Our new school superintendent, Barbara McGann, was my guest on this week's edition of Portsmouth this Week, along with School Committee Chairman, Dave Croston. Superintendent McGann, a retired Navy Rear Admiral who was born and raised in Newport, discussed her background and passionate interest in education, which stemmed in part from her experiences in Navy recruiting. She considers the biggest asset in the Portsmouth school system to be our excellent teachers and she was especially impressed with their professionalism and dedication. Both guests discussed plans for making Portsmouth's excellent school system even better through the use of Professional Learning Communities to enhance teacher collaboration and raise learning standards. Higher standards are extremely important, said McGann, if we want to prepare our students to succeed in today's highly competitive world. Also discussed was the status and benefits of the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program, and the progress of efforts to address the substance abuse problem in our schools.
Portsmouth this Week is a weekly public service television program started by Town Administrator, John Klimm. It airs on Public television (Cox channel 18) on Wednesday evenings at 7:30 PM. It can also be seen by clicking on this video link http://youtu.be/c_yVkoHaAus or from the link on the Video page on the Portsmouth Town website www.portsmouthri.com
