Above: Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander listens to a student talk about her concerns. Below: Goodlander asks students questions about their school experience.

In the last month, members of the Franklin School community have had the opportunity to meet with Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander and Senator Jeanne Shaheen.

On February 17, ten students walked with Mr. LeGallo, Mr. Levesque and Ms. Wolff to the Franklin Library to hear Congresswomen Goodlander talk to city leaders. Goodlander took time after the formal meeting to talk to students about their experiences in Franklin, concerns about recent immigration policies, and school funding.

On March 6, School and City leaders met with Senator Shaheen at the High School to take a brief tour of the original front entrance which will be updated with funds available through Senator Shaheen's Senate Appropriations. The project also includes updating bathrooms so they are more accessible and replacing classroom doors. 

The School District is also submitting another request to Senator Shaheen and Congresswoman Goodlanders to renovate four classrooms at the high school. The renovations would support new classes at the high school connected to industry and manufacturing.

Above: Superintendent LeGallo leads a tour of Franklin High School. Below: Members of the Franklin community talk with Senator Shaheen.

March 10                                                               

Finance Committee Meeting                                 

SAU conference room 5:00 pm

March 10                                                                       

No School Teacher Workshop

March 11                                                                       

School Board Goals Committee                             

SAU conference room 4:30 pm

March 16                                                                       

School Board Meeting                                             

Franklin Middle School 6:00 pm

March 18                                                                       

Joint Finance                                                     

Franklin City Library Room 5:00 pm

March 23                                                           

Safety Meeting                                                   

SAU Conference Room 5:00 pm

March 23

I2 Meeting

SAU Conference Room 6:00 pm

In February, we celebrated the 100th day of school! 

Seventh graders presented their poetry at the School Board meeting on February 16th. This was a follow up to their Poetry FLeX night in January, which was well attended.

Throughout the poetry unit they learned about different types of poetry and were challenged to write and present a poem. They were able to choose both the style poem and subject of the poem. They were also asked to write an artist statement and create a display board. 

This month we are recognizing Cassie Easter, our Library Assistant at Paul Smith School. Cassie is an integral part of the team from reading a favorite book to students, to teaching students how to sew, to becoming the in-house expert in using the Sphero Mini-Robots. Thanks Cassie for all you do! 

Community is Our Campus

While a lot of learning takes place in our classrooms, Franklin High School offers an extraordinary number of learning opportunities for students in the community.

Here are just a few:

Mr. Dickson has been taking students to the skating rink at O'Dell part during Tornado Time.

Mr. Pollack has started "Outdoor Conservation Club."

Archways presented to our Infant and Toddler Development early college class and is assisting with some internships for our students.

Twelve students are taking Chemistry at LRCC in a course just for FHS students.

Celebrating Innovations at FHS

On March 18, Franklin High School is hosting the NH School of Excellence Committee to tour our school and learn about our programs.

On May 6, the Barr Foundation is bringing 100 plus guests from our Portrait of a Graduate cohort to see how we are doing high school differently.

WInter Carnival

Another successful Winter Carnival in the books. Lip Sync competitions and talent shows, dress up days, and activities like Book Balance, Spelling Game and Knock Out were all part of the fun. 

Above : Franklin Alum and FHS Social Worker Taylor St. Jacques excited for Winter Carnival.  Below: FHS students tackle the Limbo. 

Below: Seniors celebrate their last Winter Carnival at FHS.

Focus Walk Feedback

A Focus Walk is an opportunity for students, peers, and community members to learn about what is happening in classrooms they aren't in regularly. It is also an opportunity to help the school catch data and observations that can be shared with the whole school community in order to celebrate the wins and make plans for improvement.

Here are some highlights from the most recent Middle School Focus Walk:

Students knew expectations and were able to quiet down quickly to engage in the next activity.

Students voted to choose an answer for a group activity.

Students were working at their own pace with resources that matched their skills. Everybody was learning about the same topic in different ways.

February Face Off

The month of February at the Middle School featured face-offs between teachers and students including Knock Out, Name that Tune, and Dance Offs. 

One of the fan favorites was the FMS version of Chopped where Mr. Perkins and Mr. Sharlow faced off in a culinary battle. In the end, the judges thought both chefs did a fabulous job but Mr. Perkins was able to put all his ingredients into one bite with his breakfast pizza, winning the judges over. 

Above:  Mr. Sharlow inspects the ingredients he will use in his recipe. Below: Mr. Perkins get distracted by students watching the event. 

Art

Ms. Gilbert has worked with Artsonia, a free educational website that allows parents to access student artwork. In addition to this the website has provided posters of student work that can be displayed around the building. There are also some pieces at the SAU offices. This is a wonderful way to showcase the work of PSS students.

Above: Art students are learning about art in the Ancient World. Below: Students are learning about art across the Americas. Left: Students created suns, rainbows and nimbus clouds which are the clouds that produce lightning bolts. 

We don't just expect our students to demonstrate the Portrait of a Franklin Graduate. In this section each month, we'll showcase some of the ways the adults in SAU 18 demonstrate the Commitments! Have an idea? Let us know! 

The Pillow Project at Paul Smith Elementary School brought a lot of resources together which allowed each student to take home a new pillow with a case they helped to sew. Friends of Forgotten Children gave the large donation of fabric. Cassie Easter, Jennifer Weaver, Wendy Beaudet and Kara Cole helped with sewing. Trinity Church in Meredith donated the 280 pillows. And, our local media including WMUR and Concord Monitor helped to share the project. 

Above: A PSS student shows off his pillow. Below: Mrs. Cole shows off the stitching abilities of a first grader. Zoom in. The white is the student's! Left: A PSS student gets ready for Drop Everything and Read with her new pillow.

Above: Wendy Beaudet and Jennifer Weaver at the Pillow Project Celebration. Below: Kara Cole poses with a student and her pillow! 

TRIVIA QUESTION: What date do students start school in the 2026-2027 school year?

Last Month's Winner: J. Costella knew Mrs. Vandell's homeroom won the Middle School Holiday-a-thon. 

All of our School Board and Committee meeting notes are available online. Stay up-to-date on policy, innovations, safety, and finance at Franklin School District even if you can't make the meetings in person. 

FY 26 Budget Update:  Our current budget deficit is at $389,054.  As a comparison, the deficit last year crept up to $392,000 by the end of May, yet we were able to recover a fund balance of over $500,000 for the year. We have had a move in this month of a student with an out of district placement that we will need to absorb as well.  

Meetings with Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander:  I was invited to 2 meetings last month to speak with Maggie Goodlander about needs for Franklin.  We were able to bring 8 students from the high school to the first meeting and she was very gracious with them spending some time talking with them after the formal session.  I reiterated concerns for Franklin including the need for universal free lunch for students, and the unfunded special education costs that we incur because the feds under fund special education.  I also sat in a meeting in the afternoon with her at Health First to discuss the collaboration with the district Office of School wellness and the mental health providers in the region that have served as a model for other school districts across the state. 

Congressional Grant for Franklin High School:  We have been notified through Senator Jeanne Shaheen’s office that Franklin High School will be receiving $461,000 to update the front entrance and renovate some bathrooms at the school.  We will bring it to the Council for approval once we receive all of the official information.  We are also applying for a grant through Congresswoman Goodlander;s office to renovate 8 classrooms at FHS through the workforce development federal program.

FY 27 Budget Update: We had our first budget work session with the School Board on February 18th.  We reviewed initial requests from the 3 schools, Technology Department, Maintenance Department and Athletics.  We meet again tomorrow night at 6:00 in the middle school library to review the remaining department requests including food service, Special Education and the District.  Thank you to Councilor Warner, Hoppe and Carrier for attending our first session.  I will remind everyone that this is the beginning of our budget process as we don’t present to the Council typically until late May or early June.