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2023 Principal's Report

January, 2023

On behalf of the students and staff of the Cambridge Elementary School, it is my pleasure to once again report to the larger Cambridge community on the goals and accomplishments of your outstanding school. Taking time to reflect on our goals and achievements is a valuable exercise for celebration and planning for the future. Every day, I am amazed by the incredible work ethic displayed by our distinguished staff and bright students as well as the compassionate community members who lend their talents and time to our efforts. Evidence of high expectations for all can be found behind every classroom and office door as we strive to ensure that the children of your community will be academically and emotionally ready for middle school and beyond. In this report I will highlight some of the exciting strategies, activities and projects occurring at CES to achieve this goal and how our school budget proposal for this coming year supports our efforts.

Stakeholders of CES, which includes our staff and the broader community, often rely on student assessment results to provide both a snapshot of the overall successes and challenges of our school wide programming along with individual student data which enables us to pinpoint instruction to help propel our students forward. In the spring of 2023, our students were tasked with demonstrating their skills via a new statewide assessment entitled “Cognia”. Despite the fact that the state’s rollout of this new assessment seemed extemporaneous to those tasked with its administration, our talented staff and resilient students rose to the challenge.  This assessment measured our student’s acquisition of math and language arts skills as compared to grade level standards in grades three through six and science skills in fifth grade. The state has not yet released individual schoolwide data to the public, however I am very pleased and proud to report to you that our school wide student results on these assessments far exceeded statewide results. Additionally, the results provided us with valuable information about specific needs of our students across all of the grade levels which ultimately informed our school budget proposal for 2024-2025. Despite the many obstacles faced by our students, community, and society as a whole, it is clear to me from this data and other assessment results that we examine, our students are thriving because of their adversity and hard work in conjunction with the efforts of our dedicated professionals, parents, and community members who highly value the importance of education.

Since the pandemic, our supervisory union has taken the time to closely examine our teaching practices to determine if changes are necessary. Teachers work closely with content experts and one another to familiarize themselves with the most recent scientifically based research and recommendations. As a result of this work, we have chosen a new phonics program that includes needed phonemic awareness instruction. We have shifted to using decodable text for our youngest students who are learning to read. Additionally, we now have a systematic scope and sequence for word study and phonics instruction across the grades that includes explicit instruction. Our school and supervisory union have also adopted new assessments to identify students' academic and social-emotional behavior needs faster, align the right interventions at the right time, and measure whether interventions are helping fill gaps in their skills and understanding of academic content. This is a mere snapshot of the important work taking place to improve our efforts to remedy learning loss caused by the pandemic. Our school budget proposal includes funding for teachers who provide academic interventions to our students regardless of any identified learning disabilities. The CES staff believes that this work continues to be our primary responsibility now and into the future.

Our efforts to prepare our students for the future include many opportunities for our students to develop healthy social and personal habits. Social skill development is taught on a regular basis through our guidance programming. Students are taught strategies on how to respectfully interact with one another, self-regulate, and problem solve. Responsive Classroom and Restorative Practices form the backbone of our approach to creating a healthy school climate. In order to have an equitable learning environment, everyone must feel safe and supported. In order to have an equitable, safe and supportive school climate, relationships must be strong. Our approaches focus on developing relationships, maintaining relationships and restoring relationships. This builds empathy, trust, and understanding and authentically creates a positive school climate, a sense of community and a sense of belonging. Our students are the beneficiaries of the heartfelt care provided to them by people who take the time to get to know our students as individuals including their likes, dislikes, fears, and dreams. We intervene when students are exhibiting feelings of sadness, frustration, or hopelessness. It is very common to see our staff members, no matter what their position, spending time with individual students to create connections in an effort to build their confidence and experience the feeling that someone truly values them. As a school, we are deeply committed to the idea that partnership and shared responsibility are essential for a truly effective educational experience and a positive school climate. To achieve this end, our school budget proposal includes a variety of mental health based supports available to all of our students.

I would be remiss not to address the ongoing challenges experienced by the Cambridge community, and our surrounding communities. This summer’s flooding event followed by additional flooding and unprecedented wind storms this winter have repeatedly tested the strength of this community. Our school and the larger communities' willingness to support their own was palpable over the past few months as people came together to step up, serve, and support their neighbors. Throughout my tenure at CES, this level of stewardship has always existed in this small town and it is one of the many reasons I continue to love coming to school every day. In a changing world with extremes around every corner, I am increasingly concerned about how our students view their future and their abilities to influence positive change for people and our planet. This year we have formed a partnership with the Lamoille County Conservation District to access their Junior Naturalist programming. This program is designed for children of all ages to learn more about the Natural World of Vermont that we live in. Each month they explore a new topic, ranging from wildlife to farming and forestry. With the support of our local PTA and the Cambridge Conservation Commission, we will be welcoming back the Four Winds environmental education program. With a goal to make our infrastructure more sustainable for the future, in the past year we were able to leverage incentives from Efficiency Vermont and some boiler supply chain good luck to make an investment in decarbonizing the central heating system. One of the two oil boilers that provide hot water to the classroom unit ventilators, radiators, and air handlers was replaced with Advanced Wood Heating (AWH) pellet boilers. This new system will offset up to 90% of the fuel oil that the school was purchasing, utilize a renewable heating fuel that is a byproduct of the local forestry industry, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce and stabilize annual fuel costs for the school.  Utilizing town ARPA funds, we will be installing two electric vehicle charging stations in our school’s parking area. I am thrilled that our school is in position to make these important changes which are concrete examples to our students that we can make a difference.

Our students are so fortunate to have regular access to a variety of enrichment programming offered to them by our staff and community. Fifth and sixth graders serve as technology ambassadors allowing them opportunities to use their technology skills to help others and the school while also learning to use different kinds of applications and equipment. Students can be seen reading to adult and canine volunteers through our hallways on a daily basis. Our PTA organizes family friendly events and raises funds for these and other student activities. The Cambridge Rotary dedicates time and effort toward raising funds for our very popular winter wellness program while also taking time to read their favorite books to our students. Cambridge residents contribute their knowledge and expertise to the Cambridge history project in third grade. The Cambridge fire department teaches our students about fire prevention and response. Junior Iron Chef continues this year with almost all of our sixth graders participating. Various after school clubs are available to our students including drama, games, and much more. Conversely, I continue to teach our sixth graders the importance of volunteering through our work at the North Country Animal League and at the monthly Cambridge community lunches. Our students are learning the benefits of serving their community from all of you. Thank you to everyone who has contributed their time and talents to our students. If you are not already affiliated with our volunteer programs in some way, I encourage you to contact us to find out how your talents could benefit our students.

Despite all that we do at CES, we recognize that the cost of education is expensive. Our school budget was created with fiscal conservatism in mind as we sought efficiencies, based our staffing on our projected student enrollment, and continue to keep a careful eye on the bottom line. Based upon our current enrollment, next year we plan to combine our present Kindergarten and first grade classes which consist of three classes, into two classes for first and second grade, therefore eliminating two full time classroom teacher positions.

In closing, I would once again like this opportunity to thank our tireless, dedicated employees for their daily commitment to the children of this community. As you can see, this community is a shining example of a place that understands the importance of caring for its members even when faced with the most difficult conditions. I remain deeply grateful for the fact that I am a member of this school community. Together we are achieving so much!

Respectfully Submitted,
Mary Anderson