SAU#75 Superintendent Newsletter

Dear Grantham School Community,

As we close out the month of June, another school year has come to an end. The 2025-2026 school year marked my 31st year in public school education. I find myself filled with immense gratitude for the privilege of serving as your Superintendent. Looking back over the past ten months, I am incredibly proud of what our school community has accomplished together. May and June were a beautiful whirlwind of celebrations, from the 6th Grade Outdoor Classroom trip & graduation, band & chorus concerts, school assemblies, pre-school celebrations, Civil War Day, LHS Senior Awards Night and Graduation, and many other events for our school community to come together to celebrate another outstanding year. As we transition into the sunny days ahead, I hope you all take the time to enjoy a safe, deeply relaxing, and well-deserved summer break. This July 4th is particularly special as our nation celebrates its historic 250th anniversary—a perfect reminder of the power of community, reflection, and looking toward a bright future. Thank you for an extraordinary year, and I look forward to welcoming you all back refreshed and renewed.

Sincerely,

Christine Downing, Superintendent

As Superintendent, each year I receive an annual academic report from LHS on our Grantham Students. This report is prepared by Dr. Bonnie Robinson, LHS Curriculum Coordinator. Here are highlights from that report.

Below is a sample list of where some of our graduates are headed after high school.

Champlain College

Eckerd College

University of Pittsburgh

Nashua Community College

University of Kentucky

College of the Holy Cross

Embry -Riddle Aeronautical University

University of New Haven

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Yale University

Syracuse University

Advanced Welding Institute

River Valley Community College

University of New Haven

Elon University

University of New Hampshire

Saint Anselm's College

Louisiana State University

Eastern Connecticut State University

Florida Atlantic University

University of Rochester

Roanoke College

George Washington University

State Assessment Results

76% of our 11th grade students were rated proficient or higher on the NH State Assessment for Science

3 of our 11th grade students scored 1350 or higher on the SAT placing them in the top 10% of all scores.

6 of our 11th grade students scored between 1200 and 1350 on the SAT placing them above the 75th percentile of all scores.

Below is a sample of Grantham Student Enrollment in AP (Advanced Placement) Courses at LHS

13 Student in AP Biology

5 Students in AP Calculus AB

9 Students in AP Language & Composition

11 Students in AP US Government & Politics

8 Students in AP US History

18 Students in AP World History

Grantham community congratulates all our LHS students and their outstanding academic efforts during this past school year!

The school board is accepting applications for 1 to 2 student representatives to continue in this role. The student representative will provide monthly updates to the school board on different student activities, events, and honors. The Grantham School Board typically meets the 1st Tuesday of each month starting at 6:30pm in the Music Room at GVS. Please contact Superintendent Downing at cdowning@sau75.org if you have questions or are interested in applying for this student leadership opportunity. The application is attached below.

July 1st marks the start of two new administrators who will be joining the SAU 75 team!

Welcome to Steve Barrie and Jamie Malhoit!

Mr. Steve Barrie will be joining the District as our Director of Technology. Steve comes to us with 20 years of service in supporting technology in schools from the Kearsarge Regional School District. We are excited to welcome Steve to the SAU 75 team!

Ms. Jamie Malhoit will be joining the SAU 75 team as our Director of Student Services. She will be overseeing student services from preschool through high school, including our transition students through age 22. Jamie has two decades of experience in the student services area having served as case manager at Lebanon Middle School and more recently as the Associate Director of Student Services in the Kearsarge Regional School District for the past 12 years. Welcome, Jamie!

We are saying goodbye to three administrators who have served the Grantham School District.

Thank you to Randy Britton, Jennifer Cota, and Madelyn-Crudo Burke!

Randy served the District for 10 years as the Director of Technology. We are grateful for his support in helping to integrate technology into classrooms for our students and staff. We wish him all the best in retirement.

Jennifer served as a paraprofessional, preschool teacher and case manager, and as the GVS Special Education Coordinator during her time with the District. We wish her the best in her next career endeavor.

Madelyn retired from the District as its Director of Special Education and then returned to assist with student services duties at the 7 to 12 level for the past three years. She has been instrumental in assisting the district with middle and secondary student needs. We wish her all the best in her "second" retirement.

During the June 2nd meeting of the Grantham School Board, our Business Administrator, Meredith Butler, shared the results of the financial audit that was conducted in late summer/early fall of 2025. While these audits are conducted at the beginning of each school year, the results are not completed and finalized until the end of that same school year.

The audit resulted with no findings. The auditors recommended that the Board reaffirm its financial policies annually. Additionally, while no cybersecurity concerns were identified during the audit, it was noted that given the evolving digital landscape, the District and Board should routinely review cybersecurity policies and procedures to remain proactive, strengthen our defenses, and mitigate any potential risks.

I want to extend a huge thank you to Meredith Butler, our Business Administrator, for all her efforts related to the audit and always ensuring our financial practices are in full compliance and exceed school finance standards and practices.

Grantham School District is currently seeking to fill three (3) full-time paraprofessional positions for the 2026-2027 school year. These positions are very important to providing support to our classroom teachers and students. Please consider joining the GVS team!

More information can be found using the link below. If interested please submit a letter of interest, resume, transcript, three letters of recommendations, and application (available at www.gvshawks.org) to: Christine Downing, Superintendent, 300 Route 10 South, Grantham, NH 03753. Please email cdowning@sau75org and copy bmolloy@sau75.org.

The Grantham School Board has approved new rates for the 2026-2027 school year related to Before School Programming and Preschool Sessions.

New - The Before School Program rate will be $5.00 per day for the 2026-2027 school year. In addition, charges for this program will be based on the number of registered days for each student. This is indicated in the application and registration process for the program, which will be available in August before the start of school. Fees are based on:

● The number of days per week a child is registered to attend and

● The total number of weeks in the school year.

Fees are not based on actual attendance. This billing structure ensures appropriate staffing for the

program on a daily basis.

Updated Guidelines for the Before School Program are attached below.

New - The following rates have been set for preschool sessions.

3-year old program - $8.50 per day

4-year old program - $10.00 per day

There will also be a 15-minute time adjustment to preschool sessions. The 3-year old program will end 15 minutes earlier and this additional time will be added to the 4-year old program. The 4-day per week model will continue for both groups.

If you have questions regarding billing for either program, please contact Brenda Molloy at the SAU office (bmolloy@sau75.org). We encourage families to make sure all outstanding charges for either program are paid before the start of the next school year in August. Thank you!

The 2026 Legislative Session has been a busy one!

For the latest on what has been signed into law by the Governor, please visit the link provide below. The Grantham School Board and District continue to monitor legislation and new laws in terms of how policies and procedures will need to be updated for the upcoming school year. This will be a major focus of work for the Superintendent and the Board during the summer months. Stay tuned for future updates!