Photo: koratmember

I’d like to thank everyone who participated in our DESE audit this week.  The interviews included administrators, School Committee members, teachers, parents, and students.  The activities included reviewing policies, documents, and procedures as well as visiting a total of 75 classrooms in all six buildings.  My Executive Secretary, Nicole Markel did an excellent job coordinating the many meetings in this very ambitious schedule.  As our DESE team offered a brief summary of their findings on Thursday afternoon, I appreciated the positive feedback and the challenges we have yet to face.  Following a year of many audits and reviews, we are getting very comfortable being studied and have gained an honest look at the effectiveness of our work through our own reflection and the outside review.

Being under the microscope is healthy; critical friends help us grow; and a commitment to change with openness to new horizons will take us far in our continued desire to be a more effective and respected school district.

I’m proud of our work.  I’m also proud of our restlessness with our status quo. I’m proud of the way we advocate for children and the many who are less likely to advocate for themselves.  I’m proud we are passionate about educating the whole child.  I’m proud that we expect the very best from ourselves and our community; and that we do this in a time of budget setting, financial decisions, and the formation of a new District Improvement Plan.

After all, the general public school student is from a family who trusts us and depends on us to make decisions in the best interest of their child’s learning. The students who arrive each morning have the confidence that we have created a school with high quality teachers who thoughtfully design effective lessons.  The families depend on the decision makers to be creative in supporting experiences for their children so they can be engaged in something new and exciting, so they will find learning to be fun, so they will grow socially and intellectually, and so they will value their experience in public school so much, that they will continue to be appreciative and supportive of our work into their adulthood and when the next generation comes to us ready to learn.

These are the thoughts I keep in mind at times like these while planning and budgeting for the future.

Sincerely,

Brian L. Salzer, Ed.S.
Superintendent

Photo by africa

I would like to begin by thanking the extra efforts of Nathan Ziegler, Director of Special Education and Mark Prince, Director of Academic Effectiveness who have carved time out of their busy schedules to offer an administrative presence to Leeds Elementary while Principal Joseph Smith has been out enjoying time with his wife and new baby boy.  Mark and Nathan have both been available to guide and resolve a number of issues for students, parents, and staff.  In addition, Brandon Abbott, who serves as lead teacher has also been on-call daily for administrative support.  Joseph will return on Monday February 6th.

As our students are entering a new semester, I too, feel like we have turned the corner in our year and have a new direction for our efforts.  I feel the Entry Plan days are far behind us as we now focus on:  (1) building our new District Improvement Plan, (2) developing a draft budget for FY13, (3) preparing for our DESE audit to begin on Monday, (4) initiating a new and exciting technology plan, (5) learning about our new Educator Evaluation Tool/Process, and (6) engaging in our final mid-year evaluation goal meetings with our Administrative Leadership Team (ALT).  I’ll address each of these briefly.

Last Tuesday’s retreat allowed ALT and School Committee a 4 ½ hour opportunity to work together, to hear each others’ passions and ideas, and to strengthen relationships while building our District Improvement Plan. Annie Thompson, Clerk to the School Committee is working on typing up Draft I in a format that is easy to read and work with as we continue to refine and fine tune.  Our next steps are: to prioritize the goals with ALT, to share the information with School Councils who will also have the opportunity to voice their opinion on the priorities, and to bring this back in draft form to School Committee for the March meeting.

Following Thursday evening’s Budget and Policy meeting, Business Manager Mark McLaughlin and I have a bit of homework to develop the Draft FY13 Budget in the next two weeks.  I am excited to begin this process and to match our priorities with our budget dollars for next year.  We recognize we are building this budget without an accurate final dollar amount from the City, but we will make a good faith effort to build a reasonable budget with the understanding that changes will need to be made throughout the spring.  The following timeline was agreed:

We will have a draft budget ready by Feb. 17.
Principals and School Councils will discuss their budget priorities during their February meetings.
I will meet with ALT to review the draft.
The Budget & Property subcommittee will meet to discuss the draft budget on Monday February 27th at 5:30 at JFK Principal’s Conference Room.
The joint School Councils/Budget & Property subcommittee meeting will be held on March 1 from 6:00-7:30 at JFK. There will be an introduction followed by a 10-minute presentation from each school.

