November 17, 2023
Dear SAU 90 Staff and Families,
I am pleased to let you know that our schools have been recognized by US News and World Report for their rankings statewide. These ratings are based on scores on standardized tests and how well we prepare our students for high school. Centre School does not participate in standardized tests and is not included in the rankings. However, we know the solid foundation that they provide our PreK-grade 2 students helps to prepare them for future success. Marston was recognized as the 21st best elementary school in the state of New Hampshire out of 439 schools, placing this school in the top 5%. Hampton Academy has been ranked as the 19th best middle school in the state of New Hampshire out of 270 middle schools, placing this school in the top 7% in the state. We recognize that this is just one indicator of student success. Given the setbacks that have happened since the pandemic, it is an affirmation that our schools are moving in the right direction. Congratulations to everyone on a job well done! Your hard work and efforts are paying off and having huge dividends as it relates to student progress. A special thank you to our students, staff, and family for supporting our schools. It is an honor to share this recognition with all of you and our community!
After four sessions and many hours, our school board finished their review of the 2024-2025 budget. Prior to the board’s extensive review, our leadership team works to review 175 line items in our budget. Knowing the economic times and challenges with staffing, we focused on holding down costs while maintaining current systems. The proposed budget has increased by 3.09 % over the 2023-2024 default budget. Increases are due to rising costs of special education, transportation, and health care coverage. Considering the critical shortages in all educational positions as well as all other support staff, we continue to focus on attracting and retaining high-quality individuals, including substitutes, for they are the backbone of our organization. Although the default budget has increased, this is largely due to the voter-approved professional staff contract and the voter-approved support staff contract, as well as the rising transportation costs. We look forward to presenting this to the town’s budget committee on December 5 at 6:00 PM in the Town Hall. For your planning purposes, elections will be held on Tuesday, March 12. We look forward to discussing this further and answering any questions that you and our stakeholders may have.
There will be no school on Wednesday, November 22, through November 26, due to the Thanksgiving holiday. School resumes on Monday, November 27. As we embark on the Thanksgiving Day holiday ahead, it seems appropriate and fitting to take stock of all that we have to be grateful for – our schools, our families, our students, our staff, and the good fortune of our community that continually comes together in support of one another. For this and more, we are grateful and appreciative. We wish you all a very happy and safe Thanksgiving Day holiday weekend ahead with your families and friends.
Thankfully,
Dr. Lois B. Costa
Superintendent of SAU 90
Shark News: Shark News 11.17.23
US News and World Report: Marston School
US News and World Report: Hampton Academy