Allenstown News : schools

Hooksett, Allenstown added to schools in need of improvement

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 14 May 2008 22:03:00 GMT

Hooksett Memorial School and Allenstown Elementary School have joined the list of schools in need of improvement following state testing results.

Several local schools were either added to or maintained their positions on the New Hampshire Department of Education’s “school in need of improvement” list after failing to make adequate yearly progress in either math or reading based on statewide testing.

To be on the list, a school must fail to meet adequate yearly progress, measured by state testing results in grades 3 through 8 and grade 11, in the same content area, reading or math, for two years in a row. To exit the “school in need of improvement” (SINI) designation, schools must meet adequate yearly progress standards in the same content area for two years in a row.

The Department of Education’s 2008-09 adequate yearly progress (AYP) results were compiled based on the state assessments New Hampshire students took in October 2007.

Doing well

Auburn Village School and Epsom Central School made AYP in both content areas this year in all subgroups. Auburn Village School also surpassed the state’s benchmarks for 2007- 08.

After failing to meet AYP for the 2007-08 year, Epsom Central students rose to the performance level of Auburn Village and attained AYP in both reading and math for the 2008-09 year.

“They put a lot of work into trying to emulate the benchmarks in state standards and to match themselves with what the state indicates they should be doing in areas of curriculum,” SAU 53 Superintendent Thomas Haley said.

Dropping down

Test results showed Hooksett Memorial School students missed AYP standards for the second year in a row, getting them a spot on the preliminary 2008-09 SINI list for math.

Memorial students also scored below AYP in reading, and will earn a SINI designation in that subject if they do not show improvement in reading after the next round of testing.

Cawley students missed AYP in math this year, but it was their first year doing so. They are not on the list yet, said Superintendent Phil Littlefield.

Candia Moore School missed AYP in reading but made it in math based on the testing. Having been on the SINI list last year for math, the school must maintain its scores in math in the next testing round to exit that status.

Littlefield said the poor results of the special education subgroup brought the overall schools’ scores down to below AYP standards at both Moore and Memorial.

“As a school, each did fine. In both cases, the issue that they have is the performance of a subgroup and in both cases that is youngsters with an educational disability,” Littlefield said.

After missing AYP in math and reading for the 2007-08 year, Allenstown Elementary students made AYP in reading for 2008-09 and missed it again in math, earning them the designation of a new SINI in math for the 2008-09 year.

Armand Dupont School went into the October testing with a 2007-08 designation of SINI in reading and also having missed AYP in math. After the latest test results showed they missed AYP in math this time around but made it in reading, Dupont is now listed as a SINI in both content areas for 2008-09, and will exit their SINI status for reading if they meet AYP next time.

Three Rivers School in Pembroke missed AYP in math and reading, and will go into the third year of its SINI designation for 2008-09.

Pembroke Hill School made AYP in reading and missed it in math for the 2008-09 year, but is not on the SINI list. The results for Pembroke Village are not yet available because, being designated by the state as a small school, it is subject to a different review of the results.

Haley said the educationally disabled subgroup hurt Pembroke and Allenstown schools, and said those districts might consider appealing the SINI designation after looking more closely at the results.

“The good news is that we made AYP in both areas of the full school and in every subset except for educationally disabled,” Haley said. “We don’t know if we missed AYP in educationally disabled by eight or 10 students, or if we missed by one.”

High schools struggle

Pembroke Academy will enter its third year as a SINI in math and also missed AYP in reading this year. If Pembroke Academy students miss AYP in reading during the next testing cycle, they will go onto the SINI list for reading as well.

Both Manchester Memorial and Central high schools are entering their fourth years on the SINI list for both content areas for 2008-09.

West High School attained AYP in math based on the October testing results, but remains on the SINI list until the next round. Making AYP in math next time will get them off the list for that subject.

West students missed AYP for reading and the school will enter its fourth year on the SINI list for that subject.

According to statewide statistics from the Department of Education, 282 schools in the state failed to make AYP in either reading or math. A total of 175 made AYP in both content areas, based on the October test results.

