NORWICH – While Norwich students are enjoying their last few days of summer vacation, the district’s teachers and administrators are already hard at work putting the finishing touches on their plans for the new school year. And while there is a lot to celebrate, there is also plenty of work ahead for the district as it strives to continue to move forward in a positive direction.
“This is the first time in the last eight years that we’ve started the school year with all of our buildings in good standing,” Superintendent Gerard O’Sullivan said, referencing a letter he received from the State Education Department last week regarding the district’s test scores.
There is no doubt that the district is still celebrating some major accomplishments from last year, such as the Middle School making it off the School In Need of Improvement list, academic achievement on the rise district wide and contracts in place for both the district’s support staff and teachers unions. But they don’t plan to rest on their laurels.
“This is a nice opportunity to go back and review the programs we have in place,” O’Sullivan said, explaining that the district and board of education has already identified four areas on which they will focus in the coming year. Those areas are guidance, secondary level curriculum, technology and culture and climate across the district.
According to the superintendent, two years ago the district invested in a thorough evaluation of the guidance department.
“We spent a lot of time, energy and money on this,” he said. Items which were identified as critical in the study were addressed immediately, he explained. Now the district will look at “the next step,” and work toward further strengthening and improving the program by implementing some of the other suggestions.
For the last two years, the district has committed a great deal of resources to redeveloping the curriculum and improving instruction at the elementary levels, particularly in math and English language arts. Now they will turn their attention to strengthening the secondary curriculum.
“It’s a very strong program, and we want to make it stronger,” O’Sullivan said, explaining that the district plans to put as much focus and emphasis on reinforcing the secondary program as they have at the elementary level.
The district has made great strides over the last few years in acquiring state-of-the-art technology for use in the classroom, according to the superintendent. Going forward, the focus will be on making sure that students and staff are able to more fully realize the potential of that technology.
Perhaps less tangible, but no less important, will be working to improve what is referred to as the “culture and climate.”
“We have to strengthen the culture and climate of the district across the board,” O’Sullivan said. This goes beyond improving the environment in each of the school buildings, he explained, but also includes building better relationships with the school board, the administrative team, labor organizations (such as the NEO and NESSA), the community, staff and students.
“It’s everybody,” the superintendent said. “Everyone is in this together. The goal, he explained, is to get a little better every day.
The significance of building these relationships is something that each of the schools in the district are taking very seriously. At Stanford Gibson Elementary School, which houses the district’s pre-kindergarten through second graders, the focus this year will be to increase the involvement of parents and the community with the school. According to Principal Dara Lewis, this will begin with the building’s Meet and Greet from 1 to 3 p.m. on Tuesday, September 8.
“It’s a chance for families to come in and see their children’s classrooms, meet their teachers and walk the hallways,” Lewis explained, but there are plenty of other opportunities for parents to stay connected with their children while school is in session as well. According to the principal, parents are always welcome to come have lunch with their child, and there are daily opportunities to read with their children in the classroom.
“Students love to have their parents in,” she said. “It’s a big deal for them.”
