Vision/Mission Statement and About PES

Vision

To empower students to reach their full potential as lifelong learners and responsible community members.

Mission

To engage, support and inspire learning so that all students can achieve their full potential.

We challenge all students to achieve academic success while also developing physically, socially, and emotionally.

Our goal is to work in a partnership with home, school, and community to model and promote a respectful, safe and kind environment.

About PES

Peterborough Elementary School (PES) is a caring, motivated Pre-School – Fourth grade learning community that fosters academic excellence, curiosity, responsibility, and mutual respect. Our mission is To Engage, Support and Inspire. We strive to model and teach the habits of effective learners; our goal is for all students to become capable, confident, compassionate students who model our school behavioral motto: “Keep it on your mind: Be respectful, safe, and kind.”

We are proud of our school’s exceptionally talented and resourceful staff members whose priority is the overall social and academic needs of all students. Teachers spend part of each week in Professional Learning Communities (PLC’s), engaged in professional discussions and collaborative planning of effective instruction, curriculum, and assessments that will help all students achieve at a higher level.

PES teachers are life-long learners, attending and presenting at conferences and workshops on a regular basis. Five staff members are currently enrolled in advanced graduate degree programs. Our staff members have been invited to speak at classes in Keene State College’s Department of Education, at the NH Council on the Arts Annual Conference, and at the Peterborough and Monadnock Rotary Clubs.

PES honors and awards include NH ASCD Excellence in Education EDie Award for Administrative Leadership in Supervision and Curriculum Development; NH’s School Secretary of the Year; NH School Technology Volunteer of the Year and Peterborough Citizen of the Year; Hillsborough County Conservation Educator of the Year; NH Elementary Environmental Educator of the Year; Harris Center for Conservation Education Teachers and Administrator of the Year Awards; Monadnock Garden Club’s Audubon Camp Scholarship; and the district’s nominee for NH’s Christa McAuliffe Sabbatical Award.

Our instructional program stresses high standards, active learning, developmentally appropriate hands-on activities and problem solving, as well as critical and creative thinking. We stress the importance of students becoming competent in math as well as efficient, thoughtful readers and creative, lively writers.

We are currently implementing Pearson’s enVision math program, and Reading Street language arts program, including their technology components. In addition to their academic program, students also participate in weekly “specials” including Library, Art, Music, Physical Education, and Health Education.

Additional support is available for students, as needed, through Guidance/ Counseling, School Health services and Health Education instruction, ELL/ESOL, Title I and Reading Recovery, Special Education, and a district-wide Intensive Learning Center/Life Skills program.

Since students have “multiple intelligences” and diverse learning styles, our school integrates art, music, outdoor explorations, dance/movement and other art forms into our teaching and learning. Teaching and learning are extended through the school’s collaboration with the ConVal Elem. Arts Enrichment Program, the Harris Center for Conservation Education, the Mariposa Museum, the Peterborough Historical Society, MacDowell [Artists’] Colony, the Sharon Arts Center, and the NH Dance Institute, as well as field trips to the Fremont Conservation Land, Pack Monadnock/ Miller State Park, the Colonial Theater, and the state capitol in Concord, NH.

After school enrichment activities are organized through the PTO. Activities include Legos, Running and Fitness, Sewing, Sign Language, Science, Chess, Yoga, Math, as well as world language groups run by high school honors students.

Technology expands the global resources available to both teachers and students. We have a 12 desktop station in our Library Learning Commons. Our K-4, Special Education, Art, Music and Library classrooms have  SMART or Epson interactive boards. All students, K-4, are assigned a Chromebook for in-school use to maintain a 1:1 environment.

Peterborough Elementary participates in PBIS, the state and national program for strengthening positive, caring behavior to create a more effective teaching/ learning environment. At PES, “Positive Behavior in Schools” provides clear expectations and specific instruction on how to address the school’s PBIS motto: “Keep it on your mind: Be Respectful, Safe, & Kind.” Based on collected data, PBIS initiatives have included changing dismissal procedures and teaching/modeling what behavior is expected at recess and in the classrooms as well as in the cafeteria, assemblies, and hallways.

To address the requirements of the No Child Left Behind legislation, our Third and Fourth grade students take the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) tests in Reading and Mathematics each fall and The NH Statewide Assessment each spring. In addition, students take the adaptive NWEA/MAP’s computerized tests and the DIBELS and AimsWeb tests. The results of such testing, along with curriculum-based formative tests and the analysis of students’ daily work, are used to better understand and support students’ specific needs.

To supplement the district’s funding, PES has sought and been awarded grants for innovative projects from the Goyette Foundation, the NH Charitable Foundation, Target Stores, the Monadnock Community Foundation, the Daniels Foundation, Peterborough Oil/ Mr. Mike’s Science Grant Program, Antioch’s Go Green Program, and Public Service of New Hampshire.

Our completely renovated school facility includes twenty two classrooms, the Deborah Geer Library/Media room, a well-equipped Art/Music room, a high school size gymnasium, and a cafeteria with its own serving kitchen. The school also includes appropriate teaching areas for Reading Recovery and Title 1 Literacy groups, the School Nurse, Guidance, Special Education support programs, the Life Skills/Intensive Learning Center, O.T., P.T., and Speech and Language services. Custodial care is provided with all “green” supplies and materials.

Outside, the school has a large playground that includes soccer and kickball fields; basketball mini-courts; brand new multi-season playground equipment with swings, slides and interactive climbers; an impressive allee of shade trees; large grassy free play areas; a gazebo; a hill for playing under the pine trees; a courtyard with picnic tables; sand play areas; and student-designed butterfly and Japanese gardens. In the winter children may sled and slide down the snow-covered hillsides!

The school grounds also include numerous plantings and extensive flower gardens, bird gardens, lilacs, shade trees and decorative crab apple trees. We also have a walking trail  through our woods. All of these were planted &/or installed as part of our multi-year Campus Improvement Plan. The staff and students have developed a welcoming, attractive campus that children enjoy using while learning more about protecting and enhancing our local environment.

“It takes a whole village to educate a child,” and Peterborough Elementary is blessed with the leadership and involvement of an active PTO and the volunteering efforts of a plethora of parent and community volunteers. For the past sixteen years the NH Partners in Education has honored PES as a Blue Ribbon Award Winner for Excellence of its PTO School Volunteer Program. Other adults contributing to our school’s excellence include student interns from ConVal High School, Keene State College, Plymouth State University, and Antioch/New England University.

We hope you enjoy using this web site to learn more about PES, and we invite you to contact us with any questions you may have.