Brookfield Goes Back to School

As the Brookfield High School (BHS) students departed the buses and entered the school Wednesday morning, new Principal Joe Palumbo asked them how their summer had gone, wished them well for the upcoming sports season and shook some of their hands.

“I think it’s important for kids to have that on their first day of school,” he said minutes later as he prepared to instruct a flex session class for some seniors. “Students should meet the people they’re going to be working with and see adults in the hallway.”

The start of the academic year was delayed for two days after Huckleberry Hill Elementary School (HHES) and other parts of town were left without electrical power following tropical storm Irene and some roads were impassable due to fallen trees.

“The biggest concern is getting information out to people to let them know that there would be school today and it’s a full day,” HHES Principal Mary Rose Dymond said. “A lot of our staff is still without power.”

“Some of our students have been without power for two days, but they’re excited to be here today with their friends,” said Palumbo, who was an assistant principal at BHS for two years before being elevated to principal this summer.

“About the only change for us by starting two days later: we are on a full-day instead of a half-day schedule,” he said.

Whisconier Middle School (WMS) Principal Deane Renda said he’s excited about the new fifth grade Spanish program, in which the Spanish and social studies classes will meet on alternate days and the content will sometimes be linked so the students are not only learning the language but learning about the Spanish culture and the ancient explorers.

He said he hopes the school will be able to add a sixth grade Spanish program during the next academic year. For years it has offered foreign language studies in seventh and eighth grade.

Renda said WMS benefitted from reinstating the fifth grade guidance counseling position during the last academic year.

“If the fifth grade students need to talk to someone, they know that someone is available,” he said. “It’s not just about academics, but the emotional issues.”

Center Elementary School (CES) Principal Carrie Kilian said the school again has a waiting list of its popular pre-school program that has “learning centers based on the Connecticut state frameworks.”

She said “universal pre-school would be a large advantage” for any school district.

“They get social and emotional development from being in pre-school,” Killian said of the advantages of those programs.

“They learn the school routines, the rules and how to interact with other students,” she said. “They also get language development opportunities.”

Dymond said HHES will focus this year on “school climate and our data team initiative,” in which teachers review information from the state standardized tests to better determine how to provide instruction to each student.

According to the respective principals, BHS started the academic year with 970 students, WMS with almost 900, HHES with 590 and CES with 412.