Our DESE Auditors will arrive Monday February 6th and will be with us throughout the week.  They will engage in a series of interviews and workshops with their team, our teachers, administrative team, and so on to take an analytical look at our system, practices, and policies.  We all welcome this audit and look at it as a way to have a set of “critical friends” help us to improve. Unfortunately, it is my understanding that their results and report usually take one year or longer to produce.

Friday, Technology Director Bill Dornbusch coordinated a committee to work with a technology planning facilitator to draft our new technology plan. They worked at the high school from 9-3 and I am really looking forward to putting their energy and ideas to work immediately.

Friday afternoon, I attended the Connecticut Valley Superintendent’s Round Table event in Holyoke where we heard from the Lt. Governor and the Executive Director of M.A.S.S. The main topic was the new Educator Evaluation Tool/System.  The entire state is working on its implementation and the important information sharing and training that has to happen now in order for us to use it in September.  Mark Prince and I will discuss this in more detail at School Committee next Thursday.  Our ALT team had an introduction last week and our Union officials and teachers are also working on our committee.  NASE leadership is charged to assist us in the training of the teachers and to help draft an addendum to our Collective Bargaining Agreement prior to next September.

We are nearing the final ALT mid-year evaluation goals meetings.  These should be complete by the end of next week.  It is wonderful to sit down with each administrator one-on-one and hear the progress we are making in our schools.  The new initiatives and new School Improvement Plans are assisting us in measurable progress in student learning.  I’m excited to get to the end of the year so we can more accurately document our students’ progress.

Sincerely,

Brian L. Salzer, Ed.S.

Superintendent

Photo by:Grant Cochrane

Following the Entry Plan presentations, the School Committee and Administrative Leadership Team met to discuss the creation of the District Improvement Plan.  The group worked to develop a comprehensive preK-12 mission around “Learning” and goal setting in the following three areas:

(1.) Instruction and Academics

(2.) Arts, Music, Enrichment, and Activities

(3.) Technology and Innovation
Aligning this process with the creation of the School Improvement Plans, the ideas were developed and measurable goals were set under each category to create a well developed draft of our District Improvement Plan.

On Thursday January 26th, I attended the MASS mid-winter meeting along with Director of Academic Effectiveness Mark Prince and Director of Special Education Nathan Ziegler. The key note speaker was Alan November who is a world renowned instructional technology expert. He offered many suggestions on using technology in the classroom and reminded us to focus on the learning process more than on the tool or the answers to problems. One of his many highlights was a demonstration of a website that answers all mathematical questions and shows the details of the solutions. www.wolframalpha.com If you’re interested, click on this link, type in any math problem and try it. The point being that we have all the answers, facts, and information available to our students within seconds. There is no longer a need to teach kids to find the answer to an equation, but rather to teach them how and when to apply the knowledge to real world situations. I’m looking forward to sharing more of this with our School Committee members and Administrative Leadership Team including the idea of having kids publish their work for the world online or through youtube under the direction of their teacher, rather than publishing it for just one person, their teacher.

Congratulations to Sandy Donah who recently completed defending her dissertation and will receive her Ed.D. from A.I.C. in May. Today, she accepted a new position as Director of Pupil Services in Hartford Public Schools and will begin February 27. Her last day with us will be February 24th. I am very excited for her. This is a wonderful and well deserved next step in her career.

Sincerely,

Brian L. Salzer, Ed.S.
Superintendent

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I greatly appreciate my new role and home in this wonderful school system and have enjoyed the first six months on the job observing classrooms, meeting so many of you, engaging in discussions about teaching and learning, and building my Entry Plan for the district.

