To the Editor:
To those Bristol voters who cast their vote for me to return to the Bristol School Committee for another three-year term, thank you. Those who run for office do so for a variety of reasons and my goal is to make a concerted effort to give our rural children of Bristol the best education possible.
Bristol is a wonderful, safe school with 166 children spanning pre-K to grade 8. Achievement levels in math, reading and writing are continually scrutinized to determine which areas may need interventions to reinforce learning, or to add greater challenge for those students who can deal with higher levels of learning.
Every class is a mosaic of learning styles and capabilities and our responsibility as a board is to assist teachers in the learning process any way we can.
The testing of children is a contentious issue at the moment in our country, but not if tests are used properly, that is to identify areas where children need help. Tests can also be a measure of how effective the instruction is on a particular subject. High scores deserve kudos, whereas low scores deserve scrutiny.
How can we improve? One instrument from Northwest Evaluation Association measures student academic growth and where a student’s growth is not where it is suppose to be, interventions become paramount.
At the moment, Bristol is self examining what types of enrichment activities could be added to the normal school day or as after school enrichments, be it art, music, games, model building or robotics, as these produce many hidden creative juices not necessarily found in classroom work.
Although he lost his reelection bid, I thank Rob Davidson who served three years with dedication and concern on the School Committee. His interest with academic excellence and STEM education will continue to be on future agendas.
