The Keene Sentinel had an article about the Monadnock Marauders using the MRHS football fields. Fine and dandy, except for the various things that make me cringe.
As for the contract ordeal, he said, “I think that perhaps there was just some misunderstanding by some of the people on the school board. … (They) weren’t as [...]
A quiet week.
Wednesday’s paper reported that at Tuesday’s board meeting MC2 would be sticking around for awhile. Mr. Pickering’s determination to reduce the cost of the program to the same as any other student in the district really removes the last of the objections possible.¹
I’m also rather pleased by something else Mr. Pickering said—that [...]
My hunch that this would be a better prom than some was pretty much on target.
Part of that was the work put in by Colleen Mason, Andy Harrisson, and Monique Giroux. Everything, from the key-chain tickets to the decorations showed a great deal of care. It was obvious that considerable heart and time went into [...]
About a month ago, I reported that Miss Katrina Baumgartner and Miss Natale Novak had made it to the semi-finals of the speech content.
That semi-final round of the District Four Way Test Speech contest was held May 3 at the Henniker NH Community building. Twenty four young men and women participated from across District 7870 [...]
In case it wasn’t clear, MRHS has a number of exceptional educators. Most of us knew that already, but it’s nice when it’s recognized by others outside of the school.
In this case, Mr. Andy Harrison. Aside from being an astoundingly engaging teacher¹, Andy was also one of (if not the) driving force behind the Law [...]
I’ve been talking about the school board situation—and the changes—for a few posts now, and there’s no doubt that it’s going to get worse before it gets any better.
Kristen Goodenough was one of the “good” schoolboard members—one of the ones who listened, tried to find solutions, and worked to make things better for everyone—instead of [...]
I’ve mentioned more than once that I love Doc Week. On the other hand, I liked it a great deal more last year, when there were three teachers to handle the kids. Trying to squeeze it all into four days, in addition to a trek to Hans Schepker’s studio, was not at all fun.
So there [...]
Monday I managed to make it to a school board meeting, (as promised) which is always fun.
There was a host of good news happening. Beth Audette, one of my former teachers from way back when, received a $5000 grant for technology in the district. Not a bad way to help out students in the [...]
The Town of Sullivan dropped its lawsuit against the district. Now we spend the funds which have been going to lawyers on education—a novel thought, and I hope it stays that way.
MRHS held its first-ever lockdown drill this Wednesday. It went well.
I’ve been a wee bit concerned about security at MRHS ever since a student [...]
I was really enjoying the little hiatus from blogging about politics I’ve been able to enjoy since the special election. The last few weeks have been wonderful without the sensation there was a sword hanging over my head—and the head of everyone I know and work with, the head of every kid I see, the [...]
More tidbits of information:
1. Dr. Dassau will be on the Cynthia Georgiana radio program tomorrow morning from 9am until 11. If you want to hear it from the “horse’s mouth” and hear not only about the good things that are going on in the district but also the truth about the contract, that’s a pretty [...]
From the Sentinel:
Meanwhile, inaccurate information could be found this week on the other end of the spectrum, as evidenced by a posting on the Monadnock School Taxpayers Association Web site.
Taxpayers association President Richard E. Bauries has repeatedly declined to give the names of the group’s members for fear, he said, that their businesses could be [...]
As is usual with our local group of ne’er-do-wells, their little list of complains and whines appeared today, and probably in district mail-boxes, and it’s full of deceptions and mischaracterizations, half-truths and propaganda designed to terrify people into voting “no” on the contract.
I don’t even know where to begin. “The Wall Street Journal reports that [...]
The first few days of school are usually an indicator of how the year will go. A good start can make a world of difference—establishing good norms and the right tone means that problems won’t appear at all, or if they do, they’ll appear in muted form.¹
More than any year that I’ve seen, this has [...]
It’s always an amazing thing, getting back to school from the summer break.¹
Walking through the front doors of the high school, it becomes immediately clear how much the building and grounds, maintenance, and full-year staff do. The roof might still be crawling with men trying to finish before the school year starts, but Mr. Mitchell [...]
Anyone who has followed district politics for long enough, especially those online, knows that opinion seems divided. For every effort made to share the truth about what’s going on, for every position, there’s always another voice dissenting.
There is nothing wrong in this; we do not need to be unanimous in order to be a community. [...]
A couple of brief points from and about today’s Deliberative Session.¹
One, the Monadnock Taxpayer’s Association continued their immensely appalling attempt to prevent any improvement to the schools or district by seeking to block the special election for a third time on Thursday.
Let me say that again: Judge Tucker was obliged to rule for a third [...]
Judge Tucker is rapidly becoming one of my favorite jurists—right up there with Atticus Finch. I appreciate any legal mind capable of seeing through bull and to the truth, right through obstructionism to what is right and proper.
In addition to acknowledging the obvious danger the current situation poses to the children and the district, he [...]
There’s a funny thing that happens when you talk to an educator who doesn’t know anything about MC2 and the fights in the district and the constant attacks. They get this weird look on their face like they’ve just seen the light itself, and then, I usually get asked, “What private school is this?”
I really [...]
Judge Tucker, the jurist in charge of deciding whether there was an emergency in the district that warranted a special election, has agreed to a special meeting for Tuesday, September 9. That Tuesday will be the ballot vote to approve teacher’s contracts for the coming four years.
For those just now joining our story, teachers in [...]
