Neighborhood vs. Town-Wide Schools

Center/Sylvester School Project Configuration Options

Today, the Cedar and Center/Sylvester schools are operating as "neighborhood" schools.  Each school offers the same grade levels (with the exception of Pre-K at Cedar) and serves the students closest to them.  This neighborhood configuration could be maintained once the building project has been completed and is an option that has been carefully evaluated and considered.

An alternative configuration would be to change our elementary school experience by organizing the elementary school grades into "town-wide" schools.  Cedar would offer grade levels Pre-K, Kindergarten, and Grade 1 while Center would offer Grades 2, 3, and 4.  Both schools would serve all Hanover students from across the town during their time in elementary school.  With this configuration, a student would attend all four schools as they progress from Pre-K/Kindergarten to Grade 12:  Cedar, Center, Hanover Middle School, and Hanover High School.

Both configurations offer benefits and challenges.  The town-wide school option requires the most change and therefore has been intensely evaluated to determine the educational, operational, cultural, and financial benefit for our students, staff, and community as you will see in the information that follows.

Town-Wide School Benefits

  • Equity in class sizes, technology, and resources (educational and human);
  • Consistency with educational materials and instructional practices across each grade level;
  • Opportunities for daily grade level teacher collaboration and more efficient professional development opportunities;
  • Greater pool of students to expand social opportunities for all children;
  • Special Education programs enriched by providing more learning peers;
  • Opportunity to tailor each school to the learning needs of the grade levels, for example: transforming Cedar into an early education center and providing a more technology centered learning environment for the older students at Center;
  • All students would attend an updated Center School and experience the benefits of a renovated educational facility.

Town-Wide School Challenges to Address

  • A significant change for many staff members that will require a great deal of planning and support;
  • Transportation: Students could experience a slightly longer bus ride as the buses will need to cover a larger geographic area — parents may have to drop-off and pick-up siblings at different schools;
  • Students would experience an additional transition by changing schools for grade 2 (note: students at Center/Sylvester already experience such a transition between grades 2 and 3);
  • Changes to school traditions and cultural connections.