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The mission of Keene High School is to cultivate the academic, civic, and social growth of all students to empower them to become contributing members of the global community.

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Principal Notes Keene High School continues to be a very busy place for students and staff. Students are set-tling into their second semester classes, and sen-iors are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s a very exciting time as we work through the winter months. Freshmen, sopho-mores, and juniors have completed their course requests for the 2017-2018 school year and will be meeting with their school counselors to re-view their choices. Seniors will be meeting with counselors and finalizing their college and ca-reer plans. If you have any questions, please contact your child’s counselor. The school budget has been presented to the Fi-nance Committee, and the public will have a chance to discuss it at the Keene Board of Edu-cation First Session on February 11 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the Keene High School au-ditorium. We urge all Keene community mem-bers to vote on the budget on Tuesday, March 14.

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Keene High School will be hosting a Curricu-lum Night on March 14 from 6:30-8:00 p.m. This will be an opportunity for students and teachers to present curriculum materials on clas-ses that are taught at the high school. Parents can ask questions about courses their students are interested in taking in the future, courses they are taking now, view student work, and see what various departments have to offer. This will be an unstructured evening to allow parents to become more familiar with all the course offerings that Keene High School has to offer its students. We hope to see you there! On April 5, Keene High School will administer the PSAT 8/9, PSAT 10, and the state-mandated SAT tests. The PSAT 8/9 assessment is optional for all eighth and ninth graders. All sophomores will take the PSAT 10, and all juniors will take the SAT test. More information about these as-sessments will be available on the KHS website. Thank you for all you do as parents, and please continue to be involved in your child’s educa-tion.

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January 2017

Dear Parent/Guardian, Keene High School will be introducing a Therapy Dog Program and would like to share with you the objectives of the program and guidelines and pro-cedures for students and staff. The KHS Therapy Dog Program would introduce Certified Therapy Dogs and their handlers into KHS for visitations. The objective of the program is to create an opportunity for students to interact with the therapy dog for a short visitation. Therapy dog teams have been used in many settings to help people feel better by reducing stress with a non-judgmental “visit”, lowering blood pressure, meeting and making a new friend, and using other social and emotional supports to help people have a “good day”. Currently, KHS will bring in Certified Therapy Dog teams from the Monadnock Region who qualify and meet the requirements of the School Board Policy “IMG Animals in School”.

Identified Areas of Need for our Students: ● Anxiety ● Stress ● Relationship problems ● Confidence ● Academic stress (before tests, midterms, final exams, new schedule changes at the semester break, graduation, etc.) ● Family stress (divorce, arguments with parent/guardian) ● Identity issues for students who are finding “themselves” ● Crisis intervention ● Court appearance ● Health Issues or hospitalization (returning after a hospitalization) ● Victim of harassment or other emotional events

Academic Benefits of a Therapy Dog in the school: ● Improves attendance and decreases tardiness ● Students turn in homework more often and increase performance in other subjects ● Reinforces learning ● Motivates speech, learning, and exercise ● Stimulates the senses ● Facilitates counseling ● Does not judge, criticize, or laugh, and they are less intimidating than peers ●

Social Benefits of a Therapy Dog in the school: ● Students build self esteem, confidence, social skills, and communication skills ● Trusting relationships are formed ● Fosters feelings of safety and acceptance ● Decreases loneliness, anxiety, anger, and depression ● Teaches unconditional love and acceptance ● Teaches” to give” instead of “receive” ● Encourages positive social behaviors ● Lowers blood pressure and increases relaxation ● Inspires people to laugh, smile, and have fun! ● Certified Therapy Dog Teams consist of a dog and a handler who have been certified as a Therapy Dog Team. Dogs in training for the certification

Program may also participate in visitations as long as the dog and handler completed the procedures and are part of a certified therapy dog program. ● School Wide-Expectations For Therapy Dog Visitation 4 Steps > Approach, Ask, Pet, Goodbye.

The program is 100% voluntary, and parents/guardians may opt out of the program by returning the bottom section of this letter to the student’s House Of-house office or sending an email to the house office. My student may not participate in the KHS Therapy Dog Program.

