Alan Addley 2021
School Data Dashboard updated April 8, 2021

Schools Superintendent: After Spring Break, Darien Schools Will Be on Remote Learning for a Week

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Be careful on spring break, but just in case, schools will be on remote learning, Schools Superintendent Alan Addley said in a message Thursday afternoon to parents and staff. A survey of the district’s staff showed that so many would be traveling over the spring break (Monday through Friday, April 12 to 16), that they would have to quarantine themselves when they get back — so the district can’t find enough replacements to hold classes inside school buildings. So remote learning will take place from April 19 to 23 (Monday through Friday), the week after spring break. (Friday, April 23, is a professional learning day for teachers at the high school.)

First Selectman Jayme Stevenson also issued a COVID-19 update on Thursday in which she said there have been 66 new cases in the last two weeks and Darien’s test positivity rate is about a percentage point above the state’s. Addley pointed out that even though the governor has removed mandates for quarantining after out-of-state travel, health officials at the local, state and federal level recommend it, and the school district wants it.

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Latest COVID-19 Cases in Schools Announced Wednesday Night: 4 New Cases, 14 Quarantined

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Four students or staff in Darien Public Schools tested positive for COVID-19, the district was informed on Wednesday, and contact tracing resulted in 10 others being told to quarantine themselves for 10 days, district officials said. Three of the four people who tested positive are from Darien High School, the other from Middlesex Middle School, and all 10 of the others quarantined are from the high school, according to the announcement sent Wednesday night by Superintendent Alan Addley and district Nursing Director Alicia Casucci. Anyone in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19 was told to quarantine for 10 days from the time of contact and to get themselves tested for the coronavirus and have their family members tested as well, the announcement said. Recent similar announcements:

Thirteen More COVID-19 Cases in Schools Announced Monday and Tuesday, Total of 71 New Quarantines (Tuesday, April 6)

COVID-19 Found in Four More Individuals in Darien School System, They and 39 Others Quarantined (March 28)

Eight Separate COVID-19 Cases Result in 94 Quarantines at Darien High School, Hindley School (March 25)
Full Text of the Announcement
The email Darienite.com received was sent at 9:30 p.m.:
Dear Parents and Community Members:
Today, April 7, 2021, the Darien Public Schools District COVID Response Team was notified about four (4) individuals who tested positive for COVID-19. The affected individuals have been instructed to remain home in self-isolation for ten (10) days from the date of their positive test.  All family members have also been instructed to self-quarantine and get tested.

Coronavirus 2021

Thirteen More COVID-19 Cases in Schools Announced Monday and Tuesday, Total of 71 New Quarantines

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In the past two days, 13 people in Darien Public Schools, either students or adult staff, have tested positive for COVID-19, and a total of 71 people have had to be quarantined for at least 10 days, school district officials have announced. The vast majority of positive tests, nine, came from students or staff at Darien High School. One came from Middlesex Middle School, three from Hindley School and one from Royle School. On Monday, seven people in the district tested positive, resulting in new quarantines for a total of 46 people. Five of the positive tests were of Darien High students; one from Middlesex; two from Hindley and one from Royle.

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Darien High School entrance

Darien High School, Middlesex Middle School Closed Monday Due to Teacher Absences; UPDATE: ROYLE, TOO

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UPDATE: Add Royle to the schools closed today, according to a 6:04 a.m. message from the superintendent of schools (full text below). A day after almost 700 Darien school teachers and staff received their second vaccine shot, and with a higher-than-usual number of district staff and students under quarantines, a “high number of secondary school staff absences” has left the district unable to open Darien High School and Middlesex Middle School on Monday, Superintendent Alan Addley announced Sunday evening. Elementary schools will remain open as usual, the superintendent said in a message to families and staff emailed to Darienite.com at 9:35 p.m.

There will be no remote learning or sporting events on Monday, and the school day will be made up at the end of the school year, the same way a snow day would, Addley said. “Given the number of secondary school staff illnesses and the District’s inability to cover classes and intervention services, the high school and middle school will be closed tomorrow,” Addley wrote. The number of positive tests for COVID-19 among school staff and students, and the quarantines of anyone near those who tested positive rose significantly in late March.

