Principal's Report
To all of the Supporters of the North Country Charter Academy,
On June 10, 2009, North Country Charter Academy (NCCA) completed its fifth successful year of operation with its largest graduating class of thirty-seven students. This year's graduation was hosted at the beautiful Beacon Resort in Lincoln, New Hampshire. Graduations are truly memorable moments that not only elicit emotional responses but are a time to reflect and thank people for making a difference. With over 325 people in attendance, I was extremely pleased with the demonstration of support and grateful for the numerous parents, students and supporters who spoke during the ceremony. Opening speech was given by Executive Councilor, Raymond Burton. A welcoming speech was presented by NH State Legislator, District 1, Brien Ward and NH Commissioner of Education, Dr. Virginia Barry. We are especially proud to say that this graduation was the first event Dr. Barry attended in her new position as Commissioner. Our Commencement Speaker for the event was NH State Legislator, District 2, Scott Merrick.
The success of this Graduation event is just one of many testimonials that demonstrate NCCA continues to meet its mission, fulfilling a need in communities throughout Northern New Hampshire and continues to have a unique and collaborative relationship with many partners locally and throughout the state.
On behalf of the students, parents and staff at NCCA, I would like to extend my gratitude and appreciation for your continued overwhelming support and contributions. The success of the Academy has without a doubt, had a positive, profound and economic impact on all the communities. With its two locations; Lancaster and Littleton, New Hampshire, we have been able to serve the at-risk population which covers an area of up to 4,000 geographical square miles. With this years graduating class of 37, NCCA has graduated a total of 153 students since its establishment back in 2004. Of the 153 graduates, 27% were dropouts back to 2001, 30% matriculated into post-secondary educational programs and the post-graduate plans for this year's 37 graduates are as follows:
- 16 Employed 2 White Mountain Community College
- 5 One year or less of College
- 7 Two to three years of College
- 4 Armed Forces
Although NCCA's graduation was the highlight of the year, we also encountered and embarked upon new and exciting endeavors throughout the school year. On July 1, 2008, NCCA began its operation for the first time without any contractual obligations to Ombudsman Educational Services (OES) of Libertyville, Illinois. I would like to thank New Hampshire Department of Education, Division of Adult Learning and Rehabilitation and the Dropout Prevention and Recovery Oversight Council for approving a $276,000.00 grant to help NCCA transition independent from Ombudsman. With this transition there has been a learning curve, but all has gone very well. For NCCA it was almost like starting over from the beginning. NCCA had to do everything from negotiating and transferring facility leases to hiring its own staff, writing its own policies, establishing internet/bandwidth contracts for the new web-based curriculum platform, purchasing its own equipment and software, to creating its own infrastructure.
This transition also included the development of our own student records, reports, etc that were all handled by Ombudsman in the past. Considering they have individuals that specialized in each area, we have had to really pull together as a team and learn a variety of tasks, software, etc. to be able to produce effective and quality reports to continue to operate smoothly. The greatest challenge NCCA encountered in this transition was the implementation of the newest PLATO Curriculum platform, PLATO Learning Environment (PLE) which is web based rather than downloaded to a server. This was new for NCCA. NCCA implemented all of its recommended specifications, but had to triple its bandwidth and ended up doing an enormous amount of troubleshooting to get the system to operate smoothly. NCCA aggressively took charge and was able to address the problem.
In addition, it was truly a pleasure for me to work closely with our professional, dedicated, and committed staff throughout the year. As a team we met regularly to make sure the NCCA's foundation and structure remained strong so that the quality of our educational services and standards remained high.
This year was an especially important year for NCCA. Being in our 5th year, New Hampshire Charter School law requires the charter to undergo an audit and a comprehensive on-site evaluation of the school by an independent team to determine whether to renew the school's charter for another term.
Our application for renewal was submitted last summer and throughout the year the charter school engaged in gathering the evidence from the past four years of the school's operation to demonstrate it had adequately fulfilled its promises of its original charter.
The four major areas of the assessment process included the following:
- The demonstration of the school's progress toward achieving its mission;
- The demonstration of the school's accountability in the use of public funding;
- The demonstration of the school's promotion of student acquisition of expected knowledge and skills, and;
- The planned sustainability of the school's mission and the programs designed for students, families and the communities it serves.
