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Schools

Principals Report on Start of New School Year

Board of Ed hears from district administrators about the beginning of school.

Speaking to the Board of Education (BOE), the Brookfield school principals discussed their goals, thanked custodians, secretaries and the Parks and Recreation Department grounds crew and said that despite a two-day delay the academic year was off to a splendid start.

Brookfield High School (BHS) Principal Joe Palumbo said during Wednesday’s meeting that about 50 percent of the iPads that were recently purchased have already been distributed to the freshmen and the other 50 percent will be handed out over the next week as part of .

He said in an interview that the district purchased about 300 iPads, counting those that have been given to teachers.

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Palumbo said the students are receiving instruction in digital citizenship and web-based learning before they receive the devices.

Additionally, he said the school district has revised some of its policies regarding the use of personal iPads and laptop computers and has increased its wireless capacity to allow for more teachers and upperclassmen to use them.

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Palumbo said BHS also is offering more advanced placement courses, which had been a goal of his immediate predecessor, Bryan Luizzi, .

Palumbo lauded BHS nurse Angela Hazelwood, one of the advisors for the school’s peer counseling program, for arranging for the student counselors to organize activities during the recent freshmen orientation day.

“Connections with students are very important,” he said regarding the value of the peer counselors.

Whisconier Middle School (WMS) Principal Deane Renda said his staff is making a bigger effort to “develop relationships with our students.”

“Knowing the little things about students can make a difference in connecting with them,” he said. “It is important to know who is on a sports team or in a youth activity, as well as recognizing the student that always makes a concerted effort.”

Huckleberry Hill Elementary School (HHES) Principal Mary Rose Dymond said part of a recent staff development day was devoted to issues related to the social climate in the school.

She said HHES also is revising its reading curriculum.

Center Elementary School (CES) Principal Carrie Kilian said her school is trying to further upgrade the work of its data teams that review student progress.

She also praised the efforts of the school custodians and the Parks and Recreation Department’s grounds crew in getting the building ready for the first academic day, which was following the power outages and impassable roads that resulted from .

Dymond said even though the building hosted summer school classes and Parks and Recreation camps into late August, the maintenance workers made it look attractive for the start of the new academic year.

The elementary school was without electricity until August 30, and Dymond said several students and staff members were still after that.

“What a learning experience it was for them,” she said regarding some of the conversations she had with the students in the HHES cafeteria. “They talked about playing in the neighborhood.”

“I give a lot of credit to the students who were without power,” said Renda, who said that his family, which lives in West Hartford, played a variety of board games while they were without electricity.

BOE Vice Chairman Rob Gianazza said he was impressed with the fencing in the front of BHS, which encloses generators and garbage containers, as well the new lines that were painted in the parking lot and the new lettering in the façade at the administrative entrance.

Palumbo said the Brookfield Newcomers and Neighbors Club, which hosts its , “jumped at the opportunity” to pay for installing the new façade.

Each of the principals credited their secretaries with providing enormous help in preparing schedules during the summer and Superintendent Anthony Bivona noted that his secretary, Lisa Morelli, posted all of the BOE’s updated policies on the school district’s website over the recent weeks.

The BOE also heard brief presentations from the in the district and then spoke with them informally during a brief recess in the meeting.

Assistant Superintendent Genie Slone said there were “more than 400 applications” for one of the elementary teacher openings and that several veteran educators in the district served on screening committees during the summer that helped select the new staff members.

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