Proposed middle school gets state OK

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 20:55:00 GMT

By JENN McDOWELL

The state Board of Education has officially approved the tuition agreement for a proposed joint middle school between Candia and Auburn.

School Board members from both towns attended the state board’s meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 12, at which the board voted unanimously to approve the tuition agreement with the condition of obtaining voter approval.

In March, Candia will vote on the tuition agreement to cover 38 percent of the school’s project and operating costs, based on enrollment figures. Auburn will pay 62 percent, and those figures will adjust each year depending on enrollment in both towns.

If the tuition agreement passes with Candia voters, Auburn will vote on a $29 million 20-year bond for the project’s costs, including interest over the bond’s life.

The project is expected to get 40 percent state aid reimbursement, which will bring the project cost down to about $15 million for residents. Based on the 38-62 enrollment ratio, Auburn would pay about $9 million and Candia the remaining $6 million over 20 years.

Elaine Hobbs, chairman of the Auburn School Board, said the state Board of Education’s approval shows that the contract is fair and viable.

Soft costs have not been revealed yet, but Hobbs said the Auburn School Board will present those costs to the Candia School Board on Tuesday, Jan. 8.

Questions and concerns about operating costs for the school have surfaced as Candia’s deliberative session approaches in January.

“I think people are concerned. They want to know what’s going to be in the building,” said Hobbs, adding that a specific operating cost breakdown is vital to voters’ understanding of the school’s overall costs to both towns.

Some concerns

Candia School Board member Ingrid Byrd voted not to ratify the tuition agreement with the rest of the board, and said the state’s approval is a formality along the way.

Byrd pointed out that the school’s operating costs would likely increase each year with little say from Candia.

The tuition agreement provides for an advisory board of Candia parents and teachers and one school board member, but the governance of the school would fall under the Auburn School Board’s control.

No Candia representatives will have a vote in governance, she said, meaning Auburn could increase the school’s budget with no official input from Candia.

She also pointed out that Candia residents would not have the voting power to oust members of the Auburn School Board if they felt they weren’t running the school correctly.

Another issue that has arisen is the first consideration clause in the tuition agreement, which states that Candia teachers would be considered for positions at the new school first.

Many tenured teachers will lose that distinction upon going over to the joint middle school in 2010, which would lessen their job security, Byrd added.

“This is not a win-win situation. People are looking at where they’re at, and saying this is not necessary,” said Byrd.

The proposed 102,000-square-foot school would sit on a site Auburn’s School Board already purchased in July 2006 after voters authorized the acquisition of the land on the corner of Hooksett Road and Old Candia Road.

Auburn voters allocated $650,000 for the land purchase in 2006 and last year voted for $137,000 to fund engineering and design studies for Team Design, Inc. Candia raised $91,000 for those studies.

Allenstown Year in review 2007

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 19:59:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

Chief convicted of stealing
In March, former Allenstown Police Chief James McGonigle entered a guilty plea to stealing thousands of dollars from accounts reserved for the department, the New Hampshire Police Cadet Training Academy and Allenstown Police Association.

McGonigle was sentenced to 12 months for one of the charges and one to three years on two others.

He reported to Concord State Prison on June 8 to begin his sentence.

The charges stemmed from discrepancies in the books, which the department’s executive secretary, Donna Barnett, picked up on. She informed current Chief Shaun Mulholland, a captain at the time, who called the Attorney General’s office to initiate the investigation.

McGonigle, 58 of Concord, stole about $8,000 total from the three agencies beginning in 2000. Cashed checks in amounts from $5 to $1,500 were discovered. Selectmen put McGoSelectmen put McGonigle on paid leave in February 2006.

Also a long-time Concord city councilor, McGonigle resigned from both posts on April 10, 2006.

“It was a very precarious, very difficult situation to have to be in,” said Mulholland, who had to violate department policy which says that the chief must be involved in any internal investigations, to bring the chief to justice.

State police came in to run the department until Mulholland himself could take a lie detector test, which cleared him of any wrongdoing. He was then placed in charge of the department. “It’s not a great point of history in the Allenstown Police Department, but it is what it is,” said Mulholland.

