Jerome Harrison School Principal: Shawn Parkhurst Board of Education Briefs – September 2010 o Kudos is extended to our teaching staff that spent hours during the month of August preparing their room for the arrival of parents and students; boxes were unpacked and rooms were prepared to creative a positive learning environment for our district’s youngest learners o Special thanks goes out to Marilyn and Gina in the main office for their endless hours of work spent during the summer to update bus information and assist parents and families in making a smooth transition to JHS; they have gone above and beyond o Our custodial staff is commended for their diligence in preparing our classrooms and common areas during the excessive heat this summer, often times working around the various activities that were housed at JHS o On August 26th, our two new teachers, Joseph Amodio and Nicole Hartt attended, along with their mentors, Susan Sandar and Aimee Aiken, the New Teacher Orientation; times was spent learning about Storytown with Alexis Christina on this day as well o Kindergarten teacher, Claudia Faughnan spent a day this summer along with Shawn Parkhurst interviewing for a kindergarten para; Trisha DeFranco was hired o Judy Bannon, Kate Fleming and Michelle Cook welcomed student teachers to their classrooms for the fall semester o On August 31st, students and families were welcomed to JHS during our OPEN HOUSE with ice cream being served by our PTO; attendance was outstanding with nearly 95% of our families in attendance o September 1st brought math professional development to JHS; teachers were introduced to MATH EXPRESSIONS, our math program and how to get started with this resource o Kindergarten parents and students were treated to a family pancake breakfast as part of our kindergarten orientation and open house on August 31st; students had a time to visit their room and tour the school while their parents listened to curriculum presentations from Mr. Parkhurst as well as their child’s teacher o Staff donated to the Veteran Angler charity group as part of our DRESS DOWN DAYS during the month of September o Jay Banks presented to our students on how to S.T.A.M.P. out bullying as part of our PTO Cultural Arts programs on September 7th o Staff members presented to our parents at our September PTO meeting on the topic of Responsive Classroom; sharing how the academic and social curriculum are equally important in the life of our K-2 children o Superintendent of Schools, Scott Schoonmaker, Director of Curriculu, Sara Querfeld, Director of Special Services, Suzanne Wright and Alexis Christina were in attendance at the opening of JHS on Thursday, September 2nd; assisting with all beginning of the day duties