Darien Public Schools 2017-2018

Middlesex Middle School Students Get Some Tech Wizardry: Augmented Reality

School District Considers Possible Delayed Opening Friday

Parents Join Students for ‘Afternoon of Math’ Event at Holmes School

Darien Schools Close Early Friday Due to Weather, Other Closings Announced

Middlesex Winter Production, ‘Bye Bye Birdie’ Sells Out

Here’s Who Won the Darien Schools’ Music for Youth Poster, Art and Writing Contests

Ox Ridge Students Collaborate with Urban Peers While Learning About the Environment

With ‘Google Expeditions,’ Royle Students Go Where No Elementary School Classroom (in Darien) Has Gone Before

Middlesex Middle School Quiz Bowl Team Earns Place in Nationals

Hindley Students Explore Circuitry, Puppet Making at School Library Event

Touring Russian Singers Perform at Darien High School

Students in 4th, 5th Grades Do Engineering and Design Projects Across Darien

Darien Students to Perform at Stamford Town Center Mall This Week

Hour of Code in Darien Public Schools to Prep Kids for the Tech Future

School District Officials ‘Predict’ Increased Spending, Slight Enrollment Declines in Next 5 Years

Education

By MARC MARIN | March 13, 2018

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By David Gurliacci | March 8, 2018

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By MARC MARIN | February 13, 2018

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By David Gurliacci | February 10, 2018

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By MARC MARIN | February 6, 2018

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By MARC MARIN | December 19, 2017

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By MARC MARIN | December 12, 2017

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By MARC MARIN | December 5, 2017

Education

By David Gurliacci | November 28, 2017

One student had a Category 5 Hurricane in the palm of her hand. Another a giant honey bee hovering over her head (see picture), while a group later inspected a digital model of DNA like detectives. Inside two classrooms at Middlesex Middle School (MMS), students in the STEM and Computers classes recently had one foot in the real world and the other in the digital. The experience was part of the Google Expeditions AR program — a unique experience offered to select schools nationally to introduce this new Google educational tool under development. Watch this short video for an introduction:

For the day, a Google trainer worked with STEM teachers David Fetter and Jim Brochinsky, and Computer teachers Sandy Norelli and Timara Bruton.

Darien Public Schools officials are considering whether or not to delay the start of school on Friday by two hours as work on clearing roads and downed power lines continues. Middlesex Middle School remained without power as of 8:27 p.m., when the email was sent, and if power wasn’t restored by morning, that school might remain closed on Friday, the announcement said. (As of 9:02 p.m., there were 653 Darien electricity customers still without power, 8 percent of all customers in town, according to Eversource.)

Here’s the full text of the emailed announcement:

Good evening,

We would like to provide you with a brief update of our current plan for tomorrow’s school openings. This is NOT the FINAL OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT. We will email you by 5:30 a.m. tomorrow with an official announcement regarding the school day.

Teacher Ann Novotnik’s second graders at Holmes Elementary School had a unique opportunity to share what they were learning. Titled “An Afternoon of Math,” students and their parents worked together at a variety of math-related stations. The event was intended to highlight how students can move from concrete experiences to pictorial representations to abstract thinking, according to Holmes Principal Paula Bleakley. “Math celebrations are a wonderful way for teachers and students to share the focus of their work — both process and content — with parents and other important adults in our children’s lives, “ said Bleakley. “This shared understanding allows for consistent and shared support of student learning both at home and at school.”

Among staff pitching in to help were K-5 Math and Science Director Linda Johnson and Math Specialist Melissa Labrosciano. “It was an exciting afternoon for our second graders,” said Bleakley.

Darien Public Schools are closing early Friday because of the day’s weather, the school district has announced. Some other closings in town and just beyond have also been announced (see updates, below). According to an announcement emailed to parents at about 11:30 a.m.:

Darien Public Schools will be dismissing early today due to the high winds, excessive rain and the possibility of flooding and snow. All after-school activities scheduled for today are cancelled and or will be rescheduled for a later date. Here are the dismissal times for individual schools:

Darien High School will dismiss at 1:20 p.m.
Middlesex Middle School will dismiss at 1:30 p.m.
Hindley, Royle, and Tokeneke will dismiss at 2:00 p.m.
Holmes and Ox Ridge will dismiss at 2:25 p.m.

