PRINCIPAL'S REPORT
By Anne Kebler
The Jackson Grammar School continues to be very proud of the strong educational programs we are able to provide the students of the Jackson School District. Individualization is a key factor to the uniqueness of our programs, with small class sizes and a highly qualified staff; we truly are able to meet the needs of all learners. A goal we set every year!
Our student population remains constant with a total of 52 students currently enrolled. Our classes continue to be organized with one single grade and three multi-age groupings: K/1 classroom (19), 2/3 classroom (13), a grade 4 classroom (12), and a 5/6 classroom (8).
Our staff continues to grow together through site based professional development, collaboration, and peer observation and coaching. This year our school wide professional development goal is “To improve student learning through increasing understanding of strategies and best practice to meet the needs of diverse learners, with a focus in Science Inquiry and Technology.” During collaboration our faculty has been working hard at identifying the essential targets we want our students to master in the science curriculum as well as developing assessments which help us know that students have learned these essential targets. To support this work, teachers have been working with the Montshire Museum of Vermont to provide professional development and model lessons focused on inquiry based
science activities.
The Jackson Grammar School assesses student skills in many ways, including state wide testing in the fall (New England Common Assessment Program: NECAP), local district testing in the fall and spring (Northwestern Education Assessment: NWEA), and ongoing classroom based assessment. This data is the focus of the collaborative work the teachers do on a weekly basis. This year our state testing (NECAP) scores indicated that 90% of our students are scoring proficient or above in both reading and math.
Our parent teacher organization is such a strong supportive group; we are so appreciative for all they do to help us provide such a strong program to our school community. In addition, we continue to work with community and valley programs to enhance our curriculum. We see teachers from Tin Mountain on a weekly basis bringing programming to all our classrooms. This year our 5/6 grade class is embarking upon a community project with the Jackson Conservation Commission and Forest Land Improvement Inc. to use Prospect Farm as an opportunity to introduce a Forestry Education Program for the School. Our K/1 continues their tradition of visiting Lilliputian, the preschool in Jackson, on a weekly basis to read with their preschool buddies. This is such a great way to connect with our incoming kindergarten
students prior to their first day of school.
Of course skiing continues to be a main event for students at the Jackson Grammar School. Jackson Ski Touring once again has opened its doors to us for cross country skiing once a week as part of our Physical Education program, as well as an after school program once a week run by some very dedicated cross country skiing parents. In addition, Black Mountain again provides to us our weekly ESSC downhill ski program every Friday afternoon during the winter months.
A favorite time of the week for us is our “all school meeting” on Tuesday mornings. This is a time when students from all grades, staff, parents and community members join together to celebrate our school. Our 5th/6th grade students run the meeting with an agenda which includes scheduling items for the week, a 5 minute activity which engages all members of the community, reflecting on connections from classroom to classroom and classroom to home, and often individual classroom presentations. We encourage members of the community to come join our all school meeting on Tuesdays at 8:30, and we would love to have community members come in to present special topics with our students.
Jackson Grammar School continues to celebrate the strength of our small school community. We look forward to more and more opportunities to engage the larger community in our educational programming, and are very thankful to all the support the Jackson community provides us.
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