ALICE Drills for Next Week

Greetings Londonderry School District Families:

As part of our ongoing commitment to the ALICE model in being prepared for a Violent Critical Incident, the Londonderry School District will be having a second ALICE Enhanced Lockdown/Barricade drill at all schools during the week of March 20th. The District’s EOP Committee has worked with the Londonderry Police Department’s SROs to plan these drills. As a reminder, ALICE stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate.

In the fall, we had our first ALICE drill when homeroom teachers used age-appropriate lesson plans from the Navigate360 ALICE website to discuss what ALICE is and what they would do in the event of a Violent Critical Incident. The drills took place shortly after, and students and staff did a wonderful job practicing.

This second set of Enhanced Lockdown/Barricade drills will take place on the following dates with unannounced times:

  • March 20: LHS
  • March 21: LMS & North School
  • March 22: South School
  • March 23: Moose Hill
  • March 24: Matthew Thornton

Once drills are completed, building principals will reach out to let you know we have finished the drill, and we encourage you to chat with your children about how drills go.

Feel free to view this link to the ALICE Parent Information Night we held in September to learn more about ALICE and its implementation in Londonderry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eddDDLc6phs&t=27s .

We appreciate your support as we continue to plan and practice keeping our schools safe and prepared using the ALICE model. Please reach out to your building administrators if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Dan Black, Superintendent

Londonderry School District: New Assistant Superintendent

             Source:  6A Kitty Hawk Landing Ste 101 Contact:  Amity Small, Londonderry
Londonderry, NH  03053                           School District Communications Chair
(603) 432-6937, ex 6504                            Date: 2/17/2023

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jason Parent’s Next Stop Assistant Superintendent

On February 14, upon the unanimous recommendation from the Assistant Superintendent Hiring Committee, the School Board voted in support of current Londonderry High School Principal Jason Parent becoming the District’s next Assistant Superintendent starting July 1st, 2023. Parent has spent the past six months serving as both LHS Principal and the Interim Assistant Superintendent grades 6-12. Board member Bob Slater notes of Parent “When the Assistant Superintendent Committee submitted their unanimous decision to the Board for Jason Parent to be named the next Assistant Superintendent, I was thrilled. I am so glad Jason applied for this position, as I know  his already proven leadership qualities and commitment to our entire school district for over the past 19 years. He will be instrumental in moving Londonderry School District to an even higher level of education for all of our students!”

Parent began his career in Londonderry in 2003 as an Assistant Principal at LHS when he started an alternative pathway for students to earn their diplomas. His work to first implement the Adult Education Program has helped hundreds of students earn their diplomas or Hi-Set certificates. He ran a welcoming and organized House Office, where he was known for his collaborative leadership style. He was recognized as the NH Assistant Principal of the Year in 2007.

His many successes led to his appointment as LHS Principal in 2008, when LHS was named NH High School of the Year.  As Principal, Parent led the high school through several successful NEASC re-accreditation processes; implemented career and college ready goals, the College Board Assessment Suite, which led to the state’s accountability assessment, then competency-based education and remediation parameters; re-charged the Londonderry High School Hall of Fame recognition of staff, students, and community members; led students and staff through Covid learning; organized a 1:1 device initiative for all students; and supported the daily operations of the high school through the leadership of his administrative team and staff. Parent supports students involved in athletic, academic, musical, and extracurricular events all year long. He remains calm in crisis, and he makes himself available to staff, students, and families. He also has mentored several aspiring leaders during his time as Principal. North School Principal Paul Dutton says, “Jay believes in empowering and supporting all those around him: teachers, staff and students and has inspired others to be educational leaders, including myself.”

Parent was inducted into the LHS Hall of Fame in 2017, and in 2018, he was named the NHASC Administrator of the Year. Additionally, Parent has spent many years on the NHIAA Executive Council, where he also served as President of the organization. Parent is currently the third longest tenured Principal in NH, with 15 years as LHS’s leader. Parent has raised his family in town and coached several teams in the community.

Superintendent Daniel Black shares of Parent’s next chapter, “Watching Jason through the many steps of our hiring process made a few things very clear to me and the entire hiring committee: (1) Jason is very dedicated to the Londonderry students, staff, and community and he is looking to evolve his career here in a new path to support all three; (2) he has the strengths in the areas of curriculum, instruction, and assessment to guide our staff to make our academic program even stronger in the coming years; (3) and finally he is going to put in the time and effort and do whatever it takes to be highly effective in this new role and make sure Londonderry gets stronger in what we do as a school system. We are lucky he will take the next steps in his career here with us.”

Parent is excited to begin the next phase of his career. The search for a new LHS Principal will begin in March.

Message from the Londonderry School Board Chair

Good afternoon, Everyone:

The Londonderry School Board and School District have enjoyed tremendous support from our community. Over the past year, we have made substantial gains around increasing communication, with notable improvements in our District Blog and use of District Social Media as methods to share the “goings on” around school.

We can always improve our communication, and while we’ve made many positive gains, we continually strive to improve. It has come to the Board’s attention that there are questions about the work of a retired employee who is currently on a consultant contract.

We will be working to get a frequently asked questions document started to accurately answer questions the public has about this and other matters and publish on the District’s blog. If you have questions or concerns, please contact me at afinamore@londonderry.org. I will forward the questions to the appropriate employees and we will post answers on the district blog.

Best,

Amy Finamore

Chair, Londonderry School Board