Education

On School Spending, PART 3: Statements from Budget Hearing

On School Spending, PART 2: What Parent Groups Said About Special Ed at Feb 2 Hearing

On School Spending, PART 1: Statements at Feb 2 Budget Hearing

Mother of Autistic Child Explains How Early Learning Program Changed His Life [VIDEO]

Support for Early Learning Program, Teacher Training at Board of Ed Budget Hearing

Freshman Soccer Team Captain to Board of Ed: Please, Can We Get Team Shorts That Won’t Fall Down?

Tokeneke Aces Health Inspection ‘Retest’ & All Public Schools Now Inspected

SAT Rescheduled in Darien for Feb 20

John Phipps Wins Middlesex Middle School Geography Bee

Tokeneke School Gets a ‘Poor’ Health Rating in Inspection — Meat, Taters Not Hot Enough

DHS Midterms Start Soon: How the School, Darien Library Help Support Studying

Superintendent Proposes 3.85% Increase in Darien Education Budget

At Middlesex: A Day Learning About Standing Up for Each Other

Three Middlesex Quiz Bowl Teams Qualify for National Championships

UPDATE: Water Main Break on Mansfield Fixed; Ox Ridge School Reopens Tuesday

Events Calendar

Education

By David Gurliacci | February 3, 2016

Education

By David Gurliacci | February 3, 2016

Education

By David Gurliacci | February 3, 2016

Education

By David Gurliacci | February 3, 2016

Education

By David Gurliacci | February 2, 2016

Education

By David Gurliacci | February 2, 2016

Education

By David Gurliacci | January 27, 2016

Education

By David Gurliacci | January 23, 2016

Education

By David Gurliacci | January 14, 2016

Business

By David Gurliacci | January 13, 2016

Darien Library

By David Gurliacci | January 10, 2016

Education

By David Gurliacci | January 8, 2016

Education

By David Gurliacci | January 6, 2016

Education

By David Gurliacci | January 5, 2016

Around Town

By David Gurliacci | January 4, 2016

Schools and educational activities

Here are several more statements from the Board of Education’s Feb. 2 public hearing on the school budget. All three of these statements were made on behalf of the Council of Darien School Parents. They were presented by Wendy Ward (on technology), Tara Ochman (on the capital budget) and Karen Wilber and Beth Lane on the World Language Program. Darienite.com will publish the full text of every statement from the public hearing that we receive by email If you didn’t give your statement to the CDSP, please email it to us at dave@darienite.com; we encourage readers to send in letters to the editor on this or any other topic by emailing to the same address.

Here are more statements from parents and parent-teacher organizations about Darien special education spending, from the Feb. 2 Board of Education public hearing. These statements are from co-chairs of the Darien Special Education Parent Advisory Committee (SEPAC) and from the Council of Darien School Parents special education subcommittee. Darienite.com will publish the full text of every statement from the public hearing that we receive by email If you didn’t give your statement to the CDSP, please email it to us at dave@darienite.com; we encourage readers to send in letters to the editor on this or any other topic by emailing to the same address. _______________

You can get some insight into the priorities and concerns of Darien parents and parent-teacher organizations from these statements made at the Feb. 2 public hearing on the superintendent’s proposed budget. Here are statements from Cathy Butcher, budget chair for the Council of Darien School Parents (CDSP); Jill McCammon and Shelly Skoglund, co-chairs of the CDSP; and Peter Orphanos, speaking for the Darien High School Parents Association. Darienite.com will publish every statement from the public hearing that we receive by email (if you didn’t give your statement to the CDSP, please email it to us at dave@darienite.com; we encourage readers to send in letters to the editor on this or any other topic by emailing to the same address; statements may not necessarily be published on the home page). ____________

At Tuesday evening’s Board of Education public hearing on the proposed school district budget, Sivan Hong gave a brief, particularly moving account about how important the Early Learning Program was to her autistic child, and she urged the board to keep it well funded. Here’s part of what she said in words, and, on video, nearly her entire statement:

“ELP has played a critical role in shifting the trajectory of my child’s life,” said the woman, whose name Darienite.com could not find out before publishing this article (although we don’t think you need to know her name). “And if my emotional thanks is not enough to convince you to strengthen your support of ELP, then think about this: Without ELP, Benjamin would have likely had to go to a private school for children with autism, costing the district far more over the next 12 years than the two years that he’s had in ELP, and it would have resulted in an even greater expense on society to have to support him long-term. “Early intervention works. […] He will grow up to be a productive member of society, thanks to ELP.

Speakers from the Board of Education’s public hearing Tuesday night on the superintendent’s proposed 2016-2017 budget gave strong support for the proposal’s increase in teacher training (“professional development”) and for the Early Learning Program. Proposals for capital projects — like the expansion of the Darien High School Cafeteria, improvements to the gym floor of Ox Ridge School and moving the principal’s office at Hindley School — also received support. Darien Public Schools spending would go up 3.85 percent, to $94.2 million in the 2016-2017 fiscal year under the budget proposal Superintendent Dan Brenner put forward to the Board of Education

Speakers all seemed to be either associated with the Council of Darien School Parents, an umbrella organization for parent-teacher organizations throughout the school system, or parents in the Early Learning Program. _______________

The following statement, read by Robbie Gaaserud, captain of the Freshmen Soccer Team at Darien High School at the Board of Education’s public hearing Tuesday night on the budget, got some laughs from the audience, along with applause:

Good evening. My name is Robbie Gaaserud. I live at 35 Driftway Lane, and I am a Ninth Grader at Darien High School. This fall I had the honor of serving as a captain of the Ninth Grade soccer team. I have been playing soccer since I was 4 years old, and I’ve been looking forward to the day that I could represent my high school on the soccer field.