One of my goals for 2012 is to increase the amount of communication and information sharing within our system.  Beginning in January, the Superintendent’s Blog will contain pictures, memos, and updated communication from me to our educational community.  You may have also noticed that our District Website has a new look.  We are working on confirming that all existing domains will point to the new site.  You can also add the new site (see below) to your Bookmarked pages to speed the process.  The website is a work in progress and will be tweaked over the next few months as we work to provide accurate information, user-friendly helpful links and social networking connections with Twitter and Facebook.  We appreciate your patience as things rolls out.  In addition, I will have presented my Entry Plan at the January 12th School Committee Meeting and at each of the six schools for our employees.  The plan, in its entirety, is available on the Superintendent’s page on the district website.  www.northampton-k12.us 

Student learning is our number one priority.  Our educators who work in the schools are key components in a student’s learning and our ability to provide quality classroom teaching is our greatest asset.  We have accomplished much with our students during the first five months of school.  I will continue to motivate our teaching staff to keep the momentum, to keep challenging ourselves to make a positive impact on a child’s learning, and to encourage our students to achieve at higher levels.

Thank you for your continued involvement in your child’s educational growth.  I am looking forward to building relationships and strengthening bridges for communication, learning, and listening to the needs of the community and our students.

Sincerely,

Brian L. Salzer, Ed.S.

Superintendent

Upcoming meetings have been scheduled as follows:

Special School Committee and Administrative Leadership Team Retreat:  January 31, 2012 4:00pm-8:30pm at the Conference Center in Smith College

Topic:  District Improvement Plan

Budget and Property Sub-Committee Meeting:

February 2, 2012 5:00pm-7:00pm at the JFK Principal’s Conference Room

Topic:  Budget

School Committee Meeting

February 9, 2012 7:15pm at the JFK Community Room

Staff at RK Finn Ryan Road School report that the systems of Student Support Teams and Tiered Instruction have been implemented and are working well.  Students have been supported through the team process since September with about half of them being reviewed more than once.  The process identifies areas of concern, sets goals and plans targeted interventions, which are provided in a variety of ways.  Less than half of these students have been referred eventually to Special Education to date.

Math Coaches at RK Finn Ryan Road School have been actively supporting math instruction at the school.  They helped plan and supported a series of four parent information nights in the fall.  In December they attended a conference at which they developed a plan to support the implementation of the new 2011 Massachusetts Standards in Mathematics.  They have also begun a series of after school support meetings with staff members focusing on such topics as “How can we ensure that all learners are actively included in math discussions?”

Fifth graders at RK Finn Ryan Road School are embarking on a unit of study in which they combine fractions, decimals and percents.  By the end of this unit, students will be able to mentally convert between these three representations of rational numbers and use those conversions in problem-solving situations.

NHS

We have 4 National Merit Scholarship Program Semi-finalists: Louis Gaudet, Nathan Ogulewicz, Holly Rutledge, Aerin Thomson.

NHS is pleased to introduce our new website launched January 3, 2012. Please take a look at it and give us some feedback. Visit us @ hamphigh.org

We are finishing off the sophomore classes this semester with a Harlem Renaissance project which has students working in small groups creating a power point presentation about artists, poets and other authors, and musicians who are known as Harlem Renaissance artists and their contribution to American culture.  Students will present their power points the last couple of days of class. This is in conjunction with reading a number of Harlem Renaissance poets and two prominent Harlem Renaissance writers, Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God and Richard Wright’s Uncle Tom’s Children.

Three years ago, when JFK adopted its new Connected Math Project (CMP), teachers and administrators at JFK and NHS began collaboration to vertically align the two schools’ mathematics curricula. The focal point of that work was to analyze the two schools’ curricula in order to eliminate any redundancies and see whether it would be possible to shift a majority of the topics covered in NHS’ two-semester Algebra 1 course over to JFK for all students, in order to increase opportunity for more students to take a more mathematically rigorous course of study at NHS in their junior and senior years. In the current system, students at JFK take a test at the end of 6^th grade which determines whether they go on to complete the CMP 6 – 8 curriculum or whether they will go into an accelerated 7/8 CMP class in 7^th grade, followed by the equivalent of NHS’ two-semester Algebra 1 course in 8^th grade. Currently, it is only the approximately forty students in this accelerated program who are able to take AP Calculus in their junior year, while students completing CMP 6 – 8 are able to take AP Calculus as seniors.

