Dear Students and Parents/Guardians,
I would like to welcome you to a new school year. This is always an exciting time of year for many reasons, and the administrators and all staff look forward to working closely with you to assure our students and their families enjoy another successful year.
The main goal of our Board of Education is to increase student achievement, and everything we do has that goal as the main focus. I am very proud of our hardworking Board members and staff who tirelessly work to do what is good and right for our students in order to help them achieve. I marvel at how our staff is able to keep our main mission of increasing student achievement at the forefront while also looking out for the well-being of our students. They are constantly working toward getting our students hooked into wanting to be at school and keeping them engaged while there.
We are certainly seeing the results of our hard work in our test scores; however, we still have so much more work to do. We must continue to focus on achievement for all students in order to capitalize on their accomplishments and minimize their areas of needed improvement. We recently revised our elementary mathematics curriculum and, as a result, have seen our students’ scores increase significantly on the mathematics section of the Connecticut Mastery Test. We are in the process of revising our middle and high school curricula and anticipate increased scores on the grades 6 and 8 CMTs and grade 10 CAPT. As part of our ongoing efforts to improve curriculum and instruction, we are currently revising our social studies and science curricula to align with state standards in those areas.
The start of each school year provides an opportune time for establishing good study habits at home and at school, as well as a renewed focus on academics. Children learn best when their parents take an active interest in what they are learning. Talk to your children about what they are doing at school; ask questions and stay involved!
Following are some suggestions for parents to help their children establish a routine of productive study habits:
• Establish and maintain a daily homework and study time. If there is no specific homework on any given
day, encourage your children to read or write during this designated time each evening.
• Set up a study area that includes a quiet place to work.
• Use this homework time to instill a sense of responsibility in your children. Check in with them
periodically throughout study time.
• Discuss with your children how distractions can be avoided during study time; for instance, turn off
the television, do not take phone calls, and keep others in the house in quiet mode during study time. In
this way, parents are setting the tone and being good learning role models for their children.
• Finally, see that your child is well-rested, well-nourished, and comes to school every day. Teachers have a
very difficult job teaching children when they are absent. One day’s learning builds upon the previous
day’s teaching. Let us commit to getting children to school every day and on time to avoid a significant
number of absences and tardiness having a grave effect on student learning and improvement.
Students are our district’s priority. I am committed to providing a solid foundation and vision that will assist our schools in working to improve the achievement of every student who passes through our doors. I look forward to you working with me, as a partner, to assure that your children and our students will come to school with a positive attitude, everyday, ready to learn.
Sincerely,
Mary Noonan Cortright
Superintendent
