Leadership Team UpdateDue to MCAS testing, the District Leadership Team has not met since the morning of our last school committee meeting.Mulready Principal Search Update The Mulready Principal Screening Committee chaired by Brian Reagan has been appointed. The committee is comprised of 19 members:
The screening team held its first meeting on Wednesday, May 20th at 6:00 p.m. in the Hudson High School Library. The Committee was charged with the task of identifying two to three qualified individuals who will be a good match for this critical position. The Committee began to develop a rating rubric to identify the most suitable applicants, as well as a protocol to score candidates after interviews. The Committee also reviewed survey results on desired characteristics of the next Mulready Principal. There were 42 responses to the survey that was sent to Mulready staff and families. A preliminary numerical review shows that the following five leadership characteristics were most important to respondents:
I hope to appoint the next Principal of Mulready Elementary on or about June 18th.
Finance and Operations BudgetPatty Lange and her staff are actively working on budget forecasts each week. This has taken a tremendous amount of time and effort, but we want to be able to provide the most accurate information that we can. We continue to experience shifts in special education costs, such as tuitions and contracted services that are resulting variation in each forecast. As we get closer to the end of the year, our forecasting of these costs is getting more accurate resulting in a more reliable forecast.Budget ForumWe will have a community budget forum on Monday, June 1st at 6:30 p.m. in the Hudson High School Mini-theater. This meeting will be preceded at 6:00 p.m. by a Friends of Hudson Public Schools Meeting. The community is invited to both. We are hoping that we will have a better understanding of what the Chapter 70 revenue from the State is, as well as a very recent forecast. We will then be able to update the community on what cuts may need to be made. Curriculum and Instruction UpdateProject Lead the Way Trade ShowThe 2nd Annual PLTW Trade Show was held on Wednesday, May 13, 2015 at Hudson High School. Students from all PLTW courses (Grades 5-12) presented projects showcasing material learned throughout the year. This year the Engineering Development and Design students presented their year-long project “A Better Zipper” in which they designed an alternative zipper. The team of students (Edj Andrews, Josh Joseph, Kyle Penniman, and Derek Hire) presented their project to a team of engineers (Mike Polia, Mike Kahn, and Sarah Maston). Thank you to PLTW Steering Committee for their support during the 2014-2015 school year and our PLTW teachers—Ryan Dailey, Rebekah Whitesel, Eric Ahearn, and Kate Cellucci.Superintendent’s Items of InterestJournalism Awards Freshman Dakota Antelman and senior Alex Schley were chosen to attend the Carole Remick New England High School Journalism Collaborative. They made it through the application process and two rounds of interviews before finding out last weekend that they were selected. They will spend one week in this free program working with other high school students in the area, as well as professionals from the Boston Globe. They will write and publish stories every day that week. It will be a very valuable experience for them. TAMY Award Nominations The TAMY Award program recognizes the extraordinary amount of work, creativity, and devotion that faculty and students pour into their high school theatrical productions. The program intends to celebrate the entire art of musical theatre: casts and crews, directors and designers and the great musical theatre works that inspire such devotion. (Retrieved from: http://mwcc.edu/tam/tamy/ 5/22/15.) The TAMY nominations have come out and I wanted to let you know that Hudson was nominated- and in some cases won- several awards!
I want to acknowledge and thank Kathleen McKenzie for her hard work and dedication to making the HHS Theatre Program as strong as it is. This is an outstanding recognition by adjudicators that view high school productions across Central Massachusetts. Superintendent’s Parent Advisory Team I held my second to last Parent Advisory Team meeting on 5/19/15. We enjoyed a lively discussion about summer reading in grades 9-12 when we were joined by Todd Wallingford Amazon Night As you know, in April, 29 students, 3 teachers and 2 media specialists traveled to the Peruvian Amazon. On the evening of Friday, May 22nd, students shared their stories and premiered the documentary filmed by Cameron Ciesluk while he accompanied them on this journey. Follow the link below for a glimpse of the documentary. We are very excited that this documentary will enable people to experience the trip and amazing experience that our students had. School Visits
EnrollmentAll enrollment numbers are up to date as of the writing of this report. They are unofficial numbers. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education collects snapshots of enrollment data three times per year October, March, and June. I will provide you with monthly enrollment numbers so that you can be aware of the amount of fluctuation that may or may not be occurring on a monthly basis.
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