The work of this vertical team of teachers and administrators has included analysis of the new state curricular and Common Core frameworks, and of student achievement data from these first three years of implementation of CMP 6 – 8 at JFK. The culmination of this analysis is a recommendation to shift the assessment from the end of 6^th grade to the end of 8^th grade, so that all JFK students complete CMP 6 – 8, a curriculum designed to be taught in its entirety to heterogeneous classes, with support available for those who need it and opportunities for enrichment available for those who desire it. The assessment would allow teachers to identify those students who would still benefit from a two-semester Algebra 1 course at NHS, those who are prepared for a consolidated, one-semester Algebra 1 course, and those prepared to bypass Algebra 1 altogether and begin with Geometry at NHS. This shift in the timing of the assessment would mean that instead of having approximately forty students a year who are eligible to take AP Calculus as juniors, we would now have as many as two hundred students eligible to take it, and that students going into honors courses at NHS would have a much stronger foundation upon which to build. Additionally, it would create room in the schedule at NHS to offer both a greater variety and a greater number of sections of advanced math classes. We see this change as being in the best interests of all of our students.

On Saturday January 7th 15 members of the Northampton Brobotics (the Northampton FIRST Robotics Team) met with 6 local engineers and students from Hampshire College to hear about the challenge presented to us in the 21st First FRC competition.  This year, the robot has the challenge of getting small foam basketballs into 4 baskets hung at different heights.  A secondary challenge involves being able to balance our robot on a ramp in the middle of the court.  After hearing about the competition we spent the rest of the day planning strategy and getting ready to build.
Students in FIRST ROBOTICS get to work with professional engineers, college students and NHS faculty while engaging in science, engineering and technology challenges. Besides the technical challenges of building the robot, the students are also growing in self confidence, communication and leadership.
Over the next 6 weeks the students will meet every day after school and all day on Saturdays to design, test and build their robot.  On March 8th we will take the robot (named Paul by the students) to WPI to participate in a regional competition.  There we will compete at least 10 times over two days.
This project is the most authentic learning experience that some of these students have ever had the opportunity to be involved with.  They are focused and motivated in ways that they are not during the regular school day.

JFK

Student Diversity Workshop

On January 17th and 18th, The Student of Color Alliance and the Civil Rights team will attend a two day diversity workshop called BRIDGES, Bridging the Gaps that Separate People. Five students from each grade will work together to discuss issues of diversity and discrimination and also develop a project to bring back to the greater JFK community of students and teachers. This year we will also be joined by five students and two teachers from the NHS SOCA group who will build relationships with our group and create a project for their own school. This year the program is sponsored by the NEF.

Last year, twenty different SOCA/CRTstudents attended this workshop and discussed issues of identity and race. They developed a presentation for teachers about how students felt at JFK around these issues. They also created a Forum activity on bullying and sharing stories.

Podcasting at the Middle School and J.F.K. Students are Now on iTunes!

A great new addition to 7th Grade computer classes is the introduction of podcasting in the Middle School. Funded by a generous grant from the Northampton Education Foundation (NEF), Mr. Crescitelli created 3 professional recording stations in his computer classroom. With the help of a new iPad received at the New Literacies Institute this summer, there is also a portable podcast option for classroom mobility.

Designed to incorporate the new Massachusetts Readiness Anchor Standards for Writing into the technology curriculum, podcasting students create public service announcements for the greater JFK community. From lunch menus to club information, to team happenings and PTO news, the JFK podcasts offer information that a student, parent, or other community member may want to know about JFK. Students do all research, write all scripts, and complete all recordings for the twice monthly podcasts. A very special podcast was recently posted for the J.F.K. Winter Band Concert.

The podcast is available on several websites:

The J.F.K. main web site: http://jfk.northampton-k12.us/welcome

The J.F.K. Huskies Podcast Page: http://www.jfkhuskies.podbean.com/

Mr. Crescitelli’s web site: http://jcrescitelli.northampton-k12.us/

iTunes: From your iTunes account, select ‘Podcasts’ and search for J.F.K.Middle School.

Students at J.F.K. have just begun to scratch the surface of how to incorporate podcasting, but the excitement is infectious. Teachers and students alike are rethinking the use of technology and how they can best use technology to bridge the community/school communication gap using the newest technologies.

