Darien High School’s midterm exams take place from this Tuesday, Jan. 15 through the last make-up period and placement testing on Wednesday, Jan. 23. Here’s what students need to know and what parents may want to remind them of:
— an announcement from Darien High School
BUSES AND PARKING
AM buses will operate over the usual routes at the regular time. Afternoon buses leave the high school at 12:35 p.m.
The Darien Public Schools Music Department is proud to announce that 24 outstanding musicians from Darien High School have been chosen through a highly competitive audition process to perform at the Connecticut Music Educators Association Western Region Music Festival. — an announcement from the Darien Public Schools Music Department
The honors music festival will take place at the Darien High School Auditorium on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 11 to 12. The students will have the privilege of working in Band, Orchestra, Chorus, and Jazz ensembles with some of Connecticut’s most accomplished high school musicians conducted by nationally renowned conductors and educators. “The students chosen for participation in the Connecticut Western Region Music Festival have consistently worked and studied over several years to develop their musical skills and been chosen as among the finest high school musicians in Western Connecticut,” said Richard Sadlon, director of music for the school district.
Sometime Wednesday morning, Darien High School officials began getting reports of an odor in various parts of the building, but it was deemed safe by Darien Fire Department, according to a high school official. “The odor was a result of work being completed on the cafeteria extension,” Assistant Principal Paul Ribeiro said in an email that went out to parents, but not news organizations — a typical practice in Darien Public Schools. “Fire Department personnel will remain in the building all day to help monitor the situation,” Ribeiro said in the email, sent at 11:11 a.m.
This was not the first stench recently encountered at the high school: In late October, sidewalk work was stopped after it was determined that it was causing an odor in G-Wing at the school building.
Learning the signs that someone might be suicidal, talking about problems (or anything) at Girls Night Out meetings, helping educate other teenagers about safety through the Students Against Destructive Decisions group, learning about mental illness, substance abuse, distracted driving, teen relationship violence. Those were the topics that nine Darien teenagers have been learning about at the Depot Youth Center, they told the Board of Selectmen at a recent meeting.
During budget deliberations early this year, members of the Board of Selectmen said they thought it would be a good idea to hear more from the Depot and what services it provides to students. At the meeting on Monday, Nov. 26, Janice Marzano, the Depot’s executive director for programming, was present, but she let the girls speak for themselves. For some reason, every single one of the speakers were girls.
Darien High School music students will perform a special Holiday Spectrum Concert in the High School auditorium at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018. Darien senior citizens are invited to attend this concert free of charge and listen to the sounds of festive holiday music. The concert will feature the talented Darien High School band, orchestra, jazz ensemble, pop strings, concert choir and the Tudor Singers. — an announcement from At Home In Darien
“We are delighted that Darien High School is sharing this opportunity with seniors in town,” remarked Gina Blum, executive director of At Home In Darien.
Here’s what Darien High School Principal Ellen Dunn told the school’s students in an announcement Wednesday morning about Thanksgiving and the Turkey Bowl: Have fun and remember that you’re a role model for those younger than you. She shared the text of her announcement with DHS parents in an email. Here’s what she said:
I want to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving from the entire DHS family to yours. I would also like to share the announcement I made a few moments ago about the Turkey Bowl tomorrow. Good morning, DHS
Thanksgiving is such a beautiful holiday when life pauses and we take a moment to reflect on all for which we are grateful. For me, it is an opportunity to give thanks for the exceptional faculty and staff at DHS who dedicate themselves to seeing that you reach your full potential and that you are prepared, when you leave us, to follow every dream. I am also thankful for all of you. You brighten our days with your positive energy. You work hard to reach every expectation we set for you and you challenge us to be the best we can be.
Here are the latest scores from the town Health Department’s inspections of Darien restaurants and food serving establishments. Of the seven inspections in the reports released Thursday by the department, four establishments each received an “A” rating and three others were rated “B.” No establishments go a “C.” The inspections took place from Nov. 7 to 14.
