The school year is off to a tremendous start with the opening of the new Middle School. It was a joy to watch the students enter their new building and begin their first day of school. Students and our staff have much to be grateful for this fall thanks to the support and generosity of the Keene community.

Last spring, the Keene Board of Education developed three important goals for the 2011-2012 school year. The Board also adopted the following mission to guide our work:

To awaken the mind of every student and inspire all students to work toward their highest potential.

I will provide an update each month on the progress made in reaching the following goals:   

Education:

For 2011-12, the Keene Board of Education will continue to raise the bar regarding the performance of our schools by committing to the following:

*    Implement the recommendations of the Spring 2011 report on gifted and talented education in the Keene School District.

*    Continue to pursue the SERESC recommendations on improving the delivery of special education services for students in the Keene School District.

Interviews were recently held with several candidates for the gifted and talented position. No decision has been made at this time as to the selection of a candidate.

Following the visit of 14 Keene High School students to China last summer, a group of students and administrators from the South Yali School in China will be arriving in Keene on September 24 for five days.  Planning is underway for activities for the students and adults. Their hospitality was extremely generous during our stay in China and we look forward to reciprocating and to the opportunity of seeing them again.

The KSD will be partnering with Keene State College, and the NH Department of Education in hosting a presentation on the New England Secondary School Consortium. The consortium will focus on global best practices for secondary schools as they prepare students to meet the academic demands of higher education with the goal of limiting remedial college programs and increasing the number of students graduating from colleges in four years.

This summer’s professional development activities will be covered in depth at next week’s Board Education Committee meeting.  In addition to the computer skills continuum, curriculum writing projects also included updating teacher resources in the K-8 Social Studies curriculum, and refining the science curriculum, which included a rubric entitled “Developmental Stages of a Scientist.”  The cornerstone of our work this summer was the three-day Assessment Institute.  Over 75 teachers and administrators participated in the training and the development of common assessments.  Jan Hoegh, newly appointed vice president of Marzano Research Laboratory, was the key presenter.   Elementary cohorts worked on math assessments; middle school teachers worked by content area.

In regards to Response to Intervention, Meredith facilitated meetings with Keene Elementary Principals and Rand Lounsbury during July and August and developed the first draft of an RTI Guide.  The draft was presented to teachers by their principals, and principals are in the process of selecting staff to be part of the Building Leadership Teams (BLTs).  A representative from each BLT will be on the District RTI committee, beginning in November.  Again, more details of this will be presented next week.

Preschool will begin the implementation of the Houghton Mifflin Reading series in October per the SERESC report. The Consulting Teacher for Preschool will be visiting all of our Kindergarten classes to answer questions about students who have transitioned to Kindergarten.

Wheelock School is working toward raising the bar on student learning. Initiatives thus far include a building-wide schedule with dedicated intervention/enrichment for blocks K-5, as well as common RTI meeting times, the selection and ongoing training of RTI leadership and data teams; careful scheduling of NWEA MAP testing K-5; a NECAP testing motivation committee; dedicated NECAP test preparation for grades 3-5; and the scheduling of many services by grade level rather than by class to maximize personnel. We will be implementing Aimsweb as a school-wide progress monitoring tool.

Keene High School will be hosting the Vision 20/20 Champions celebration later this month. Vision 20/20 is the community-wide project to make Keene the healthiest community in America by the year 2020. During the meeting, one of our Keene schools will be identified as the first champion school in recognition of changes to support a healthier lifestyle for students and staff.

Organization:

For 2011-2012, the Keene School Board will continue to align the organization to support student learning by committing to the development of a plan to upgrade the performance development and management systems for school leadership, for school principals and all staff.

The district is in the final negotiations for the introduction of the Halogen electronic evaluation system. The system has been reviewed by all stakeholders and just a few details remain to complete before training begins this fall.

Economic:

During 2011-2012, the Keene School Board will continue to responsibly manage the financial resources of the school system by developing a multi-year financial outlook for the management of school resources in preparation of shifting costs and lost revenues from federal and state sources.

In August, the Keene Board of Education approved the report presented by Marinace Architects to move toward a four school model and the introduction of narrow grade spans. Ultimately, the reduction of an elementary school will result in long term savings for the district.

The testing and commissioning of the new wood chip plant for Keene Middle School, the SAU building and Daniels School is scheduled for later this week.  Energy savings will be substantial, and the district’s dependence on oil will be reduced.

On September 13, Business Administrator Tim Ruehr travelled to Concord to advocate for retaining the NH Department of Education.  The Department’s continued existence is critical to us in terms of facilitating the flow of federal grants to our district. These funds support many functions in the district, such as special education, technology purchases, and staffing needs. The Department also serves as an important source of student data and support for assessments required under No Child Left Behind.