Day: October 31, 2024

From the beginning of Manchester Proud, our goal has been to create exceptional public schools. This started in 2017 with our work in the Manchester School District’s Strategic Plan.  The district uses this as a guide for goal setting in current and future work. Manchester Proud has continued to work on a variety of projects and are excited to report the following have been successfully completed. 

• Career Connected Learning, an initiative to create opportunities for students within the Manchester School District to connect with potential future careers. This began as a partnership between Manchester Proud, business and community partners, and the Manchester School District. This initiative now has been transferred into a full-time position within the Manchester School District. Manchester Proud continues to partner with the district in making connections to business and community partners. 

• The Compass has recently gone through a total remodel and merge with Manchester Proud’s general website. The intention with this is to eliminate confusion with the separate domains to continue connecting community members with resources from our community partners. We took this opportunity as a way to make the Compass more accessible adding in additional filtering options and the ability to translate the site. Visit the Compass here.

• Opportunity Portfolio is an initiative that began in the Spring of 2024, the opportunity portfolio is a publication that will be published twice a year by Manchester Proud. The portfolio is a physical version of the Compass, the first publication of the school year sharing school-year opportunities for community members and the second publication of the school year sharing summer opportunities for community members. This portfolio will be shared with all educators within the district and community partners. See the latest version here. 

• Proud Moments is a campaign that came from our Communications Strategic Plan to engage our community positively with the Manchester School District. This campaign aims to share moments from the Manchester School District that are encouraging, we go to interview the nominee and share about their story on social media and in our newsletter. This campaign contributed to our 1,700% social media growth in one year. Submit a nomination for a Proud Moment here.

• Federal Community Schools Grant is a 5-year federal grant that the Manchester School District was awarded, Manchester Proud is the lead community organization on this grant. This grant connects Gossler Park Elementary School and Beech Street Elementary School with community partners to offer resources to the students inside of the school. This grant is in the first year, but is off to a great start with two full-time Community School Facilitators inside the schools. This is the first time any community in New Hampshire has been awarded this grant.

As our Champion’s Council looks to refocus on what is next for Manchester Proud, we are proud of all that we have accomplished and look forward to the next steps in making exceptional public schools. ONWARD!

On the evening of October 29, 2024, Gossler Park Elementary School hosted a Positive Parenting class as part of the Community Schools Federal Grant awarded to the district. The session was facilitated by Gossler Park’s social worker, Stephanie Emmons, and guidance counselor, Jessica Deshaies, and focused on equipping parents with positive parenting strategies in an engaging, collaborative setting.

Typically structured as a seven-week course, the session was condensed into a one-hour overview, covering essential topics in positive parenting: building relationships, understanding behaviors, setting routines and making choices, developing coping strategies, using logical consequences, and creating actionable parenting plans. Emmons emphasized the foundational importance of relationships in parenting, likening them to the base of a house: “Relationships are like the foundation of a house; you have to build that first,” she noted, underscoring the necessity of establishing strong, trust-based connections with children before other tools can be effectively applied.

Parents had the opportunity to connect their personal experiences to the tools and topics discussed, sharing anecdotes about their children and relating to each strategy in a practical, meaningful way. The use of consistent language both at home and in school was highlighted, promoting a cohesive approach between school and family.

For those unable to attend the October 29 session, Gossler Park Elementary will offer another Positive Parenting class on Friday, November 1, 2024, at 2:00 pm, providing another opportunity for parents to engage in these essential discussions and learn new ways to foster healthy, positive relationships with their children.Thank you, Angela Leach, Gossler Park Elementary School’s Community Schools Facilitator for her coordination of this event. If any Gossler Gator parents are interested in the Friday class, please reach out to aleach@mansd.org