BSS

BSS math coaches and the principal met with a data specialist from DSAC (District and Schoo lAssistance Center) in Dec. and Jan to mine MCAS data to fine tune their math focus to make sure that all the students are ready to meet this year’s MCAS challenge.
At the Jan. 17th faculty meeting they will have the DSAC team present on level 3 status and offer additional support for assisting in our improvement strategies

Special education and Title I teachers have begun assessing their students on math number sense using a tool developed through the Delaware Dept. of Ed. It is a fairly quick assessment in grades 2-5 and we are trying it out to see if it provides us with useful info and the ease of administration. If it works out, we will try it with all the students to see if it can be our version of the BAS for math until our district selects a benchmarking program.

Math family night planning is underway. Many parents are asking for information and strategies to help at home. A team of teachers is planning the first one for grade K-2 families for February. Families will have the opportunity to try out classroom math activities, have a Q and A on curriculum and each family will go home with a math game to that can be played at home.

The Ward 3 Neighborhood Council has a grant of up to $500.00 that it is offering for garden-related activities in the ward. A number of teachers and parents have taken up the challenge. Plans are in the works and we hope to follow it up with an NEF grant in the fall.

Leeds

Starting Jan. 6th through Jan. 17th, Sandy Donah, Special Education Supervisor, will lead Leeds ESPs in a workshop on the Reading Lab. The Reading Lab is a scientic-based, on-line tutorial that has shown proven results in increasing reading proficiency with students who struggle in reading. It allows students to work on an array of skills and strategies and monitors each student’s progress. The Reading Lab will be a key intervention component in February, during the second session of AM Tutoring.

Mark Prince, Director of Academic Effectiveness, will provide a workshop on the use of MCAS Mentor (also an on- line tool). The date for this event is TBA.

Also, in an effort to create a stronger collaboration between SmithCollege and Leeds Elementary School, we are teaming up for three days to provide Science Enrichment for grades 3-5.  Smith College will be sending three Chemistry students for the purpose of teaching three grades starting Jan.17th- 19th.

JSS

The JSS faculty has begun a curriculum writing/documentation project using the JSSGardenas the center of the curriculum “web”.  They began at their January faculty meeting.  The Garden Committee facilitated the discussion, in grade level groups, by first reviewing what lesson plans are already in place through work in previous years and where it is aligned with the curriculum frameworks and the common core. Curriculum connections are in science, math, social studies and science.  The next stage will be in working with Hope Guardinier of School Sprouts to outline 3 lessons in each grade level, which she will model in the spring, to then be re-taught, for reinforcement, by the teachers themselves.  It is being underwritten by a grant from Cooley Dickinson Hospital.

Per the JSS Improvement Plan, Family Math Nights are being organized by teachers and parents, led by Ms. Mary Cowhey and Ms. Molly Burnham.  These nights will focus on areas of the math curriculum that teachers and parents have identified areas of each grades math curriculum that are appropriate for this home-school connection.

Gwen Agna is meeting twice per month, per the JSS Improvement Plan with ESPs to discuss the social/emotional issues that arise in “unstructured” times as well as their interest in more professional development in Readers and Writers Workshop.  Several ESPs will participate in a 2-hour workshop with Jenny Bender, Literacy Coordinator.

© zirconicusso

On June 24, 2011, the School Committee voted unanimously to offer the job of school superintendent to Brian Salzer, Business Manager and Acting Superintendent of the Marblehead public schools.  Mr. Salzer was selected as one of four finalists out of a pool of 23 applicants.  His previous experience includes seven years as a teacher, two as an assistant principal and 10 as a high school principal at schools in Wisconsin and Massachusetts.  Mr. Salzer holds a bachelor’s degree in English and Education from the University of Wisconsin in Oshkosh and a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from the state university campus in Milwaukee.

Mr. Salzer met with city school leaders on July 5, 2011 to discuss salary negotiations and start date.  Vice Chairwoman, Stephanie Pick expects to present a salary agreement in executive session with the School Committee on Thursday July 14th.  All parties are confident that negotiations will be finalized shortly.

