Monday, June 20, 2016

Happy Summer!

Happy Summer!  Below is a quick recap of key items from over the school year. 
See you in August - First Day for Students is August 31st! 


Recognition:  In case you missed this piece of good news along the way, during 2015-2016 MERSD was ranked 16th in the state by Boston Magazine, and MERHS was ranked as a gold medal school in the 2016 US News & World Report Best High Schools Issue.  MERHS National Rank is 312 / National STEM Rank is 208 / State Rank is 12

FY17 Budget & Memorial Feasibility Study Approved:  At the spring town meetings the residents of Essex and Manchester gave near unanimous support to both our FY17 Budget proposal and our request to conduct the Memorial School Feasibility Study.  With a solid budget in place for next year, we are in a good position to continue our work in balancing achievement and whole child needs.

Program & Department Reviews:  This year the School Committee heard presentations and updates on the district programs and departments listed below.  Next year the focus will be on spotlighting the individual school programs.
Singing Sands Sister City Initiative:  Through Caroline Kennedy, the Memorial School was connected with Kyotango a city in Japan that also has a Singing Beach.  Over the year the elementary schools exchanged letters and gifts.  This summer we will be welcoming our new friends from Japan for a cultural exchange visit.  They will be visiting Manchester, Essex and Cape Ann to visit singing beach and to learn about tourism in the region.   The hope is to develop a long-term partnership.

New Hornets:  Welcome to Julie DeRoche, Director of Curriculum & Instruction Tech. & Joanne Maino, Middle School Principal.  They will be on site after the July 4th weekend.  Watch your email for open office hours and a meet and greet.  I know they’d love to meet as many people as possible as they transition into their new roles.
 
New Website:  Thanks to the hard work of Technology Team, this summer we will be rolling out a new modern MERSD website complete with mobile app.