Excellence in Learning
Teaching. Learning. Learning. Sharing. Raising the bar slightly higher every school day. Our students continue to make progress in meeting and often surpassing the challenging standards set before them in reading, mathematics, science, and writing skills. Nelson School consistently ranks high on the state's NECAP tests every year.*
Test scores are important, but numbers alone do not tell the whole story. Parents and community leaders in Nelson consider themselves to be an integral part of each student's educational experience, often lending their time and expertise in order to enrich the curriculum of Nelson Elementary.
Our educators and staff have developed partnerships with Keene State College and Antioch New England as a site school for methods students and student teachers. As a result of our extensive work with Dr. Carol Tolman, a nationally renowned literacy expert, we were invited to present with her at the National Reading Conference. Although we were unable to attend, we were extremely honored. The most experienced Nelson School educators have received training to serve as mentors for new, incoming teachers. The expertise and knowledge of another staff member were instrumental in the formation of the Surry Village Charter School.
We are fortunate to teach in an SAU that values the importance of educators sharing their expertise with one another. Once or twice a year, the district provides teachers with opportunities to attend district-wide grade level meetings where instructional strategies and effective materials are shared. During the summer months, Nelson teachers serve on curriculum committees rewriting content.
As the Nelson School staff embarks upon embracing and integrating technology into their classrooms they have quickly become the frontrunners in using new and exciting tools with their students and have been called upon to train staff in the state of Vermont on the use of the Promethean Boards.
* NECAP is a collaborative partnership among New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Maine in grades 3-8 established in response to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) which requires that all states annually measure achievement of students in grades 3-8, and in one high school grade. ~ New England Common Assessment Program
