Helen Richards-Peelle

“Community of Learners”

Our mission as a Professional Learning Community is to provide a rich, challenging, integrated and engaging curriculum which develops knowledge, skills and a love of learning in our students.  We do this by creating a highly supportive school environment where all children are valued and taught to be responsible and respectful learners.  Working collaboratively as learners ourselves, we engage the Currier community to provide opportunities for students to become independent thinkers and decision makers.

 

            Currier Memorial School continues to make tremendous progress towards achieving our vision and mission of making it possible for all students to succeed.  Our focus continues to be on three major goals which are listed below.  The first two goals are on reading and writing and the third goal is mathematics.  As indicated by the graphs below we are making steady progress in moving students forward to reach the 80% proficiency goal in literacy and math.  Research shows that students who are strong as mathematicians, and with their literacy skills, will also be successful in other areas.

1. Students read fluently and understand the information and ideas presented in a wide variety of texts.  They can interpret, make connections, draw conclusions and make inferences, and use this meaning to achieve our percentage goal of students who meet or exceed the standard.
2. Through the writing process students construct meaning for a variety of purposes in a way that is concise and clear to the reader.  They write using a variety of genres and demonstrate a command of appropriate English conventions.

Goal!  80%

3. Students understand mathematical concepts and skills and can flexibly manage computation problems.  They are flexible and resourceful problem solvers who can draw from a variety of strategies and approach problems from a variety of perspectives.  They can effectively communicate their mathematical thinking orally or in writing.

Goal!  80%

 

            This is exciting news for Currier.  It clearly demonstrates the commitment the Currier staff has made to work as a highly functioning collaborative team on behalf of student learning.  As a team of educators we are committed to continuing this work to reach our 80% goal and then to keep on going until all are students are successful at the three basic skills.  An often quoted motto we use is “Failure is not an Option!”

            In many other areas at Currier, the communities of Danby and Mt. Tabor need to also be proud of the following opportunities which are provided to students:

·        Exposure to high quality experiences in the Arts.  Art work is continually on display in the school and our holiday and spring concerts are outstanding demonstrations of continuous growth in an appreciation and skills in the Arts.

·        Learning about the world through our newly developed Science and History/Social Science Curriculums.

·        Integrating Technology into all of our studies with the use of a computer lab and wireless laptop cart.

·        Wellness & Recreation opportunities to keep students active and healthy.  Our sports teams are strong; students receive physical education two times a week, the holistic approach of the Responsive Classroom to teach responsible and respectful students, and support from the Nurse and HomeSchool coordinator to keep students emotionally and physically well are all examples of the strength and commitment Currier has in this area.

·        KidZone Programs provide much needed before-after school and summer programs for the children of Danby & Mt. Tabor.  Students have the opportunity to experience many enrichment activities, receive support for learning and accomplishing homework, and stay fit and healthy by participating in sports activities.

 

Combining our focus on the three major goals and other programs at the school, we are

proud to be developing the Whole Child in each and every student.  By giving students the skills they need to be successful and exposing them to a variety of other learning opportunities, the tremendous Currier staff team is helping all children in your towns to develop their potential.  We are very proud of our work and committed to continuous growth.

 Thank you for all your support and encouragement in 2007 and we look forward to another prosperous year of learning.  As our vision clearly states, we are making excellent growth on “we all will learn.”

 

Respectfully submitted,

Helen Richards-Peelle, Principal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using our varied gifts we will strengthen our content areas while integrating curricula; as a Professional Learning Community, we all will learn.

“Community of Learners”

Our mission as a Professional Learning Community is to provide a rich, challenging, integrated and engaging curriculum which develops knowledge, skills and a love of learning in our students. We do this by creating a highly supportive school environment where all children are valued and taught to be responsible and respectful learners. Working collaboratively as learners ourselves, we engage the Currier community to provide opportunities for students to become independent thinkers and decision makers.

 

Report of the Principal January 2008

The Spirit of Giving

A focus for the school in December was to instill the value of giving. For the second year in a row, in lue of Secret Santa, we asked the children and families of Currier to contribute either with goods or money to the Danby food shelter. I am pleased to announce we delivered four big boxes of supplies to the shelves at the town clerks office and took in $80.00. Mrs. Davenport’s class does a money related activity where the children need to do a lot of math to purchase additional items for the food shelves. In addition the fifth and sixth graders collected $125. to contribute to the Jude Hospital at Dartmouth. Learning to give to those who are in need at this time of year is a wonderful value for children to learn and I am so proud of their understanding of this concept.

The spirit of giving also fits in nicely with the two words in which we have had a school wide focus upon, kindness and respect. During the morning greeting, children are reminded about how they can work on being kind and showing respect. Learning to give to others is very appropriate when learning kindness and respect.

