May ... A Great Month for Bedford Schools

May is a month where we begin to see spring establish itself, although intially with lots of rain this year! Flowers bloom, leaves return to trees, and the grass grows green ... and grows and grows and grows! In Bedford schools, May is a sign that the school year is coming to a close with several culminating events. This month we had a great deal to celebrate.

Music Concerts: Every school held its spring concerts. Students demonstrated their vocal and instrumental talents to large crowds of parents, relatives, and the community. The growth in the quality of performance since the fall is testimony to the hard work and hours of practice by our young musicians. The district is blessed to have quality music educators leading programs, and these concerts were the fruits of their labors.

Grandparents' Days: Each elementary school and the intermediate school held Grandparents Day to have our students' relatives visit school for the morning. Grandparents have the opportunity to visit their grandchild's classroom, view some of their work, and oberve music productions. It is a wonderful day to celebrate learning, grandparents and (grand)children.

Memorial Day Presentation: Lurgio Middle School Pod 7 South held their annual Memorial Day Celebration. Students recite readings as part of the program to honor those Americans who have served in harm's way to allow us to live in freedom. Veterans and community members who served are recognized as part of the program.

Senior Project Presentations: Seniors at Bedford High School publicly presented the oral portion of their Senior Project to a review panel, classmates, friends and members of the community. This is a culminating activity bringing to close months of research and work to complete an investigation and apply this new knowledge about a topic of interest to the student. The projects were diverse, the audiences were respectful and supportive, and the oral presentations thoughtful and passionate. This will be one of many celebratory events for these seniors as they prepare to graduate from Bedford High School and leave the Bedford School District.

Professional Development: Friday, May 27 was the final professional development day for the district's professional staff. Among many tasks, teachers met in teams to review student performance data to determine the success of personal/grade level goals. These results are reported to each building principal and to me via the principals' end-of-year reports.

Bedford ... Best Schools for the Buck: The final celebratory event occurred in the beginning of the month, as Bedford School District was selected as the 5th best school district in the United States by the Forbes / GreatSchools Best Schools for the Real Estate Buck Program. This is testimony to the commitment to education and learning shared by students, parents, teachers, administrators, staff and the community. Thank you.