State of the Schools Report

Despite above target class sizes throughout the district, Brookfield schools manage to keep many test scores steady, occasionally showing slight improvement, but still slipping slightly when compared with towns with similar demographics.

Assistant Superintendent Dr. Genie Slone presented the State of the Schools Report recently to the Board of Education (BOE). The 22-page report is "A brief summary of what we have done all year," according to Slone. The report provides an explanation of how the district's goals were met over the past year and includes detailed charts and tables illustrating test results and class size comparison. Also included is a look at the financials for the district and an explanation of the staff changes for the district administration and the Board of Education.

Class size remains an issue in the district. Currently, Center Elementary School (CES) classes all meet the size guidelines, but 50 percent of Huckleberry Hill Elementary School (HHES) classes are over the guidelines and the other 50 percent of HHES classes are at the very top of the range.

According to the report, "We are at the upper end of our class size guidelines and over our guidelines in several classes at Whisconier and Brookfield High School. Many of our class sizes remain higher than the average for the state."

The district excels in several areas and according to a recent article in The Connecticut Economy, is "fully efficient with respect to both outputs and inputs." Additionally, the percentage of students achieving goals in reading, writing, mathematics and science on the 2009 CAPT remained close to the same and showed some improvement in certain areas.

While some scores show improvement, other performance results are trending downward. SAT scores have consistently slipped down a few points per year over the past six years. In 2003, the average SAT critical reading score for a Brookfield student was 547; in 2009 the score was 528. The average Math SAT score in 2003 was 554, but in 2009 was 515 (up from 507 in 2008).

SAT results are reported as part of the district Strategic School Profile, and may be accessed through the Connecticut State Department of Education website.

Specific short and long term goals for the district and plans for improvement are not communicated in this report. The strategic plan, developed by a team of community members, administrators, teachers and BOE members, will address the goals for the future of the district and is expected to be presented to the community this summer.

Dr. Slone encouraged the BOE to read the final four pages of the State of the School report, which focuses primarily on the accomplishments of the students this year in a variety of areas. Broken down by school, the final pages of the report illustrate a strong sense of community, commitment and achievement.

The State of the Schools report does look to the future by stating in closing, "To sustain the district as a superior educational organization, we need to persist in offering rigor and challenging programs for all students to excel, and to continue to celebrate their achievements."