Superintendent’s Report – June 2018
To date our Hinsdale Elementary School addition/renovation project is on time and under budget.
The last day the teachers are scheduled to work for the 2017/2018 school year is Monday, June 25th. The construction team is scheduled to break through the wall connecting the addition to the existing elementary school on Tuesday, June 26th.
The interior color boards for the new addition were approved by the Building Improvement Committee at their May 15th meeting. Paint and materials related to the color choices have been ordered. We are in the process of ordering lockers, toilet accessories, marker boards, fire extinguishers, cabinets, classroom chairs, teacher desks, tables, rugs, and play carpets.
The Hinsdale Code Enforcement Officer has stated that all his inspections related to our HES Addition/Renovation project have gone well so far.
Our architects have prepared an updated landscaping plan for the area around our new addition. Our construction team is recommending the landscaping plan for approval by our Building Improvement Committee at their next meeting scheduled for June 12th.
The next Construction Team meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 12th at 9:30 am.
Our next Facility Committee meeting is scheduled for 2:15 on Friday, June 16th.
The Hinsdale School Board determined that a dedication ceremony will be held on Saturday, September 22nd, at 10:00 am. The School Board wishes to thank all those who helped the Hinsdale School District successfully conclude this badly needed addition/renovation project.
We continue to make progress towards the 2017-2018 Hinsdale School Board Goals.
2017-2018 Hinsdale School Board Goals
- Curriculum and Instruction
- Ensure that all students receive guidance regarding post-secondary education or career options.
- Provide students with educational opportunities and learning based upon the student’s unique needs, interests and learning styles.
- Maintain continuity in instruction between the school buildings.
The District PACE Committee led by our Director of Curriculum and Instruction made an excellent presentation to the Board at our May Board meeting. The team also made an excellent presentation at the May 23rd Public Forum. Following the public forum regarding PACE, the Board voted unanimously to submit our PACE application to the New Hampshire Department of Education for Approval. The application has been submitted and we await the notification of our approval status.
Our Hinsdale Extended Learning Opportunity Exhibition Day on May 18th was a huge success thanks to our ELO Coordinator, Karen Thompson, the ELO assistant Cathy Johnson, and extending learning coaches Bonnie Trombly, Jodie Holmquist, and Peter Hughes. There are 56 Hinsdale students who plan on participating in the program next year.
This year’s ELO Exhibition Day on May 18th was attended by Fred Bramante, who serves as President of the National Center for Competency Based Learning, the New Hampshire Deputy Commissioner of Education Christine Brennan, all five Hinsdale School Board members, and several representatives from other school districts.
On Saturday, June 9th, School Board members Holly Kennedy, Jeana Woodbury, and I attended the EDies Award Ceremony in Manchester, New Hampshire where we witnessed our Extended Learning Opportunities Coordinator, Karen Thompson, accept the EDies Award for the New Hampshire Extended Learning Opportunities Coordinator of the Year.
- Communication
- Internal
- Twice yearly school board tours of all school buildings.
- External
- Maintain communication to promote a collaborative relationship with the community through a continued commitment to holding a minimum of two forums and maintaining a presence in other committees, boards and community events in town.
- Improve relationships with town governing bodies.
On May 23rd the School Board Communications Committee held a public forum related to our effort to focus on best practice as it relates to personalized learning. Our Director of Curriculum and members of the Personalized Assessment for Competency Education Committee made presentations related to this effort. The Board approved the request from the committee. The application for approval has been sent to the New Hampshire Department of Education. We anticipate the Department of Education will approve our application sometime this month.
- Culture
- Promote an atmosphere that supports a forward-thinking, professional learning community.
- Ensure clear behavioral expectations are communicated and followed up on regularly.
- Support and promote anti-bullying practices and ensure policies are being followed.
- Superintendent will spot check the bullying logs and report monthly to the board.
Hinsdale Middle/High School had no allegations of bullying reported during the past month. There were no allegations of bullying at the Hinsdale Elementary School during the past month.
Our effort to move forward on the PACE District continuum will include a Professional Learning Opportunity approach to our performance assessments. The commitment toward using the PLC model should further improve our Hinsdale culture of learning together.
- Personnel
- Support initiatives to recruit and retain professional, high-quality staff that are innovative, dynamic and dedicated to the success of all students.
- Promote an atmosphere that supports an inclusive, professional learning community.
Our turnover is much lower than in recent years. Even in a tight labor market our existing staff seems to want to remain as part of our educational team at Hinsdale. Hopefully, we will continue to attract high quality candidates for the few openings we currently have at Hinsdale.
We think our move towards becoming a PACE District will make the District more attractive to candidates and result in an improved rate of retention. Under a PACE model our teachers will have more autonomy in regards to designing student assessments. Our teachers will develop more of the assessments we use to monitor the learning growth of our students.
- Financial
- Search for ways to conduct business in the most efficient and effective manner.
- Work with the Administration to proactively monitor the fund balance
- Annual review of eligibility for the free lunch program under the federal Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.
- Maintain ongoing communication with the Budget Committee regarding any potential changes in funding.
- Receive detailed backup information for the budget.
- Warrant article to rebuild the maintenance fund.
- Formulate a written facilities capital improvement plan.
Our Hinsdale School Board has approved a Hinsdale School District Capital Improvement Plan. As a result the administration intends to budget $50,000 for the 2019/2010 school year to be raised to purchase and install a new boiler for the Hinsdale Middle/High School.
It appears that we will close the books for the 2017/2018 school year in the black. Although it is unlikely that our business administrator will close the books for 2017/2018 until late summer, at present we on schedule to make the expected report out deadlines.
- Security
- Continue to review security audit information and move forward, in a fiscally responsible manner and to ensure our buildings are secure and our students are safe.
- Formulate a written security plan.
The District received approximately $102,000 in New Hampshire safety grants this year. We plan to do our best to complete all these projects over the summer months but have until April of 2019 to fully expend the grant funds.
The Governor’s Office recently announced more safety funds that will become available to the schools this summer. The Facilities Committee identified a few items from our recent Safety Audit that we will include in a summer safety grant submittal.
- Technology
- Continue to align the district budget to support the 5-year plan of the District Technology Committee.
- Formulate a written technology capital improvement plan.
We are now moving forward with the second year of our five-year one-to-one initiative. Next year all Hinsdale students in the sixth grade and the tenth grade will have tablets for use during the school days. Currently all Hinsdale students in the 5th grade and the 9th grade have tablets to use during the school day. The State did not approve our grant application that would have provided funds to integrate technology with the arts at both Hinsdale Elementary School and Hinsdale Middle/High School. We expect to submit the similar grant application with a few modifications next year.