Parent/Guardian Name: ______________________________ Date _________ Student Name _________________________________

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Yearbook Notes

We are now accepting parent ads for this year’s SALMAGUNDI!

Prices are: $350 for a full page color ad, $175 for 1/2 page, $100 for 1/4 page, or $50 for a 1/8 page ad (the 1/8 page is the size of a business card). Call 352-0640 ext. 3505 to get a form or see Mrs. Merrill in room 505.

If you are interested in ordering, books are now on sale for $55. Order before the prices go up!

Also, remind your students that their SENIOR MESSAGE SHEET and their quotes are due NOW. Also, dedication nomina-tions are due NOW as well. Get them to room 505.

Thank you, The YEARBOOK Staff

Voice of Democracy The VFW Voice of Democracy is an audio-essay program that was established in 1947 to provide high school students with the unique opportunity to express themselves in regards to a demo-cratic and patriotic-themed recorded essay. The theme this year was “My Responsibility to America."

On November 1, 16 students from Mr. Jeremy VanDerKern’s Public Speaking class submitted entries to the Voice of Democra-cy contest through the VFW Post #799.

At the local level, first place went to Jennifer Smalley and third place went to Matthew Freitas. Quartermaster Conrad Per-reault and Commander Roger Carrier from the VFW Daley Whipple Post 799 in Keene presented each of the students with a check for $300 and $100 respectively. These students will now compete at the district level competition.

At the national level, the first-place winner receives a $30,000 scholarship paid directly to the recipient’s American university, college, or vocational/technical school.

Mr. VanDerKern was also presented a certificate recognizing his work each year in offering the opportunity in his Public Speaking class.

Speakers Series Emma Murphy, grade 10, joined the Speakers Series in Novem-ber. That gives us two students on the committee, but we would still like at least one more student to join. If your teen is interest-ed, please ask him/her to see Mrs. Budd in the library. The com-mittee meets face-to-face 3-4 times each year to organize and schedule presenters/presentations and communicates via email 2-6 times per month.

The mission of the Speakers Series is to bring speakers and per-formers to Keene High School and/or to offer students the oppor-tunity to view live performances elsewhere in order to provide cultural experiences for students, staff, and community members.

We have four goals: 1. To connect the school with the greater community. 2. To make instruction more relevant and real by bringing the curriculum to life through enrichment activities. 3. To celebrate the humanities, arts, education, and the workplace. 4.

To provide students of all ability levels and socioeconomic cir-cumstances access to cultural events not available on an ongoing basis at Keene High School.

We always welcome suggestions for presenters, presentations, and productions. Email Kelly Budd at kbudd@sau29.org with your recommendations.

Students Donate to Hundred Night’s Shelter During the week before Christmas break, the students in Mrs. Robarge's Foods & Nutrition class worked for two days preparing food for the Hundred Night's Shelter. On day one they donated a kettle of turkey soup with biscuits and a variety of muffins. On the following day they donated a kettle of chili and corn muffins. The people at the shelter were very thankful for such a generous dona-tion and to know that the students cared.

The Hundred Night's, Inc. is dedicated to providing emergency shelter to anyone in need on the 100 potentially coldest nights of the year—from December 21 through March 31. Hundred Nights is an emergency cold weather shelter for the many homeless who are unable to secure a bed in the other City of Keene shelters. The guests at Hundred Nights are among the most vulnerable of the population. Some guests are families with young children. Some are people who might be struggling with issues of tion. Some are people who try to stay alive in tents during snow-storms and freezing temperatures. Some struggle with mental illness. This shelter has evolved into a welcoming haven with clear rules and mutual respect between guests and volunteers. Guests are allowed into the dormitory-style shelter with bunks for the night at 7 p.m. and must leave at 7 a.m. There is also a down-stairs meeting room where they can come in during the day for a cup of something hot and a quick lunch.

Project Grad News Did you know at Project Graduation we decorate the high school to look completely different than what the students normally see? We work many hours to decorate each room with a different theme. During the weeks before graduation we create new and repair all the decorations. We start hanging the decorations the Saturday prior to graduation and work every evening from 5:30 p.m.- 8:30 p.m. We can always use some extra hands to help us and also some creative people to paint new scenery.

