Windham High School Athletic Master Plan Revisited
August 1, 2008
Pelham-Windham News
Windham High School athletic committee member Chris O’Neal has asked school board members to revisit the athletic master plan approved by former board members last year. O’Neal is asking that segments of this “vision” for the school be added to the Capital Improvement Program (CIP), to better assure that these projects become reality.
A warrant article pertaining to a portion of the athletic master plan did not pass voter scrutiny in March. The deadline for submitting projects to the CIP for consideration this year is Friday, August 8. The athletic master plan includes proposals for a multipurpose athletic complex (stadium), including a track, adjacent to the school; a second gymnasium and several athletic fields to enhance those already being built.
In response to O’Neal, school board member Mark Brockmeier said it would be premature to add any athletic facilities to the CIP agenda this year. The high school is scheduled to open in September of 2009, with only freshman and sophomore classes. Brockmeier suggested that school officials hold a series of workshops during the next year and have a CIP proposal “that everyone can rally around” ready for presentation in August of 2009.
School board member Beverly Donovan pointed out that there are other facility needs in the Windham School District that need to go into the CIP, such as renovations to Golden Brook Elementary School, as well as a state-mandated kindergarten program and upgrading the food service at the three existing schools. “Each school will have its own priority list,” Donovan said. “It’s the board’s job to boil that down and make recommendations” for the CIP.
O’Neal said he feels as if athletic facilities in the school district are “always getting put off until next year, next year and next year. It never gets done,” he said.
Brockmeier said the discussion needs to include facility needs from any educational standpoint, as well as an economic point of view. It is anticipated this topic will be discussed regularly during upcoming school board meetings.
Windham High School Deans Spending Summer Making Plans
It’s still a little more than a year until Windham High School will open its doors to students, but the administrators who will be working there are working to complete curriculum, athletic and co-curricular programs. The “planning team” has been given space in the SAU 28 building to hold its meetings.
Principal Richard Manley met with school board members to update them on issues being discussed by the team during July and August. The new school is scheduled to be up and running by September of 2009. During the first year of operation, only freshmen and sophomores will attend the school. Juniors and seniors will continue attending Salem High School on an extended tuition contract.
Manley told school officials the planning team got together for its initial session on July 14 with a tour of the school site on London Bridge Road, off Route 111. According to project owners’ representative Glenn Davis, the new structure is about two-thirds complete, slightly ahead of schedule.
One of the first tasks being tackled by the new administrators is the mission statement. “This will drive all else that lies ahead,” Manley said. Although partially completed, the statement of purpose needs further refinement and development, Manley said.
The high school advisory program is another issue being discussed by administrators. “We need to develop clear goals” for this program, Manley told school board members. The program will include developing learning plans for each student.
An “ambassador program,” linking Salem High students who live in Windham with those attending the new high school, also is a topic of conversation. Manley said it is important to have older students serving as mentors for the freshmen and sophomores who will attend Windham High School. The lack of role models at the new high school was one of the concerns school board members had with only freshmen and sophomores attending the school when it opens.
The athletic program also is being talked about, including the kinds of junior varsity and varsity programs to be offered, as well as the rationale behind those programs. Athletic Director Bill Raycraft is helping develop the specifics of the new program and related facilities.
How best to integrate health, wellness and physical education programs with other subjects also is being discussed. Potential co-curricular offerings also are on the table.
Curriculum development and the sequencing of courses is a major topic for administrators. Our goal is to create “a program of studies” by summer’s end, Manley said.
The only high school dean position yet to be filled is the dean of special needs. The hiring of other staff for the school won’t begin until early next year, Manley said.