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School Board Chair Chris Ratcliffe coaches middle school girls’ basketball. -
JRCSD School Board Representative Madison Bellofatto. -
Superintendent Reuben Duncan, with School Board members Sandra Stewart, Kim AuCoin, Christopher Ratcliffe, Christine Pressman, Lisa Wiley and John McCarthy. -
Rindge Memorial School pre-Ktakes a field trip to the Rindge Fire Department. -
Arlo Gravell and Michael Dibble play in the Little Orioles Center.
I am very proud to be the Jaffrey-Rindge Cooperative School District superintendent. In Jaffrey-Rindge, we have wonderful children and families, dedicated and passionate educators and staff, supportive communities and a future-focused school board. Together, we inspire, engage and empower all learners to thrive in their lives and communities.
The 2023-2024 school year has been a testament to our commitment to innovation and collaborative leadership. Rather than adhering to a traditional top-down hierarchical approach, the Jaffrey-Rindge Cooperative School District champions a collective leadership model. This approach harnesses all educators’ diverse skills, talents, passions and energy, positioning us to adapt to changes and consistently innovate.
While most of this leadership approach focuses on the interaction between teacher leaders, collaborative administrators and community partners, the School Board has also embraced this approach. By functioning as a cohesive leadership team that seeks to understand all stakeholders and utilize the staff’s knowledge and ingenuity, the school district has made significant structural and programmatic changes designed to enhance academic and behavioral wellness for all learners.
The board’s continued efforts resulted in it being selected as the 2024 NH School Board of Excellence. On June 8, the School Board will be recognized for its outstanding leadership at the 2024 EDies awards ceremony. Some recent examples of the school board’s leadership efforts are highlighted below:
The School Board’s top priority this past budget season was to ensure the district’s multi-year effort to provide universal access to full-day 4-year-old pre-K in Jaffrey and Rindge was supported in the district’s budget. The School Board initially approved using ESSER funds to implement this programming for the past two years. The School Board accomplished its goal at its Feb. 7 deliberative session.
Through this year’s budget process, the School Board ensured that the district’s efforts to develop a cohesive pre-K-through-eighth-grade literacy approach based on the science of reading became a reality. While the initiative is still in its infancy stage, the board made certain the schools had the necessary material resources and professional development to implement the new programming.
The school district has been taking a multi-year approach to improve its culture and be more effective and efficient with its resources by combining the middle and high schools.
Earlier this year, with community input, the two schools were officially combined into Conant Middle High School (CMHS). All learners in grades six to 12 are now Conant Orioles! The school board understood the importance of this merger.
CMHS Principal David Dustin stated, “We appreciate our School Board and community for supporting this final piece of our merger, and the impact on our learners in the middle grades has been immediate and positive. We are all Orioles; we all wear orange and black with pride and share one vision for a positive, safe school centered on learning. It’s been exciting completing this last piece of a process that began way back in 2018 and seeing it come to fruition.”
Through the collaborative efforts of our educators, the community and our regional partners, CMHS is now NEASC-accredited grades six to 12, receiving high praise from the accreditation team. At a session with the CMHS staff, the accreditation team chair informed the CMHS educators that they “embody a sense of pride and enthusiasm in everything you do, and your hard work and dedication to your students are evident.”
He went on to say, “Teachers told us that they are happy here and that it is a great place to teach.”
Recently, the School Board supported the district’s administration, teachers, children and community by implementing the “no-cut” policy for middle school athletics. This was a significant departure from longstanding practice. Not only did they publicly support this school district initiative designed to increase learner involvement in co-curricular activities, but some board members chose to further demonstrate their support for this movement by working directly with the children as coaches or club advisers.
District Activities Director Heather Linstad stated, “As for our Conant Middle School athletic programs, participation is at an all-time high, especially with our middle school girls’ teams. Teams host full rosters, and several sports now have more than one team. The athlete retention and participation growth can be attributed to the commitment of our coaches, who are creating a positive atmosphere for all. The student-athletes also enjoy their new uniforms and being part of Conant Oriole Pride.”
By approving the combination of the middle and high schools and taking a hands-on approach to expanding extracurricular opportunities for all learners, our School Board has worked to ensure that all our children feel a sense of belonging and can actively participate in high-quality after-school programming.
With costs increasing over the past several years, the JRCSD School Board recognized the need to negotiate contracts to attract new employees and care for those already working in the system. On two occasions, the School Board reopened negotiations with the support staff association to ensure quality wages and benefits. The board also negotiated a new contract with the teacher association.
In doing so, the School Board and the teacher association agreed to increase the amount of paid parental leave it offers, to provide quality pay increases for all teachers, to issue extra incentives to those choosing to work as special educators and to give financial incentives for those who have been teaching with the district for at least the last decade.
The School Board genuinely cares for its employees and seeks alternative ways to meet their needs. A rising need is access to quality, affordable child care. In spring 2023, the School Board approved implementing a new child care center for the children of school and district employees. In the fall of 2023, we opened the Little Orioles Center (LOC), which currently has 14 children enrolled, with more scheduled to join in fall 2024.
This initiative has met a significant need for several staff members and aided the school district in its efforts to retain current staff and attract new talent.
When the district opened the search for a new food service provider, the School Board demonstrated its commitment to student wellness. Several companies competed for the new contract; the School Board acted on staff and learner input and unanimously chose the provider that demonstrated the greatest commitment to our learners’ health and wellness.
The Jaffrey-Rindge Cooperative School District has aging facilities that require upkeep and attention. Passing leases and bonds for equipment and/or facilities work can be difficult. The school board recognized the importance of providing our staff and learners with better air quality, so it used ESSER funds to install new HVAC systems with dehumidification in both elementary schools and passed a warrant article to do a larger HVAC project at the Conant Middle High School.
The work is in its final stages. The board showed its care for the district’s staff and learners while respecting the taxpayers by taking a budget-conscious approach to installing new HVAC systems in all schools.
In our collective leadership model, those who have positional authority are charged with providing resources, support and guidance so that teams throughout the organization can make sound decisions for the present with an eye on the future, build a culture of innovation and co- create the organization’s best possible future. By assuming this important role, the Jaffrey-Rindge Cooperative School Board supports the development of a school district where its educators flourish and all learners thrive in their lives and communities.
Reuben Duncan is superintendent of the Jaffrey-Rindge Cooperative School District.