This rigorous accountability process set forth by the New Hampshire Department of Education is truly a model for accountability for all public schools. I am so pleased to share with you that on April 8, 2009, the New Hampshire State Board of Education voted unanimously to approve the renewal of our charter school for seven years.
NCCA continued this year with its community service project of Adopting Marine Troops serving in Iraq. In addition, students at the Lancaster site started a new community service project this spring. The students assisted the United States Department of Agriculture in setting up and planting a vegetable garden. I am very delighted that staff meetings took place this spring to discuss plans for new community service projects for next year. A mutual decision was made that an expansion and emphasis of importance of this aspect will take place next year by having each of the individual sessions or the two sites take on a project that they can call their own.
NCCA also continued participating in community outreach events. On February 5, 2009, the New Hampshire Chartered Public School Association held their 2nd annual chili cook-off. Legislators from both the House and Senate were invited to participate and representatives from each school were on hand to answer questions about their various programs. National speakers were also on hand to talk about the success of charter schools nationally. Speakers included former Colorado State Senator, Ron Tupa of Democrats for Education Reform and Todd Ziebarth, Vice President for Policy for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. This was a terrific opportunity for NCCA to meet Legislators and present to them information about its success. Furthermore, it was exciting to have heard NCCA walked away victoriously with the most votes for the best chili. I would like to thank Parker's Market of Littleton, New Hampshire for making and donating the winning chili. On April, 10, 2009, I attended the New Hampshire Governor's Summit on High School Graduation and was accompanied by three students; two current and one alumni and one alumni parent. We felt honored to have been asked by the New Hampshire Department of Education to attend the event. The NCCA students were panelist during the luncheon and the NCCA alumni parent was the keynote speaker. Prior to this event, the NCCA students went to Concord, New Hampshire to participate in a recording on being interviewed about their experience with NCCA. This recording was aired on You-Tube and at the conference. Another event attended was on April 3, 2009, when an alumni student and I actively participated in a Symposium on Alternative Learning which was sponsored by The Southeastern Regional Education Service Center, Inc. (SERESC).
During the spring, NCCA began preparing for another major transition. June 30, 2009, marked the last date of the charter school having North Country Education Services as their acting fiscal agent. On July 1, 2009, NCCA became completely independent and hired its own Business Manger and added another leadership position, Operations Manager. Although NCCA became completely independent, its relationship with NCES's staff and Executive Board remains strong and positive. NCCA will continue to work closely and collaboratively with the agency.
I would like to personally give special thanks to North Country Education Services, its entire staff and Executive Board members, especially the School District Superintendents for their support and guidance. It is this entity that created and established the charter school. For without their vision, leadership, determination and commitment, our success would only remain a dream. Superintendents:
Mr. John Moulis-SAU#3
Mr. Robert Mills-SAU#7
Mr. Bruce Labs-SAU#23
Mr. Paul Bousquet-SAU#20
Dr. Robert Patterson-SAU#35
Mr. Carl Ladd-SAU#58
Ms. Karen Stewart-SAU#77
Dr. Lou Lafasciano-SAU#36
Ms. Dorothy Danforth-SAU#84
Mr. Michael Cosgriff-SAU#68
I would also like to thank NCCA's Board of Trustee members. I do not think people realize the amount of time, commitment and passion these individual have for the charter school. Although the board meets regularly on a monthly basis, the members put in more time and hours outside of these meetings. This year NCCA experienced a lot of significant changes; independent from OES, its five year renewal process and its independence from NCES. With that, I would like to recognize the NCCA Board Chair, Kate Cassady for the exceptional amount of extra time she gave to the charter school in assuring NCCA's success.
I truly believe the Academy supports the following saying: "People support what they help create". I would like to thank all the parents, students, school districts, school board members, NCES board members, businesses and community organizations for their support, donations and for providing NCCA with numerous resources and opportunities.
I would also like to thank each NCCA staff member for their enthusiasm, commitment of quality and dedication to our mission. They are very caring, highly professional and special individuals. It has been a great pleasure working closely with them.
Finally, I would also like to specifically recognize three staff members who have just completed their 5th year with the charter school; Kim Randall, Administrative Assistant / Former Board Member, Paul Hennessey, Center Director and Debra Ryder, Teacher. Their dedication, excitement and leadership continue to create a positive atmosphere and learning experience for our students.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lisa Lavoie
Principal
North Country Charter Academy