If you're interested in helping us out please contact our volunteer coordinator Karen Rathbun at Keeneprojectgrad@gmail.com and we can get information to you. Helping set up for Project Gradua-tion is also a great way for students to get some community ser-vice hours and help a great cause.

KHS Project Graduation 4th Annual Dancing with the Keene Stars is coming together! We have our five Female Stars and our five Male Stars from the Keene Community all lined up and ready for another fun evening! Watch for the release of the “Stars” names after our Meet & Greet on February 24. Stars from the past will also be in the show to perform a group dance.

This is the biggest fundraiser for KHS Project Graduation. We still have room in the program for advertisements or corporate

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sponsors for the event. Email clane@sau29.org if you are inter-ested. Mark your calendars for Friday, April 21 and Saturday, April 22 for the 4th Annual Dancing with the Keene Stars in the KHS auditorium.

Check us out on Facebook and our website for more information.

Keene High School Athletics Monday March 13 - Parent meeting for Spring Athletics – 6 pm in the Cafe

Monday March 20 - Spring Sports begin (except Boys Volleyball 3/27)

Winter sports have gotten off to a good start at KHS. Teams are doing well, and we have had some great performances so far the winter.

Girls Varsity Ice Hockey has started of with a 2-2 record in their first season as a varsity team. Their goal is to make the end-of-season playoffs this year.

Gymnastics has also started off well this winter and is well into their season. Girls Basketball has showed signs of improvement over past seasons, and this overall young team is maturing game by game.

Boy’s basketball won the 2016 Keene State College Zero Gravity basketball tourney in December and has also showed some very good play. Senior Logan Galanes was named tourney MVP and Dylan Grover was awarded the Sportsmanship Award.

Boys Varsity Ice hockey has gotten off to a 5-0 start, is having their best season in several years, and is ready to make their mark. We have established a boys JV team as well.

Varsity wrestling has started strong as well this winter. Another young squad, they have displayed terrific performance despite their youth. The team finished 3rd at the 20-team Minickello Tourney on January 7.

The snow sports have also started well this winter, and we expect continued improvement for those teams. Defending State Cham-pions, KHS Bowling, looks to defend their title, and seem to have the drive to do just that. The boys and girls swim teams have also started with a winning record and look to be very competitive this season. For the first time in many years, the winter Cheer team will compete in two competitions including the State Champion-ships in March. Finally, the three-time defending State Champion KHS Unified Basketball Team, with its 28 game win streak over 4 seasons, will again see if they have what it takes to defend against teams that are all geared to defeat this team. Get out to a KHS sports contest, and support the Blackbirds!

Keene's Unified Basketball

The KHS Unified Basketball team kicked off its 2017 season with a 38-21 victory over Conant High. The win was Keene's 28th win in a row and continues a winning tradition that the team hopes will lead to yet another State Championship. This year's senior players have experienced the amazing feat of having never lost a game during their high school career! Led by Tim DeRaps with major contributions from fellow senior starters, Matt Lynch,

Robbe Houston, Amber Hooper, and Mike Johnson, Keene hopes to continue its winning ways and advance into the state tourney for a fifth straight year.

Having lost last year's star player and co-winner of Keene High's senior athlete of the year, Ben Langlois, the path to another state title is a daunting challenge, but the team feels up to it, and they can't wait for the chance to prove themselves as a great team even without Bennie and his three pointers! In its first win, Keene jumped out to a quick 16-0 lead with Tim leading the way with the first eight points, followed by his brother Matt adding a buck-et. Other scorers include rising star Donald Blood, deadeye shoot-er, Tomi Ingalls, and freshman Kelly Thurmond. Last year's score keeper, Keith Hersey, put down his pencil, joined the roster and added two buckets in his first game as a player!

Unified Sports continue to grow in popularity as evidenced by the large crowd that came out for the opening game. With crowds rivaling those of the varsity team, the Unified team was inspired to play hard and proud! It has been a great start to what everyone hopes will be another winning season!

Library News February brings our annual Blind Date With A Book event, which is one of our most popular events of the year. TAG members wrap book in festive paper, and students check out the books without knowing the title or author; thus, they are taking a blind date with the book. Each time students return one of these blind dates, they may fill out a Rate Your Date card and be entered into a free con-test to win Valentine’s-related prizes for the entire month of Feb-ruary. We are giving away multiple prizes each day. Many thanks to Maya Gempler, Casey Koulalis, Isaac Sylvern, and Jessica Spear for wrapping all of the books.

