Newton School Annual Report 2013-14 School Year Our Mission is to develop each child’s potential for academic success, engagement and overall well-being. Through this process, we will enrich each child’s education with community involvement, collaboration and outreach. The Newton School provides a challenging K-8 education that nurtures the whole child through an integrated core academic curriculum plus art, music, physical education, Spanish, technology, health, gardening, and community projects. The caring and professional educators at Newton School ensure that each student is well prepared to contribute to society, reach their potential, and be successful in high school and beyond. Newton students enjoy an atmosphere that encourages learning, fosters responsibility, and inspires personal growth. The bonds formed during school at Newton are lasting. Our small school of 120 students is intimate, supportive, and steeped in high expectations. This is why our school is among one of the highest achieving in Vermont.

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During the school year, school staff expanded on our Mission and defined learning at the Newton School as being able to: Develop each child’s potential for academic success in core and encore classes by supporting each student’s individual needs through people and programs. Develop each child’s potential for engagement, by having students learn through a variety of methods. Education at Newton School will consist of a mix of individual, social, local, and global learning. Students will be encouraged to take risks, be creative, explore their strengths, and grow from their successes and failures.

This year our After School and Athletic Activities have included:

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Coed Soccer (3rd/4th 5th/6th, 7th/8th)

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Boys and Girls Basketball (3rd/4th 5th/6th, 7th/8th)

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Cross Country Skiing (K-8)

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Downhill Skiing (K-8)

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Baseball (K-8)

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Spelling Bee (5th/6th)

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Iron Chef (6th-8th)

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OWSU Music Festival (4th-8th)

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OWSU Art Festival (5th-8th)

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MathCounts (6th-8th)

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Robotics (2nd-8th)

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Fit Kids (K-8)

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Jump Rope for Heart (K-8)

Reach each child’s potential for well-being by making sure that students’ emotional, social, physical, and academic needs are met by providing a safe, supportive, and caring environment. Collaboration, communication, and differentiation is valued, taught, and experienced by the Newton School Community. Enrich each child’s education through community involvement and outreach. We will expose students to a wide range of activities both within and outside the school and with a variety of people. These experiences should be organized to benefit all parties involved and promote positive change.

We will use this definition as we undertake future endeavors for our students.

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This year, our school wide enrichment programs have included:

The following is a description of our progress on the Newton School Action Plan 2012-2015. If a parent or community member would like to work on developing this document please be in touch with Greg Bagnato. Goal #1: To improve mathematics instruction K-8 so all students meet or exceed Common Core Standards (CCSS) assessments. This last year we decided to use the My Math (K-5) and College Preparatory Math (6-8) programs that are aligned to the CCSS. Our first CCSS assessment will be occurring during the spring of 2016 when the Smarter Balanced Assessment is given. In order to get an idea of where we might be, last year we piloted a separate tool aligned to the CCSS called Track My Progress. This program tested students several times throughout the year and our children showed they were averaging proficient and above in Math and English Language Arts (ELA). We have also had several staff trained in delivering math to students who have struggled in the subject and have made time for enrichment and remediation work. Goal #2: Insure that our cluster system maximizes student progress in academic and social areas. This last year we decided to realign our clusters to K-2, 3-5, and 6-8. By moving the 5th grade to the upper elementary school, we feel we would better be able to accommodate those students in academic and social/emotional areas. These fifth graders will have more leadership opportunities and will complete a hybrid schedule, that should help them in their transition to the 6-8 cluster. Furthermore, throughout the year we had school-wide professional development in the CCSS and the new Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). 3

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Two performance field trips per cluster

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Visit by the Vermont Symphony Orchestra

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Weeklong Artist in Residence by Circus Smirkus.

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Hike for Hunger Triad Activity

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Harvest for Hunger

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School Vegetable Garden

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Veteran’s Day Program and Triad Activity

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Martin Luther King Jr. Program

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Lantern Parade

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4 Plays (K-2, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8)

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Pi Day Program

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Writing Celebration

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Read Aloud Triad Activity

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Bike/Walk to School Day

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Two K-8 Music Concerts

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Hood Museum Art Start and Images programs

The Newton School PTA enhances our student experiences by sponsoring art programs, field trips, performances, scholarships and so much more. lorem ipsum :: [Date]

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Progress of Newton School Action 2012-15 continued: Goal #3: Update the school’s technology to improve and maintain direct instruction, support of instruction and administrative functions. This last year, the technology committee met several times in order to continue to update our hardware, software, and classroom use of technology. We have purchased a new reliable server, laptops, and other hardware. As of this coming year, each classroom will have an LCD projector. EC Fiber has allowed the school to have faster Internet speed. All of these components will give us the infrastructure needed to incorporate more technology in the classroom. Goal # 4: Improve the school’s ability to offer appropriate remedial and enrichment instruction to meet the needs of all students. This last year we restructured our two special educators contracts so that a quarter of each professional’s time will be used to assist students that are not necessarily receiving special education services. We also continue to examine various data (grades, classroom work, standardized tests, etc.) to ensure we are reaching those students that need the support. This coming year, Kindergarteners will attend school for the entire day. This extended time will assist us in identifying those children in need of support so we can design early intervention strategies. Goal #5: Expand instruction and services to promote better health and nutrition within the school community. Due to budget constraints we have been unable to increase current levels of service for our school nurse and school-based clinician. However, we have educated staff on Vermont’s Health Grade Expectations and adopted a child abuse prevention curriculum. For this coming year we have specific times dedicated to teaching health curriculum in the classroom. All staff members have been trained and understand their role in the District’s Bullying and Harassment Policy. Goal #6: Enhance the collaborative work already in place by exploring Professional Learning Communities (PLC) and similar models. PLC’s have been preliminarily established as groups met several times last year. This year PLC groups will continue to grow and develop. 4

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Results: Statewide Testing – Every year public schools in Vermont complete a statewide assessment called the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP). Below are Newton School results compared to the state. Due to the regulations outlined by No Child Left Behind legislation, every school in Vermont was required to have 100% of their students achieve proficient or above. While no school was able to achieve this, our students did well and our goal will remain to make sure each child achieves their potential.

% of students Proficient or Above 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

% of students Proficient or Above

Newton State of Newton State of School Vermont School Vermont Reading Reading Math Math Scores Scores ScoresScores Grades 3-8 Grades 3-8 Grades 3-8 Grades 3-8

Cost Effectiveness – This last year, the Newton School Budget increased about 6.2%. About 68% of this increase was due the cost of sending Strafford students to high school. We are one of several districts in the state that operate an “elementary school” and have a designated high school. Our cost per student is ranked 115th in the state. Within OWSU, we spend less per equalized pupil than all other schools except one.

Where our Students go – While the designated high school for Newton students is Thetford Academy. If a student feels another high school can better meet their individual or family needs, they may ask the Strafford School Board to approve their request through a waiver process. This past June, we had eighteen Newton School Graduates. Nine will attend Thetford Academy; four will attend both Hanover High School and The Sharon Academy; and one will go to St. Johnsbury Academy.

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