April 2024 District Newsletter

Barrington School District

~Mission~

We empower our community of learners in a safe and supportive environment to nurture compassion, cultivate curiosity, and inspire innovation.

~Vision~

The Barrington School District strives to be a community learning and growing together; giving students roots and wings.

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April 19, 2024

Hello Barrington Families;

The birds are chirping and everything is about to go from bud to bloom. This is such an incredible time of year! We also tend to see incredible growth within our students this time of year. Spring brings with it some renewed energy and excitement and that tends to transfer across many areas of our lives. I hope that you are all able to spend some extra time with your kiddos this upcoming spring break week and are able to get out and enjoy the wonderful area that we live in.

When we return from the April Break there are just over 7 weeks of school remaining. This is always an incredibly busy time for both students and staff with learning targets being addressed, end of year district and state assessments occurring and concluding events such as field trips and field days. This time of year can also feel stressful for students as their routines are altered and expectations become fuzzy as they change from activity to activity and event to event. It is important to support our students through the very end of the school year by staying in the moment, clearly communicating schedule changes and expectations, sticking to our regular routines whenever possible, and waiting to talk about next year until mid June. Please help us to reinforce this at home by sticking with homework and bedtime routines until the end of the school year and by asking your child about the projects they are working on or the concepts that they are learning. Consistency and calm is key!

At the Tuesday, April 16th School Board meeting the Barrington School Board determined the Last Day of School for Kindergarten - 8th grade students to be Tuesday, June 18, 2024. This will be a half day of school. Morning PreSchool students will also have their last day of school on Tuesday, June 18th with afternoon Preschool concluding their school year on Monday, June 17th.

The 8th Grade Celebration will remain on Thursday, June 13th. Details for this event will come directly from the Middle School. The families of 8th graders may choose to send their children to school on June 14, 17, and 18 however, please know that this is your choice and there will be no penalty for not returning after the Celebration Night given that we will have met the state instructional hour requirement.

Speaking of instructional hours, it has come to my attention that there has been some confusion as a result of some published conflicting information regarding the reason(s) for extending the school day for this school year. Please know that it has always been my intention to extend the day in order to gain instructional time. Until this year, we had one of the lowest instructional hour school days in the state at the middle school level. This additional time also allows us to have a more robust Advisory block. It was never my intention to use this additional time to offset snow days. We need our students engaged in as many instructional minutes as possible. For your reference, here is the memo that was presented to the School Board last March. My apologies for this confusion.

Early Dismissal Schedule (for 6/18)

Middle School: 11:30am dismissal

Elementary School: 12:25pm dismissal

Early Childhood Learning Center: 12:25pm dismissal

Only 2 ½ weeks until the Peeper!

Need a reason to get active and get outdoors? Consider participating in the Peeper Family Fun Day on Saturday, May 4th. This wonderfully attended event is being expanded this year to include so many activities for the family that you can make it into a day long outing. Proceeds from this event also fund Scholarships for Barrington students and Chamber Members. So, strap on your walking or running shoes and hit the 5K approved race or just stop in to cheer us on and participate in some community fun. We hope to see you there!

Reminders

May 24, 2024: This is now a FULL regular school day for students and staff. No longer an Early Release.

The last day of school will be a half day on Tuesday, June 18th.

8th Grade Celebration remains on Thursday, June 13th.

For long term planning purposes : Here is the Approved 24-25 District Calendar .

Scholarships

I am excited to share that we have compiled an extensive scholarship packet this year! If your child is a senior please make sure that you look through this packet carefully and encourage your child to submit as many as they can. It amazes me every year that so few students take advantage of these opportunities. Every penny counts!

Additionally, for Junior boys, check out the opportunity for Boy’s State. If selected to attend, there are additional scholarship opportunities available. It is a wonderful program if your child has any interest in government or politics. My oldest son attended and he came home bursting with a wealth of information and experiences. Here are links to the Application and Program Flyer.

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Respectfully,

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Deannah Rae

Superintendent

drae@sau74.org

Curriculum and Instruction

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Good Evening Barrington Families!

I am so excited Spring is finally upon us here in New Hampshire and everyone is able to get outside and enjoy the weather and all the learning nature has to offer us!! The STEM Camp Interest Form was sent out earlier this week, click here if you need the Google Form again to complete for your child(ren). We are all so excited to be able to offer this opportunity once again this year and watch our students discover the love of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math!

During the month of May students will begin end of year testing for iReady and SAS. State tests (SAS) are used for accountability and to provide important information for program decision making, support for all learners, and ensuring quality instruction. Federal regulations stipulate all school districts must have 95% participation in the SAS testing each year. Please be on the lookout for further information and scheduling of the upcoming SAS testing from your child’s school.

Teachers in grades Kindergarten - 5th had two (2) full hours with Cheryl Tobey, our math consultant (and a Reveal Math author) from the Maine Math and Science Alliance, in April to learn more about best practices in math instruction and advanced discussions around our new Reveal Math programming. Cheryl is a wonderful asset to our district as we move forward in our implementation year. Select teachers are getting ready for their ELA Programming Pilot training in May for EL, Imagine Learning and HMH Into Reading/Into Literature. All materials have been delivered to the schools, Jeff DeLangie has uploaded all technology needs for students and teachers, and we are ready to learn! Our Professional Educator Evaluation Team has chosen a tool, PowerSchool Perform, in which to use for teacher observation and evaluation. This will allow the district to have consistent observations and data throughout the three (3) schools and sustain a culture of learning and growth.

Hoping everyone enjoys the weekend!

Sarah Rollins

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Sarah E. Rollins, PhD

Curriculum Coordinator

srollins@sau74.org

Student Services

Greetings Barrington Families,

Reminder that ESY paperwork should be returned ASAP if it has not already been. We will finalize plans when we return from vacation.

ESY information:

July 8, 2024-August 1, 2024

PK-K- 8:30-11:00

Grades 1-7: 8:30-11:30

I look forward to our continued collaboration to best support the students of Barrington.

Warm regards,

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Katie Kukesh

Director of Student Services

kkukesh@sau74.org

Technology

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Hello Barrington Families. My continuing series on navigating the Barrington School District website. This month's highlight is the Lunch Menu option.

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Where are the lunch menus?

From the main menu navigation on the DISTRICT main page, choose Student Services, then FreshPicks School Meals Menus.

Alternatively you can click the Cafe Services button under the Quick Links menu at the bottom of each school site's main page.

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Select the school.

The new updated FreshPicks site will require you to select a school.

The new menu will show meals for both breakfast and lunch for the entire month.

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I hope everyone has a restful spring break!

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Jeff DeLangie Sr.

Director of Technology

jdelangie@sau74.org

Facilities

Hello Barrington Families,

I think we have made it through another winter. In actuality it wasn’t that bad (except the last storm). Now we are off to cleaning up the grounds, and limbs from the storm. This will be a work in process.

We are working with the PTO and Tracy Ramsey on outdoor classrooms at BES. We will be adding playground mulch to playgrounds and bark mulch around the base of the trees throughout the district.

The fields are lined at BMS getting ready for spring sports.

Best,