COVID-19 2021
Vaccinations Flu Shots COVID-19 Coronavirus Vaccine

Vaccines: Saturday is Jab Day for Teachers, Town Hall Continues Shots, Town Hopes to Organize Vaccines for Students

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Teenagers aged 16 and up can try to get a vaccine appointment now or as soon as they can, but town officials hope to organize a student vaccine clinic for late April or May, First Selectman Jayme Stevenson said in her latest COVID-19 update to the town. Schools Superintendent Alan Addley, in his COVID-19 update to parents and district staff, said the governor and state Department of Public Health have asked vaccine providers to wait until the secon half of April to schedule clinics specifically for high school students. With anyone aged 16 and older now eligible to get the vaccine in the state, Stevenson said in her Thursday message, “There are over 1 million people in this expanded age group so please be patient as you seek vaccine appointments.” Stevenson reported that the town has had a “significant increase” in pandemic cases over the past two weeks, with 101 new cases (one hospitalized), and 3.95% of town residents testing positive for COVID-19 (which is a percent lower than the state’s rate — 4.45%). As of Thursday, Stevenson said, there were 1,397 total cases from 885 unique households.

Coronavirus 2021
Darien Public Schools

COVID-19 Found in Four More Individuals in Darien School System, They and 39 Others Quarantined

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More individuals in Darien Public Schools have tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday and Wednesday, resulting in a total of 43 quarantines, including the 39 others who were in close enough contact to have caught the coronavirus, district officials said on Saturday. The school district’s COVID Response Team was notified about the new test results on Saturday, according to an email from schools Superintendent Alan Addley and Alicia Casucci, director of nursing services for the district. The email received by Darienite.com was sent at 8:45 p.m., Saturday. Three of the positive COVID-19 tests were for Darien High School individual, resulting in a total of 32 quarantines. The other positive test was for a Middlesex Middle School individual, resulting in 11 quarantines, including that individual.

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Greg Tang headshot

How to Make Math Make Sense — a Workshop for Parents on Wednesday, March 31

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Greg Tang will be presenting a virtual parenting workshop, “Mathematics Everywhere, for Everyone” on Wednesday, March 31, at 7 p.m. at the The Children’s School in Stamford. — an announcement from The Children’s School (with a note from Darienite.com in italics)

In his talk for The Children’s School, Greg will present an approach to math that makes working with numbers more intuitive and enjoyable, for children and parents alike. Many of the traditional problem-solving algorithms taught in school, Greg argues, are cumbersome and tedious to apply, and as a consequence many children begin to dread math. To get children off on the right foot with arithmetic, he teaches techniques — such as grouping numbers and using visualizations — that make problems easier and much more satisfying to solve. Children become more confident about their skills when they realize they can use reasoning, rather than blindly applying an algorithm, to find solutions.

Coronavirus 2021

Superintendent Updates School District on COVID-19 Developments

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Schools Superintendent Alan Addley acknowledged in his Friday COVID-19 update that the increase in COVID-19 cases among individuals in the school district and the disruptions caused by contract tracing and quarantines have been difficult this past week. It’s all a “reminder that we are not out of the woods,” he said. “It is also a reminder that we should not become complacent about our everyday behaviors and commitment to keeping each other safe by exercising travel, and health practices” that authorities recommend, he said. He noted that some students have been quarantined “several times over the last few weeks, and sometimes consecutively.” But he added that the state requires the school district to quarantine.

Coronavirus 2021
Coronavirus illustration CDC wide for facebook

Eight Separate COVID-19 Cases Result in 94 Quarantines at Darien High School, Hindley School

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A total of 94 people have been removed from two Darien schools for 10-day quarantine after five students or employees at Darien High School and three more from Hindley School tested positive for COVID-19 between Friday and Wednesday, parents and school employees have been told. In addition to these cases, a sixth individual at Darien High testing positive on Wednesday, the school has been closed for Friday to allow for contact tracing, which may result in other people being put in quarantine. Schools Superintendent Alan Addley and Alicia Casucci, director of nursing services, sent out an announcement about the new cases Wednesday night. (The full text of the announcement is below.) Darienite.com received a copy of the announcement at 9:39 p.m.

Four individuals at Darien High School tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday and a fifth tested positive on Wednesday. That resulted quarantines for them and 67 additional people being removed from the school and told to quarantine themselves.

