- be a knowledgeable and trustworthy resource to help get the school district safely through the on-going issues created by the pandemic.

- improve the lines of communication between the School Board, the Merrimack Residents, the District Administration and the School District Faculty/Staff.

- determine and work to improve gaps of education currently present in the district that have been further emphasized by the on-going pandemic to provide positive trends in our students.

- push for data driven curriculums and assessments that start in Elementary School and continue through High School that provide consistent, clear and measurable standards.

Aside from being a parent of several children in the school system, I also have significant experience working in schools, with children and in leadership roles. These positions started back in high school when I was able to do my High School Internship in the local elementary school and have continued through various positions that include substitute teacher, paraeducator, school nurse, lead camp nurse, and now a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner and Medical Director at two separate residential schools for children with neurological, emotional, behavioral, learning and/or developmental challenges.

I am running for the school board because I want to be able to use my experience to help advocate for the children, families and residents of the Town of Merrimack. In the current environment, while we continue to navigate through the pandemic, I feel my experience of developing and assisting the COVID Management Teams of residential schools as well as being regularly aware of statewide updates and updated research will help facilitate my ability to speak for the children and advocate for their educational needs while maintaining an environment that is safe. As a provider, I understand that the school setting is so much more than academics, and for some, the emotional and developmental growth they obtain from being IN school and around non-household adults and children is something that is hard to achieve anywhere else. I believe that students and families that wish/need to be physically in school to grow (academically, developmentally, behaviorally etc.) as well as those that require a remote learning environment for the student/family's safety should each be provided the opportunity to choose.

As we get past the pandemic, which we will, I will use my expertise and experience in leadership, management, and my knowledge about the development of children to research and make educated decisions keeping the students of Merrimack and their education as the 1st priority. Furthermore, I will advocate for a process in which the wants and needs stated by the people of Merrimack and those that serve the district are heard and spoken for. I strongly believe that being elected to hold the title of a School Board Member, is an honor provided to allow one to serve the people of Merrimack and as such one should strongly consider, and advocate thoughts provided by the people of Merrimack.

If chosen, I would be honored to serve the families and children of this town to work towards ensuring the students of Merrimack NH receive the education they deserve!

If you have any questions or would like to talk further, please do not hesitate to reach out to me!

Several times in the recent months, the School District has not maintained guidelines per the CDC and/or NH DHHS recommendations and have chosen to follow their own protocols. This has not only created confusion and inconsistencies between the schools but has also meant that the district is unnecessarily keeping students and teachers from attending school despite the present data regarding spread. One examples of this is when they maintained the 14 days quarantine despite both CDC and NH DHHS switching to a 10-day recommendation. Another example is that they continue to send entire classrooms home for many of our schools despite CDC and NH DHHS following data from recent studies that state that in a controlled classroom setting with consistent mask use, a direct contact is defined as only those within 3 feet of the COVID positive individual for a cumulative of 10min over 24hrs. While in younger classrooms, such as preschool and kindergarten, this may be needed due to the possible lack of the ability to maintain a \"controlled environment\" or have \"consistent mask use\" this protocol should be limited to certain grades (or even assessing based on the specific classrooms activities during days of exposure).

k-12-back-to-school.pdf (nh.gov) - https://www.covidguidance.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt381/files/inline-documents/sonh/k-12-back-to-school.pdf

covid-school-toolkit.pdf (nh.gov) - https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/dphs/cdcs/covid19/documents/covid-school-toolkit.pdf

https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/dphs/cdcs/alerts/documents/covid-19-update38.pdf

The REAL Academy has potential to be a great resource for the students that are doing schoolwork remotely. I would like to see evidence to show of the effectiveness and families/teachers' thoughts on how REAL Academy has worked thus far to ensure the students learning remotely are still getting the necessary education and learning opportunities they need and deserve. (In previous School Board Meetings, I recall basic reviews for the programing, but do not recall a formal survey or assessment).

With the current process at MHS, the student is required to initiate and plan out the steps they will take in order to achieve the required competencies which not only helps the students potentially learn or improve a skill, but also how to take initiate to determine and strive to attain personal goals.

With all that said, the benchmarking can have significant value as well. When comparing to other districts, it can help to highlight what areas of improvement are needed or what areas the district is currently excelling in. Comparisons can allow for us as a district to look into other districts that are succeeding in a specific area to see what they have/are doing to improve in order to help create dialogue towards our own improvements.