There are great things to celebrate at AHS!!!

Two week ago our school took a moment to salute the efforts of our Director of Guidance Bill Hughen as he was recognized as the High School Guidance Counselor of the Year by the New Hampshire Association of School Guidance Counselors.  This is a great honor and it is well deserved.  For those of you who know Mr. Hughen he is a man of compassion, strength, and sincerity.  He is a great colleague to us all and a strong mentor to his students.  Bill serves not only as the Guidance Director for Alvirne HS but for the Hudson School District as well. At every turn he does a job that is second to none and he is a key to the success of our school.

Yesterday we gathered as a school again and were recognized as the High School of Excellence in New Hampshire for 2011.  This is a great achievement that shows that the school environment we strive to create is one that truly makes a difference.  After an initial application, about 15 students and five staff members went to Concord to determine whether or not we would move on in the process.  From there Alvirne was one of three schools in the state that would receive a visit from the selection committee of 18 people.  This effort was headed by Mark MacLean, Academic Dean, who coordinated almost 80 students and 30 staff persons whose responsibility it was to show the committee what Alvirne High School is all about.  This four hour visit included presentations by students about our co-curricular activities, the committee visiting over 30 class rooms, student presentations about our curriculum and a round table discussion with staff members.  After all this, Alvirne was the unanimous choice of the committee for this honor.  This is the second time we have earned this honor the first time was in 2001.   This brings a great satisfaction to me as Principal because it recognizes a consistent dedication to excellence in a changing educational world.  We are creating a tradition of strength of instruction and environment that creates a special environment for learning.  We are not perfect and we still have things to work on but this gives us the motivation to continue to move forward to make these changes and continue to make things better for our school community.    Bottom line for me, this is just a really great place to be!!