“Coming together is a beginning.
Keeping together is progress.
Working together is success.”
— Henry Ford

Educational Opportunities (Friday PM)

Participants:

Facilitator/Scribe: Mary Ellen, Corin

Ellice Amanna Betty Greenhoe
Greg Brown Bruce Berg
Claire Halverson Tom Bodett
Anna Bond Jean Davis
Nancy Polseno  


Strengths

meadows institute
Osher programs
Psychoanalytic therapy
Home school network
Experienced teachers at dummerston school who are very good
Small classrooms asset
Strong art music sports programs
School part of supervisory union
Affiliation with landmark college
Miller fund to provide school children with special services
Economic mix of students
Active parent group
Great school board
Nice school facility
Lydia taft library
k-8 middle school is part of town school
part of buhs tech center
access to windham regional career center
accessible to private school options
richness of population as a resource to public schools
elf program
afterschool activities and trips
colleges, institutions, of higher learning nearby: ccv, marlboro, SIT, Antioch, uvm extension
NEYT
Transportation works
Dummerston cares
Phone chain-trans?


Weaknesses

Tenure of inadequate teachers
Very little diversity-racial, international, cultural, curriculum, students,faculty/staff, experience
Economic fragility
Shrinking student population
Punitive state funding formula
No public preschool - affects early intervention for special needs students
No clinical psychologist/guidance counselor
Highest transportation costs
Limited access to public higher education opportunities
School, town is not taking advantage of local resources (richness of community)
Lack of “neighboring”
No central park
Lack of key social services
HCRS limited


What We Want

Outreach to other schools in other areas to develop diversity, exchanges, regional, national, international, partnering with other schools.
Multicultural curriculum
Outreach for GLBT
Outstanding professional & lay leadership
Sustainable funding formula
**k-8 school with public preschool
Educational opportunities for adults
Adult education
Expansion of osher to meet more needs of adult population
More theater, drama, arts, creative dramatics.
Be a full service school: pediatrician, dentist, nutritionist, mental health, etc. building intensively used for all kind of things, particularly services for lower income.
Services in satellite locations
Maintain safe schools
Integrate immediate community
Integrating Jamaican apple pickers in community
Reaching out to austine
Healthy food
Healthy environment
Increase health focus across the board
Integration with local agriculture facilities
Collaborate with co-op
Sense of ownership of school by everyone
School garden
Stronger PTA
Community integration into school.

1.Community integration/outreach coordinator. For instance: austine, SIT, landmark, community school agriculture, other schools, diverse populations and people of all ages. Elder programs.

2.All people in community have sense of ownership in schools
Sustainable funding formula with community discussion political activism

3. Maintain k-8 plus pre-k
4.Outstanding school leadership and superbly trained teachers, multicultural curriculum
5. Health & food issues addressed
6. Full service school for the community

EDUCATION GROUP 7 FINAL PAGE
1. FULL INTEGRATION OF SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY
2. COMMUNITY GENERATED IDEAS FOR SUSTAINABLE FUNDING
3. MAINTAIN K-8 IN DUMMERSTON AND ADD PRESCHOOL
4. OUTSTANDING SCHOOL LEADERSHIP AND STAFF WITH MULTICULTURAL VISION AND…
5. CREATE A HEALTHY AND SUSTAINABLE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT