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News,  Education

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Connecticut Magazine Names Staples Best State High School

Staples cheerleader Julia Backon is on the cover of the November issue of Connecticut Magazine which named Staples the state’s No. 1 public high school. Contributed photoConnecticut Magazine has named Westport’s Staples High School the best high school in the state in its November issue.

The magazine examined the state’s “traditional/regular” public high schools and rated them on the basis of various criteria.

They ranged from the number of students taking advanced placement courses and SAT scores, to percentage of students going on to a two-year or four-year colleges and percentage of professional staff with advanced degrees.

“Our goal was to find the schools with the greatest percentage of motivated students, along with faculty and staff that seemed to do the best job of college preparation,” the magazine said.

The magazine highlighted the Staples principal, John Dodig, and noted that he stands at the main Staples entrance every school day from 6:45 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. to greet his staff and students.

“The veteran school head, wearing a small stud earring in his left earlobe and a muted gray sports jacket, came out of retirement five years ago, intending to fill the principal’s vacancy temporarily,” the magazine said.

“But he fell in love with the school, put his hat in the ring for the permanent position and won the job.”

The magazine said Dodig’s “openness and accessibility have helped propel Staples into the No. 1 spot in the state, say teachers and parents.”

The magazine quoted parent Ann Hardy, a 1979 Staples graduate who has a daughter in the class of 2010, as saying: “When we went here, Staples was a good school; now it’s amazing.”

The other schools in the magazine’s top 10 included in order: Wilton, Avon, Ridgefield, Darien, Weston, New Canaan, Farmington, Simsbury, and Joel Barlow.

Comments:     Comment Policy

Let me be among the first to congratulate John Dodig and the entire staff at Staples for this achievement. Kudos should also go to Elliot Landon and the Board of Education for being such strong advocates for our children!

I would like to second the congratulations to the entire school system and its administrators, particularly though
the teachers who should be acknowledged for their
excellence.

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