Newmarket School District Forms New Committees to Streamline Communications, Culture and Climate

NEWMARKET — Superintendent of Schools Dr. Susan K. Givens is announcing seven new committees designed to help meet the districtwide and school-specific improvement goals in the coming years.

After meeting with students, staff and members of the community, Superintendent Givens designed and formed the committees to build on the positive work being done in the district, as well as address issues identified through data gathering over the past six months.

“After starting in my role this past fall, we formed these committees to focus on items like improving communication, my entry plan, and reviewing the JSHS student handbook,” Superintendent Givens said. “Having community stakeholders participate in these conversations are invaluable.”

• District Communication and Website Committee, which will identify ways to increase and streamline communication from the district to the community, including a redesign of the current website.
• Superintendent Entry Plan Committee, which will assist Superintendent Givens in getting to know the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges of the schools and community. A summary of the group’s findings will be shared near the end of the school year.
• Districtwide Culture and Climate Committee, which will look at the organizational culture and climate of the district and identify resources, strategies and tools for staff and faculty to reinforce the positive culture and climate behaviors and set the expectations for the district going forward.
• Jr/Sr High School Academic Goals Committee, which consists of two groups. The first will review the program of studies at the school to look at the current course offerings at the school to ensure the subjects are rigorous, engaging and relevant, and that all graduation requirements are met. The second will review current schedules and make recommendations that will support student services and academic programs, as well as streamline the process.
• Jr/Sr High School Student Services Goals Committee, which will look at developing a holistic learning community that supports student development and make recommendations about the student handbook and programming that best support this approach.
• Newmarket Elementary School Academic Goals Committee, which will explore and recommend or design a reading and writing program for students transition from the second grade Super Kids curriculum to third grade. Implementation will begin next school year. 
• Newmarket Elementary School Student Services Goal Committee, which will evaluate and modify the Multi-Tier System of Support (MTSS) model to reduce Tier 2 and 3 referrals by 50 percent and increase and integrate Social Emotional Learning (SEL) programming in all grades at the school.

A list of all the committee member can be found on the district’s website here.

“These committees represent the district’s commitment to the long-term growth we hope to achieve in the next few years,” Superintendent Givens said. “There’s a great mix of voices on these committees. Amazing things happen when stakeholders come together to talk about these important topics.”

Committee meetings are expected to start during the last week of January.