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RIVENDELL INTERSTATE SCHOOL DISTRICT |
Annual Meeting Information
ANNUAL MEETING: Due to COVID restrictions, there will be no in-person meeting this year.
ANNUAL REPORT: This year’s annual report will be created to be more user friendly, economical, and practical. Our hope is that most community members will be able to access the report electronically on the local listservs and website. We will provide each town office with hard copies and mail hard copies to anyone who emails a request to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by March 4th.
VOTING: Voting on the budget and officers will be by Australian ballot. In the interest of keeping our poll-workers safe, we are once again encouraging everyone to vote by mail. Ballots will be mailed to each registered voter in an envelope labeled “Official Rivendell Ballot Enclosed.” If you do not receive your ballot by March 1st, please contact your Town Clerk. Voted ballots must be received at your town office by 3PM March 16th. For those desiring to vote in person or to drop off a ballot, polls will be open at Rivendell Academy 5-7PM on March 16th.
INFORMATION MEETINGS: There will be two information meetings held remotely via Zoom. This is your chance to learn about the budget, ask questions and offer comments. You can dial in on your phone or connect through the internet.
- 6:30PM Tuesday, February 23, 2021
- Annual Report 2021 Budget Document
- Rivendell Budget and Voting Information Mailer
- 6:30PM Tuesday, March 9

Critical Friends Groups (CFG)
Since the beginning of this District, Rivendell has held Critical Friend Groups (CFG) – these are reflective practice groups to support collaboration and the improvement of student learning.
The following descriptions help explain our practice:
What is a CFG?
A CFG is a professional learning community consisting of approximately 8-12 educators who come together voluntarily at least once a month for about 2 hours. Group members are committed to improving their practice through collaborative learning. (As defined by the National School Reform Faculty: http://www.nsrfharmony.org/)
How did the idea of Critical Friends Groups develop?
In 1994, the Annenberg Institute for School Reform designed a different approach to professional development, one that would be focused on the practitioner and on defining what will improve student learning. Since the summer of 2000, Critical Friends Groups training is coordinated by the National School Reform Faculty (NSRF) at the Harmony Education Center in Bloomington, Indiana.
What are the purposes of a Critical Friends Group?
Critical Friends Groups are designed to
- Create a professional learning community
- Make teaching practice explicit and public by "talking about teaching"
- Help people involved in schools to work collaboratively in democratic, reflective communities (Bambino)
- Establish a foundation for sustained professional development based on a spirit of inquiry (Silva)
- Provide a context to understand our work with students, our relationships with peers, and our thoughts, assumptions, and beliefs about teaching and learning
- Help educators help each other turn theories into practice and standards into actual student learning
- Improve teaching and learning
How does CFG make a difference?
Looking at student work together builds professional community and shared norms, increases academic rigor, and provides an immediately applicable, effective way to help teachers change practices to get different results, as well as other modes of collaboratively examining student work..
What are the characteristics of a professional learning community?
Professional learning communities are strong when teachers demonstrate
- Shared norms and values
- Collaboration
- Reflective dialogue
- Deprivatization of practice
- Collective focus on student learning
- Spirit of shared responsibility for the learning of all students
- Professional learning communities can develop when there is
- Time to meet and talk
- Physical proximity
- Interdependent teaching roles
- Active communication structures
- Teacher empowerment and autonomy
Additional Information on CFGs
- Looking at Student Work: This web site features "virtual protocol experiences," in addition to sites on student work, actual student work samples, rubrics, and benchmark research.
- Allen, David, ed. Assessing Student Learning: From Grading to Understanding. New York: Teachers College Press, 1998.
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Rivendell Interstate School District
PO Box 271
10 School Drive
Orford NH 03777
Phone: (603) 353-2170
Fax: (603) 353-2189