SAU #39 Finalizes Goals

SAU #39 now has a clear direction towards improving education in the school district over the next two years.

After months of deliberation, the SAU #39 school board narrowed their focus from a to a select few goals to move education forward.

The goals are to:

1. Review and revise effective and consistent teacher and administrator evaluation systems.
2. Promote effective communication with SAU #39 staff as well as within the greater communities of Amherst, Mont Vernon and the Souhegan High School communities.
3. Review, revise and expand strong transitions between schools in SAU #39 
4. Develop a seamlessly integrated Pre-K-12 curriculum

The board intends to have effective evaluations for all staff in the school district, including administration.

Communication improvements include an enhanced district-wide calendar, feedback from school board meetings and providing local media with information on a consistent basis.

Improvements to transitioning between schools will be done through building "networks between all schools to enhance understanding of curriculum instructions, assessment, grading and reporting and individual school procedures." The district also wants to implement Common Core standards to create a seamless K-12 curriculum.

Superintendent Peter Warburton said that these goals will lay the foundation for their work over the next two years.

“Every school district is different,” said Warburton. “This one seems to want to cultivate a culture of collaboration, effective teaching and learning.”

He said there were a lot of great ideas, but the school district needed to focus on what is most important.

“They took their time,” said Warburton. “They did a really good job at being as thorough as they could. I would like to thank the SAU #39 board for their help and guidance through this process.”

More details on these goals and how the school district intends to reach them can be found here.