From the Desk of the President of the Harrington Park Board of Education:
Hello, HP!
The BOE had a full agenda during our Executive Meeting prior to the Public Session on January 19th.
We were joined by our architect, who provided a comprehensive overview of the health and condition of our school building. It is with this overview that we will evaluate the Long Range Facility Plan (LRFP) to ensure that we not only maximize the space we have for students and staff, but also to ensure that our school continues to be as safe as possible. As the most recent bond was recently paid off, it is our intention to choose our projects carefully so that we can continue to improve our school while being fiscally responsible.
During the Public Session, the BOE approved a resolution to accept $4,000 from the organizers of the HP 5K. The only condition of accepting this generous donation is that we use it for something fun for the students. We will definitely do that!
Two members of our Student Council, Anay Nadgauda and Andonis Vazacopoulos, joined us to share the great work that the Student Council has been working on with Mr. Herbert. This includes the 100-Day Food Drive to benefit the Norwood Pantry which kicked off this week, the Heart Gram sale (benefitting American Heart Association) starting on January 30th and the Have-A-Heart event which will be held on February 9th. Congratulations and much appreciation to all the students working to give back to their community!
In other great work being done in HP, the school, in collaboration with the HSA, is working towards a goal of certifying all of our 7th and 8th graders in CPR as part of their Student Enrichment experience. Once the staff completes their instructor coursework, they will begin student training. As Councilwoman Chung noted during the meeting, the act of becoming certified is great but what adds special meaning to that is the responsibility that we are taking for one another in this community and in the world.
In regard to the permanent Superintendent search, we have selected a firm that will help the BOE in this process. The next steps are to finalize the contract and then we will begin work on formally posting the position and conducting community outreach in the coming weeks.
The next Board of Education meeting will be Thursday, February 9th at 6:00 pm.
Kind Regards,
Peter Toomin