Winding Down and Looking Forward....

Graduation has come and gone and what a wonderful event it was. Full of laughter, music, memories, and some tears, it was a truly special evening. In eleven years of Chatham graduations, I have never failed to be impressed by the genuine pride and emotion displayed by everyone involved. And every year the senior slide show is such a fitting way to put an exclamation point on the whole ceremony. This year's graduates, rising stars all, are on their way and I wish them all the best. They will make us all proud with their accomplishments.

Following closely on the heels of graduation, we held our fourteenth annual Evening of Excellence last Wednesday where we honored over half of the remaining students in grades 9-11 for their academic achievement throughout the school year. Another special night was capped by the awarding of our Blue and White award to one individual in each of grade. Selected by the faculty for outstanding achievement, Liam Phelan, Sydney Whitcomb, and Christie Macomber all received a citation from the Massachusetts House of Representatives courtesy of Representative Sarah Peake and a $50 dollar gift card to Barnes and Noble.

And now we face our final full week of classes and the examinations which will assess student progress early the following week. The students were all given copies of their schedules for next year and will have this coming week to resolve any conflicts or gaps that may exist in their schedules so we will be able to start the new school year off smoothly in September. I am usually not one to boast, but this may well be the best master schedule I have ever built. Often described as trying to solve a Rubiks Cube, building a master schedule, especially in a small school, can often be an exercise in frustration. However, this year for some reason all of the pieces seemed to fall into place. Almost every student got the courses they needed with very few serious conflicts. We also have a nice array of elective offerings and it is exciting to see increased student interest in our new engineering and applied technology courses as well as some of our academic electives as well.

So even though we are wrapping up another successful school year and getting ready for a restful summer break, we are already looking forward to the coming year when we will be admittedly a bit smaller due to some out-migration but just as committed to providing the best educational challenges and opportunities for all of our students. We will be rolling out year two of our laptop computer program for the incoming freshmen class, instituting a new energized advisory program along with a weekly activity period for academic enrichment and remediation for all students, and offering a new Advanced Placement course in Biology for enthusiastic sophomores. Next year will also mark the beginning of our collaborative work with our colleagues in Harwich to begin creating the new curriculum for Monomoy Regional High School and I am sure that there will be a lot of excitement generated when ground is broken sometime next spring for the beautiful new building. It will definitely be a very busy year but there is so much to be excited about as we look forward to the immediate future.

So there is plenty of time for all of the planning and excitement next fall. Now is the time to sit back, relax, and reflect on the past year and all that has been accomplished. Summer is a time for reflection, but more importantly recharging. I hope that everyone, students, staff, and parents do just that. Enjoy the summer months, recharge your batteries, and come back to school in the fall ready to tackle another great year.

Have a safe and restful summer!