All inhabitants of the Contoocook Valley School District, consisting of the Towns of Antrim, Bennington, Dublin, Francestown, Greenfield, Hancock, Peterborough, Sharon, and Temple, who are qualified to vote in District affairs, are invited to participate in Voting Day on March 11, 2025.

The voting locations and times are as follows:

• Antrim: Town Hall, 8 a.m. – 7 p.m.

• Bennington: Town Hall Gym, 8 a.m. – 7 p.m.

• Dublin: Town Hall, 8 a.m. – 7 p.m.

• Francestown: Town Hall, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.

• Greenfield: Greenfield Elementary School, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.

• Hancock: Meeting House, 8 a.m. – 7 p.m.

• Peterborough: Community Center, 8 a.m. – 7 p.m.

• Sharon: Meeting House, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.

• Temple: Town Hall, 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Please check with your town to confirm this schedule.

Kindergarten registration and screening for the southern tier of the ConVal School District will be held on Tuesday, March 18, from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm at Peterborough Elementary School, 17 High Street, in Peterborough.

The registration is for children living in the towns of Dublin, Greenfield, Peterborough, Sharon, and Temple.

Pre-registration for this event is required. Please call Melissa Gatto at (603) 924-7503 ext. 2032 to schedule an appointment time.

The child must be accompanied to the registration and screening by a parent or legal guardian and must be five years old by September 30, 2025.

A snow date for the event is scheduled for Friday, March 21, at the same time and location.

The Temple School Study Committee met with Superintendent Dr. Ann Forrest and with Facilities Director Tim Grossi on February 25 to advance an updated proposal to reconfigure the ConVal School District.

The Temple Select Board had created the study committee to assess the future of Temple Elementary School after the town and district voters rejected a School Board proposal to close DCS, FES, Pierce, and TES last year. With Dublin and Francestown now pursuing a withdrawal from the district, the committee focused on alternative options.

Per the published report of the school study committee from December 2024, the Temple Plan envisions the closures of Antrim Elementary School and Peterborough Elementary School. Students would be moved to their respective middle schools, Great Brook School and South Meadow School. In turn, 7th and 8th graders currently attending Great Brook and South Meadow would be moved to ConVal High School.

In all, the proposed reorganization plan would involve the physical reassignment of 285 current 7th and 8th grade students at GBS and SMS as well as 399 elementary students currently at AES and PES. The proposed plan does not affect the 32 students currently attending Temple Elementary School.

The Temple School Studies Committee consists of Gail Cromwell (Chair), Pam Kingston (Vice-Chair), Carol Mamczak (Secretary), as well as members Michelle Cilley Foisy and Vivian Wills.

The ConVal School District Special Education Department will be holding a Preschool Child Check Clinic for 3- and 4-year old children living in the towns of Antrim, Bennington, Dublin, Francestown, Greenfield, Hancock, Peterborough, Sharon and Temple on Wednesday, April 2, 2025 at Antrim Elementary School with appointments between 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. 

The purpose of the clinic is to identify 3-4 year old children who may need further evaluation/consideration for special education services.  Parents who have concerns about their child's development in the areas of speech, language, cognitive, motor, social, play skills, vision, or hearing should call Melissa Gatto at 924-7503 x2032 to register for the clinic.

Pre-registration is required.  The child must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.

On Wednesday, students at Francestown Elementary School braved the cold for another exciting Outdoor Lions’ Learning Day, celebrating their connection to the natural world.

They began working on a field guide, which will be published and available at the school, collaborating in teams to create informational pages about the plants and animals found around Francestown Elementary.

Students also started planning for our upcoming Artist in Residence program in April. We are thrilled to welcome Julie Brown from Hancock, NH, who will guide students in creating a tile mosaic representing our school community and outdoor learning experiences.

To end the day, we enjoyed a cozy indoor treat—roasting pineapple, biscuits, and marshmallows. It was a wonderful way to wrap up a day of exploration and creativity!

Students in Amy Rushford's Eastern World Heritage class gathered in the ConVal High School library this morning to learn about conducting effective online research.

Librarian Ashley Mudrick introduced students to the Gale In Context database that the ConVal library subscribes to. Gale offers students access to topic overviews, primary sources, biographies, and critical essays in geography, government, history, and more. Periodical coverage includes full-text newspaper, magazine, and journal articles from vetted sources. Multimedia sources include images, maps, charts, graphs, videos, and audio selections such as podcasts, archival film clips, and broadcast video.

Librarian Rachael Bowman then reviewed with students the proper way to cite print-based and Internet-based resources with NoodleTools. The app allows students to conduct research, organize their notes, cite their sources in different formats (APA, MLA, Chicago-style, etc.), and collaborate with others if they are working on a group project.

The use of Gale in Context and NoodleTools are just two examples of the purposeful use of technology at the freshman high school level at ConVal, which prepares students for research projects at higher levels, including college and university after graduation.

At Hancock Elementary School, Miss Goodington’s students have been deeply engaged in their astronomy unit over the past few weeks. They have been learning how to research a topic, write about it, and present it to others.

As part of their Library Media Residency this week, students showcased their hard work by creating impressive videos where they read aloud the research-based reports they wrote themselves/

Please see the video here.

Peterborough Elementary School marked the 100th day of school with a variety of activities, including movement, STEM, and art stations.

Students engaged in heart-shaped artwork creation, movement exercises, and cup stacking challenges to build the tallest structure. 

Charlie, our therapy dog, received well over 100 pets from students! 

We are grateful to all the volunteers who contributed their time to make this event a success. Thank you, PES families!