For the third year in a row, we will sponsor an Oscars contest. The student who guesses the most correct answers will win two tickets to Keene Cinemas. Be sure to follow us on social media for more information about these two February events and to view photos of the winners of these events

We have selected the book choices for the second semester monthly book discussion meetings. Access the list on our website, Facebook, or Instagram account. We have print, digital, and au-dio copies of these titles. Departments are sponsoring a different title each month, and students may earn bonus points in participat-ing classes by reading the book and participating in a discussion during I-Time.

Now is the time for high school students to recommend titles for next year’s NH Flume Award. Students may access the nomina-tion form at http://yals.nhlibrarians.org/book-awards/flume/ and submit their recommendations. Only NH teens may nominate titles that have been published in the last two years. Librarians narrow the list to ten, and the list is announced in May. Students have from May to the following April to read the books and cast their votes. Previous winners of the NH Flume Award include Carry On by Rainbow Rowell (2016), We Were Liars by E. Lockhard (2015), Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell (2014), and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (2013). Access the URL http://yals.nhlibrarians.org/book-awards/flume/ to see all of

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the previous winners and to learn more about the award. For ex-ample did you know that a KHS alum created the logo for the NH Flume Award when she was a sophomore at KHS?

Follow us on Facebook at Keene High School Drew Library and on Instagram @khsdrewlibrary to receive weekly updates, includ-ing the many contests we offer. Remember to access our website via the link on the KHS website. You will find links to our data-bases, eBooks, pathfinders, monthly book recommendations, and orientation videos. You can also access our catalog from home by using our website. The library is open virtually 24/7; students may link to our hundreds of eBooks from our online catalog, and students may access 24 databases from our website any time of day.

National Art Honor Society

The following National Art Honor Society members designed and painted a sign for the City of Keene Public Works Depart-ment: Gwen Baker, Sarah Favorite, Jenna Goodwin (Secretary), Julia Johnston (Treasurer), Cierra Larkin, Emma Murphy, Jacqueline Perry (President), Victoria Reynolds, Jackie Richter, Molly Swope, Natalie Wood (Vice President).

The sign is currently located in front of the Keene Post Office.

Cheshire Career Center Career Exploration Summer Camp

Last summer, Cheshire Career Center teachers offered our first ever career exploration summer camp to almost 100 local stu-dents. Students spent time exploring careers by cooking one-of-a-kind pancakes, becoming certified babysitters, filming stop-motion movies, creating lemonade stands, designing Android apps, pro-gramming robots, racing RC cars, and painting fingernails (just to name a few).

In addition to these amazing opportunities, students participated in team building lessons and made new friends before entering the high school.

If you know a student who is entering 6th through 9th grade next school year (2017-2018), please consider signing them up for our summer camp.

SAVE THE DATE for this summer! June 26-29, 2017. For more information email cheshirecareercamp@gmail.com. Be sure to “LIKE” us on Facebook @CheshireCareerCenter.

Cheshire Career Center Welcomes

Student Ambassadors Cheshire Career Center has a valuable new addition: Student Am-bassadors! The Center needed assistance with tours, information sharing, and presenters so teachers recommended select students to become active members of the newly formed group.

After two meetings students have been involved in re-designing the CCC logo, providing input in to career center programs, revis-ing written information on programs, serving as tour guides for

The Sadies Dance is under new management! The Girls Ice Hockey Team is very excited to be in charge of this year’s Sadie Hawkins Dance! KHS's annual semi- formal will be held Saturday, March 4 from 7-10 p.m. in the cafeteria. Tickets will be available the week of the dance during all lunches and after school in Room 2 from Mrs. Ballaro. Ticket prices are $10.

Students must complete a dance waiver, and guests must complete a guest waiver in order to purchase tickets. Waiv-ers are available in house offices.

