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For me, New Years always has me remembering fun times. I think about past First Nights, I reflect on the current year and look forward to the future. 

I want to take the time reflect on this year. We have merged our school districts into one. In leading up to and in this first 6 months how has our merged district changed?  What benefits have we realized?

• All students have access to transportation to and from school (previously Sutton did not have transportation).
• Children in Concord and Lunenburg have access to high quality after-school programs which they previously never had.
• All of our schools have content coaching in math and literacy.
• All of our new teachers have mentors and a formal mentoring program.
• Additional behavior supports are available for all schools.
• Increased opportunities for professional development coursework (all teachers have the opportunity for the equivalent of 6 NVU college credits)
• Professional Learning Groups- coordinated professional development including groups where teachers of similar grade bands work together on student learning outcomes.
• All of our schools have a published Continuous Improvement Plan
• Leadership support and coordination: the principals from each school visit all schools and observe classrooms and work together on learning and outcomes.
• Board perspective: Board meetings rotate between seven different schools, board members gain the perspective of the needs of multiple schools.
• Shared Facilities work: folks at Burke have worked with the Newark facilities project allowing the installation of a heating pellet plant to increase energy efficiency.
• Facility Condition and Energy Assessment Audit in each school completed
• Increase in social media presence (facebook participation)
• Increase in school choice among schools in our district- parental choice
• Increase in migration into our district from neighboring districts (increase in revenue and equalized pupils)
• Mini grants awarded by the Vermont Rural Education Collaborative to more schools than in the past