NASHUA – Nashua Board of Education members approved three contracts during Monday night’s meeting.

The first contract is for services with the Yackley Consulting Group for trauma-responsive school training and support. The agreement states school officials will pay the contractor $21,600 to be funded by the Title IV grant. Assistant Superintendent Garth McKinney said since he has been working for the school, behavior has been a challenge, so he believes more resources are needed.

This contract allows the consultant to come in and present to an administrative team. McKinney said officials may implement the program at up to four schools.

“We’re a very large district,” McKinney said. “Coordinating all this and replicating it is going to take some time and effort, and that’s why we got the support of both the grant and the (New Hampshire) Department of Education. They recognize doing this work in the North Country is one thing, but doing it in Manchester or Nashua is something very different.”

The second contract board members approved is for McGrath Consulting Group (MCG), a California corporation, and Ledge Street Elementary School. The contract is for $15,000, with the purpose to support leadership and professional development to improve student learning. Six days of training and support will be provided by MCG onsite from January to May.

The third grant board members approved is for services with Baker Evaluation research and Consulting (BERC) for professional development at Ledge Street Elementary School. This contract is for $30,000.

The the plan calls for officials with BERC to help to train staff members through hands-on professional development. They will also conduct classroom walkthroughs to learn the fidelity of their implementation.

Officials said the STAR (skills, thinking, application and relationships) instructional framework and Powerful Teaching and Learning strategies will help organize and operationally define effective classroom practices. The extent to which effective, cognitive-based, standards-based, classroom practices are evident in the classroom will be measured using the STAR Classroom Observation Protocol.

Adam Urquhart may be contacted at 594-1206, or at aurquhart@nashuatelegraph.com.

Newsletter