WESTHAMPTON – John Plourd was very involved during his four years at Hampshire Regional High School. He was the class of 2006 president, played varsity soccer and basketball and was a member of the Academic Society.
And now as a faculty member, Plourd hopes to encourage other students to do the same as Hampshire Regional’s director of student activities.
“I’m kind of returning back to the atmosphere that I grew up in,” said Plourd, 28, of Southampton.
Plourd has worked at Hampshire Regional since 2010, where he’s taught physical education, coached boys and girls soccer and led the high school’s wellness program. Now, he’s moving into a bigger role that was created this year.
As director of student activities, Plourd will be in charge of all athletics, extracurricular activities and special events – everything from robotics club to varsity softball. The responsibilities of the job are wide-reaching, but Plourd says it’s all about having everyone “get excited about being at Hampshire Regional.”
The creation of the student activities position is just one of several changes across the district set to greet students when they arrive at school on Aug. 31, including a total of 26 new hires at Hampshire Regional and all five town elementary schools.
About 160 incoming seventh-grade grade students will come together to form Hampshire Regional’s largest class. And enrollment in other grade levels has remained stable, according to Superintendent Craig Jurgensen.
This is the second consecutive year when all of Hampshire Regional’s constituent towns have voted at Town Meeting to fully fund the schools, Jurgensen said. “We do recognize how tight budgets are for towns,” he said. “The towns have been so supportive.”
As part of an effort to support ever-increasing digital curriculum and prepare for the transition to online MCAS testing, technology in all schools has been upgraded, according to Kim Florek, the district’s technology director.
Online MCAS testing will be implemented in the spring in grades 4 and 8 for English language arts. Paper versions will be available as required by students’ individualized education programs.
All schools now have one wireless access point in each classroom.
MASS IT grants are expected to help fund computers and professional development at Westhampton Elementary School, New Hingham Regional Elementary School, William E. Norris School and Hampshire Regional.
And as part of the district and its constituent towns’ Community Compact agreement signed earlier this year, an effort to increase external bandwidth for all schools will be undertaken, Florek said.
Hampshire Regional will welcome over a dozen new faculty and staff, many of whom are replacing people who have retired or are on leave.
That includes a part-time school resource officer, who Jurgensen said will work to get to know students and look out for their safety.
Other new hires at the high school are Kari Manning and Stephen Croft in the physical education/health department; Sarah Wollschlager in the guidance department; chemistry teacher Keith Wright; special education teacher Christopher Nadeau; nurse Stephanie Faas, who will also work part-time at the William E. Norris School; Ellen Doyle, who will work with English language learners; Spanish teachers Sonia Jiminez and Nayra Sanchez; head custodian Mike Jurkowski; and math teacher Stacy Benham.
The Norris School welcomes second-grade teacher Elizabeth Cauley, kindergarten teacher Patricia Westcott and custodian Laurie Baker.
New hires at the Anne T. Dunphy School are special education behavior specialist Michelle McCaffrey and part-time nurse Lori McAvoy, and at New Hingham Regional Elementary School, second-grade teacher Amanda Asselin, administrative assistant Rachel Salamon, special educaiton teacher Carrie Foley and preschool paraprofessional Kelsey Bourdon.
At Westhampton Elementary School, sixth-grade teacher Donna Barcomb, cafeteria worker Wendy Wilcox and paraprofessional Allyson Ramadetta join the staff, while the R.H. Conwell School welcomes paraprofessional Tamara Rosenberg.
Hampshire Regional students who participate in after-school activities and extra help will be able to take advantage of new late bus services to Southampton, Williamsburg and Chesterfield on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
As part of the opioid law signed by Gov. Charlie Baker in March, Hampshire Regional will implement the Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment program at the ninth-grade level. Students in that grade will be screened to determine risks for drug and alcohol abuse. Parents will be able to opt-out, Jurgensen said.
The high school’s basketball court was recently refinished, which Jurgensen called “beautiful.”
High school staff this year will examine recommendations and commendations made by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges following the accreditation assessment last year, Jurgensen said.
An after-school program started last year at the Norris School will be expanded into a before-school session after being well-received, Jurgensen said.
The program, which is delivered through the Collaborative for Educational Services, allows students to learn everything from art and science to yoga.
New Hingham Elementary School leaders have identified a new goal for the year of strengthening the school’s position as the center of the community. The School Council, School Committee and Parent-Teacher Organization are involved in that plan, Jurgensen said.
At R.H. Conwell, teachers this summer completed a professional development course that involves incorporating mindfulness into daily school lessons and life. “It’s a really strong commitment from them,” Jurgensen said. “I think everybody really connected with it.”
Chris Lindahl can be reached at clindahl@gazettenet.com