Listening

The new value we are working on at Currier is listening. This is a nice segue from respect as to be truly listened to means you are also showing respect. The children are working on using good eye contact when someone is talking and waiting until someone is finished talking before speaking. We are also reinforcing listening skills through the use of “I” statements and the peace table process. This is a Responsive Classroom technique designed to teach students to deal with their conflicts and frustrations. Part of the process is for children to wait respectively, listen to the other person’s point of view and be ready to repeat back the other student’s concerns. It is a respectful way to deal with conflicts, requiring listening skills which helps students learn to deal with their conflicts.

Working with Castleton

Currier will be participating in Castleton’s new teacher preparation program which is called, Inquiry 1. Beginning in February and for 10 weeks, aspiring teachers will spend Friday mornings with teachers at Currier. The Castleton students will work directly in the classroom assisting the teachers with supporting student learning. Currier teachers have much to share with beginning teachers and we look forward to the opportunity of working with Castleton.

Rutland Town Teachers visit Currier

Last spring, Jean Ward and I did a presentation to the Southwestern curriculum collaborate on the use of flex time at Currier. This is a professional learning community practice which focuses on how the school responds when children do not learn. A team of teachers from Rutland Town visited Currier to learn more about this practice and to see it in action. We were very proud to share our learning with other teachers and they were excited to be learning from Currier.

Math Fact Fluency

The Currier staff have been in discussion about fact fluency, the importance of students being competent in their facts and deciding assessments which would be appropriate. Nancy Beauregard, 1^st grade teacher has developed a new game to support students in learning their facts. She has created license plates flash cards and uses them to help children develop strategies to practice their facts. She is also encouraging children, parents and teachers to take the game on the road. Every time you are driving in the car try to add the numbers on a license plate before the car passes you. Now Nancy would like us all to stay safe on the road at the same time we work on math facts fluency. Try it and see how fluent you are with your math facts. Be fair warned, it’s addictive once you get going.

The Arts

When you have a chance, please stop by and see the wonderful art work on display by our students. The art teacher, Barbara Childs, has just finished a unit on drawing and she has put a lot of the students work on display through out the school. It is quite outstanding. The holiday concert, led by music teacher Lisa Hoyt was amazing. The students demonstrated their skills in singing and playing musical instruments. It was a wonderful display of our student’ skills. Thank you Lisa and Barbara for your wonderful work with the children at Currier in developing their creative skills and appreciation for the arts.

 

Report of the Principal-September 3, 2007

Opening of the 2007-08 School Year

Opening day was Wednesday, August 29. Many families and their students joined us for the welcoming breakfast and opening meeting. It was a wonderful, festive, positive atmosphere, though hot, to begin the school year. We welcomed 117 students; 20 kindergarteners, 14 first graders, 19 second graders, 18 third graders, 17 fourth graders, 16 fifth graders and 15 sixth graders. The teachers and support staff should all be commended for their outstanding work to prepare for the opening of school.

Learning Focus for 2007-08

In the family handbook there is a section which speaks to the Initiatives which I will be focusing on this year to improve student learning. Please make sure you read it carefully and ff you have any questions on any of the focuses, I would be happy to clarify our work this year.

Food Service Program Donation

This program has received two donations to support families who have additional financial needs. One donation was for $1,000 and the other one was for $500. 

Anonymous Donor

During the week of August 13^th, I had a wonderful meeting with an anonymous donors. They are very strong supporters of the school and we talked about a variety of donations which they want to support. They include the food service program, KidZone activities, arts enrichment and books for the library.

Writing Contest

The three winners of Currier’s 1^st writing contest were sent to a national contest. Gabrielle Corey’s writing piece, Why We Need a New President, was accepted to be included in a writing anthology. We are very excited and proud of Gabby. It also is a great honor and tribute to the school as it demonstrates evidence of the quality writing instruction which students are receiving.

Responsive Classroom on the Bus

Responsive classroom principles and practices are being taught to students who ride the bus. Two Paraeducators, Julie Black and Deb Daly are taking leadership roles to teach the students to be respectful and responsible bus riders. The program will be for two weeks and they will periodically ride the bus to re-teach appropriate behaviors.

Selectmen Letter

We are very excited and appreciative to the Danby Selectmen and the Town crew for filling in the “potholes” in our driveway. While we were all getting really good at driving the maze into school to avoid the “potholes”, it is now nice to know we will not ruin our car’s suspension or axle by falling into the depths of a hole!

Goal 1: Working with the community, staff and board, Currier identifies 3-4 long term goals to drive fiscal and educational decisions for the next 5 years.

Goal 2: Continued improvement of student learning with more students meeting the standards.

Goal 3: Build an understanding of the importance of formative assessment for learning and student self assessment.