The Westport Board of Education tonight approved the promotion of Jeffrey Golubchick to the position of principal of Long Lots Elementary School effective July 1, Superintendent of Schools Elliot Landon said.

Jeffrey Golubchick: current Saugatuck assistant principal. Contributed photo

Golubchick currently is assistant principal at Saugatuck Elementary School.  He replaces M. Rex Jones, principal since 2007.

Prior to joining Saugatuck, Golubchick, 35, a native New Yorker, had been director of elementary humanities at North Shore Schools in Sea Cliff, N.Y. and assistant principal at P.S. 29 in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, N.Y. He began his career as a teacher in a student-diverse elementary school in New York City.

His educational background includes a BFA in printmaking and a BA in scenography from Washington University in St. Louis, Mo; an MFA in theater arts from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh; an MA in education from Hunter College in New York City; and, an MA in educational leadership from Brooklyn (N.Y.) College.

There was a standing room-only crowd Monday night at the Westport Library’s McManus Room to hear former state Rep. Jonathan Pelto (D-Mansfield) discuss the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) tests to be administered to Westport students in third through 12th grades over the next few weeks. Pelto, who served nine years in the state legislature and now authors a blog, Wait What? at www. Jonathanpeltro.com, has been critical of the SABC, calling them “unfair, inappropriate and discriminatory.” The event was privately organized by a group of local parents. A video is available here.  (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

Westport students, especially those at Staples High School, have shown they do know much about history.

They excelled Saturday in the Fairfield Regional History Day in Connecticut contest at Fairfield University. More than 300 students from 16 area communities took part in the competition.

Westport students dominated in the senior category (grades 9 to 12), taking 15 of the 20 top awards in the division while those in the junior category (grades 6 to 8) took two of 26 top slots.

Students who placed in the top three in their respective categories and divisions are invited to compete in the State History Day Contest, which will take place on May 9 at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain.

Bedford Middle School students celebrate Saturday after winning first place at the Science Olympiad state competition held in Farmington. Next step is the national competition in Nebraska in May. The Science Olympiad is a nationwide organization dedicated to promoting science education through conducting competitive science tournaments. Teams of up to 15 students meet and compete in about 23 different science events that cover many different areas of science, technology, engineering, and math. Some events require constructing a project ahead of time. Others involve on the spot application of skills to a given problem. Individual students win medals for placing in an event, with cumulative scores yielding overall team placement at a tournament. Contributed photo

Friday brought not only a first day of spring snow but also a Silver Crown Award for Staples High School’s student-run online publication, inklingsnews.com, at the Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s 91st annual Spring Scholastic Convention. Pictured with the award at Columbia University are (l-r) Managing Editor Ale Benjamin, Advisor Cody Thomas, Editor-in-Chief Zoe Brown, Editor-in-Chief Bailey Ethier, Advisor Mary Elizabeth Fulco, and Web Managing Editor Nicole DeBlasi. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo