Letter From The Board

January, 2012
To KQA parents from Knowledge Quest Board of Directors
The Board of Directors would like to share with you some of the major accomplishments the board has
made this past year as well as our upcoming goals.
Most of you know our primary focus has been on 21st century learning and enhancing our curriculum
program.Modifications were necessary to ensure we continue to meet and exceed the State’s
educational requirements. A lot more focus has been placed on technology, math and science.
Our enrollment continues to increase. At the end of last school year we had approximately 346 students
enrolled at KQA. At the beginning of the 2011/2012 school year our enrollment increased by a
minimum of 30 students. We continue to make ourselves more visible within the community. Our strong
curriculum program along with our growing athletic program make us a preferred school of choice.
This past year has been a challenge for a lot of schools financially. We are proud to say we are financially
solvent and have been able to maintain all of our teaching staff through low economic times.
The board has been reviewing some of our school policies and have made modifications, keeping us
current with state standards. We have revisited the dress code and discipline matrix to allow more
flexibility and ensuring consistency throughout the school. We also reviewed and modified our school
mission and vision statement and short term and long term strategic plan.
Our key goal is to continue to improve our CSAP scores in all areas of education. This will be
accomplished by continual curriculum review and teacher continuiety. We also plan to educate our
parent community about Board responsibilities, elections, and encourage overall greater parent
participation.
In our January 11th board meeting we will be appointing our election committee and election chair. This
committee will help identify and encourage parents to participate at the board level. The election
committee will hold a candidate forum to introduce board candidates to the school community, oversee
the election, count the ballots and notify the board of the new members. If you are interested in serving
on this committee, please contact the front office, Wendy O’brien of the Accountability Committee or
any board member. We have modified our requirements to hopefully encourage board participation.
Any parent may serve on the board as a member at large for minimum of one year. If at the end of the
year they desire to become an officer, they will automatically have their name given to the election
committee. As a member at large, you may have an opportunity to become an officer in the event an
officer needs to step down from office. Once an officer, term is a three year commitment and no person
can serve more than two terms.
We have modified the officership down to 5 officers from our previous 7. Those officers and
responsibilities are:
Chair (president): Ensures the effective action of the board in governing and supporting the
organization, and oversees board affairs. Acts as the representative of the board as a whole, rather than
as an individual supervisor to staff. Other duties the board may prescribe. Is the liasion at the district
meetings and keeps the board current with state educational requirements.
Secretary: Records minutes for the meetings and keeps copies of the agendas and minutes,
correspondence between the board and other parties, committee reports, articles of incorporation,
charter contracts and the bylaws.
Treasurer: prepares and maintains school budget, works with the district on any financial matters,
prepares monthly financial reports to the board, works with administration on budget forcasting for
upcoming school year and works with district auditor for yearly financial reporting.
Enrollment coordinator: Maintains official enrollment records of KQA, processing enrollment
paperwork, maintain current wait lists, conduc ts lottery, communicates with parents on enrollment
status and answer parent questions regarding enrollment policy and enrollment updates.
Marketing coordidnator: works with administration on publicizing activities, develop press releases and
coordinate media contact when necessary to publicize KQA functions, work with marketing committee
to ensure public visibility during community events such as “Beef and Bean” day.
As we move into 2012 the board is dedicated to the continued success of Knowledge Quest Academy
and encourages the parent community to consider ways to be actively involved in that success. Elections
will be held in March. Now is the time to be a positive influence in our growth and educational
achievements of our students. Consider running for a board position as we have two individuals whose
first term is coming to an end. As mentioned above, contact administration or a board member if you
have questions about any of the positions or have a desire to run for a board position.
Current board members are:
Joseph Barrows- Chair
Jennifer Grim - Treasurer
Kellie Brown – Secretary
Ashley Vetter – Enrollment Coordinator
Nancy Supernor - Marketing Coordinator
Mike Schmitt – Board Member at large