MEMORANDUM To: Governing Board Acting for All, Inc. From: Concerned A&M Parents Date: March 7, 2011 Re: Emergency Meeting As involved parents of students at Academy of Arts & Minds Charter School, we are submitting this written statement to the Governing Board of Acting for All, Inc., to express certain concerns. We are an active, motivated group of parents who are well‐connected professionals in the community, giving us access to resources that can further support many of the Schools initiatives. The group involves most of the officers of the A&M PTSA, as well as a broader group of parents at A&M. We would like to begin by congratulating the School and the Board for the generally positive review received from the Quality Assurance Review Team and the recent success in achieving the School’s “A” rating. In addition to the School’s rating, we take note that attendance is up significantly and we believe the School’s reputation has improved markedly in the past couple of years. In particular, we would like to express our gratitude to the school’s co‐founders, who had the vision and courage to create A&M and set it on its course for what it is today. We would also like to recognize Mr. William Machado and all of the teachers and administration for their hard work in running the school and achieving the “A” rating. We look forward to working together with them to continue on the path of improving A&M. However, in order to keep the School’s positive momentum on track, a group of parents has organized in order to express certain concerns about the following areas that we feel are vital to A & M’s continued success: • Administration Turnover: In A & M’s short history, there have been three principals in seven years. In addition, in the last 2 years the School has lost key members of its administration. We believe unusually high turnover poses a tremendous threat to the school and can be terribly distracting to teachers and students. Students need consistency and stability in their academic environment in order to flourish. Turnover of this nature can also negatively impact recruiting efforts, which have been so successful recently. The school’s frequent history of turnover in administrative leadership suggests that there may be a more systemic problem at higher levels of management at the school.