Education
Greg Tang headshot

Parenting Workshop on How to Make Math Make Sense, March 31 at The Children’s School

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Greg Tang will be presenting a virtual parenting workshop, “Mathematics Everywhere, for Everyone” on Wednesday, March 31, at 7 p.m. at the The Children’s School in Stamford. — an announcement from The Children’s School (with a note from Darienite.com in italics)

In his talk for The Children’s School, Greg will present an approach to math that makes working with numbers more intuitive and enjoyable, for children and parents alike. Many of the traditional problem-solving algorithms taught in school, Greg argues, are cumbersome and tedious to apply, and as a consequence many children begin to dread math. To get children off on the right foot with arithmetic, he teaches techniques — such as grouping numbers and using visualizations — that make problems easier and much more satisfying to solve. Children become more confident about their skills when they realize they can use reasoning, rather than blindly applying an algorithm, to find solutions.

Education
Presidential Scholar Candidates 2021

Seven DHS Seniors Selected as Candidates for U.S. Presidential Scholars Program

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Seven Darien High School seniors have been selected as candidates for the United States Presidential Scholars Program. — an announcement from Darien High School

Eleanor Chase, Alexander DelVecchio, Nicholas Liu, Alexander Oh, Christina Pizzani, Vincent Xu and Ethan Zhang have been identified based on broad academic achievement and having scored exceptionally well on the SAT or ACT. The United States Presidential Scholars Program was established in 1964, by Executive Order of the President, to recognize and honor some of our Nation’s most distinguished graduating high school seniors. Each year up to 161 students are named as Presidential Scholars, one of the Nation’s highest honors for high school students.

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Darien Summer School cooking class

You Can Now Register for Darien Summer School & Enrichment

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Registration for Darien Summer School and Enrichment’s 2021 season has begun, with most classes held in-person and a few with choices for learning in-person or on-line. — an announcement from Darien Summer School
Families can choose in-person or virtual learning, as indicated by the title of each class on the website. DSS, a program of Darien Public Schools, will continue to offer popular programs such as Musical Theater Workshop, football camps, Sports & Art Camp, and Summer PALS along with exciting new camps.  
The the program will run from June 28 to July 30, with Monday, July 5 off in observance of the Independence Day holiday. With over 200 options for participants ages 3 to 18, every kid can explore a new path with DSS this summer. Visit DarienSummerSchool.com for more information regarding classes and to register.

Midwifery Program Midwives Fairfield University Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing & Health Studies

Fairfield U School of Nursing’s Midwife Program Now Fully Accredited

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Fairfield University’s Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies has been awarded a five-year accreditation through the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education (ACME) for its Doctorate of Nursing Practice program in Nurse Midwifery. — an announcement from Fairfield University

The program, which launched in 2017, is designed to meet the competencies for the practice doctorate in midwifery set forth by the American College of Nurse Midwives (ACNM) and to meet the ACNM Core Competencies for Basic Midwifery Practice. ACME works to both advance and promote excellence in midwifery education. Fairfield’s Nurse Midwifery DNP program has been pre-accredited by ACME since we welcomed our first cohort of students in 2017. “In the fall of 2020, we prepared and welcomed ACME site visitors (virtually) to Fairfield to share the outcomes of our program,” said Nurse Midwifery Program Director Jenna LoGiudice, PhD, CNM, RN.

Darien Public Schools 2020-2021
David Dineen Board of Education State of the Town

State of the Town: Board of Ed Chairman: Covid’s Been Expensive, But District’s in Good Shape

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Darien Board of Education Chairman David Dineen delivered his first State of the Town report to the Representative Town Meeting on Monday. “As of Friday, Dec. 4, the District had 16 active COVID-19 cases with a cumulative total of 881 persons quarantined,” Dineen said. “As school, town, country and state cases continue to rise, decisions on the school learning model will be reviewed on a regular basis,” in consultation with or with attention to town, state and federal officials and agencies, he said. “Presently, total COVID spending is $3,294,477, less grant and transfers of $2,477,939,” Dineen said.

Burglary of a School
Middlesex Middle School wikipedia 5-25-16

An Unlocked Exit at Middlesex School Allows Nighttime Entry for Two — Who Elude Cops, K-9

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You know what police say about locking your car at night. It applies to schools, too. A burglar alarm at Middlesex Middle School got police to the scene, and quick enough for them to see two people through a second-floor window, but both ran through the building and escaped, police said. After police spotted the people in the building, a police dog and several more officers were called in to search the school. Police were alerted to the hijinks by the alarm at 11:32 p.m. on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.