The 2025 District Band Concert took place in the ConVal Gym on Thursday, March 13.

Band ensembles from Great Brook and South Meadow middle schools, as well as Peterborough Elementary School, performed a wide-ranging repertoire that spanned multiple music styles, from contemporary pieces to movie soundtracks and classical music selections.

In this picture, ConVal Band Director Jonny Trudeau conducted the combined 7th through 12th Grade GBS, SMS, and CVHS Concert Band in a rendition of "The Never Ending Story" in an arrangement by Patrick Russell.

The Student-Staff Book Club met after school in the ConVal Library this afternoon to discuss Enter the Body by Joy McCullough.

The story develops in prose and stage directions that give voice to some of Shakespeare's female protagonists—Juliet, Ophelia, Cordelia, and Lavinia.

The book was a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year in 2023.

Students in Sarah Grossi's Careers in Education II class completed ALICE training. The training was conducted by School Resource Officer Justin Hyland who handed out certificates of completion at the final meeting.

ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) training focuses on violent intruder as well as other emergency situations in school settings and teaches specific mitigation strategies, such as: recognizing and reporting potential threats quickly; securing oneself in a safe location to minimize risk; communicating with school administration and law enforcement about the situation; engaging with the threat if necessary; and leaving the area when it is safe to do so.

The final lesson concentrated on understanding rallying points and reunification points. This knowledge is useful for students who will pursue careers as educators in the years to come so that they can familiarize themselves with the emergency protocols in the school where they will work.

During the morning session of the Professional Development (PD) day on Monday, March 10, ConVal High School staff gathered in the library to review the discipline data that are gathered in SWIS. The SWIS suite is part of the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) framework that helps schools create positive learning environments for all students. PBIS is evidence-based and uses a multi-tiered approach.

There were several positive developments in the long-term view of discipline and attendance data since COVID, with attendance rising and average daily referrals showing a strong downward trend. In several cases, the data showed a marked decrease in discipline-related issues, in some instances rates that were 50% lower than last year.

Remarkably, as is shown in the slide on screen, 74% of ConVal students were never part of a discipline referral this year, and another 13% only received one referral during the current school year.

On the other hand, 1.7% of the student population received 9 or more referrals this year. This group of students, marked in red on top of the pyramid, is most in need of targeted behavior, social, and emotional interventions.

Earlier today, eighteen CTE students went on a manufacturing field trip that was organized by the Region 14 Applied Technology Center at ConVal. They attended the Manufacturing Career Day at Nashua Community College.

Students toured the college campus to see the different manufacturing-related college programs, spoke with industry representatives, and learned about innovations in the industry, such as robotic arms that help automate processes.

On Thursday, ConVal High School welcomed Marina Kirsch, the author of Flight of Remembrance, for a TASC talk in the Lucy Hurlin Theatre.

Flight of Remembrance is a memoir that recounts the author's personal journey through the complex history of her family during World War II. The book focuses on the painful past of her father's and mother's survival as well as her grandparents' life history in Nazi Germany and the family's eventual resettlement in the United States after the war.

Throughout her presentation, Kirsch reflected on the themes of trauma, resilience, and survival, and the importance of remembrance while moving forward. The presentation was both a personal account of family history and a broader commentary on the long-lasting effects of political repression and the human capacity to heal and fulfill one's dreams.

Sarah Grossi's Careers in Education Class II met with School Resource Officer Justin Hyland today to learn more about ALICE. The information session was particularly important for students who are preparing to work in education in the future.

ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) training focuses on violent intruder as well as other emergency situations and teaches specific mitigation strategies: recognizing and reporting potential threats quickly; securing oneself in a safe location to minimize risk; communicating with school administration and law enforcement about the situation; engaging with the threat if necessary; and leaving the area when it is safe to do so.

ALICE K-12 School Safety Training is mandatory in NH schools and prepares individuals to remain alert before transitioning to a heightened level of awareness ahead of a specific alert and then to respond swiftly and appropriately when the danger has been confirmed.

Members of the ConVal-Peterborough Town Library Book Club met in the library earlier today to discuss the book Feed by M.T. Anderson. PTL Public Services librarian Aimee LaRue and the ConVal High School librarians Rachael Bowman and Ashley Mudrick co-facilitated the discussion.

Written in 2001, several years before the invention of the iPhone and the rise of social media, Feed is a prescient dystopian young adult novel set in a future where people are directly connected to the Internet via brain implants. These "feeds" provide constant access to communication, entertainment, and advertisements, in effect controlling consumer behavior and thought.

M.T. Anderson's science fiction novel critiques a society where digital corporations control every aspect of life for the purpose of enticing individuals to engage in constant consumption. It also addresses the issue of identity loss and young people's struggles to maintain a sense of individuality while living in a physical landscape marked by environmental decline and devastation.

Feed was a National Book Award finalist.