Heather Robitaille
Merrimack School Board Candidate
Heather Robitaille
A community volunteer and
public education advoate
with financial management experience
Get in touch or follow me on Facebook :
Introduction
Thank you for visiting my school board campaign page. I would like to take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Heather Robitaille and I have proudly been a Merrimack resident for over 20 years. I live here with my husband, Rob and our daughter, Katie who attends school at Thorntons Ferry. My entire life, I have been a strong believer in volunteerism and in giving back to my community. As a teenager, I spent more than 10 years volunteering as a martial arts instructor, which gave me to opportunity to not only teach children self-defense, but also discipline, leadership, confidence and teamwork. Throughout college and adulthood, I found many other ways to be an active and engaged community member.
Over the last 4 years, I have actively watched and participated in Merrimack's school board meetings, deliberative sessions and am currently serving on the Merrimack School District Budget Committee. While on the budget committee, I served as a liason to Merrimack High School and the Student Services department. These experiences gave me a deeper understanding about our district- its successes, opportunities, and the concerns of our community. I am running for the Merrimack School Board so I can play a direct role in ensuring EVERY child in our district is able to reach their HIGHEST educational potential.
Education & Professional Experience
I attended college at the University of New Hampshire, where I graduated with my BS in Microbiology. My studies helped me sharpen my critical thinking skills and understand the importance of making decisions that are evidence-based and data driven. These are skills that benefited me as I started my professional career at Fidelity Investments right here in Merrimack. Working at Fidelity allowed me to develop my financial knowledge as well as strategic execution, teamwork and leadership skills as a senior manager. While at Fidelity, I volunteered at the Manchester Animal Shelter, working to care for the animals and helping them find their forever homes. During my time as a shelter volunteer, we also adopted our dog, Clara, from the Manchester Animal Shelter. I also participated in many of the "Fidelity Cares" volunteer initiatives and worked at Fidelity Investments for nearly 10 years before leaving after my daughter was born.
Community Involvement
Once my daughter, Katie began school at Merrimack PTA Kindergarten & Preschool (now the home of the Merrimack Historical Society), I got involved supporting the students, staff, and families there. I enjoyed being an active volunteer and served on the Merrimack PTA board for two years until Katie began school at Thorntons Ferry. I am currently serving in my second year as president of the Parents and Teachers of Thorntons Ferry (PTTF) with an amazing team of parents. In this role, I bring administrators, educators, and families of the Thorntons Ferry community together. I have also been a substitute for the district to help with the substitute shortage the district faced during and after Covid.
Outside of our schools, I also coach for the Girls on the Run program and volunteer for the Girl Scouts where I help Merrimack's children develop important life skills. I am also teaching my daughter the importance of giving back to her community by participating in local food and toy drives, writing cards for the Meals on Wheels program and attending Merrimack's annual Wreaths Across America wreath laying ceremony. Over the last 4 years, I have actively watched and participated in Merrimack's school board meetings, deliberative sessions and am currently serving on the Merrimack School District Budget Committee. While on the budget committee, I served as a liason to Merrimack High School and the Student Services department.
Why I am Running for School Board
My experience as a volunteer, budget committee member and participant in local meetings has given me a deeper understanding about our district- its successes, opportunities, and the concerns of our community. I am running for the Merrimack School Board so I can play a direct role in ensuring EVERY child in our district is able to reach their HIGHEST educational potential. I am committed to ensuring our district continues building upon the progress it has made and improves areas that need attention. At our most recent school district deliberative session, I made an amendment to a petitioned warrant article to keep all political agendas out of Merrimack's curriculum. I am also a strong supporter of our educators and support staff, including the MESSA contract on this year's ballot. Our staff and support staff are the heart and soul of our schools and deserve to be paid competitively. This will ensure we can attract and retain high quality staff, which will improve students' educational outcomes and successes and reduce our reliance on costly contractors.
I am asking for your vote on April 9th because I have a proven track record of community involvement and educational advocacy. I will also bring a unique perspective to the school board as an individual who does not have a formal background as a teacher. I feel that my knowledge, experience, and insight will make me a valuable addition to the Merrimack School Board, where I can partner with the other board members to ensure the needs of our district are met, while balancing the concerns of Merrimack's taxpayers.
District Priorities
If elected to the school board, I would focus on these key areas:
COMMUNICATION & COLLABORATION
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I believe it is important for the community to understand decisions made by the school board. During meetings, I would ask questions that would open a dialogue to help the community understand the information and thought processes involved in each decision.
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Before making changes to curricula and/or programs, I would encourage the school board to solicit input from key stakeholders such as staff, students, and community members. This could be accomplished via surveys as well as ad hoc committees or focus groups.
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Make communication seamless and easy for all our district's staff and families. An overarching intranet and consistent communication methods between schools and homes would allow communication to be easier and more effective for all parties.
HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION RATES
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As a district, we need to continue to build on literacy focus and early intervention. Improving reading scores will increase math scores and improve students' ability to learn and self-regulate.
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Continue to examine the district's overall curriculum to ensure it aligns with state standards and develops Merrimack's children to be future ready, whether that be a future in the trades, a career, college or service in our military.
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As a district, we must plan for and support enrichment for our gifted and talented students at all grade levels. Additionally, we must identify ways to stretch those students who are achieving above average levels, but not yet "identified" as gifted and talented. Every student should be able to achieve their highest educational potential. Providing these programs will reduce the risk of these students becoming bored or disengaged due to lack of academic challenges.
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We need to catch at risk students BEFORE high school. Students who become disengaged early on in school are at a much higher risk for dropping out, which limits their future opportunities and earning potential. To do this, we must focus on student support using a formal process to identify kids at risk by tracking using data, targeted interventions, our guidance counselors and programs with mentors/helpers.
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EVERY student should feel connected to and cared about by someone at school. This will lead to increased engagement and educational outcomes as well as decreased behaviors that negatively impact the learning process.
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Break down barriers for graduation by continuing programs such as Pathways, but also reduce any administrative obstacles by focusing on competencies, leveraging extended learning opportunities, assisting with makeup work, etc.
SPECIAL EDUCATION
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A free and appropriate public education must be provided for all students. As a district, we must ensure that students on IEP's and 504 plans have the supports in place to help them access their education. No student should fall through the cracks regardless of how much or how little support they require.
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Investing in early intervention is critical to helping students become successful before they fall further behind, thus needing more costly interventions.
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Examine our Special Education staffing and contractors to determine if we have the proper support systems and specialists working with and for our district. We must identify and close any gaps in supports that are available in our district.
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Ensure that all laws and timeframes are being met by staff. Providing staff with the appropriate training to be familiar with Special education laws and compliance is critical to reducing costly legal fees. Families should not have to fight to receive data, communication or to have deadlines met by the district.
SCHOOL DISTRICT BUDGET
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We must balance the needs of our school district with the concerns voiced by our taxpayers. I support focusing budget cuts on areas that don't have a direct, negative impact on students.
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If and when programming or curricula cuts need to made, we need to identify and plan for addressing any future gaps that would be created by these cuts.
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Our school district staff and support staff must be paid competitive wages. If we can attract and retain high quality personnel, educational outcomes will improve, and we can reduce our reliance on costly contractors who are typically not as invested in our schools the same way as our permanent staff.