Public-private, two-state school deals

19th Century woodblock of Thetford Academy.

From Robert Whitcomb's "Digital Diary,'' in GoLocal24.com:

I was intrigued by the agreement thatVermont’s private Thetford Academy (founded in 1819), in the Upper Connecticut Valley town of the same name,  has with several public schools in the area, including the Lyme, N.H., public schools, that lets students attend Thetford Academy.  (Lyme has no high school.)

In this very unusual two-state arrangement, about 25 percent of Lyme’s high-school students go to Thetford Academy. Another 25 percent go to the also private St. Johnsbury Academy, way up the river in the town of the same name. About half go to Hanover (N.H.) High School, a regular public high school, and a small number to other schools in the region.  

Adding to the Upper Valley’s very usual (for the U.S.) relationships is that, as I’ve  recently written, Hanover is part of the two-state Dresden School District- -- the only one in America. Rather complex cross tuition/voucher arrangements pay for this.

The principal of the Lyme School District, Jeff Valence, told the Valley News: “The relationship we’ve built over the years…has brought something really special to the educational landscape here. The fact that families can choose to send their kids to an independent academy, while still upholding the tenets of public education, is very important to us.’’

Such arrangements may provide models for schools elsewhere, especially in tight, densely populated southern New England. Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts school officials should study the northern examples, which might be applicable to them, especially for communities along state lines and with a good mix of private and public schools.

To read more, please hit this link:

http://www.vnews.com/Lyme-School-and-Thetford-Academy-revise-long-standing-partnership-agreement-12652007