We had the wonderful opportunity to welcome Dr. Barbara Nemko, Napa County Office of Education (NCOE) Superintendent, to observe our campus on March 11. Please consider reading the thoughtful letter she wrote to our superintendent, faculty, and staff in response to this visit:
It was a great pleasure to visit Howell Mountain this morning and see how well the school year is going. The buildings and grounds look spiffy, and I was excited to hear that a greenhouse is being planned and should open soon and that you have a wellness coach on campus. It’s great news that your Expanded Learning program is working well with the Boys and Girls Club as your partners and have a formal MOU planned with them. Today’s students are fortunate to have the opportunity to keep learning during summer and other break periods.
Kindergarten, first, and second-graders all were engrossed in their activities and were able to tell me what they were learning. I loved seeing the seamless integration of SMART Boards into the classroom and that in some classes, students also have individual whiteboards. That’s an outstanding way for the teacher to see in an instant who is and is not understanding what is happening in a lesson. I saw such attractive artwork that I shamelessly begged to borrow some of it to hang at the county office of education with Howell Mountain clearly shown on a sign. I’m happy to display information about the particular lesson that resulted in these pieces of art as well.
In this era of declining enrollment, it seems that you’re holding up pretty well with 87 students currently enrolled. It was especially fun for me to find out that I spoke at Elizabeth’s graduation from Howell Mountain and that she remembered me from past visits!
I look forward to more visits and/or attending your graduation ceremony later this year. As always, let us know if there is any way NCOE can assist you.
Sincerely,
Barbara Nemko, Ph.D