Dr. William Erickson will continue as Interim Superintendent and work to transition Mr. Salzer into his new role.  The district is communicating with Mr. Salzer to schedule an earlier start date in August.

©Yanik Chauvin Dreamstime.com

A search and screening committee has recommended four finalists for consideration by the School Committee for the position of Superintendent of Schools in Northampton.  They are:

William E. Collins, Principal at the William E. Norris School in Southampton, Massachusetts

Ruth S. Miller, Assistant Superintendent of the Narragansett Regional School District, Templeton, Massachusetts

Brian L. Salzer, Business Manager and Acting Superintendent of Schools in Marblehead, Massachusetts

Irwin H. Sussman, Superintendent of Schools in Hadley-Luzerne District, New York

Finalists will be making brief visits at all schools in Northampton on the day of their School Committee interview, escorted by principals and administrators, and a special afternoon session has been scheduled for anyone in the community who wishes to greet the finalists in person.  Following is the schedule of each finalist’s afternoon meeting and evening interview:

Date:  Friday, June 17

Finalist:  Irwin Sussman

Meet the Public at JFK Community Room 2:45pm-3:30pm

School Committee Interview at JFK Community Room 5:30pm-7:15pm

Finalist:  Brian Salzer

Meet the Public at JFK Community Room 3:45pm-4:30pm

School Committee Interview at JFK Community Room 7:15pm-9:30pm

Date:  Monday, June 20

Finalist:  William Collins

Meet the Public at JFK Community Room 3:15pm-4:00pm

School Committee Interview at JFK Community Room 6:00pm-7:45pm

Finalist:  Ruth Miller

Meet the Public at JFK Community Room 4:15pm-5:00pm

School Committee Interview at JFK Community Room 7:45pm-9:30pm

The public may attend any of these sessions or the evening interviews, which will be televised on Northampton Cablevision.

William G. Erickson

Interim Superintendent

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NORTHAMPTON– The Veterans Council of Northampton will honor the nation’s flag Sunday, June 12 at 3 p.m.at the Elks Lodge 997, 17 Spring St., Florence.

American flags at the Sunday event will be properly retired in commemoration of National Flag Day, on June 14.

The public is invited and encouraged to attend. The Sunday event was scheduled to best accommodate families and encourage as many young people to attend, said Gerry Clark, president of the Veterans Council of Northampton. The Veterans Council are organizing the event.

“We hope to remind city residents, especially young people, of what our flag symbolizes and why we honor the flag not just on Flag Day but on every day of the year,” said Charles Coleman, a council member and chairman of the event. Coleman said the event is the first Veterans Council consolidated event scheduled inNorthampton.

Participating in the ceremony of retiring the flags are Veterans Council of Northampton members from the Elks Lodge 997, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8006, and American Legion Post 28.

The ceremony will also include Boy Scouts from Troop 109 in Florence who will present flags from different eras of American history during the ceremony.  A narrative history of each flag will then be read.

The ceremony will also feature remarks by Gerry Clark, Veterans Council president; a proclamation read by Northampton Mayor Claire Higgins, marking Flag Day from the City of Northampton; the pledge of allegiance by Charles Coleman; the national anthem sung by George Murphy; and an invocation from David Whiteley, Northampton Veterans Affairs Medical Center chaplain,

Following the ceremony, a second ceremony will be held for the respectful retirement of old or worn flags.

“The American flag is symbolic of our independence as a nation and the freedoms we hold dear and should always be held in the highest of regards,” said Tim Daley, a Veterans Council member, representing the American Legion.  “Veterans have died in service to our country and gave their lives for our country and our flag. Flag Day is a day for all Americans to honor and show respect for our flag and therefore to show respect to our great country.”

The Veterans Council also calls on all residents and businesses to display the American flag on Sunday, June 12, on the day of the event, and on Flag Day, June 14, in recognition of the national Flag Day observance and to also show unified support for military service members.

“We would love to see every business and home display theU.S.flag in solidarity of our service men and women in uniform and to show our pride in our flag and our nation,” said John Glenowicz, Exalted Ruler of Elk Lodge 997.