Updates

11:50 a.m. — New Canaan Country School is also closing early, according to WVIT-TV

11:53 a.m. — Schools Superintendent Dan Brenner tweeted at 11:41 a.m.: “Darien PS dismissing one hour early due to high winds, excessive rain, possible flooding and potential for accumulating snow. All after school activities are canceled.”

Middlesex Middle School put on its winter production of Bye Bye Birdie recently, playing to sold-out audiences over multiple days. Fifth graders from across the district had a sneak peek at the show during a daytime dress rehearsal. The tradition of bringing the soon-to-be rising 6thgraders began last year, and has drummed up support and enthusiasm for the program, said teacher Katie Lindquist, who directed the middle school production.

With a cast and crew of over 130 students, the show proved to be one of the most spectacular productions ever to cross the middle school’s stage. The show was produced by Lily Morgan, choreographed by Colleen Amirsakis, musically directed by Ruth Lettera, costumed by Amy Raskopf, and set designed by Timothy Sorensen.

Bye Bye Birdie is the story of Conrad Birdie (played by Pace Flaherty), a rock star crooner from the 1950s who has been drafted in the Army.

The Darien Public Schools Music Department on Friday afternoon announced the nearly three dozen winners of this year’s Music For Youth poster, art and writing contests. Here’s the announcement, emailed and posted on the department blog:
The 2018 Music for Youth Contests focused on the “Music of Russia! Curriular Focus Theme for the 2017-18 School year. All posters will be displayed in the lobby of the DHS auditorium for the Barynya Music Ensemble performance on April 17. Hindley
K-2 1st Cannon Rosen 1, 2nd Pavana Attonito 1, 3rd William Beaven, grade 2
Grade 3-5 1st Sarah Kang , 2nd Milana Melnick 4, 3rd Lucie Smith 4th grade

Royle

K-2 1st Noa Durocher-Pyun 2, 2nd Joe Roche 2, 3rd Giovanni Cagninelli 2
3-5 1st Lily Keehlwetter 5 2nd Summer G. Glenday 5, 3rd Cavan Kennedy 3,
Ox Ridge
K-2 1st Annelie Fedoronko 1, 2nd Alice Miller 1 , 3rd Caroline Murphy 1
Grade 3-5 1st Caroline Clemow 3, 2nd Grace Sandoval 5, 3rd Sophie du Pont 5th grade.

A group of Ox Ridge 4th graders took an expedition recently that went beyond just studying forest habitats at the New Canaan Nature Center. Joining 4th graders from Murphy Academy, which is part of the KT Murphy Elementary School in Stamford, Darien students participated in a first-of-its-kind cooperative learning program. Led by Domus, a non-profit human service organization, and the Stamford Public Schools, the program is designed to increase academic engagement related to environmental science and reduce racial, ethnic, and economic isolation. Principal Luke Forshaw said the Ox Ridge Parent Teacher Organization was a driving force behind connecting the cohort of urban and suburban students at the New Canaan Nature Center. He said the experience for the small group of students was worthwhile.

Royle Elementary School students climbed Mount Everest, swam with sharks, and explored the outer reaches of space last week. And all without leaving the classroom. Royle students (from Kindergarten to Grade 5) had a chance to participate in the Google Expeditions VR program; the VR stands for Virtual Reality. Using special cardboard goggles or holding a selfie stick with a smartphone, students immersed themselves in 365 degree images that took them momentarily to places far beyond. From the beaches of Normandy to a field of active volcanoes, Royle teachers led the expeditions, sharing information from a central device that controlled the experience for all students.

Middlesex Middle School (MMS) Quiz Bowl earned their spot at nationals earlier this month by placing second and fourth place. The wins came during the 7th annual Charter Oak Scholastic Open Quiz Bowl tournament held at Middlesex.

