark Eilers: Present
   7. Paul Kinsey, Executive Director, ex officio board member: Present
   8. Visitors in attendance: Sergey Porada
2. Approval of the Agenda
   Motion by: Alexej Abyzov
   Seconded by: Mark Eilers
   6-0-0
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
   1. No public comments.
5. Reports
   
   1. Executive Director report
      1. Enrollment – 115
         • The school has 120 students attending but the school has so far claimed 115.
      2. Student achievement and LIT (Yelena Hardcopf)
         • MAP fall testing is completed.
         • There was a small drop in reading among some lower grades among ELL students.
         • Reading interventions are beginning.
         • Reading is one of the most important and challenging areas for our school.
         • We qualify for a federal grant to provide money for reading instruction.
         • The school has added PLC’s or professional learning communities.
      3. Marketing Committee Report (Yelena Kurdyumova)
         • Yelena continued to spread the word of Nasha Shkola at sports competitions and in meetings with MN university teachers.
         • Yelena also said the school should get involved in Girls Run event. This event is aimed at getting girls to be physically active and to increase the confidence of girls. Participation in the event could align with the school’s wellness committee.
         • Yelena inquired about money for a marketing budget.
         • The school board also discussed other ways to spread the word about Nasha Shkola such as participation in a language day at the MN Zoo
   2. Financial Report
      1. Monthly Finance Report, Mark Eilers-Treasurer
         • The school has a positive balance of $11,698 for general fund 1.
           The school has a deficit of $8,294 in Food Service Fund 2
      2. Account Balance
         • The school has a cash balance of $44,015 at the end of September 2017 reflected across all funds.
           The school has a fund balance of $63,791.
6. Consent Agenda
   1. Minutes of September 19, 2017 board meeting.
   2. Financials September 2017.

   Motion to approve the consent agenda.

   Motion by: Mark Eilers
   Seconded by: Elizaveta Lindman
   6-0-0

   Motion to revise the September 2017 meeting minutes to correct grammatical errors and spelling errors in the Marketing Committee Report.

   Motion by: Mark Eilers
   Seconded by: Yelena Kurdyumova
   6-0-0

7. Old Business
   1. Wellness Policy: update.
      • The school needs a parent to initiate the process of beginning the wellness policy. The middle school science teacher will also be a part of the wellness policy.
        Alexej Abyzova agreed to be the head of the committee on wellness.
   2. School transportation: update.
      The school has gotten a larger bus for a route with 31 kids. This will cost $10,000 extra for transportation.
      • No complaints yet on the about the larger bus.
      • The transportation committee must meet and discuss the status of the transportation.
      • Parents must have a stake in this so they know the costs of transportation and the difficulties of transporting students from such a wide area.
8. New Business
   1. School Parent Compact
      The board discussed the wording of the parent compact, consequences of for violations, and wording about respect.Motion to approve the school parent compact.Motion by: Alexej Abyzov
      Seconded by: Yelena Kurdyumova
      Abstain: Mark Eilers
      5-0-0
   2. Early enrollment policy (review)
      • The board discussed the problems associated with enrolling students who are less than 5 years old before entering kindergarten.
      • Some students are too young and are not ready for a day at school.
      • Some kids also struggle as they age with immaturity in higher grades.
   3. School improvement:
      1. NS School improvement plan FY18
         • IQS will renew our charter this year and it will be based on scores in 5 categories.
         • Our school needs to have a 3/5 or greater in each category.
         • We need to document our meetings in PLC’s during the year and work on getting assessments for Russian language.
         • Our school needs a paper trail for IQS to follow.
      2. Review and define the formal structure of the board and responsibilities of board positions (NS By-laws)
         The board discussed responsibilities and the by-laws and set a goal of reviewing article 7 and article 8.
      3. Strategic Plan review and implementation: planning next steps.
         • We must have a working meeting with parents, board members, and staff to revise the strategic plan.
         • The school also needs to review and possibly revise the mission and vision statement.
         • Board members should read and process this information and meet in December or January.
      4. Russian Bilingual Education in public, private and community setting.
         • Community event hosted by Nasha Shkola
         • The board was briefed on the event.
9. Other
10. Adjourn
    1. The board moves to adjourn the meeting at 8:38pm.
       Mark Eilers
       Alexej Abyzov
       6-0-0

The Nasha Shkola Board meets the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 6:30
The finance Committee meets at 5:30 prior to the board meeting.

ACTION ITEMS:

1. Set up a Russian language day at the Minnesota Zoo.
2. Set up a meeting for wellness policy committee.
3. Advertise in a Russian store.
4. Girls Run event to promote Nasha Shkola.
5. The school needs to draft a policy on early enrollment and vote on it at the next meeting.
6. December 31st cutoff for early enrollment of kindergarteners. Students must be 5 by December 31st. Yelena will draft a policy and we will vote on it.
7. Revisit the mission and vision statement.
8. Set a date for the strategic plan meeting by October 31st.
9. Look back at the bylaws article 7 and article 8 if it looks good we will keep them if changes need to be made we will make needed changes at the next board meeting.