The ISLA School Board has been busy this summer and looks forward to updating our
community about a wide variety of action items. All past board information can be
found on the ISLA Website at https://www.isla.school/board/documents .
There have been several large discussions and decisions made at the Board level starting
in April of 2018. At the August 21st Board meeting, the Board voted unanimously to
continue the conversation with the Hopkins School District about what a collaboration
may mean for ISLA. The details of that discussion and the rest of the board updates are
enclosed in the below paragraphs. Parents and community members have the
opportunity to attend all Board meetings and we welcome your input and engagement
in order to keep ISLA a welcoming and vibrant learning environment for all students.
Board Turnover: In June, Susan Malaret and Heather Copps, both parents at ISLA, were
congratulated and thanked for their Board Service. Susan will continue to head up the
ISLA School Board Marketing and Communications committee with her expertise.
Heather Copps’ youngest child graduated from ISLA. She has served ISLA in some
capacity since ISLA opened, and we were so fortunate to have her share her history and
enthusiasm for ISLA for 10 years. Susan and Heather are replaced on the Board by Sarah
Markus, Liz Crouse, and Jennifer McCormack--all parents of students at ISLA. Sra.
Maldonado (5th) served on the ISLA Board as Technology Committee representative and
teacher representative. We were fortunate to have her education and leadership
expertise on the Board. Sra. Adams (5th grade) will be continuing on the Board as a
teacher representative and Sra. Alfaro (1st grade) will be joining her this year. We are
fortunate to have such a wide variety of expertise and enthusiasm to serve on the ISLA
School Board.
Commercial Developer’s Interest in Our Current Location: The ABC Corporation and
ISLA Board have been approached by a commercial developer who is interested in
acquiring our current building/lot (located at 5959 Shady Oak Road). This developer is
currently working with the City of Minnetonka to redevelop the area surrounding our
school, including our our building currently resides. If the ABC Corporation and ISLA
Board were to agree to any sale of our building/lot, there would need to be a
sustainable plan for the future location of our school. Our team has been working
exhaustively to flesh out all best alternatives on how to best capitalize on this
opportunity for our school.
GreenSpace Update: The pursuit of designing a Green Space at ISLA has been a part of
Sr. Perrin’s vision since he became Executive Director three years ago. Developing the
funding and planning, along with getting the correct permitting from both the Nine Mile
Creek Watershed District and the City of Minnetonka, have proven to be a more
strenuous and extensive process than we had hoped. The intention was to break ground
last fall and then again this spring. These dates were pushed out with the final date
being mid-August. Unfortunately, due to an unforeseen change from the City of
Minnetonka, we can not break ground on the Green Space this fall. We know that this is
a disappointment to families and students alike, however we do have some added
capacity for newer play equipment coming yet this fall.
July Update: The board met to discuss our goals and a vision for the upcoming school
year. As part of our annual board training and retreat process, all board members
reviewed the Strategic Plan, identified action items for specific committees, and set
goals for specific deliverables for the 2018-2019 school year. A significant amount of
time was spent evaluating the validity and potential risk in proceeding with the
GreenSpace plan in regards to the larger escrow required, as well as the construction
delays.
August Update: The board held a special board session on 8/20 to continue reviewing
the information regarding the Hopkins Immersion Proposal and a more detailed
property discussion from the ISLA ABC board. Informational note: no charter school in
the state of MN is allowed to own their own building. They are required to lease their
building either from an external company or a specifically created 501(c)3 as governed
by Minnesota state statute. ISLA is fortunate to be able to have their own ABC (A
Building Corporation) who owns and manages the physical ISLA property. In additional
to the special session, the ISLA board also convened from their regular monthly board
meeting on 8/21 to vote on the proposal from Hopkins (additional information below.)
Current ISLA School Board Members are as follows:
● Nora Tycast (Chair), parent
● Jaiah Kamara, parent
● Dan Tix, parent
● Martin Hoff, parent
● Estella Alfaro, teacher
● Kris Taylor (Secretary), parent
● Liz Crouse, parent
● Jared Goodwin (Vice-Chair),
community member
● Sarah Markus, parent
● Cori Adams, teacher
● JJ Schlangen (Treasurer), community member
● Jennifer McCormack, parent
● Mary Jo De Villers, grandparent and
community member
● Jeremy Perrin, executive director
(non-voting member)
If you would like to be involved with a committee that serves the Board, we would love
to have you. Please see the ISLA school website for committee information:
http://isla.school/board/board-committees
To view the complete agenda and notes for the board meeting please follow this link:
http://isla.school/board/documents
Sincerely and with appreciation for all that you do for ISLA,
Nora Tycast,
ISLA Board Chair
On behalf of the ISLA Board, and the Hopkins Proposal Task Force, I would like to
welcome all ISLA students, families and staff back to another school year. To all our new
ISLA families not familiar with ISLA Hopkins Proposal Task Force, this committee was
established in the Spring of 2018 by the ISLA Board. This group was asked to evaluate
the invitation from the Hopkins School District to have ISLA join the Hopkins School
District as a district school. The Task Force was asked to identify, investigate, analyze
and summarize important decision making criteria perceived to be critical in evaluating
the value of the ISLA merger with Hopkins. The task force was also given the
responsibility of receiving, processing and responding to ISLA community feedback
which was received through the proposal.feedback@isla-school.org . All Task Force
summary findings, recorded town-hall meetings, and final report can be viewed at
https://www.isla.school/board/hopkins-proposal-information .
Hopkins Proposal Update: Since we published our final report at the end of the last
academic year, there have been significant developments the ISLA Board has either
learned about or been forced to manage.
These developments include, but are not limited to:
(1) the joint expressed interest by the City of Minnetonka and a commercial developer
to move ISLA out and redevelop the land under which our school currently currently
resides
(2) the expansive search conducted for a an alternative location for our school which
resulted in inadequate alternative facilities any possible relocation
(3) the confirmation from Hopkins School District that they will not sell or lease the
Katherine Curren building to us
(4) the confirmation from the Hopkins School District that they will proceed with a
competing IB Spanish Immersion K-6 school (likely in the Katherine Curren building)
(5) the expressed interest communicated to the board by a representative speaking on
behalf of our ISLA teachers speaking in favor ISLA increasing collaboration with the
Hopkins School District
Due to these developments over the past few months, the board has decided to
re-engage the Hopkins School District to explore all forms of what future together could
look like. A Letter of Intent has been created and approved by the board to invite
Hopkins School District to the table so that our two parties can bring true form and
structure to this discussion.
We understand that there are still quite a few unknowns as we go down this path with
the district, but we are doing our due diligence to ensure that we can deliver the best
possible outcome for our school and community. In regards to the state legislature, the
ISLA Board and Executive committee plans on being a fully collaborating partner in the
crafting of any bill coming from the district that would have an impact on this
arrangement.
Ultimately, as a board we believe that our ability to capitalize on the sale of our building
would enable us to do some tremendous things for our school. It is in our schools best
interest that, at a minimum, we put efforts forward to explore what a path forward with
the Hopkins District would look like.
As a board, we understand that many of you will have questions or comments regarding
this communication. If you do, please do feel welcome to reach out to us by sending
your email to proposal.feedback@isla-school.org .
Have a great start to the year, and we wish you all the very best,
Jaiah Kamara
ISLA Board Director