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When SAU 48 launched a building renovation project two years ago, Plymouth Elementary School principal Julie Flynn recognized an opportunity to expand and update the school's technology inventory.

"Technology has always been a priority at Plymouth Elementary School, and we've invested in equipment," Flynn said. "But it changes so rapidly that it's hard to keep up, and we found ourselves duct taping to keep things going."

It's the beginning of yet another school year and it is hard to believe my daughter is in fifth grade-her final year in her comfortable and nurturing little elementary school. As I reflect back on why I feel that way about her school and what makes any school, in general, a warm and welcoming environment for learning, it occurs to me that it's like a giant puzzle and many pieces have to come together to create the right atmosphere. It isn't just one thing or group of things that makes it so.

By Robin Steiner, assistant superintendent of Kearsarge Regional School District (SAU #65)

China has been at the top of my list of "places to visit" for many years. My wish came true when I was recently selected by the College Board in the United States and Hanban in China for a nine-day educational exchange with China. In June, I joined 400 educators from all parts of our country in Beijing. There we began our cultural orientation and then split up into several groups that were sent to schools all over China.

There has been a great deal of discussion about today’s high school curriculum and how to be best preparing young adults for the 21st century and a global economy. Whether it be school-to-work opportunities, foreign exchanges, civics education or other programs, getting students involved in community seems to be a common theme. For the past 13 years, one high school in New Hampshire has quietly been getting seniors involved on the local level as a requirement to graduate.

It seems like only a year or two ago that my school board engaged in heated discussions about banning cell phones, iPods and other electronic gizmos from school. We talked for hours about cyberbullying and cheating versus the needs of parents to arrange for rides to sports and activities, emergency uses and more. We tried to establish limits: use in cafeterias or buses only, or limiting the hours of use to before or after school. We had the superintendent bring us policies and we wrangled on into the night and from meeting to meeting.

Wow. That’s the first word that comes to mind after my visit to the new Windham High School. Last month’s column on changing technology prompted an alert reader to suggest I pay a visit to this 21st century school to see how technology is already being implemented in a big way.

For staff and students at the Lamprey River Elementary School, the past two years have proven that change is possible. The kindergarten through grade five school in Raymond is one of two pilot schools in New Hampshire (the other is the Mildred Lakeway Elementary School in Littleton) provided a Healthy Schools Grant by the New Hampshire Partners for Healthy Schools (NHPHS) to improve both indoor air quality and the environment. One result of their program participation was being selected by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to receive its 2009 Tools for Schools Leadership Award.