Look Homeward, Angel The Keene High School Drama Club is pleased to announce its spring play will be Look Homeward, Angel, by Ketti Frings. The 1958 Pulitzer Prize winning comedy/drama, based on Thomas Wolfe's novel, is set in 1916, in Altamount, North Carolina. The Gant family runs a boarding house, and Eugene Gant is working to find his way out. His brother, mother, sister, and the boarders, as well as his father, W.O. Gant are all trapped by their lives and choices. Eugene, though, has the chance to escape. And the angel? Well, you'll have to come to the performance to find out about that!

The play ran on Broadway for 564 performances and garnered not only the Pulitzer but also the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award and a number of Tony nominations. The club will perform in only three shows, so make sure you come and see it March 23, 24, and 25, at 7:00 p.m. in the KHS auditori-um. All tickets are $7. KHS students will once again be of-fered a free ticket!

Note: The performance dates are different from those listed in the orange Parent/Student Handbook/Calendar. The produc-tion is a week earlier than what is listed in the calendar.

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visitors. They will be called upon to serve on a monthly advisory board and will greet business leaders prior to meetings. They have already become valuable assets to the Cheshire Career Cen-ter.

Co-Ops at the Cheshire Career Center Here they grow again! Last year there were 43 high school stu-dents who worked each day before and after school for paying and non-paying jobs in the community. The co-op students could be found working with local manufacturers, teachers, chefs, and business leaders to prepare for life beyond high school.

Students are eligible for co-ops after completing two semesters of a Cheshire Career Center program. They must be in good aca-demic standing and demonstrate maturity, employability skills, and self-motivation. Interested students should contact Mrs. Fra-ser in the CCC Career Guidance office.

During first semester this year, 38 students went to workplaces and received high school credit and valuable work experi-ence. Local employers offer students opportunities on their farms, in their shops, in their offices, and in their schools; and the pro-gram is thriving! More students are expected in second semester, and we hope to double the original number of 43 by next year.

The Cheshire Career Center sincerely thanks each employer who has invested in students!

Business Leaders at Cheshire Career Center On Friday, January 13 approximately 30 business leaders, a dozen students, and local administrators met to discuss ways to partner with the center. Tom Moses, Regional Advisory Committee chair, has been in touch with business leaders inviting them to lend support to the center. They were greeted by student ambas-sadors, conversed with them and shared their experiences in their programs while being served breakfast by the culinary stu-dents. Attendees learned about the need for a regional advisory committee, received information about the center, and learned ways to get involved and ensure the center continues to im-prove. Anyone interested in joining this group is welcome to con-tact Mrs. Proulx at the Cheshire Career Center at 352-0640 ext. 3464.

Did You Know? • EMT students are completing 60 hours of ride-a longs with

Brattleboro Rescue Squad as part of their requirements to be-come EMT's;

• Health Science II students are getting ready to complete 60 hours of clinicals at Langdon Place and Maplewood in Wal-pole as part of their requirements to become Licensed Nurs-ing Assistants;

• Firefighting students practice daily to perfect their skills in search and rescue as part of their requirements for Firefighter 1 certification;

• Culinary students are preparing and serving two meals a day; and

• Construction Trade students are actively involved in putting the finishing touches on a full-sized home.

Anyone is welcome to stop by for a tour and a look at our future workforce.

Youth Risk Behavior Survey On March 10, Keene High School students are scheduled to take the NH Department of Education's Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). This is the seventh time KHS students have taken the survey, and the data collected helps us to better understand youth health-risk behaviors. The results are also used to better formulate school and community health programs to help reduce these health risk behaviors.

Parents should be aware that the survey contains approximately 100 questions, some of them sensitive in nature. To understand health problems among our youth, we must first understand them. The survey contains, among many other things, questions con-cerning sexual activity, use of illegal drugs, alcohol and tobacco, suicide and weapons. Please be assured that the surveys are de-signed to protect students' privacy. Students' names are not rec-orded. Participation in the surveys is voluntary. A copy of the surveys may be viewed in the Green House office by appoint-ment. Please call 352-0640, extension 3564. Parents wishing to exclude their sons or daughters should complete the form included in this newsletter, and return it to KHS, attention Alexandra Bond in the Green House office no later than March 1. If you have questions, please contact Alexandra Bond, assistant principal/Green House at 352-0640, extension 3565 or by email-ing abond@sau29.org.

