The Westport Board of Education elected new officers Monday night. Democrat Mary Parmelee was elected chair by a vote of 4-3 (Urist, Halstead and Owades opposed), Democrat Mark Mathias was unanimously elected vice chair, and Republican Lewis Brey was unanimously elected secretary. Retiring chair Sandra Urist, who was in the top spot for three years, received a bouquet of flowers from PTA Council Co-President Faith Taylor. Superintendent of Schools Elliott Landon is at lower right. Picture is from cable TV coverage. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

John Brady: “Westport will always have a place in my heart.”WN photo Former Westport Staples High School principal John Brady, less than two weeks into his new job as superintendent of schools for a suburban New Haven district, said Westport will always remain special for him.

In an interview published Thursday in the weekly Amity Observer, Brady said it was a difficult decision to leave Staples to take over Oct. 18 as superintendent of the Amity Regional School District.

The newspaper quoted him as saying Westport, where he served in several central office administrative positions before taking the Staples principal’s job, would always have a place in his heart.

“I had a very exciting and rewarding career there,” he said, “but Westport is my past, and Amity is my future.”

A Westport Staples High School senior, Shane Mulligan, is one of only five Connecticut high school seniors to be named a semifinalist in the prestigious Siemens-Westinghouse Science competition, the school district announced today.

The competition attracted approximately 2,000 entries nationwide. Shane’s entry was among the top 300 projects as judged by a panel of internationally known scientists. Top prize in the competition is a $100,000 scholarship.

At Staples, the 17-year-old studies under Dr. A J Scheetz who established a three-year science research course at the high school soon after joining the Westport school district in 2001. 

Scheetz said he is very proud of Shanes accomplishment and also the work of several other of his students who entered the Siemens competition this year.

The controversy over whether the Westport school curriculum ought to be geared to improving scores on a state achievement test boiled over Monday night at a meeting of the Westport Board of Education.
Flashback: Kuroghlian named Teacher of the Year Sept. 27. WN photo

Board members, Schools Supt. Elliott Landon, and teachers discussed the subject for more than three hours.

But it was Dr. Gerald Kuroghlian, Westport’s veteran Teacher of the Year and a state finalist for Connecticut Teacher of the Year who got the audience’s attention with his blunt remarks about the dangers of standardized testing.

Kuroghlian, who helped develop the Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT), said:

“Look at what we are testing on the CAPT. It’s this much (holding fingers slightly apart). I shouldn’t be putting six weeks into this much. But every single town in our ERG (Educational Reference Group) is doing that. And I know that from being on professional committees.

Dr. Gerald Kuroghlian, Westports Teacher of the Year, has been named one of four state finalists for the title of Connecticut Teacher of the Year, the school district announced today.
Flashback: Kuroghlian at Sept. 27 Staples ceremony. WN photo

Superintendent of Schools Elliott Landon congratulated the Staples English teacher who, he said, would make an outstanding spokesperson for education in Connecticut.

Departing Staples Principal John Brady, who reports to his new job Monday, spread the word among the staff, saying, ғThis is an honor that is richly deserved and long overdue.

Kuroghlian was named Westport’s top educator at a ceremony at Staples Sept. 27.

The state and federal government must significantly improve the No Child Left Behind Act for the initiative to have a positive effect on Connecticuts schools, according to a new report released today.

The report was announced by the Legislative Advocacy Clinic at Yale Law School and Connecticut Voices for Children.

The No Child Left Behind Act is a controversial federal law that sets strict student and school performance requirements for schools that receive federal money.

ғNo Child Left Behind has the potential to improve education for Connecticut’s students, but to do so the law must be adapted to account for the needs and realities of the educators on the ground, said Eliza Leighton, a member of the Legislative Advocacy Clinic, which wrote the report.

John M. Dodig, the interim principal at Staples High School, met with members of the Staples PTA Tuesday night. He takes over Oct. 18 for the departing John J. Brady. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Marilyn Smith for WestportNow.com

Brady (l) and Dodig at pep rally. WN photoThe Staples High School PTA tonight is hosting the school’s new interim principal, John M. Dodig. The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in the school library.

This is the second visit to Westport by the former Fairfield High School principal and headmaster.

He visited Staples last Friday and was introduced by outgoing Principal John J. Brady to students at the homecoming pep rally.

Brady, who will become superintendent of schools in the Amity Regional School District, and Dodig will begin their new jobs Oct. 18.

Also at tonight’s PTA meeting will be 30 new teachers who began at Staples this fall.

The first part of the $74 million renovation and expansion project at Staples High School to be turned over to school administrators is getting its final touches. The view is of the corridor of the new wing that will be turned over to the administration during the Thanksgiving recess. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Allen Bomes for WestportNow.com

Staples Principal John J. Brady (l) presents a hard hat to interim Principal John M. Dodig on his visit to the school today. Dodig takes over Oct. 18 for Brady who is leaving to become superintendent in the Amity Regional School District. Dodig will supervise the Staples move into its new facilities. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo