Office of Superintendent
June 17, 2024
Dear Tantasqua Regional and Union 61 Staff and Families,
There goes another year! And what a year it has been! As I reflect on all the events, celebrations and accomplishments across our district this year, I do so with such pride and appreciation. Just to name a few……
- Our elementary schools piloted new math curriculum options, involving nearly all students and teachers, for implementation next year.
- Grades 5-7 explored a new history program to be implemented next year.
- Our Jr High school piloted a cell phone pouch program to decrease distractions during the school day
- Our Sr High school developed new attendance and cell phone use policies to decrease distractions and improve attendance
- All of our schools participated in a wide range of Community Service projects.
- District-wide teams were formed to guide us through increased Sense of Belonging for all students and staff.
- One of our elementary schools welcomed and celebrated a WW2 veteran on his 100th birthday!
- One of our elementary classes won the Massachusetts DOT name a snow plow contest: The Snolar Express!
- One of our elementary schools had their first Back to School Carnival!
- More than one of our schools continued with wildly successful school-wide jogathons, walkathons and Color Runs.
- BOTH our high school girls and boys basketball teams won the Clark Tournament!
- BOTH our Jr High boys basketball and girls softball teams had undefeated seasons!
- Our high school student council was awarded the Gold Council of Excellence
- We will have high school representatives at the SkillsUSA national competition in Atlanta, GA this summer and at the Washington DC conference for Sandy Hook Promise, including a visit to the White House!
- We had our first district wide Senior Stroll, with our graduates visiting their elementary schools in their caps and gowns!
Phew! What a year! If you lived it by working here, I know you are as exhausted as I am, but thank you for your dedication to our students. If you lived it at home, experiencing both the struggles and the joys with your children, thank you for being patient at times and celebrating with us when it was time!
Over the past month each of our member towns held their Annual Town Meeting and supported our budget requests for next year. We appreciate the support of our Town Officials and all town voters. The faith and confidence our member towns have in their schools allows us to provide the best educational experience possible for our students.
I hope you all have the opportunity to re-energize over the summer, while taking some time to reflect on the experiences of the past year and embrace the growth we have seen in our school communities. As always, we all get a chance to start fresh in September, with new challenges and opportunities to learn and grow even further. Our administrators will spend much of the summer planning and organizing for the upcoming year….which will, of course, come much too fast for all of us!
Have a wonderful summer!
Sincerely,
Deborah Boyd
Superintendent
