Auburn News : Auburn Village School

Crowd protests Auburn Village School alcohol policy

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 19:21:00 GMT

BY GRETYL MACALASTER

Some community members think it should have been a simple decision for the Auburn School Board to reverse its decision on the community use of facilities policy at a meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 10.

But the board wants to take some time to review the policy and decide whether they want to allow alcohol use at Auburn Village School.

Community members have come out in force since the School Board banned any alcohol consumption at the school last spring.

They continued to speak out during a public input session against what they feel was a “kneejerk” decision. Board members agreed to revisit the policy based on the community input, but with some conditions.

Last spring, the board voted to ban alcohol use at Auburn Village School following an incident involving police after a Lions Club dance. A man was arrested after police spotted him in the building. The allegedly intoxicated man is believed to have damaged the building and run from police.

Prior to that, the policy allowed alcohol consumption and sales for certain events on Saturdays after 7 p.m. with a police officer present, and there hadn’t been any other reported problems.

School Board Chairman Elaine Hobbs said the board decided to hold the community input session after receiving a petition with more than 130 signatures asking the board to reconsider.

About 25 people turned out for the meeting. No one spoke in favor of the board’s decision. “It is important that the town have a place we can come together as a community,” resident Nancy Mayland said.

“This is our function hall,” said resident Ernie Allard. Resident Shirley Delacoe said she felt the board’s decision was too quick.

“To be so drastic as to say there can be no functions of that kind ... seems a bit of an overreaction,” she said. “It just doesn’t seem fair.”

Other residents pointed to history, stating that the intent of building the gymnasium was to have a place for the community. The consensus was if it did not open to the community, it would have been turned down,” said resident Al Samson about the decision about 40 years ago to include the gymnasium in the new school.

But some School Board members want to review the policy more carefully. “There are things I would like modified before we reinstate it,” School Board member Kathleen Porter said. She added that “all you can drink until 2 in the morning to me is unreasonable.”

The Lions Club is the primary enactor of the policy holding two large fundraising dances each year at the school. Club president Norm Bouley said the club has taken great strides to make sure their events are safe as well as fun.

The club hires two police officers to be present for the group’s dances, offers van service for people who need a ride home, hires trained bartenders to serve the alcohol, and stops serving alcohol at midnight when the dance ends.

“The community has spoken both through petitions and attendance ... and there was no one who spoke in favor of the decision of the School Board,” Bouley said. “It should be a very simple decision for the school board to reverse their decision. All indicators point that that’s the right thing to do for the community.”

The board voted 3-2 to have a subcommittee revisit the policy and come back to the full board in March with a proposal. Resident Fay Hanscomb will participate in the subcommittee with board members.

Board member Alan Villeneuve voted against the motion, stating that he did not support the board’s original decision and thinks the policy should be reinstated as previously written.

Selectman James Headd said the Board of Selectmen supports the Lions Club and thinks the School Board should reconsider its position.

“Think of the community. The money that we make literally goes right back into the community,” Sean O’Leary, vice president of the Auburn Lions Club said.

New gym floor may be given to Village School

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:10:00 GMT

BY GINGER KOZLOWSKI

If some “hoopster” families have their way, Auburn Village School will soon have a new floor in its gymnasium, and it won’t have cost taxpayers a penny.

Jamie Cote posted a notice in the Auburn Vigilant Citzens online group that the PTA has created the GIFT committee to raise $40,000 for a new floor. GIFT stands for Gymnasium Improvements For Today.

“I do not need to go much into why we believe we need a new floor,” he said. “You’ve seen plenty of the slipping and sliding, seen the cracked tiles, and likely have heard from your kids how hard the floor is on the body.”

Cote said many options were looked at for a new floor, and $40,000 seemed to be the needed amount for a June installation. His group of supporters did explore asking for the money from taxpayers through a warrant article, but decided it was unlikely to be approved.

“Many of us are of the opinion at this juncture that if we don’t do it ourselves, it won’t get done,” he posted. “We’ve met with the School Board and they are fully supportive of our venture.” The committee has set several donation levels:
• Standard – $100 to $249.
• Bronze – $250 to $499.
• Silver – $500 to $999.
• Gold – $1,000 to $2,499.
• Platinum – $2,500 and up.

Checks can be written to Auburn PTA, with “GIFT” in the memo. You can mail it to Auburn PTA – GIFT Committee, P.O. Box 19, Auburn NH 03032. They will follow with a receipt for your records. This is a taxdeductible donation.

Businesses will also be recognized for corporate donations. For details, contact Cote at InLoveWithDOTS@aol.com or 603-244-9416.

Auburn Village School principal retires, Hooksett principal will move to Auburn

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 20:33:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

After seven years on the job, Hooksett Cawley School Principal Ron Pedro has decided to take the open principal’s position at Auburn Village School. Hooksett Memorial School Assistant Principal Steve Harrises will take over as Cawley principal, effective July 1. With some administrative shuffling within SAU 15, the assistant principal posts at both Cawley and Memorial are open as well.

“I’m very excited about the elementary piece,” Pedro said of his new job at the K-8 school in Auburn, adding he would dearly miss the Hooksett students and frequent interactions with the community.

