Principal's Page
Dear Coventry Community,
Welcome back to school everyone. I hope you had a fantastic summer filled with rest and opportunities to enjoy many of the awesome outdoor activities we have available to us in the Northeast Kingdom. I'm excited for school to begin this year. This is my fourth year as the principal of the Coventry Village School, and I feel that our school has continued to grow and build upon a solid foundation. That said, there's more work to do, and we are in a good position to do exactly that going forward this year.
There are many different ideas about what education should be about. To me, academics should always be at the center of what a school does, but we also have an obligation to prepare our students for the future, and that can take many different forms. There's an increased focus on data in our district. This can be an intimidating change, but it is a necessary one because data provides objective feedback that will help us identify need areas and plan appropriately for growth.
One prerequisite for academic achievement is providing the various supports that students need in order to access their education. At our school, we have worked hard to develop better, more rigorous, and targeted Educational Support Team Plans (ESTs) and a strong behavioral support system. These two things, when combined with our school counselor's program and an on-site school-based clinician, provide a solid framework for the development and preservation of student social and emotional growth.
This year we are excited to further grow and develop our enrichment program. We have hired a full-time teacher, Jessica Tetreault, to be our enrichment and innovation coordinator. Building on Irene Dagesse’s work, Jessica will develop this program further to include various life skills programming. We want to give our students the opportunity to learn more about the various careers and trades available to them right here in the Northeast Kingdom, such as farming and other similar industries. Our plan is to connect the existing Vermont State academic standards to these endeavors to provide programming that allows students to access instruction in their interest areas. We believe that this will increase student engagement and also give our students a head start on the preparation they will need to enter a career.
Our staff turnover for this year was zero. This is a huge benefit to the school because we have experienced educators returning to fill roles they are familiar with. We do have two new additions I would like to mention: Jessica, who I mentioned earlier, and Danielle Palace. Danielle will be taking over in the first grade classroom, while Bayla Sarault will be moving up to grades 3 through 5 Math.
I want to thank everyone in advance for their continued support of our school. Your presence at our various sporting events, concerts, and holiday meals means a lot to the school. We ask for your continued support in promoting our school in our academic and social endeavors. It is your support, more than anything else, that will allow our students to flourish.
Important Note: In your summer packet, you’ll find our annual Student Information Update Request. Please return this to us with current contact information—including phone numbers, email addresses, and emergency contacts—for your children. If you have any questions or need help completing it, don’t hesitate to call or stop by the school. We’re happy to assist.
Sincerely,
Jason B. Lees
Principal, Coventry Village School
jason.lees@ncsuvt.org
802-754-6464