Dear Newmarket High School Families,
Welcome back to the start of the 2023/2024 school year! I sincerely hope that you and
your family have had a restful and rejuvenating summer break and did your best to avoid what
seemed like the endless rainy days. As I transition to my second year, it has been an eventful
summer around the building with hiring new staff and administrators as well as having the
pleasure of beginning to be recognized throughout town. The first time a carful of students
yelled my name took me a bit by surprise, it is always welcomed. As I mentioned last year, this
is an extremely dedicated and compassionate community that truly supports its schools and
values the great work done by our students and staff and I am reminded every day what a
privilege it is to work here in Newmarket. As we begin this school year, I am filled with a sense
of purpose and pride for the upcoming year and am genuinely excited to tackle whatever
challenges present themselves. With your continued support, my staff and I will continue to
provide top notch educational and extracurricular experiences for all of our students.
As you may be aware, the school board made a recent change to the graduation
requirements that impact all current high school students. Starting with this year’s senior class of
2024, the total number of credits needed to graduate has been reduced to 27. In each subsequent
year the board has proposed an additional reduction of one credit per year until we reach 24
credits for the class of 2027. This change will be reviewed annually with the board,
superintendent, and myself to make any necessary adjustments. The biggest motivator for the
change was around increasing scheduling flexibility for all students and to allow more
opportunity for exploration of courses and passions that may not typically reside within the
normal school day. An example of these types of opportunities includes Extended Learning
Opportunities (ELOs). An ELO is when students can get out of the classroom and partner with
an outside agency to work on core competencies while gaining valuable real-world experiences.
These worthwhile activities were extremely limited due to our credit requirements and resulted
in only a handful of students having the chance to enroll in an ELO. This change opens that
opportunity up to virtually all students.
Over the last year, we’ve had several community events around the district’s Vision of a
Graduate (VoG). In essence this is what core skills and beliefs we want all of our students to
demonstrate and exhibit once they matriculate from Newmarket. We’ve had several working
groups of students, staff, and community members provide feedback on this document and are
excited to bring a working draft to community for more feedback shortly. The VoG will serve as
a road map for the district as we begin to move forward for the 2023/24 school year and beyond.
Be on the lookout for more information and an invitation to participate in this formative process.
I wanted to make the community aware of a few important upcoming dates for
opportunities to come into the building and meet our wonderful staff. Ninth grade orientation is
on Wednesday August 23 rd from 8:00-11:30. We will be providing transportation (see attached
bus information for orientation ONLY) and as a reminder this event is for incoming 9 th graders
only. We will be hosting the High School Open House on Thursday, September 14 th from 6:00-
7:30 with parents following their student’s schedule throughout the evening. The first day of
school for all students, grades 6-12 will be Monday August 28 th with the doors opening at 7:15.
Students who participate in the morning session at Seacoast School of Technology (SST) should
be at NJSSH no later than 7:00AM for their bus departing by 7:05AM. Students who wish to
drive themselves to SST must have all paperwork completed at both SST and NJSHS prior to
parking at either campus.
While the start of any school year can bring on excitement and nervousness, we are
excited to welcome students back to school and are committed to assisting and supporting them
as we all transition back to the hard work of learning. In order to trouble shoot some first day
issues, please have your children login and check their emails before the first day of school. If
there is an issue, please email the help desk. Please be on the lookout for our annual packet of
forms that will go home with your student during the first week of school. These forms should
be filled out and returned as soon as possible so we have the most updated and accurate
information.
I wish you all a smooth start to the school year where we can all stay healthy, positive,
and connected. My door is open and I welcome your input. Please feel free to contact me via
email at the address below or call to make an appointment to speak with me via phone to discuss
any ideas or concerns.
Thank you,
Andrew Korman, PhD
Principal
Newmarket Junior Senior High School
kormana@newmarket.k12.nh.us