From the Desk of Gerry St. Amand

October 13, 2017

Dear Families and Colleagues,

The NWEA computerized assessments in reading and mathematics have been administered in both buildings, with only a handful of students needing to finish up. The results of these assessments will be shared with all families at a later date, once teachers have had an opportunity to meet with their grade level teams, interventionists, and building leaders to interpret the results and align those results with instruction. First trimester progress reports will be sent home to all families with students on Friday, October 20. The progress reports provide a mid-trimester snapshot of how children are progressing in the areas of work-study habits and do not focus on academic grades.

Thanks to the financial and volunteer support provided by the Amherst PTA, the Wilkins School playground now includes a beautifully painted map of the United States that the children and teachers will be able to use during recesses and for targeted learning activities connected to our curricula. The PTA has also purchased a book teachers can access that provides many suggested activities on how to connect this outdoor map of the states with classroom instruction. Special thanks must be extended to all of the parent and staff volunteers who donated their time and talents to bring the map to fruition. The children have already demonstrated great interest in using the map during outside recesses. The Amherst PTA, which provides tremendous volunteer and financial support to Clark-Wilkins and Amherst Middle School, is also in the process of reviewing multiple grants that have been submitted by staff members at both buildings to augment and enhance the current range of curricular and playground materials we have available for children to use.

Beginning the week of October 16, applications for the position of Superintendent of Schools for SAU39 will be reviewed by members of the SAU39 interview committee. Peter Warburton, our current superintendent, will be retiring in June of 2018 and the critical work of finding an extremely qualified and capable candidate to fill Peter’s shoes will begin in earnest next week and will continue through the balance of October and much of November. As the leader of the entire SAU and three school districts, the role of superintendent of schools takes on an essential importance in uniting all of the schools and buildings, staff members, families, and community members who reside or work in SAU39.

The next Amherst School Board meeting will take place on Thursday, October 19 at 6 P.M. and will be conducted in the Wilkins School Library--a change in location from our usual venue, so we are hopeful that many families and residents will be able to attend. Representatives from the Clark-Wilkins staff will be sharing a power point presentation on our new social emotional learning program “Second Step” and its connections to the Responsive Classroom training that many staff members have attended and will continue to attend over the course of the year. Community members and families are always encouraged and welcome to attend.

Enjoy the beautiful fall foliage,

Gerry St. Amand