Sewer expansion
A $15 million bond to expand the Suncook Wastewater Treatment plant failed with Allenstown voters a second time at the 2007 election.

The state placed a moratorium on the treatment plant in 2005, preventing any more hookups.

The plant serves both Allenstown and Pembroke, the cost to operate it divided between the two towns based on the number of hook ups. Allenstown owns the facility, and thus is responsible for passing or voting down the proposed expansion.

The town’s Sewer Commission is holding public input meetings on the expansion plan and funding in hopes of getting voters behind it this year. Selectmen have not recommended the article in the two years it has come up.

Resident Armand Verville, has spoken out against taxpayer funding and suggested the money come from sewage users, adding that he is not and would never be hooked up to the town’s infrastructure.

Michael Trainque of Hoyle, Tanner and Associates, the company in charge of the expansion plans, said a combination of federal and state grants could reduce the total project costs by 50 percent or more.

The plant has been taking on septage from other towns in a separate process from the sewer operations to help fund the expansion.

Meth lab?
U.S. marshals and Allenstown police closed in on an alleged methamphetamine lab at a mobile home on Edgewood Drive in August.

Although the home was vacant at the time, a search revealed meth production materials and equipment.

Emergency preparedness
Allenstown police and fire, along with all of its backup authorities, participated in a simulated terrorist attack on Oct. 20.

The attack was staged at Allenstown Elementary School. The scenario they played out was a parent disgruntled over school taxes, shooting several students and staff in the school and setting off a bomb.

Officers, firefighters, dispatchers and other first responders had to react to the events as they unfolded as if it were real.

While they knew it was a simulation, participants were not informed beforehard of the scenario or extent of the operation, and many were troubled at being inside the alarm- and smoke-filled building.

Local Boy Scout troops and other community organizations also participated as actors.

Missing man
An elderly Hooksett man went missing in Bear Brook State Park on Dec. 2 when he apparently got lost while hunting.

Search teams composed of agencies from all over the state looked for any trace of Russell Bussiere, 70, for the rest of that week.

A snow storm and extremely cold temperatures, particularly overnight, caused hope to dwindle that Bussiere would be found alive.

His son, Michael Bussiere, said his father had been hunting for over half a century and knows the state park area where he was hunting well, but many of the searchers and hunters alike said that it is very easy to get disoriented in the woods.

On Dec. 4, about 200 volunteers showed up to participate in line searches of more than 10 square miles of forest. Many of them had to be taken out of the woods when they got wet and cold and could not finish the search.

Teams tracked their progress on a GPS mapping system at the command post and remained in the woods for about eight hours each day.

By Dec. 6, the search had been scaled back to mutual aid agencies only, to ensure the searchers’ safety.

The missing hunter got wide press coverage, drawing Boston and regional news stations.

The family held a press conference on Dec. 6 thanking authorities and searchers for their efforts and expressing their realistic outlook that Bussiere would be found, but not alive.

Michael Bussiere said he would continue to take small parties out to Bear Brook to search for his father and hopes to find him in the spring.

Emergency practice – Roads will be closed Oct. 20 for joint exercise

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:34:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

Roads in Allenstown will be closed for a few hours on the morning of Saturday, Oct. 20, to allow for a large-scale emergency management exercise involving more than 100 responders.

The operation will take place at Allenstown Elementary School and will test the town’s emergency response, backup response from neighboring towns, and communications systems through a simulated terrorist situation.

Allenstown Police Chief Shaun Mulholland, who is in charge of the entire exercise, and Emergency Response Director Karen Hubbard gained clearance from the town’s board of selectmen on Monday, Oct. 1, to close down several streets.

The sections of Granite Street and Cross Street between Highland and Main Street will be closed, as well as Main Street from School Street to Al’s Avenue west, and Sunnyside Street will only be open to residential traffic.

Mulholland said residents in the affected areas have received notification of the road closure, and the state Department of Transportation will put up digital road signs in the week prior to the exercise to remind Allenstown residents.

The exercise is scheduled tentatively to begin at 9 a.m. and run until around noon. Road closures, Hubbard said, will be in effect from around 8:45 a.m. until the exercise concludes.

