Barrington School District

Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Updates:

5/24/19 BES Morning Meeting assembly was yesterday.  The Student Leadership Council emphasized the importance of Memorial Day and the Barrington Memorial Day parade that will be held next Thursday.  As part of the assembly Mr. Bulger was recognized for receiving the Physical Education award that will occur next week in Concord.  Students saw a presentation of the Geography projects that occurred earlier this month at the assembly.  The Student Leadership Council has done a great job leading these assemblies all year.
At the ECLC, the Kindergarten Screening was yesterday.  The Kindergarten teachers had approximately 80 kindergarten assessments for incoming students.  Mrs. Deely and Mrs. Messer facilitated a parent meeting during the kindergarten screening.  As part of the parent meeting Mrs. Deely and Mrs. Messer emphasized the ELA, Mathematics, and Social-Emotional curriculum.  They highlighted key events that occur at the ECLC and how they provide transition for kindergarten students to become familiar with the school procedures such as riding the bus, lunch, and recess time.  
The Teacher Workshop Day was today with i-Ready, behavior, Readers Workshop trainings.  In addition, BMS teachers had curriculum work time to refine, revise, and update curriculum documents for next school year.  First Aid training was also provided for Para Professionals throughout the district.  
Karen has written four Title IIA reallocation grants and this past week was awarded three of those grants. These grants will support teacher and administrator professional development opportunities during the summer and early fall.  /15/2019 At the school leadership team meeting at BES, teachers presented their data and academic growth from the fall to winter on i-Ready and DRA assessment results. Teachers also reviewed the data of students receiving reading interventions to monitor student progress.
The BMS Chorus, and Band concert as well as BMS Dance Club and Drama Club performances were yesterday. I had the opportunity to listen to these wonderful performances during the afternoon student assembly. The students did a great job, and this provides another opportunity for students in the fine arts to display their skills. I was impressed by the performances and student participation in all these great student opportunities. I look forward to the Drama Club performance later this month. 3/8/2019 Karen, Terry, Mandy, and I met this week to discuss the Humanities Curriculum, with staff changing teaching positions next year this was a good opportunity to review the curriculum. We also discussed how we could continue to add more academic rigor in this particular content area.
Read Across America Week occurred in our schools. Many opportunities make this a special week for students to reinforce and encourage reading. Yesterday I had the opportunity to read to seven classrooms at BES. A special thanks to the teachers and students that allowed me to be part of their classes and foster reading of both fiction and nonfiction. Grade one is working on nonfiction reading and this was a great opportunity to read about United States National Parks, Monuments, and History to our students.
Karen and I met this week to discuss World Language. Karen is reviewing curriculum scope and sequence documents at the state level, as well as our surrounding high schools to ensure we have an aligned curriculum. In addition, Karen is reviewing textbooks from multiple companies on suitable material for Foreign Language at the middle school level.
A recommendation to the School Board will occur in May on a textbook selection for this program.
As Mary mentioned at the School Board meeting this past Tuesday, BES is continuing in the NH EDies process with a site visit with the committee later in March. 2/22/19 Invention Convention occurred yesterday at BES, a wonderful event.  The students did an amazing job, the inventions were creative and highlighted solutions to real-world problems.  The following students’ inventions will be competing at the state Invention Convention on March 31st: 
Grade 1-Kid’s Cereal Dropper-Aidan Potter Grade 2-Ski Sling 6000-Mateo Ferguson Grade 3-The Scratch, Play, and Sleep-Emily Clark Grade 4-The Clay Creatoro-Aoife Sullivan & Ava Melanson
New to the Invention Convention this year was an invention with the theme FUNvention (invent a new toy or gadget):
Grade 1-The Max Sleeper-Max Gallant Grade 2-The Story Arm-Frankie Marhefka Grade 3-The Lego Taper Scraper-Fiona O’Connor Grade 4-The Food Defense System 2000-Izzy Leonary
A few pictures are included highlighting Invention Convention at BES.
A special thanks to Laura Vittorioso and Carrie Neill for making this event a success for our elementary students. EDies Committee BES teachers, and administration went to Southern NH University this past Tuesday to present to the EDies Committee.  The presentation incorporated the curriculum, academic, professional development, and social-emotional work.  The presentation spoke to the culture and climate of BES with the student leadership council, BES outdoor classroom, whole-school field trip this past fall, and BES garden.  Mary, Laura, and BES faculty should be very proud of all the work they do that encapsulates a school of excellence.  BES should hear in mid-March on continuing in the EDies process with a site visit from the committee.