District-Wide Video ConferenceBroadcasting live from the Lucy Hurlin Theatre at ConVal High School, Superintendent Dr. Kimberly Rizzo Saunders conducts a district video conference in which she lays out the agenda for the transition to remote instruction and learning, starting Wednesday, March 18.
Newly Elected School Board Holds Emergency MeetingAfter the newly elected ConVal School Board elected Rich Cahoon as Chairman, the Board held an emergency meeting to determine its response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation. In the end, the decision was made to move to remote instruction until early April.
The Swans Kick Off Kindness Month At TESAt Temple Elementary School, Liz and Elena Swan helped to kick off kindness month with a performance during a whole-school kindness assembly.
Ben Conant Presents On Sports PhotographyBen Conant (Class of 2000), who works as an editor at the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript and covers sports for the paper, explains to Mr. Levesque's class how he uses a slower than usual shutter speed, combined with subject tracking, to convey motion in sports photography.
PES KIndergarten Class Explores Nature TrailAt Peterborough Elementary School, Mrs. Christensen's Kindergarten class goes on a nature walk on the Richard Mellor trail behind the school. The trail is named after the former long-time custodian at Peterborough Elementary School.
Social Emotional Learning Day At HESStudents at Hancock Elementary School start off their social emotional day with a "Circle of Friends!"
As you may have already heard, this afternoon Governor Sununu enacted a stay-at-home order that extends remote instruction for all schools in the state to May 4th, 2020.
As a District, we had anticipated this possibility and are already working on increasing our capacity to facilitate remote learning for all students.
Please be assured that the present level of service to our communities will continue, including the deliveries of breakfast and lunch to the students who have requested participation in the program.
Tomorrow, we will send out a survey link to gather parent feedback on their students’ experiences with remote learning. This will inform our continued implementation of remote instruction.
The survey will also ask in which areas you, as parents and guardians, need or would like assistance. Based on this information, we will be reaching out to parents, creating guiding documents, and creating tutorials.
In addition, principals will send out an email to share with you grade level-specific details and information on our preparations for the next steps in our remote learning journey.
We recognize that this a very challenging time for you and your families. As a District, our goal is to provide consistency for your children through remote learning opportunities and daily interaction with staff and teachers. We are also working to help and support you as parents as you provide a sense of certainty for your children in these uncertain times.
As always, do not hesitate to contact me with questions, comments, or concerns.
I would like to begin with an expression of thanks. We have just finished our first week of remote learning which would never have been possible without the support provided by our ConVal communities. Our technology resources have allowed us to gain a head start in our transition to “remote learning.” We are also fortunate that we can rely on a highly effective and dedicated technology team that allows our teachers to focus on instruction.
As our recent transition to remote learning continues to evolve, I would like to share with you some specific observations that we have made about this process, a significant departure from practices to which our students and staff are accustomed.
Your positive comments have fueled staff members, thank you for showing your appreciation for their hard work. We are grateful for the community's recognition that, with very little notice and in a very short time frame, teachers, staff, and administrators put a plan together to continue learning opportunities, make sure children are fed, and found workarounds for almost every barrier.
Any change, particularly a change of this size, demands that we remain patient, understanding, and cognizant of the fact that all of us are new to this. There is a significant learning curve in this transition because we are accustomed to having face-to-face contact and physical proximity as part of our learning experiences.
Another key factor in ensuring the success of this transformative change is to establish consistent routines to maintain a sense of normalcy. We all carry with us a sense of uncertainty which may make it difficult to engage in learning. Once these new routines are established, we will feel a greater sense of comfort and better able to engage in the learning activities that our teachers are facilitating.
Our teachers have made, and will continue to make, every effort to meet each student’s needs because this is what it means to be a teacher. And, as educators, we are open to hearing your feedback regarding how we can do things better. It will be important to continue to communicate and listen to each other with empathy as we are all facing this crisis together.
We have developed a FAQs page that you can access on the website, we are updating this page regularly as we get new questions from students, parents, and staff.
We are aware that some families are struggling with access, and we are actively working on this every day. If you are struggling with this issue, please reach out to the principal of your student’s school. We continue to update the ConVal website with remote learning resources, please visit often.
As you are all aware, this situation continues to evolve from moment to moment! We are committed to updating you regularly.
Please be aware that when I write to you, it is sent through our messenger service to your email, posted on the webpage, then posted on social media sites — specifically in that order. There are times that because of technology issues, Internet speeds, or messaging priority settings, it appears that all three happen simultaneously or that social media is first.
We hope to be back to school in the not-so-distant future, so we encourage you and your students to practice social distancing. If you are looking for resources on social distancing, what it is and what the effects may be, you can find them here.
Please do not hesitate to reach out with questions or feedback.
As you may have already heard, this afternoon Governor Sununu enacted a stay-at-home order that extends remote instruction for all schools in the state to May 4th, 2020.
As a District, we had anticipated this possibility and are already working on increasing our capacity to facilitate remote learning for all students.
I would like to begin with an expression of thanks. We have just finished our first week of remote learning which would never have been possible without the support provided by our ConVal communities. Our technology resources have allowed us to gain a head start in our transition to “remote learning.” We are also fortunate that we can rely on a highly effective and dedicated technology team that allows our teachers to focus on instruction.
District-Wide Video Conference Broadcasting live from the Lucy Hurlin Theatre at ConVal High School, Superintendent Dr. Kimberly Rizzo Saunders conducts a district video conference in which she lays out the agenda for the transition to remote instruction and learning, starting Wednesday, March 18.
Newly Elected School Board Holds Emergency Meeting After the newly elected ConVal School Board elected Rich Cahoon as Chairman, the Board held an emergency meeting to determine its response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation. In the end, the decision was made to move to remote instruction until early April.
The Swans Kick Off Kindness Month At TES At Temple Elementary School, Liz and Elena Swan helped to kick off kindness month with a performance during a whole-school kindness assembly.
Ben Conant Presents On Sports Photography Ben Conant (Class of 2000), who works as an editor at the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript and covers sports for the paper, explains to Mr. Levesque's class how he uses a slower than usual shutter speed, combined with subject tracking, to convey motion in sports photography.
PES KIndergarten Class Explores Nature Trail At Peterborough Elementary School, Mrs. Christensen's Kindergarten class goes on a nature walk on the Richard Mellor trail behind the school. The trail is named after the former long-time custodian at Peterborough Elementary School.
Social Emotional Learning Day At HES Students at Hancock Elementary School start off their social emotional day with a "Circle of Friends!"
