MANCHESTER, N.H. – Emulating annual State of the City and State of the State addresses, Manchester School District Superintendent Dr. Jenn Gillis held the first-ever State of the Manchester School District address on Friday afternoon at Manchester Memorial High School.
Following introductory remarks from local officials and updates from the district’s leadership team, Gillis provided details on the district’s overarching philosophy under her leadership. She also spoke about efforts to achieve those goals as discussed during various Board of School Committee meetings over the past several months since her ascension to the Superintendent position. Gillis then took questions from the community asked by event moderator Scott Spradling.
“If I had to capture (the state of the school district) in a couple of words, I would have to say ‘hope,’ ‘grit,’ ‘perseverance,’ and ‘opportunity,’” said Gillis. “We’ve got a pretty good path ahead of us and when I look at the teams that I get to work with, I think the sky’s the limit right now.”
Gillis believes that this address will become a new tradition near the beginning of school years in the future to lay out achievements and expectations for Manchester’s public schools. She also had a message for those with an unfavorable perception of Manchester’s public schools from past experience.
“I would say, ‘keep an eye on us,’ she said. “We are going good places and we’ve accomplished really good work to date.”
Like the State of the City and State of the State addresses, Friday’s address was organized in part by the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce alongside the Manchester School District and Manchester Proud. The event was sponsored by Southern New Hampshire University.
While the event was not open to the public, it was recorded by Manchester Public Television Service.