February 22, 2008

Dear Windham High School Parents and Students:

As many of you may be aware, on February 5th the Windham School Board voted to open Windham High School in the fall of 2009 with freshmen and sophomores only and thus allow the juniors and seniors to remain at Salem High School for the duration of their high school experience.  Transition to the new high school will become our major focus and especially so in these next few months while the future inaugural class of freshmen and sophomores are still at Windham Middle School.

There are many exciting opportunities to learn more about the new Windham High School in the coming months and I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you what we have planned thus far.  As many of you know, we have met with the entire eighth grade (WHS sophomores) last Friday and are meeting with the seventh grade (WHS Freshmen) this Friday to share some of the highlights of what this new facility and new program will offer to our students as well as the community at-large.  Construction progress on the new high school remains on schedule and under budget and for those of you who have had the opportunity to view the site, it is really something to behold.  However, liability issues still abound and we will not be able to conduct tours for students and parents until probably early June.  However, our architect is able to provide a virtual tour for us which we have demonstrated for our current seventh and eighth grades.  We will be putting this on the school district website so that parents and students can navigate through the building on their own (see the link for WHS at www.windhamsd.org). 

We will continually update our website with curriculum offerings, clubs & organizations, leadership academies/institutes, mentoring, athletics, and other co-curricular opportunities that will help to make Windham High School one of the very best in our state.  On that note, our new principal, Mr. Richard Manley, is committed to the whole child and will do everything within his power to find the resources and the wherewithal necessary to reach every student who crosses our threshold.  Pride, ownership, and a commitment to the belief that every individual can make a difference will be the watchwords in our building as we prepare to open in September, 2009.  Academic excellence will appear in every endeavor, and to that end, we would like to host a series of evenings for parents and students over the next few months to discuss more fully what those opportunities will be and how they will come to be a part of the fabric of our curricular program at Windham High School. 

Our first “high school forum” will take place on Thursday, March 6th at 7:00 PM in the Windham Middle School Cafeteria.  The Middle School Jazz Band and Concert Band will be performing along with some Windham students from Salem High School.  We will be discussing many of the features and programs that will occur at Windham High School, including the many opportunities in music and the fine arts.  Please join us along with our new principal, Mr. Manley for an informative and entertaining evening.

Sincerely yours,


Dr. Frank Bass           
Superintendent