NewBrook Elementary Principal s Report 2011-2012

Introduction As my first year as the NewBrook Elementary School Principal, I have been very impressed with every aspect of the NewBrook School community. I continue to be impressed with all of the students at NewBrook and how great they have been adjusting to all of the changes, including a new principal. I would also like to express my gratitude to the teachers at NewBrook who are the most dedicated teachers I have had the privilege to work with in my 18 years in education. We have already had a number of accomplishments and reasons to celebrate this year. NewBrook took first place in the Vermont State Spelling Bee and the students voted on a school mascot and colors. These are just two of the many accomplishments that are worth mentioning. As a school, we continue to move forward with technology initiatives throughout the school and allocate time and resources to enhance, align and improve on our current curriculum. Curriculum, Communication and Technology The teachers started off the school year by attending two full days of literacy workshops that will continue for another two days in January. This workshop will allow us to improve on curriculum alignment at NewBrook. In order to better prepare our students for the future as a school, we also continue to find ways to utilize technology around the school and in the classrooms to enhance instruction and communication. This year is the first year that every teacher has access to their own laptop. This has allowed teachers to incorporate and add technology to their teaching practices. Students also have access to laptops throughout the day with the expansion of an additional computer cart of 20 laptop computers to add to the existing 20. We have also spent a great deal of time improving our communication within the school to our parents and the community. Our school website is updated daily with celebrations, announcements, important dates and other important information. We have also updated the wireless capabilities throughout the school to make it more reliable and accessible. School Climate and Enrichment Programs School climate is a crucial component to any school because it drives so many different variables in a school. This year, we have already found ways to acknowledge students and teachers for their accomplishments, and have provided ways for parents and the community to be a part of the school on a regular basis. We initiated a student of the month award, a Falcon Award that recognizes students for random acts of kindness and improved effort, The Golden Apple Award, which is a teacher- peer recognition award that is passed on each month at faculty meetings, and we have a school sing at the end of each month where parents and members of the community are welcome to attend. This year s Twenty First Century Grant has

allowed us to offer a number of after school programs such as: Therapeutic Horseback Riding, Cooking, Homework Club, Karate , Year Book Club, Mad Science, Writing Club, Geo-Bee, Story Theatre, Print Making and Stamping, and Helping Fine feather Friend. The enrichment opportunities continue to grow each session. In addition to the many enrichment programs that are being offered after school, an important school enrichment program that was started last year by my predecessor Bruce Garrow was the lunch program. We plan on expanding the lunch program so that we can be self- sufficient and serve food out of our own kitchen while working with the Farm to School program. Budget/Capital Fund Updates y y y y Roof will be replaced over the 2012 summer. This is from the $125,000 in the current 2011 Capital Fund. The roof project was estimated around $90,000.
The boiler project is budgeted for $70,000 [35k FY12 & 35K FY13]

Decreased Library from 2.5 days a week to 1.5 days a week. Increased the Tech support from 1 day a week to 1 days a week to support the increase in technology in the school. Closing Statement

I would like to thank the NewBrook community for all of the support I have received as the new Principal. I would also like to encourage anyone from the community to take advantage of the opportunities that we offer to parents and community members to be a part of the school. NewBrook Elementary is proud of all of its accomplishments and progress that has been made during the first half of the school year, and will continue to move forward as a school to provide our students with a great education that the communities can be proud of. That is, an education that provides students with the essential skills for success in today s world, such as critical thinking, problem solving, communication and collaboration. The budget that is being proposed to you reflects all of these skills and many of the initiatives that we have started and will need to continue to support for next year. Please visit our website at newbrookschool.org or come visit us during a school sing to see all the great things that NewBrook has to offer. Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions. Thanks again for all of your support Sincerely,

Christopher A. Pratt