Québec Trip 2017

February 9-11 This year, 38 students will be traveling to Québec, Canada for three days. Keene High School and Monadnock Regional High School join efforts to offer this fun and affordable trip across our borders to beautiful Canada. Twenty-two students from KHS French classes will be in the group to visit Québec and enjoy fun snow-related and cultural activities for three days.

This is an affordable opportunity for our world language students to travel abroad and immerse themselves in a different culture!

The French Exchange 2017 From April 9 to April 19, 24 French students will share their lives with Keene and Monadnock High School students. We are still looking for a few host families in the Keene area. We prefer families of students studying French, but families of Spanish or Chinese students would be welcome too. If you have questions, please contact Madame Reilly at mreilly@sau29.org. Thank you for your support!

2017 NH Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) Survey Fact Sheet

Q. Why is the survey being done? A. The Departments of Education and Health and Human Services will use the survey results to help measure the percentage of youth who practice risky health behaviors. The information will be used to cre-ate school health programs to help reduce these behaviors. Q. Are sensitive questions asked? A. Yes. Some questions are sensitive. AIDS, HIV infection, and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are major health problems. Sexual intercourse and injected drug use are behaviors that increase the risk of HIV infection. The only way to learn if youth are at risk of becoming infected with HIV or other STIs is to ask questions about these behaviors. Attempted suicide, tobacco use, alcohol and other drug use, and weapon-carrying also may be considered sensitive topics. Questions are written in a direct but sensitive way. Q. Will students’ names be used or linked to the surveys? A. No. The survey has been designed to protect your child’s privacy. Students do not put their name on the survey. Q. Do students take the survey more than once to see how their behaviors change? A. No. Students who take part one year cannot be tracked because their names are not on the survey. Q. How was my child picked to be in the survey? A. All NH public high schools were invited to participate in the 2017 survey and all but one NH school decided to survey all of its grades 9 – 12 students. Q. How long does it take to fill out the survey? Does the survey include a physical test? A. One class period is needed to fill out the written survey, which has 99 questions. The survey does not include a physical test or exam. Q. Can I see the questions my student will be asked? A. Yes, a copy of the survey may be viewed at your child’s school. Q. Who supports this survey? A. These surveys were created by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and professionals from 19 federal agencies and over 100 state and local health and education agencies. Some of the national organizations that enthusiastically support the survey include: American Academy of Pediatrics The School Superintendents Association Association of State and Territorial Health Officials Council of Chief State School Officers National Association of State Boards of Education National Association of Secondary School Principals National Catholic Educational Association National PTA

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2017 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) Parental Permission Form

Our school is taking part in the 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) sponsored by the New Hampshire Departments of Education and Health and Human Services. The survey will ask about the health behaviors of 9th through 12th grade students. The survey will ask about nutrition, physical activity, injuries, and tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use. It will also ask about sexual behaviors that could lead to pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV. Students will be asked to fill out a survey that takes about 45 minutes to complete. Doing this paper and pencil survey will cause little or no risk to your child. The only potential risk is that some students might find certain questions to be sensitive. The survey has been designed to protect your child’s privacy. Students will not put their names on the survey. Also, no school or student will ever be mentioned by name in a report of the results. For the survey results to be accurate, it is important that all students, regardless of whether they have engaged in health-risk behaviors, are given an opportunity to par-ticipate in the survey, but the survey is voluntary. No action will be taken against the school, you, or your child if your child does not take the survey. Students may skip any questions they do not wish to answer. In addition, students may stop taking the survey at any point without penalty. If you would like to see the sur-vey, a copy is available in Green House. Complete the section below and return it to the school by March 1 only if you do not want your child to take part in the survey. If you have additional questions about the survey your child’s teacher or principal cannot answer, please call Department of Health and Human Services at 271-4988. Thank you. Please complete this section of the form only if you do not want your child to participate in the survey. Student’s name:___________________________________________ Grade: ______________ I have read this form and know what the survey is about. [ ] NO, my child may not take part in this survey. Parent’s signature:________________________________________ Date:_________________ Phone number: __________________________________________

