As we looked back at the last 12 months, something became clear to us: 2023 was a big year in Manchester schools. We saw students and staff achieve great heights, and rolled out new academic policies and programs. We were awarded significant grant opportunities, and took significant steps forward in our long-term facilities planning process. 

While any list such as this is prone to missing something, this is our best attempt to highlight the year that was.

We now present: 2023, the year in review. 

As has been tradition – with the exception of pandemic years – Manchester picks one day for a super-sized celebration of its graduating seniors. In 2023, the day in question was June 19. From roughly 8 am through 7 pm, the SNHU Arena swelled with pride and fanfare, as we celebrated the graduates of Manchester School of Technology, Central High School, West High School and Memorial High School. You can relive this amazing day here. 

In the lead-up to the third annual CelebratED MHT, organizers took steps to focus attention on the students. For the first time, each of the district’s 21 schools participated in the event, whether through performances, artwork, demonstrations or even showing off a student-built airplane. For the first time, too, the event rolled out the Game Changer awards, created to recognize exceptional students and staff members. You can relive this amazing day here.

Our students reached great heights in 2023, gaining acclaim far and wide. Central’s Akshay Manchanda was recognized as a Commended Student in the National Merit Scholarship Program (Story), and his classmate Michael Blair was one of two Granite Staters selected for the U.S. Senate Youth Program (Story). 

On the national stage, West senior Mackenzie Verdiner was named the national GEAR UP Student of the Year  (Story), and Central senior Colleen Stankiewicz was named a national finalist for the Heisman High School Award (Story).

In May, the state Department of Education announced that a record 92 educators had been nominated for Teacher of the Year. It was no surprise here that Manchester was heavily represented among the nominees. In total, 28 District staff members were nominated – nearly a third of the total nominees – and 5 were selected as semi-finalists. Memorial’s Gregory Parker even made it all the way to the final four (with a stop to throw out a first pitch for the Fisher Cats along the way). You can see the full list of nominated District staff here, and you can read more about Mr. Parker here. 

Two of our middle school staff received special honors this year, as well, with Hillside’s Baron Richardson named the 2022-2023 Experienced Science Educator (Story) and Southside’s Shereen Badawy recognized as an apprenticeship trailblazer (Story). 

We also celebrated 51 retiring staff members, who served a combined 1,232 years in the District. 10 of the 50 served the District for more than 30 years, and three – Sandra Chapman of Central, Diane Spaulding of Beech Street, and Jane Bright of MST – served more than 45 years. (Story). 

In 2023, the District made plenty of news around long-term facilities planning, new educational programs and grants received. 

In December, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen gave final financial approval to “priority one” projects in our long-term facilities planning process. This includes the closure of Henry Wilson Elementary School, construction of a new elementary school near the current Beech Street School, shifting Hillside and McLaughlin Middle Schools to the Grade 5-8 model, and additions and renovations at all four middle schools to properly accommodate fifth grade students and the “team” middle school model. (Story | Project dashboard)

The District also announced this fall that it would launch a new dual-language immersion program at Bakersville Elementary School starting in fall 2024. The first-of-its-kind program would start with two kindergarten classrooms, in which students would learn in both English and Spanish. The program would expand each year as those initial classes move up a grade level, until it covers kindergarten through Grade 4. The District is currently in the planning phase of this work, which is funded by a $500,000 innovation schools grant from the state Department of Education. (Program page)

That grant certainly wasn’t the only one the District was awarded this year. In fact, in 2023 alone, the District and partners including Manchester Police and GEAR UP have been awarded more than $20 million in school-connected grants. These grants include:

• $1.9 million to improve or add access controls, surveillance and alerting systems across the District (Story)

• $2.4 million to implement a District-wide emergency alerts system

• $1.5 million received by Manchester Police to build tools and teams to assess and respond to threats in schools (Story)

• $7.6 million to fully build out our student supports model known as MTSS-B (Multi-Tiered Systems of Support for Behavior) (Story)

• $2.5 million to scale up community schools in the district and expand the program’s impact (Story)

• $4.8 million to continue the District’s partnership with GEAR UP for another 7 years (Story)

These grants are a clear sign that the work the District is doing on behalf of our students and staff is gaining traction and attention. These grants will support student safety, well-being, learning and access to higher education for years to come.

In addition to the new dual-language program, the District has rolled out a number of programs and policies this year.

Early in 2023, the District rolled out a new high school course catalog. There was much more than course offerings involved, however. The focus on the new catalog was ensuring that all high school students have the same access to higher level learning opportunities. This included the process known as de-leveling, which doesn't limit the number of higher-level courses, but instead opens up pathways for students to reach them. For the first time, the three traditional high schools all had the same catalog, and the timeline was moved up, meaning students had their schedules in hand before they left for summer vacation. (More information)

Also early this year, the District took steps to raise graduation requirements. Starting with the Class of 2027 – this current year's freshman class – students will need to earn 22.5 credits in order to graduate. Previously, the District's graduation requirement was 20 credits, the statewide minimum. The new number brings the District in line with surrounding towns in setting a higher standard for its graduates. (Story)

With an increased focus on career-connected learning and pathways, the District this year partnered with Manchester Proud to launch a series of Industry Recognized Credentials opportunities. The first such opportunity came over spring break, with students spending part of their week building skills that will help them stand out to employers. (Story) These program offerings have continued throughout the year, including a fire service-related opportunity this fall that the Union Leader reported on.

As we move into the new year, we expect much more big news. We already have much work planned for many of the items listed above – dual-language immersion, long-term facilities planning, grant-related initiatives – but we expect to launch even more initiatives as we go forward.

We are excited at the progress we have made and are eager to move even further for our students in the new year.

Thank you to all of our students, staff and families for helping to make this such a memorable year.