Manchester Proud: What we do. Why we do it.

As Manchester Proud moves ahead with its work, it seems like a good time for a quick look back.

Earlier this year, Parenting New Hampshire took readers inside Manchester Proud, from the conversation that inspired it to the core belief that drives its work: A plan to reinvent the city’s schools will be meaningful only if it includes all voices.

The story, Many voices: a volunteer group and a mission, will catch you up on where we’ve been and where we are going.

You’ll learn that even as community members disagree on many things, they share the same concerns about education.

You’ll see the steps we are taking to ensure that the plan we deliver to the Board of School Committee is written by the people of Manchester, for the people of Manchester.

And you’ll understand why so many volunteers are committed to this cause.

“Challenges can’t be faced by schools alone,” says Barry Brensinger, who was part of the early conversation that inspired Manchester Proud. “If we want to be a community with a strong  public school system, we have to have the will to do it. Education matters.”

Over the summer and into the fall, we plan to share what we learned in the listening sessions, town halls, community survey and door-to-door visits during our community engagement work. And our Community Planning Group will be sharing a first draft of its plan to reinvent the city’s schools.

Stay tuned because we will be coming to you again for feedback on a final draft.