Two Darien restaurants received a “C” rating — the worst in the town A-B-C ratings system — in the most recently released town Health Department inspection reports. A total of 13 other health inspection reports were released on Thursday by the department. Nine establishments each received an “A” rating and four others were rated “B.” The inspections took place from Oct. 26 to Nov.
One Darien food-serving establishment received a “C” rating — the worst in the town A-B-C ratings system — in the most recently released town Health Department inspection reports. One other health inspection report was released on Thursday by the department. It received an “A” rating. The inspections took place on Oct. 24.
Here are the seven most recent inspection reports for town food-serving establishments, as released by Darien Health Department. Five establishments received an “A” rating, the best in the town’s A-B-C ratings system, and two others received a “B.” The inspections took place on Oct. 19 and 22. Here’s an alphabetical list of the most recently released health inspection results (an explanation for each part of the list, including links, is just below the list).
An unpleasant odor was smelled in the G wing of Darien High School on Tuesday morning, but it was dealt with by stopping work on a sidewalk, school Principal Ellen Dunn told parents in an email. No harm appears to have been done to anyone from whatever fumes got in the building: Dunn said air quality in the building was checked by fire officials and the air was found to be safe. High school life went on. Here’s the full text of Dunn’s announcement to parents, emailed at 11:42 a.m.:
Good morning,
As a result of work being done to the sidewalk at DHS, an odor was detected in the G wing this morning. In response, we halted the machinery. The fire department evaluated the air in the building and has confirmed that the air quality is safe for all. Thank you,
On Saturday Oct. 13, the Darien Model Congress Club had a wonderful experience at the Wilton High School Model Congress, where student delegates meet in senatorial committees or with the President’s National Security Council. — an announcement from Darien High School
The mock event was attended by 6 Darien Students and about 55 other students from around Fairfield County. Delegates enjoyed co-writing bills and then worked in to improve and pass them in committee. If fortunate to get their bill passed, they then presented the bill in a session of the whole Senate to procure passage. The process mimics what happens in Washington.
Here’s how almost all Darien schools fared in Darien Health Department’s recent inspections, along with two food-serving establishments in town. The eight inspections occurred from Oct. 3 to 10. Here’s an alphabetical list of the most recently released health inspection results (an explanation for each part of the list, including links, is just below the list). Keep in mind that a food-serving establishment with a history of good ratings may occasionally get a poor inspection rating, occasionally the best do, and every restaurant normally gets a few things wrong (an explanation of how this list is put together is immediately below it):
SCHOOLS — NEW INSPECTIONS
Editor’s note: The only school without a new inspection report made public this fall is Middlesex Middle School.
Darien High School Principal Ellen Dunn announced today that these 21 students at the school have been named “Commended Students” in the 2019 National Merit Scholarship Program:
Grace Aronsohn, Thomas Brown, Folke Bruno, Megan Cunningham, Matthew Daileader, Sofia Fea Ruiz, Thomas Finnegan, Robert Gaaserud, Catherine Garrett, Nicholas Giotis, Stefan Inzer, Charlotte Juan, Lily Kosnik, John Lowder, Manvi Malhotra, Elizabeth Markham, Caroline Orphanos, Madison Pomeroy, Johan Trippitelli, Helen Van den Broek, and Douglas Werner. A letter of commendation from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), which conducts the program, will be presented by Mrs. Dunn to these scholastically talented seniors. Approximately 34,000 commended students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. — an announcement from Darien High School
Although they will not continue in the 2019 competition for Merit Scholarship awards, commended students placed among the top 50,000 scorers of more than 1.6 million students who entered the 2019 competition by taking the 2018 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). “The young men and women being named commended students have demonstrated outstanding potential for academic success,” an NMSC spokesperson said.
Nine Darien High School seniors have been named National Merit Scholarship Program semifinalists with an opportunity to compete for scholarships in the spring. The DHS seniors are Blake Cellar, Sophia Cortellesi, Ria Dhull, Cole Hanson, Taylor Richards, Aram Russell, Cason Stone, Evan Tong and Olivia Yoo. Nationwide, the National Merit Scholarship Corp. has named about 16,000 semifinalists who can compete for 7,500 scholarships with a total value of $31 million. Over 90 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and about half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship.