Emergency personnel from numerous agencies, including fire and police departments in Hooksett, Pembroke, Epsom, Deerfield and Bow; the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management; the Department of Safety’s Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit and the National Guard will participate.

“In a real incident, we would use all those towns,” Mulholland said.

The specifics of the exercise, said Mulholland, cannot be revealed ahead of time because the police, fire, and emergency agencies involved cannot know what the situation will be prior to performing the exercise.

“They’re going to have to react to what happens,” Mulholland said.

Everything from dispatch communications to first response and back up response will be tested.

“We’ll be testing a lot of functions. It will be the first time we’ve ever operated a joint command post,” Mulholland said.

The operation, in planning for the past thirteen months, will serve to evaluate and, if need be, modify the town’s emergency practices.

Actors, mostly volunteer Boy Scouts, are also involved, playing the parts of victims and press, among other roles.

Selectman Tom Gilligan expressed concern that an actual emergency may arise during the operation, and asked if participants have a way out of role playing mode.

Mulholland told him that the phrase “code red” would be used to signify an actual emergency, adding that he reserves the right to call off the exercise should something happen to one or more of the players.

Weather on Oct. 20 will not be a factor on whether or not the operation takes place.

“Rain or shine, it goes,” Mulholland said.

During the exercise, the Merrimack County Sheriff’s Office will cover Allenstown, as all of the town’s own officers will be participants.

Allenstown principal travels to China

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 22:40:00 GMT

Dr. Betsey S. Cox-Buteau, principal of the Armand R. Dupont School, is one of 800 U.S. educators who traveled to China for a one-week tour in an effort to build and expand Chinese language programs in U.S. schools.

In its second year, the Chinese Bridge Delegation aims to expose school decision-makers to the rich history and culture of a country whose language is the most widely spoken in the world. Ultimately, the sponsors who take part in this program aspire to foster a better understanding of Chinese culture and fluency in the language among U.S. students.

With more than 800 delegates scheduled for this year’s trip, June 23 to July 1, participation has doubled since last year. A variety of educators, including teachers, administrators and language coordinators, will begin their tour in Beijing and then travel to other cities and provinces where they will meet with local education commissions.

Participants will have an opportunity to talk with Chinese education leaders, build sister schools and network with other U.S. educators who are working toward the same goal of offering Chinese language programs to their students.

“We hope this program will eventually help to offer more students in our country the opportunity to become fluent in the most widely spoken language in the world,” said College Board President Gaston Caperton. “We’re building a bridge that will aid in strengthening our ties, our future economic partnerships and our appreciation of our respective cultures.”

Beyond cultural enrichment, the trip will also provide incentives and strategies for educators to return to the United States better equipped to support the growth of Chinese language and culture programs in their own districts. Chinese is the national language of the more than 1.3 billion inhabitants of China and millions more ethnic Chinese around the world. While more than 200 million Chinese schoolchildren are studying English—often begun as early as the second grade—experts estimate no more than 50,000 U.S. students are studying Chinese.

“It only makes sense to bring the language and culture of the largest population on the planet into the curriculum of our schools,” said Cox-Buteau. “As China becomes a greater part of the world economy, our children will need that knowledge to survive in the business world.”

Students of the week named by Allenstown schools

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 18:14:00 GMT

The following students were named student of the week at Allenstown Elementary School for the week of March 5:

Kaitlyn Thompson, Cody Roy, Alexys LaFleur, Ben Hebert, Kirsten Kenney, Kaylee Pasalic, Bailey Leighton, Ana Carbonneau and Meaghan Lee.

The following students were named student of the week for the week of March 12:

Alraya Chanphoungeun, Leah Perdikes, Brandon Lambert, Brendan Lavalley, Andrew Lavine, Jillian Davis, Mercedes Comacho, Hannah Lavine, Alliyha Grant, Jacob LaValley, Eric Sederquest, Thomas O’Brien and David Devlin.

The following students were named student of the week for the week of March 19:

Isaiah Johnson-Champney, Tristin Honacher, Kaley Colby, Zack Eastman, Jacob Colby, Jakob Duval, Brock Neilson, Sam Simpson, Joshua Bracero, Cody Johnson and Sam Emerson.