The council encourages residents to bring old, worn flags to the American Legion Post 28, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8006, or the Elks Lodge 997 where they will be collected for the retirement ceremony.

A flag retirement site will be a circular area with a fire pit in the middle to conform to the United States Flag Code, which states: “The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.”

Following the ceremony, refreshments will be served.

The council also uses this occasion to remind residents of the basics in displaying the American flag:

·     The flag is normally flown from sunrise to sunset.

·     In the morning, raise the flag briskly. At sunset, lower it slowly. Always, raise and lower it ceremoniously.

·     The flag should not be flown at night without a light on it.

·     The flag should not be flown in the rain or inclement weather.

·     After a tragedy or death, the flag is flown at half staff for 30 days. It’s  called  “half staff” on land ,and “half mast” on a ship.

·     When flown vertically on a pole, the stars and blue field , or “union”, is at the top and at the end of the pole (away from your house).

·     The American flag is always flown at the top of the pole. Your state flag and other flags fly below it.

·     The union is always on top. When displayed in print, the stars and blue field are always on the left.

·     Never let your flag touch the ground, never…period.

·     Fold your flag when storing. Don’t just stuff it in a drawer or box.

·      When your flag is old and has seen better days, it is time to retire it. Old flags should be burned or buried. Please do not throw it in the trash.

For more information about the June 12 ceremonies, contact Norbert Rieke, Veterans Council secretary, at (413) 587-1299.

ABOUT THE VETERANS COUNCIL OF NORTHAMPTON: Consisting of representatives from 14 veteran and civic organizations, the council coordinates veteran activities in Northampton and provides a forum for veteran organizations to share information and raise issues leading to the betterment of the Northampton veteran community.

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May 27, 2011

Good Morning -

It is my pleasure to announce that after a search and series of interviews with experienced prospects, the screening committee and I recommend the appointment of Mark McLaughlin to fill the position of Business Manager in the Northampton Public School District.

Mark began his business career in 1985 as a corporate budget analyst and controller, and since 1995 has served as a Business Manager, Director of Business Services or School Business Administrator in four different districts. He is currently the Assistant to Superintendent for Finance and Operations in the School Administrative Unit #41 of the Hollis/Brookline Cooperative School District in New Hampshire.

Having earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Finance from American International College, Mark also holds an MBA degree in Business Administration from the University of Hartford. He has been certified as a School Business Administrator in Massachusetts for the past 15 years.

We appreciate the time and attention given during application review and interviews by members of the screening committee: Assistant Business Manager Wendy Blanchette, Principal Johanna McKenna, Director of Northampton Central Services Dave Pomerantz, Director of Human Resources Glenda Stoddard, Director of Transportation Joy Winnie, and Director of Special Education Nathan Ziegler.

Special thanks go to Susan Wright, who was extremely helpful during a personal interview with Mark and me to help explain the complexities and many pressing aspects of the School District’s Business Manager position. Susan is currently making the challenging transition from the school department to become the City’s Finance Director.

The School Committee formally endorsed his appointment last night and we look forward to Mark being able to join us as soon as possible in early July. In the meantime, retiree and former Associate Superintendent for Finance Joe Misterka has agreed to assist Susan and Wendy in closing out details and reports of the 2010-2011 budget.

Bill Erickson

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In April, The Northampton Public School Department conducted a seven-day fund-raising campaign to provide a financial contribution to aid the survivors of the tsunami in Japan. Students embraced the challenge and activities were planned throughout the district and coin collection jars were filled to the brim.

The Northampton Public Schools presented a check to the American Red Cross in the amount of $6,766.95.  It is with great pride and appreciation that I say thank you to our community for all of your hard work and empathy.  I also want to extend our thanks to the folks at Florence Savings Bank for counting and wrapping all of those jars of bills and coins at no cost to the district.

Let us continue to keep the people of Japan in our thoughts as they work to rebuild their lives.

“Tell me, and I shall forget.  Show me, and I shall maybe remember.  Make me part of action, and I shall understand and keep it in mind.”  An Indian saying

Yours truly,

William G. Erickson

Superintendent