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Competencies The words “competencies” and “competency-based education” have been discussed in NH since 2005 when the state began building a competency-based education policy that required districts to create their own competencies and assessments for those competen-cies by 2008-2009. Schools across the state have interpreted that mandate in a variety of ways. A few years ago, KHS worked at the department level to create common assignments and assessments among courses based on state and national standards. In July a small group attended Sanborn Regional High School’s three-day symposium on competency-based education, and this led to the creation of KHS’s Core Competency Team (CCT), a group of 13 with representation from each department. CCT has created a plan for implementing competencies in a more robust way that includes a clear vision with defined action steps to create a foundational structure first. The 2016-2017 school year is an information building year, an important step to ensure that all stakeholders understand what com-petency-based education (CBE) is and their individual roles. It became immediately apparent that standards and competencies are not necessarily interchangeable, so we needed to revise the earlier completed work. With CBE, students advance upon mastery and not necessarily grade level, and the learning must be explicit and must measure transferable learning skills. Assessment is meaning-ful and positive with a true opportunity to improve. Learning emphasizes application and creation of knowledge, a higher level of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Students receive timely differentiated support, and this leads to deeper levels of learning. Students may also take multiple pathways to achieve competencies. KHS partnered with Center for Collaborative Education (CCE), a group that has worked with other schools in NH that have moved to competencies. CCE helped us to focus our plan and provides guidance with their experience and resources. CCE trained all staff in Professional Learning Communities (PLC) protocols, and one member from each department received additional facilitator train-ing. PLCs ensure all staff are invested and have a voice in the process. All departments created their own norms and use these at their meetings. Faculty meetings follow their own norms, and the structure of most meetings has changed to a working meeting with focused discussions rather than just a time to disseminate information. PLC activities have included common readings and video viewings in order to build our common body of knowledge; this provides clarity to our shared vision. The library purchased copies of professional books that were recommended at CBE workshops and conferences, and these resources are great guides. Prior to this school year, KHS trained all staff in Keys to Literacy, offered training to interested staff in Keys to Writing, and the district offered Understanding by Design training with direct connections to competencies. All of these trainings offer guidance in higher level learning assignments and assessments. Most recently KHS staff worked with CCE to look at the school’s CARE statement and to determine how this statement connects to competency-based education and school-wide competencies. Once staff have finalized school-wide competencies, departments will work on their competencies. Remember, this is an information-building year. You will not see changes to assignments and assessments this year, but by the end of this school year, the goal is to have common course assignments and rubrics in place that can be used for the 2017-2018 school year. The road to competencies involves many factors to consider such as changing from time-based practices (such as the Carnegie unit that requires a certain number of hours or days for each school year) to a competency-based structure of learning that is not reli-ant upon hours or days, to competency-based report cards, and to implementing school-wide rubrics to name a few. KHS’s road to competencies is a multi-year plan that involves working at a pace that benefits all stakeholders. It is important to acknowledge that there was nothing wrong with the way instruction used to be. It was preparing students for the way the world was. Now we have a different world that we need to prepare our students for, and CBE provides student-centered learning for this world. You can learn more about competency-based education and what KHS is doing by visiting the KHS website. Access additional re-sources and articles under the Competencies tab.

Non-Profit Org.

U.S. Postage

PAID

KEENE NH

PERMIT NO. 105

Keene High School 43 Arch Street Keene NH 03431

Return Service Requested

To the Family of:

Upcoming Dates • February 10 – Quarter 2 Report Cards Distributed (tentative) • February 20-24 – Winter Vacation – No School • February 24 – Winter Break – SAU Offices Closed • March 4 – Sadie Hawkins Dance 7-10pm (café) • March 10 – Quarter 3 Progress Reports Distributed (tentative) • March 13 – Parent/Athlete Meeting for All Spring Sports 6pm • March 14 – “Curriculum Night” (Formerly “Spring Open House”) 6pm • March 20 – Spring Sports Begin (except Volleyball starts 3/27) • March 23 – Early Release Day – Students Dismissed at 11:48am • March 24 – Workshop Day – No School • March 28 – Post-Secondary Planning Night for Juniors & Parents

6:30pm (LGIA) • March 23-25 – Spring Drama Club Play “Look Homeward, Angel”

7pm (aud.)