The Principal's Report 2008
At Dummerston School, we
are proud of our students, teachers and community. Every year we work hard to balance educational standards with new
instructional strategies in order to provide the kind of results that the
community has come to expect from Dummerston students. The faculty and staff look upon each of our
160 pupils as unique individuals. Our school community makes every effort to
help each child build a strong foundation for academic, social and emotional
growth. This Annual Report is one of many documents designed to inform the
public about curriculum, student achievement and/or school improvement progress
as we continually strives to expand learning opportunities and provide the best
education possible for our students.
The district offers a challenging curriculum to Dummerston students based on Vermont’s Framework of Standards and
Learning Opportunities. Vermont developed and implemented a common educational
assessment tool in collaboration with New Hampshire and Rhode Island for grades
3-8 called the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP). Three years of testing data (not including
2008 results) confirm Dummerston's commitment to education. Eighty percent of our students were found to
be proficient or better in reading (70% statewide), and sixty-three percent
were proficient or better in math, which is equal to the statewide
results. Fourth and eighth graders took
the Science NECAP test in May of 2008.
The first year of science assessment results were released in October
2008. Fifty percent (50%) of our fourth
graders were proficient of better, which was slightly better than the state
average of 48%, and 60% of our eighth graders were proficient or better, which
ranked Dummerston School second highest in the state behind Dorset, VT. Dummerston School also assesses student
performance in additional subject areas and at additional grade levels using a
wide variety of tools to measure and report progress and outcomes. Report cards, progress reports, teacher
observations, various curricular unit tests, as well as the use of portfolios
(a folder of children's work), anecdotal records (a log of teacher
observations), and writing assessments are also utilized.
Standard
In May 2008, the Dummerston
School GeoBee Team won the VT
Principals' State GeoBee Competition in Northfield, VT. They competed against other schools from
around the state-in twelve rounds-on topics relating to five central themes of
world geography: location, place, relationships
within places, movement and regions.
Congratulations go to the 2008 GeoBee Team: Joanna Brown, Hannah Reichel, Sam Grubinger, Theresa Glabach and
Kayla Wood.
We wish to thank the Dummerston
Recreation Board, specifically the Playground Committee and all their support
helpers for their outstanding efforts in providing Dummerston School with a newly renovated playground! Thanks to their hard work, combined with a generous donation from
Entergy Vermont/VT Yankee, Dummerston students started the school year with a
thoroughly scrubbed and refurbished playground in addition to some exciting new
playground equipment. The Recreation
Board also replaced our aging storage shed with a newly constructed concession
stand, which includes additional storage space for the school. We are certainly grateful to everyone who
donated their time, expertise and energy to complete these playground
projects.
In September and October each
year we elect, nominate and/or appoint our student leaders for the year. This year's Student Council Executive Board
members are Eric Foss-President, Natasha Clark-Vice President, Shelby
Goddard-Secretary and Sophie Finnerty-Treasurer. Student Council members organize Spirit Weeks, raise money and
run food drives over the holiday season.
Our Eighth Grade Class elected a three-person Leadership Council to lead
the Class of 2009. They are Theresa
Glabach, Galen Finnerty, Hannah Reichel.
They organize school dances and oversee the Class Trip and Yearbook as
well as help organize the Memorial Day Observance and the Recognition Ceremony
in the spring. We would also like to
congratulations this year’s ASSET Team members: Maddy Rollins, Kara Piergentili, Lydia Garland, Michael Cioffi
and Jesse Brown. Team members will
represent Dummerston School at this year’s Middle School Youth Assets
Retreat. Their goal is to work in
cooperation with our Student Council and Eighth Grade Leadership Team to enrich
our school community so that all students feel a sense of ownership and
responsibility for Dummerston School’s success.
In September, Dummerston
School, once again, hosted two women Judges (and two Interpreters) from
Afghanistan. Connie Woodberry was their
host during their stay in Dummerston.
On the day of their visit, students had the opportunity to ask the
Judges questions and share information about our school and the programs we
offer. Before the Judges left, the
eighth graders gave each of them a soccer ball, which all the students signed. We are so grateful to Connie Woodberry for
giving all of us at Dummerston School the opportunity to connect with these
incredible women during their travel through Vermont.
We had a huge turn out at
this year’s Open House and despite the fact that we had been in
school less than a month; parents had the opportunity to enjoy the fine student
artwork on the walls and in the hallways.
In November, Dummerston students had their first public show at the Whetstone
Studio for the Arts during Gallery Walk. The
exhibit provided a multicultural perspective of student work using a variety of
visual media including clay, photography, watercolor and computer-aided
design.
Again, this year we offered
After School activities. MathCounts,
a national coaching and competition program that promotes math enrichment for
Middle School students, and Mad Science (which began in January)
were back as well as a newly formed Spelling Bee Club that will
certainly be ready for competition next year.
In addition, students are also involved in sewing, hiking and beading
again this year. If you are interested
in running an after school program, please let us know.
This year, Dummerston School
has contracts with six Preschools in the area, Hilltop, Winston Prouty,
Neighborhood Schoolhouse, Brattleboro Nursery, Timson Hill and the West Bee
Nursery School. Dummerston toddlers
enrolled in these preschools are included on our child count and provide
revenue to both the preschools and to Dummerston School. If you are thinking about a preschool
experience for you son or daughter, please consider one of our contracted
preschools.
The Aspire Program, which
began in September 2008, has a total of 16+ registered students. Lindsay Scholl is the Program Coordinator
and Melanie Murphy, a senior at BUHS (and former Dummerston School student), is
her assistant. By all accounts, our new
addition is running smoothly and we are so pleased to be able to offer this
program for Dummerston School families.
As a reminder - the Aspire runs all day during vacations times.
Tune in each morning at 8:45
a.m. to hear the 5th Grade Weather Report from Dummerston School
on WTSA (FM 96.7). Each week, student
Reporters are listed on our website, www.DummerstonSchool.org.
The Parents, Teachers and Friends’ Organization (PTFO) has continued to
work together as a group throughout 2008. They have organized many fundraising
activities to help Dummerston School purchase technology for our School Lunch
Program. They have also sponsored a
variety of social activities for the school and the community. Patty Walior and
Lavon Butts will be stepping aside at the end of this school year. We want to thank Patty and Lavon for their
commitment to the Organization over the years.
The school has certainly benefited from their energy and support and we
wish them well.
In conclusion, I want to thank the teachers, staff, students, parents and
members of the Dummerston School Board for their continued support throughout
2008. It has been an extremely busy year, with many goals accomplished. We are
grateful to the parents and families who have actively supported the school
through their involvement
in numerous social and fundraising events and to the many who have volunteered their time and talents to improve the
Dummerston School community. We are
very grateful for all that you do to make this school such a wonderful
place. We also want to acknowledge our
students who make us proud in every aspect of their education. The accolades they receive are hard earned
and well deserved.