Workmen today raced to complete piecing together the Staples High School seal in the lobby of the new main entrance of the school set to open for use on Monday. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

There’s plenty of room to maneuver on the second floor above the main lobby entrance to the new Staples High School. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

File cabinets and boxes are stacked in a hallway of Staples High School today as occupants of the 7 and 9 buildings moved into a wing of the new structure. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

This is one of 34 new classrooms that will be ready for students when they return Monday to the new Staples High School after the holiday break. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

To get from the new Staples High School to the old Staples, you have to go through the “I-Connector” bordering the auditorium. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

The Westport Board of Education has canceled tonight’s public session scheduled for 8 p.m . at the Staples High School library but will hold a meeting at 7 p.m .which is expected to vote to go into executive session.

A spokesperson said the published agenda for tonight will be carried over to Jan. 3.

Members of the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) Education and Finance Committees had been scheduled to meet with the board tonight to give input as the board prepares its 2005-06 budget.

Members of the Board of Finance met with the school board in a similar session earlier this month.

Mary Parmelee, chair of the Westport Board of Education, had to resort to sign language tonight to communicate with fellow board member Mark Owades who was attending the meeting electronically over the Internet from California. The audio signal from Owades was lost for a brief time and Parmelee penciled “MUTE” on a piece of paper to tell Owades visually that his mute switch had been activated. Photo is from cable coverage of the meeting. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

The Westport Board of Education tonight considers adoption of the 2005-06 school calendar which provides for a post-Labor Day start and no holiday on Columbus Day.

Under the proposed calendar, school would begin on Tuesday, Sept. 6, the day after Labor Day. This year, school began on Wednesday, Sept. 1, five days before the Labor Day holiday.

Unlike the current year, the proposed calendar does not include a Columbus Day holiday. The holiday recess will be Dec. 24-Jan. 2, the winter recess Feb. 20-24, and the spring recess April 17-21. The last day of school is Friday, June 23.

The long-awaited and anticipated move into parts of the new $74 million Staples High School scheduled for this weekend has been delayed due to problems with the buildings mechanical system, according to an announcement on the high school building project Web site today.

ғIssues primarily with the mechanical systems have delayed the opening of the H and I sections of the new Staples High School, the announcement said. ԓThe move will be conducted over the holiday break.”

The message did not say specifically what the problems were, but a school source said teachers were told today that the problems concerned some vents and a generator.

The announcement did say installation of a new high-speed T-1 communication link will take place as scheduled, thus parts of the district will temporarily lose access to the Internet and to e-mail.Ӕ

John Brady: parents wanted him to be a plumber. WN photo The former principal of Staples High School, John J. Brady, says one of his most prized accomplishments is helping change the “culture” at the Westport school.

Brady, who left Staples in October to become superintendent in the Amity Regional School District near New Haven, made the remarks in an interview with the Orange Bulletin.

“One of the most recent professional accomplishments that I am very proud of is helping to change the culture at Staples High School in Westport,” Brady said.

“We helped to make the school more student-centered by having students join faculty in decision- making, meeting with student leaders weekly, and having students lead important school ceremonies, like graduation,”