The Auburn position came up at the end of March, when Principal Anita Johnson announced she would be retiring at the end of the school year. Pedro, interested in getting involved with the elementary levels and particularly the kindergarten implementation, applied and was selected from about 10 candidates. The Auburn School Board appointed Pedro to the position at their meeting Tuesday, April 8.

“Auburn is right on the cusp of change right now,” Pedro said, referencing their space and programming issues as well as the Auburn School Board’s interest in building a new school.

Hooksett School Board Chairman Maura Ouellette said while they will miss Pedro at Cawley, she is happy to see him pursue his interests.

“Ron Pedro had expressed an interest in working with younger students. This is a great opportunity for him and we wish him all the best and thank him for his years of dedicated service to Hooksett,” said Ouellette. The Auburn School Board expressed similar wishes for Johnson in her retirement, but members are excited to have Pedro on board.

“We’re just really going to miss (Johnson), but we wish her the best,” said Auburn School Board Vice Chairman Kathi Porter, adding that the board is excited to have a “fresh set of eyes” on the Village School’s issues.

She added the timing is perfect to get Pedro into the Village School in time to set up kindergarten for the coming school year.

“My goal is to pretty much follow on all those great things that Ron Pedro and Becky Wing have gotten rolling over the years,” Harrises said, adding he is excited at the idea of knowing the Cawley student body from his first day on the job, having seen the great majority of them come through Memorial.

“It excites me so much that I’ll carry these kids from their third-grade year to their eighthgrade year,” Harrises said. “I enjoy seeing kids growing an going through different situations and questioning.”

With Cawley’s current Assistant Principal Becky Wing having been officially approved as the Hooksett School District’s math coordinator for next year, that leaves two assistant principal positions open, one at Memorial and one at Cawley. Wing said she’s excited to spearhead the math coordinator position and shape it to fit the needs of Hooksett schools, adding one of the main goals is to improve math scores both in the classroom and on standardized testing.

“I want to see kids leave our district with a good solid math background and a love of math,” said Wing, whose educational and instructional background is in math.

“When you’re the first person to go into a position, I think that makes it all that more exciting, really,” Wing said.

Superintendent Phil Littlefield said the assistant principal job openings have been posted in newspapers and online, and that two separate committees will be formed to screen applications and narrow down candidates before turning the process over to the SAU administration. Littlefield said the openings were just posted Friday, April 11, so no applications had come in as of press time.

Each committee will include the principal – Harrises for Cawley’s committee and Principal Carol Soucy for Memorial’s – plus five teachers, one support staff member and three parents.

Of the five teachers on each screening team, one would come from each grade level, one would be a unified arts staff member and the remaining teacher spot would be filled by someone from special education or guidance. The Hooksett Education Association, the teacher’s union, will select all five of them, Littlefield said.

Out of the three parents on each committee, one will be the principal’s choice, one will be the PTA/PTO’s choice and the third will be the school district volunteer coordinator’s choice.

The candidates filtered by that process will go into interviews with the SAU staff, including Littlefield, Assistant Superintendent Gail Kushner and Business Administrator Karen Lessard, among others.

From that group of interviewees, the SAU staff will settle on one candidate to bring before the School Board for consideration. “We’re hoping on or about June 10 to bring a candidate for each position to the Hooksett School Board so that they can conduct the final interview,” Littlefield said.

AVS caps perfect season with championship; Moore falls in semis

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 20:39:00 GMT

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

The New England Patriots couldn’t complete their undefeated season, but the Auburn Village School girls basketball team did during Super Bowl weekend, cruising to a 48- 18 victory in the Tri-County Class S championship game vs. Wilton-Lyndeborough.

Auburn won the title game on Saturday, Feb. 2, after taking victory in the semifinals just as easily, thumping St. Joe’s, 48-16, on Jan. 30.

Eighth-grader Heather Pelletier paced AVS in the semifinal game with 11 points, while teammate Sarah Allard was also in double figures with 10.

“We’re a pretty good team, and we established that lead early and were able to substitute and get some other kids in there,” said head coach Jamie Cote, whose team didn’t allow any points in the second quarter of the semifinal game, and only allowed St. Joe’s to score four first-half points.

But Cote’s first coaching move in the championship came before the game when his team arrived to the court.

“We got there about an hour before the game, and they were still pretty nervous. We went into the locker room, and they had that glazedover look on their faces, so I thought they needed some time alone, and the coaches went out and mingled for a little while,” he said. “When I came back they were bouncing off the walls and ready to play.”

The energy level was high during the game as well, and Cote said it was important to jump out to an early lead.

Auburn won the title game on Saturday, Feb. 2, after taking victory in the semifinals just as easily, thumping St. Joe’s, 48-16, on Jan. 30.

Eighth-grader Heather Pelletier paced AVS in the semifinal game with 11 points, while teammate Sarah Allard was also in double figures with 10.

But Cote’s first coaching move in the championship came before the game when his team arrived to the court.

“We got there about an hour before the game, and they were still pretty nervous.

We went into the locker room, and they had that glazedover look on their faces, so I thought they needed some time alone, and the coaches went out and mingled for a little while,” he said.

“When I came back they were bouncing off the walls and ready to play.”

The energy level was high during the game as well, and Cote said it was important to jump out to an early lead.