The competition included 34 teams from a dozen schools from the tri-state area, including 10 teams from Middlesex. “This year’s field was quite possibly the toughest we’ve ever faced, but I am proud to announce that Middlesex captured 2nd and 4th place, and have qualified for the Quiz Bowl Nationals in Chicago in May,” said teacher and Quiz Bowl Adviser Ken Romeo. The Middlesex A team (8th graders Kiran Ebrahimi, Michael Dong, and James Leone and 7th grader Nick Yoo) made their 7th consecutive trip to the finals, but fell to the champions from Greens Farms. The B team (8th graders Rhea Bhat, Luke Smith, Evan O’Rourke, and Noah Mobarik) had a deep run in the playoffs which included impressive wins over Western (Greenwich) and Tuxedo Park (New York). Competing in the Novice Division (for 6th graders and other first-timers), the Middlesex G team (6th graders Sophie Bickford, Grace Liu, Leyton Tucci, Grant Wang, and Liam Tomaszewski) finished 8 – 1 on the day, placing 2nd in the division. Individually, Evan O’Rourke was the 4th overall leading scorer, 8th grader James Leone was 9th, and 8th grader Andy Lin was 10th, and in the Novice Division, 7th grader Tabby Auster was the 2nd leading scorer, Grace Liu was 4th, Sophie Bickford was 5th, 6th grader Adi Pai was 6th.

From paper circuits and robots to Keva planks and sock puppet creations, the Hindley Elementary School Maker Fair provided a wide array of exploration and experimentation for students last week. “It was cool to make things that you have never even tried before and come up with ideas in a group. You feel like ‘I’m in charge and I’m being super creative doing this’,” said Kit, a fifth grader in Katy Gale’s classroom. The Maker Fair — in its third year at Hindley — featured 20 Innovation Stations set up around the library. Run by parent and student volunteers, the event allowed students to choose and discover new areas of interest relative to science, technology, engineering, art, and math, also known as STEAM, said Library Media Specialist Jackie Heyde, who coordinated the event.

St. Petersburg Men's Ensemble DHS 18-01-09

The Darien High School Music Department hosted the St. Petersburg Men’s Ensemble from Russia for a performance recently. The award-winning Russian vocal quartet, currently on their East Coast tour, was able to arrange an afternoon performance for our students at DHS. The group performs a wide range of musical styles ranging from Russian Sacred music and folk songs to vocal literature composed by famous masters such as Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky and Rachmaninov. Students and staff enjoyed an inspiring musical performance followed by a question and answer session about Russian music and culture.

Designing structures that stand up to the elements and cleaning up after a disastrous oil spill were among the projects elementary students across the Darien school district explored this month. All 4th and 5th grade students participated in engineering and design projects as part of the science curriculum. The best part was that new content was delivered by Darien High School students enrolled in the Fundamentals of Engineering and Principles of Engineering classes as part of a district-wide outreach program. “Elementary students were inspired by enthusiastic and knowledgeable students from Darien High School around exciting topics in STEM,” said Linda Johnson, K-5 director of math and science. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

Performing Stamford Town Center Mall 12-12-17

Amid the hustle and bustle of the holidays, visitors to the Stamford Town Center will have a chance to enjoy some holiday cheer from Darien students. Starting this week, Darien Public Schools will be having performances in the mall in the late afternoon. Director of Music Rick Sadlon said that this is the second year Darien has participated in the mall’s Holiday and Harmony music program. “Our teachers have welcomed the opportunity to have their students perform at the venue again this year. In this season of giving, we feel that it is important to share our gift of music and musical accomplishments with our friends and neighbors in the area,” said Sadlon.

Dynamic presenters, programmable robots, and endless opportunities to experiment and tinker will be available for students across the district early this month. The Darien Public Schools, along with millions of students in more than 180 countries, will again be joining the Hour of Code. The Hour of Code started as a way to get students interested in coding, and has evolved into a worldwide celebration of computer science. For students, it also encourages problem-solving and creativity all while having some fun. Library media specialists, computer teachers, administrators, students, classroom staff, and school-based PTOs have coordinated a variety of events for this year.

« August 2022 »

Five years from now, in the 2021-2022 school year, there will be 21 fewer students in Darien Public Schools and the school district budget will have increased by just over 20 percent. That’s according to a planning document presented to the Board of Education and up for discussion at Tuesday night’s regular board meeting. The meeting is expected to be broadcast later (not live) by Darien TV79. The document isn’t a hard prediction, but a tool for planning purposes, as Michael Feeney, director of finance and operations, pointed out in a Nov. 20 memorandum.