The following students were named student of the week for the week of March 26:

Tyler Hicks, Sarah Hutchinson, Angel Marcoux, Kaylee Montminy, Abby Tracy, Dakota Martin, Ashley McPherson, Gloria Cartier, Matthew Perry, Zack Eastman, Adrianna Escabi and Brody Coburn Crowley.

The following students were named student of the week for the week of April 2:

Paige Chatterton, Sarah Swanson, Nick Bussiere, Cory Hrycuna, Scott Batchelder, haley Garside, Ben Hebert, Kassandra Buote and Dylan Adjutant.

The following students were named student of the week for the week of April 9:

Brenden Roy, Jakob Roby, Katelyn St. Germain, Robert Navarro, Andre Lavine, Tea Freme, Hannah Lavine, Rebecca Holton, Riggy Provost, William Crooker, Nathan Wilson and Jesse Kay.

Students of the Week at Dupont School for the week of March 23 are Nick Saggau, Corey Clark, Matt L’Heureux, Samantha Davis and Nick Lacourse.

Students of the Week at Dupont School for the week of March 30 are Dylan Letendre, Desi Newcomb, Karissa Tucci, Chris Patten, Patrick Hyrcuna, Amanda Tucker, Justin Spaulding, Heather Monerio, Nick Francois and Alyssa Guinn.

Students of the Week at Dupont School for the week of April 6 are Emily Lockwood, Austin Perry, Vanessa Meserve, Magan houle, Andy Woodward, Tyler Ranfos, Tia Corson, Aaron Bailey, Melissa Gerrish and Brianna Phillips. Artists of the Week are Dillon Walsh, Steven Wilding and Brianna Phillips.

Students of the Week at Dupont School for the week of April 13 are Aleanna Clermont, Danny Swett, Bryce Ham, Chelsea Martin, Cody Merrill, Joey O’Donnell, Triston Burpee, Kyle Gagnon, Coleby LaFleur, Jasmine Johnston, Shane St. Onge, Brandie Lamper, Nick Peno and Gage Jamroz.

Students of the Week at Allenstown Elementary School for the week of April 30 are: Briana Connolly, Melissa Callahan, Brenden LaValley, Matt Gerrish, Chad Wymer, Taylor Bussiere, Jacob Glover, James Fisher and Sarah Thompson.

Students of the Week at Dupont School for the week of May 4 are: Rebecca Wymer, Kennedi Duval, Trevor Lewis, Nicole Packard, Samantha Davis, Sara Lunderville, Zack VanHorn, Samantha Otterson, Josh Giguere, Bryan Phillippon, Andrea Halvorsen, Jon Marin, Danny Swett, Alyssa L’Heureux, Jason Putnam, Sweeth Chanphoungeun and Kim Celen.

Students of the Month at Allenstown Elementary School for the month of April are Starla Georges and Hunter Coburn-Crawley.

Students of the Week at Allenstown Elementary School for the week of May 7 are: Tyler Gardner, Savannah Kananen, Chase Ranfos, Taylor Curtis, Crysta Caporale, Jamilexy Pena, Jonathan LaSalle, Travis Scott and Keith Converse.

Students of the Week at Dupont School for the week of May 11 are Marissa Swett, Brianna Walsh, Matthew L’Heureux, Tom Clark, Thomas Tremblay, Shane St. Onge, Allarae LeBorgne, Jessica Dahood, Andrea Halvorsen and Karissa Tucci.

Students of the Week at Dupont School for the week ending May 18 are Ryan Oliver, Juergen Horn, Heather Monterio, Karissa Tucci, Brittany Fisher and Emma Chatterton.

Students of the Week at Allenstown Elementary School for the week of May 14 are Amalee Gilligan, Madison Jutras, Christian Barnhart, Kristin Prell, Patrick Panteleu, Sam Lang, Isaac Abbott, Jenna Hannaford, Anna Newman, Patrick Locke, Joshua Gover and Dylan Soule Lambert.

Students of the Month for April at Allenstown Elementary School are Anna Carbonneau and Nicholas Bussiere.