I want to thank Londonderry School District for their support of the Alvirne High School football team and school community. At Friday's football game, the support from Londonderry High School was heartfelt and the school district is grateful to have their support. The Londonderry High School sign last stated, “Bronco Strong” and each team had nine players on the field to support the Alvirne players at the beginning of the game. The Alvirne football team competed throughout the game and in the second half scored two touchdowns and while the score was 49-14, students were happy to be competing and back on the football field.
Last week the Department of Education NH Teacher of the Year Committee visited Alvirne High School and the Palmer Center and spoke with administration regarding Lt. Colonel Cheetham, finalist for the Teacher of the Year award. The committee had an opportunity to visit Lt. Colonel Cheetham’s classroom and observe a lesson on civics and government. The committee spoke with students, and we look forward to hearing in the next two weeks regarding Lt. Colonel Cheetham’s candidacy for this award.
Last week, Ms. Wolf and I met with the Alvirne High School Student Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion club. The students provided a presentation of goals and vision for Alvirne High School. A student planned event will be held in May, and students will present this school community event to the School Board at a future School Board meeting.
Administrative Update
Ms. Burk and I attended the Bradley Kidder Law Conference last week, there were multiple sessions focused on school finance, School Board governance and rules at School Board meetings, Memorandum of Agreements for outside contract services, employee speech rights and limitations, other law conference sessions.
The administrative team participated in an i-Ready training since the last School Board meeting. The administrative training focused on leadership practices to support instruction and student learning. The practices included cultivating educator mindsets that support student success, creating a culture of reviewing the data to inform instruction, prioritizing meeting the needs of the whole child, and sharing the data at the school and district level. The training was helpful in reviewing the reports and approaching planning and teaching to accelerate learning.
At the principals' meeting last week, Brenna Moore, Behavior Systems Advisor, shared how she can support teachers so they can set positive behavior expectations in the classroom.
Hiring Update
Certain positions continue to be challenging from a hiring perspective. At the middle school, the vacant teaching and administrative positions for Physical Education and Assistant Principal exist. Since the last School Board meeting there is now a finalized plan for two sections of science and the Science Department Chair position. Many paraprofessional vacancies continue to exist across the district as well as lunch monitors, substitute teaching positions and custodial positions. The district has hired a school facilities and grounds position. The district also has one vacancy at the SAU (School Administrative Unit) office for the accountant position. The district continues to review alternative hiring solutions to fill these vacant positions across the district. The Technology Department is fully staff and hired the Technology Integrator position.
Other Updates
Dr. Frauwirth facilitated the Region 16 CTE (Career and Technical Education) Advisory Committee. CTE Directors, Principals, Superintendents, Assistant Superintendents, and School Board Chairs were invited. The topics included a Health Science application from Milford CTE program, regional agreement discussion, and school district calendar alignment. Based upon legislation it is required to have school district calendar alignment between regional CTE centers and school districts that have students enrolled in CTE programs. The new legislation required no more than 10 days not aligned with school district calendars. The work is already underway to work with Superintendents that have CTE centers in this region and surrounding school districts to align school calendars.
The Emergency Management Committee met last week and discussed an ALICE refresher training for teachers and staff, submitted Emergency Operations Plans, and discussed reunification processes. Future topics include emergency management drills and ALICE training for substitutes. Principals continue to review school infrastructure needs for further safety improvement. I appreciate the leadership support of Mr. Tesini and Ms. Rippel for facilitating the Emergency Management Committee.
Red Ribbon Week
Next week, October 23-31, is Red Ribbon Week, which is a commitment to raise awareness of the destruction caused by drugs in America. On Wednesday, October 26, the Air National Guard will have a helicopter fly over Hudson Memorial School to take a schoolwide photo. This has been done several times in the past and we’re excited to bring this back again.
Respectfully submitted,
Daniel Moulis, Ed.D
Superintendent