Tokeneke School cafeteria received a perfect score of 100 in its most recent inspection on Jan. 22 after the school received an uncharacteristic “Poor” rating on Jan. 12, when a health inspector found food not being kept at the proper temperatures. Health Director David Knauf later said an item of equipment wasn’t keeping food at the right temperature, so the equipment was relpaced. Darienite.com previously reported on that inspection:

“Hamburgers and tater tots weren’t hot enough at the Tokeneke School cafeteria on Tuesday when a Darien Health Department sanitarian showed up for an inspection, according to the department.

A message from Darien High School Principal Ellen Dunn:

Due to the impending inclement weather, the Darien Public Schools has informed the College Board that the district will not be open on Jan. 23, 2016 for the administration of the SAT. The make-up date provided by College Board is Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. Please note that we are aware that this date falls within our February vacation.

John Phipps, an eighth grade student at Middlesex Middle School, won the school competition of the National Geographic Bee on Jan. 6 and a chance at a $50,000 college scholarship. ___________

— an announcement from the Middlesex Middle School Publicity Committee

___________

The school Bee, at which students answered questions on geography, was the first round in the 28th annual National Geographic Bee. Seventh grader Alex DelVecchio was the runner-up, and sixth grader Brandon Liu was the third place winner. Other contestants were Skyler Bennet, Anna Burgess, Grace Hand, Sean Huffert, Riya Krishnan, Maya Nalawade and Jack Roberson. Thousands of schools around the United States and in the five U.S. territories are participating in the 2016 Bee.

Hamburgers and tater tots weren’t hot enough at the Tokeneke School cafeteria on Tuesday when a Darien Health Department sanitarian showed up for an inspection, according to the department. That resulted in a very rare “Poor” rating under the town Health Department’s scoring system, although under the state health code rating system, Tokeneke still received a 94. You can see the inspection report here. A “Poor” rating in a Darien school is as unheard of as a steak in a vegetarian restaurant. The elementary school has received “Good” ratings in the previous three inspections.

Midterms will start soon for Darien High School Students this Friday, Jan. 15 and continue to the following Friday, Jan. 22. The high school and Darien Library provide a lot of support activities and study time for students that weren’t available in generations past. Even if you’re not a student and don’t have any in your family, your time at the library may be affected, and you’ll find many more students there during the day and at night.

Darien Public Schools spending would go up 3.85 percent, to $94.2 million in the 2016-2017 fiscal year under the budget proposal Superintendent Dan Brenner put forward to the Board of Education this week. Spending would rise $3,492,817 in Brenner’s plan. Asked what parts of the new initiatives he’s proposing are particularly important, Brenner said: “Two areas that we focused on were both professional development [that is, ongoing teacher training] as well as on the technology, both of which we think will make significant differences in kids’ lives inside the classroom.” Brenner pointed out that 64 percent of the budget goes to pay employee salaries, another 13 percent goes for benefits (for a total of 77 percent), both of which are largely already determined by pre-existing union contracts and other contracts. Add to that the 6 percent of the budget that pays for utilities and transportation (which are difficult to change and even more difficult in the short term), and the vast majority of a school district budget — in this case, 83 percent — is largely set, unless officials want to cut services.

Middlesex Middle School 7th graders took part in the Anti-Defamation League’s “Step Up Day,” a program that helps teach students to stand up for each other and be an ally for someone in need. The program was designed to develop a common language and a safe forum for discussing issues of diversity, prejudice and name-calling. Following a presentation by the ADL, the students participated in activities throughout the day with teachers, mental health professionals and counseling the staff, and also viewed the movie “Radio.” — an announcement from the Middlesex Middle School Publicity Committee

For the third year in a row, the Middlesex Quiz Bowl Team won the Charter Oak Scholastic Open and took second place for the second straight year. This was the team’s largest tournament to date, with a field consisting of 32 teams from Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York. __________

— an announcement from the Middlesex Middle School Publicity Committee

__________

The contestants competed head-to-head to answer questions ranging over the entire spectrum of the middle school curriculum including history, literature, science and fine arts. They also included current events, sports, and popular culture. “We are so proud of our students, who spent countless hours after school each week practicing questions in preparation for the tournament. It is so rewarding for them to see that all that hard work resulted in such success,” said faculty adviser Barbara Ivey. The Middlesex B Team (8th graders Skyler Bennett, Shriya Desai, Jackson Leone, John Phipps, and Conway Zhou) defeated The Middlesex A Team (8th graders Nick Derby, Grace Hand, Riya Krishnan, Maya Nalawade, and Jack Roberson) in an exciting final match. The Middlesex B Team finished 9-0, and the A Team finished 8-1.

Update 6:27 a.m., Tuesday

Ox Ridge elementary school students, who are going back to school Tuesday morning, didn’t even get a whole extra day off from Mondays water main break on Mansfield Avenue — they’ll have to make it up with a half day on March 28, the school district announced. Here’s the announcement from Darien Public Schools:

We are pleased to report that the water main has been fixed on Mansfield Avenue and that school will resume at Ox Ridge tomorrow on a regular schedule. Connecticut school law requires that students attend classes for 180 days. As a result of Ox Ridge students missing today, they are at 179 class days requiring them to make up one day of instruction. March 28 which was originally a professional development day for teachers will now be a half day of instruction for the students at Ox Ridge. Students will be picked up at their normal times and be released at 11:45 a.m. on March 28.

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