Pleasant Hill principal highlights new programs, reading gains and community partnerships

Jen Humphreys, principal of Pleasant Hill School, briefed the board on programs and outcomes at the K–2 elementary school, highlighting strengthened family engagement and several new initiatives.

Humphreys reported Pleasant Hill served 175 students this year and added a functional life-skills classroom. She said reading scores rose "5% across the three grade levels" compared with the prior year and that library circulation exceeded 9,000 checkouts. Staff have used weekly data conversations and differentiated instruction to support reading gains.

The principal described expanded community partnerships: lessons with Windy Acres Farms, a Spoons Across America gift of cooking materials, a districtwide Cromwell Center disability-awareness program funded by the PTA, and Wabanaki studies with guest Minquansis Sapiel. She also noted a pilot to bring world-language exposure into K–2 by rotating Wentworth’s world-language teacher, Nikki Vafiadis, through the elementary schools.

Why it matters: Humphreys framed the work as building belonging and inclusion — practices she said support student confidence and attendance — and emphasized staff collaboration in identifying students who have been overlooked and intentionally building adult–student connections.

Board members praised the school’s focus on inclusion and community connections, and staff and parents who spoke during recognition paid tribute to interim Blue Point principal Jillian Daigle for stepped-up leadership at her school. The board accepted the presentation and had no follow-up action at the meeting.

"Everyone is different, and everyone belongs," Humphreys said, summarizing the school’s approach to community and instruction.

The board recorded the presentation and thanked school leaders for the update.