Five Westport students were cited for excellence in writing at the 37th annual Trumbull Arts Festival Literary Competition in a ceremony at the Trumbull Library. Students from Coleytown Middle school swept the poetry division awards, with Ava Geismann (first) for “The Last Day of Schoo,l” Kelley Schutte (second) for “My Family is a Beach,” and Lia Chen (honorable mention) for “It is 9:24 p.m. and I Have Just Started This Poem.” In addition, Ben Schussheim was awarded second in the fiction division for his story “A Diamond in the Brush.” Their teacher is Paul Ferrante. In the elementary division, Lilly Weisz from Kings Highway School was awarded first in the poetry division for “The Sky’s Garden.” Her teacher is Priscilla Jones. Pictured (l-r) are: Lia Chen, Kelley Schutte, Ava Geismann, Lilly Weisz, and Ben Schussheim. (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

By Dave Matlow

More than 40 persons gathered today in the Westport Town Hall auditorium for the second session to give public input into the search for a successor for retiring Superintendent of Schools Elliott Landon.

More than 40 persons, most from PTAs, attended today’s session at Westport Town Hall. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

John Chambers, an associate of Hazard, Young, Attea Associates, a Rosemont, Illinois-based search firm, led the session. It followed one attended by about 10 persons on Sept. 1 at Saugatuck Elementary School. (See WestportNow, Sept, 1, 2015)

Chambers, a former school superintendent at New York school systems in Byram Hill and Bronxville,  said today’s turnout was unusually large and contrasted with the much smaller attendance at the first session held in evening hours.

He said it was good that Landon gave a year notice, which he said allows for a thorough search for his replacement.

It was back to school day today for students at Westport’s Greens Farms Academy (GFA). Head of School Janet Hartwell (l) welcomed students and parents to the school. GFA is full this year with 715 students from Connecticut and New York. Academically, GFA officially launched its STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) program with a variety of courses offered in the Upper School, leading to a diploma with a concentration in STEAM. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

New Head of Greens Farms Academy’s Lower School Aléwa Cooper (c) welcomes a new student on her first day at GFA today. Also new are Director of Admission and Enrollment Management Ann Miller, along with eight new full-time teachers. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

The annual Long Lots Elementary School back to school beach party today at Westport’s Compo Beach provided plenty of fun, food and games for all. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Phyllis Groner for WestportNow.com

By James Lomuscio

A fiscally responsible, digitally savvy, administrator willing to sit on the floor with elementary school children, and raise the district’s academic bar even higher while adding diversity were among the qualities a dozen Westporters tonight said they want in the next schools superintendent.

Tonight’s session at Saugatuck Elementary School drew about a dozen persons. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Phyllis Groner for WestportNow.com

For more than an hour, the small crowd that had gathered in the Saugatuck Elementary School auditorium shared concerns about the issues facing the Westport Public Schools—and the type of person best to lead as Schools Superintendent Elliott Landon retires at the end of this academic year after 17 years on the job.

It was the first of two community forums to be held by the Chicago-based search firm Hazard, Young, Attea (HYA) & Associates, hired by the school board. As second forum is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 10 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. in the Town Hall auditorium

“Our process is really intense at this stage of information gathering,” said John Chambers, HYA senior associate, adding that the forum’s aim was “gathering information, gathering perspective from everyone who’s willing to talk to us.”

By James Lomuscio

Click here for PDF of study

Westport’s Board of Education tonight found an architect’s feasibility study to expand Staples High School by 36,320-square feet to the tune of $21.2 million to be more than they had expected.

An artist’s rendition of a recommended Staples High School expansion module. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Fuller D’Angelo P.C. graphic

Members seemed surprised by the proposal. They said they thought the $20,000 study they had commissioned would address different ways to accommodate Staples’ swelling student population that is 100 students over capacity this fall—not full blown plans for a new building with a hefty price tag.

“The enrollment is the driver, and I’m just afraid that it’s two steps further than where we are now,” said board member Karen Klein.

“We need to fully vet all the other choices,” she added, saying that things, such as modular classrooms, larger class size and course tradeoffs, should be part of the study, even though she is not in favor of them. “We need to do our due diligence before we get to that point.”

A community survey to help discern what Westporters want in a new school superintendent is now available at www.ecrasurvey.com/westport or can be linked to from the Westport Public Schools’ home page, Board of Education Chairman Michael Gordon said today. The survey will remain open until Sept. 18.

Gordon also said that the first community forum on the search to replace Superintendent Elliott Landon, who is retiring after 17 years at the end of the 2015-16 academic year, is scheduled for Tuesda, from 7:30 to 9 p.m. in the Saugatuck Elementary School auditorium. 

A second second forum is set for Thursday, Sept. 10 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. in the Town Hall auditorium.

Finding a replacement for Landon will also be the first item at tonight’s Board of Education meeting, as the search firm Hazard, Young & Attea offers a presentation of the superintendent search process.

By Jacqueline Rabe Thomas

www.ctmirror.org

As expected, the standardized test scores parents are accustomed to seeing for their child’s school have plunged as the state implements a harder test aligned with the controversial Common Core State Standards.

Scores released Friday for tests taken last school year show that 39 percent of Connecticut public school students were judged proficient on the state’s math exam —  a significant drop from 83 percent in 2013. In English, 55 percent of students were judged proficient last year — down from 81 percent in reading and 84 percent in writing in 2013.

State education officials weren’t surprised. They have been warning the drop would happen, as it has in other states that switched to exams aligned with the Common Core.

The number of students electing not to take the state exams also rose last school year — a trend referred to as the “opt-out movement.” Concern has grown among parents that their children are spending too much time in school being tested or being prepared for tests. [Westport had an 87.7 percent participation rate in English and 87.6 percent in math.]

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By James Lomuscio

Click here for PDF of study
A Westport Board of Education commissioned feasibility study to expand Staples High School by 36,000-square feet to the tune of $21.2 million to accommodate a swelling student population will go to the school board Monday night, Schools Superintendent Elliott Landon said today.

An artist’s rendition of a recommended Staples High School expansion module. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Fuller D’Angelo P.C. graphic

He said the $20,000 study was commissioned by the board in May and was done by Elmsford, N.Y.-based architects Fuller D’Angelo P.C., the same firm hired for the expansion of the 1958-built school transformed to 465,000 square feet in 2005 at a cost of $73 million. The feasibility study was presented to school board members today, Landon said.

The current building was designed for 1,800 students even though the administration had pushed for a building with a 2,000 capacity but had to cut back for budgetary reasons, Landon said. He had said earlier that this year’s Staples enrollment was about 1,900 and that the school has been overcapacity for several years. (See WestportNow Aug. 24, 2015)

According to the report, Landon and school administrators favored the architects’ Concept B, which would add 36,320-square feet to the current building. It includes 15 new classrooms for math, languages, computer engineering, robotics, health and physical education, lectures, dance, conference rooms, teacher work rooms, special education and cafeteria expansion, as well as infrastructure upgrades.