Follow-up from previous

Not long after I posted my last message, I realized that I had left out a number of important people to thank.  First, Theresa for all for the support that you give the school and students.  Sherri, who has been so helpful to me in making sure that we get those state reports and requirements taken care of. And who has always met me in person or on the telephone with the most upbeat "hello" that I have ever received.  Bonnie who has served as most competent colleague over the past three years, frequently serving as my sounding board on many matters.  And finally Yvonne; without her my sanity would have been exhausted soem time ago!  Thanks to you all.  Fremont School District would have survived the past three years without you! 

Saying Good bye

As I wind down my tenure with the Fremont School District, I want to thank everyone for the support that I have received over the past three years. From the school board to the kids, my work has been made enjoyable and easy because of those who were with me in this journey. As I reflect about my work in Fremont, I need to emphasize how wonderful the faculty and staff are at the Ellis School.

In this past year, the restructuring of the administration demonstrated the talents of the administrative team, Mr. Safina, Mrs. Krebs and Mr. Totten. Routine "walk throughs" of the building demonstrated that the teaching staff is remarkable. The children in Fremont are truly fortunate to have such a talented and dedicated group of educators, both teachers and support staff. Providing safe guards for all of the children are the talented school nurses and guidance staff. They are great! And please don't forget the we have the Middle school Guidance Counselor of the year, Mrs Farrar, working with our youngsters!!!And of course, the building wouldn't be what it is without Mr. Brown and his staff as well as the those who work in the cafeteria!

The PTA and parent support in this town is just remarkable! The children a blessed to have such an active group to make things better for them.

Thanks for all you do! Working with the officials in town has been a pleasure. I particularly want to thank Mark Pitkin who was in contact with me regularly early in the morning on those snowy days helping to make decisions about school. Additionally, thanks to Neal Janvrin and Reese Bassett for their help over the past years. I'll never forget that iffy day when I called off school and Neal called me three times to tell me what a good call it was! While it wasn't often, when working with Heidi and Lori in the town offices, I always felt supported and I want to extend a big thanks to them.

Finally, a big thanks to the School Board. I has been a wonderful ride together!

While I am eager to begin may new position in Alton, I have many mixed emotions about leaving Fremont. I have truly enjoyed working here trying to make things better for kids. As I told the teachers yesterday, my job was made easy because of the talented group of educators at the school. Thank you for allowing me to serve you and best wishes in the future!

Bill

More Good News At Ellis!

Yesterday, April 3rd, the DOE published the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) report for the state. I am pleased to announce that the Ellis School made AYP in reading and missed AYP in math in just one sub-group causing the entire school not to meet AYP in this area.

Last year, we did not make AYP in any of the areas. The progress that we have made in the past year has been remarkable and is an indicator of the hard work of the teachers at Ellis.

As some may know, for the past three years, we have been focusing on reading and writing. It is obvious that the focus has paid off! Last fall, we began to work on math. I am confident that as we continue to hone our reading and writing instruction, math achievement will rise as we work on improving student learning in mathematics.

There is much to celebrate and I am proud of the administration and teaching staff at Ellis1 However, we can't rest! We must continue to positively impact student learning.

More good things at Ellis

I have been remiss in not posting to this blog news about our middle level guidance counselor, Michelle Farrar. Ms. Farrar has been recognised by her peers throughout the state as the guidance counselor of the year! Congratulation to her!

This is just one of the wonderful things to celebrate at the Ellis School this year!

NECAP Progress

At the Fremont School District Deliberative Session, I spoke about the progress that we have made academically based on the latest NECAP results. I want to make this information available on my Blog if you were not in attendance and for you to share with others.
Looking at our present eighth grade class, over a three year period of time, the eighth grades' proficiency rate has increased by 21% in reading and 16% in math.(this figure compares the 8th class of 2009 with the class of 2011) If one is to follow this class's proficiency rate from when they were in sixth grade to this year, this cohort group increased proficiency by 36% in reading and 7% in math over those three years. I believe that this is significant growth of the students as they end their career at Ellis.
While we can trace this same type of growth from the seventh and sixth grade cohort groups over the three year period, we know that clearly we can't give up! We are working diligently to make sure that all grade levels increase the academic performance for our children.
I also need to point out that NECAP results should not be seen as the only indicator of success within a school. There are other measures such as attendance rate, discipline referrals, NWEA and AIMS Web data and the general climate of the building. In all areas, we are making sound progress. If you haven't been in to visit the school, I encourage you to contact Mr. Safina to make arrangements to see what is taking place.
I welcome your comments.
Bill

Fremont School District Deliberative Session

I would like to remind you that the Fremont School District Deliberative Session is scheduled for Saturday, February 4, 2012 in the Ellis School Gymnasium beginning at 9:00AM. During this meeting, the school board will provide an overview of the 6 warrant articles that will be officially voted on in March. As voters of the Town of Fremont, you will have an opportunity to ask questions, discuss and debate each of the warrant articles. Warrant articles may be amended subject to the laws of New Hampshire, which are within the actual copy of the warrant articles. Additionally, a brief overview of things that have taken place during the last year will be presented.

The warrant article include:
1. An overview of the election of School District Officers.
2. Approval of the Support Staff Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
3. A special meeting option if the CBA id defeated.
4. The operating budget of $11,049,721; the default budget is $11,048,753.
5. The approval to take $10,000 from the 2012 fund balance to be placed in the existing expendable trust fund for building and ground maintenance.
6. The funding for a foreign language teacher ($69,990)

Deatilas of the budget and the warrant articles can be found on the Ellis School website.

I hope to see you on the 4th.
Bill Lander

Administrative Restructuring

At the April 12, 2011, Fremont School Board meeting, the Board voted to eliminate the combined position of the Elementary Principal/Special Education Director. Since that time, the Board has been working toward the restructuring of the administration at the Ellis School beginning in the 2011-2012 school year. It is anticipated that there will be one Pre-K-8 Principal, an Assistant Principal and a Special Education Director. Details of the positions are still under consideration.

The topic of administrative restructuring will be on the Fremont School Board meeting agenda scheduled for Tuesday, June 14, 2011, beginning at 6:30 PM in the Ellis School library.