In the Laconia elementary schools, we opened this year with an enormous advantage over previous years. As part of our district administration's shrewd cost-cutting measures last spring, we were able to cut a number of staff positions, while creating one new and extremely valuable position in the process. This new staffing pattern makes us even more efficient and even more effective in all that we are working toward as part of our district's school improvement efforts.
What? This past summer, a long-time friend and devoted staff member of the Laconia Elementary Schools, Mrs. Gail Bourn (also an Adjunct Professor of Education at Plymouth State University), won appointment as our school district's first 'Academic Coordinator of Teaching and Learning' (ACTL, "Actyl" for short). Our ACTL is a full-time administrative-level staff position shared amongst our district's three elementary schools. Gail's maintains her office and spends two full days at WHS, using her other three days of the week working with the teachers and principals at Elm Street and Pleasant Street Schools.
So What? Mrs. Bourn's impact on our school improvement efforts and our overall school effectiveness in just her first two months on the job cannot be overstated. Gail began her ACTL tenure conducting powerful mulri-day teacher training institutes in such areas as Teaching Reading Comprehension, the Writing Process, and Kindergarten and Grade 1 Curriculum and Instructional Improvement. Since then, she has conducted trainin as part of our school opening professional development modules on Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), and developed and facilitated the PLC process in each of our elementary schools. She has worked collaboratively with grade level teams to develop their annual SMART goals that will guide their professional development over the course of the coming school year. She has also coordinated our visits and professional development in our work with Professor Mahesh Sharma (mathematics), continued her work with our Kindergarten and Grade 1 Teams in ongoing program development, holds seats on our Laconia Improvement Team, Humanities Council, and Mathematics & Science Council. She is a member of our school district administrative team, and has provided ready and well-qualified guidance to our district elementary principals in all affairs related to curriculum, instruction, and assessment. In addition to all of this, she has been accessible to staff in each of our buildings and conducts regular meetings for teachers to support them in their work individually or in small groups. Oh, and Gail does a lot more for us, too. Much more than I probably know.
Then What? Mrs. Bourn will continue her work with our school's Professional Learning Communities, as well as our Mathematics and Literacy Improvement Initiatives. Specifically, she will likely work with our school-based improvement teams in analyzing student assessment data as it becomes available to us (AIMSWeb, NWEA-MAP, and NECAP), strategies for intelligent and deliberate integration of Mahesh Sharma techniques into our Everyday Math Program instruction, and fostering further improvement of our literacy program to include the conduct of more efficient and effective Readers and Writers Workshops across all grade levels in our school.
Now What? Mrs. Gail Bourn is a warmly welcomed member of our school staff. Her efforts have complemented our work at every turn. Her experience, expertise, organization and communication skills, as well as her sensibilities about what our school should and can be, have alreay proven to be enormous assets to our staff and students. We are a better school for Gail's membership, and the sky is the limit on the work we will do together for the benefit of our school system and its students.
Come in to Woodland Heights sometime soon, and ask to meet our school community's latest addition: Mrs. Gail Bourn, Laconia School District Academic Coordinator of Teaching and Learning -- Elementary. Her warmth and welcoming nature will put you at ease and help you to better understand all that we are doing to further improve the educational experiences of your child at our very own Woodland Heights School.
