January 9, 2008 Willington Public Schools Superintendent David C. Harding and Congressman Joseph Courtney
at Hall Memorial School.
I saw Horizons’ Editor-In-Chief Linda Yao at Hall Memorial School’s annual Science Fair and she asked me when I was going to contribute to Horizons Magazine. I replied that since July, when I first became the superintendent of schools in Willington, I had planned on meeting with her to discuss writing a monthly column to inform the community about the various events, celebrations and items of interest happening at Center School and Hall Memorial School. It has been a busy and exciting transition and now that we are at the midpoint of the school year and I feel I am settling into the routines, I want to begin what I hope will be a monthly column to inform our community about the events and issues involving our schools.
After having spent the last six years as principal of Hall Memorial, I knew I needed to spend time getting better acquainted with the Center Elementary School staff and students during the first half of the school year. They have made me feel very welcomed and I have thoroughly enjoyed all of my interactions. The primary focus at Center School over the next few years will be literacy and to develop strategies to improve reading scores. We have been very fortunate in developing a partnership with Dr. Michael Coyne from the University of Connecticut and Dr. Maureen Ruby from Eastern Connecticut State University. They are both leading experts in the field of child literacy in the state of Connecticut. They have committed to a joint university project over multiple years to assist us in improving early childhood literacy scores in Willington. They will be working with staff from Center School on a regular basis. There is a good deal of excitement about this partnership and we have great optimism about the possibilities that it will bring to our students’ learning process.
We were recently honored to have Congressman Joe Courtney visit Hall Memorial School to see some of the very impressive technology integration that resulted in Hall Memorial School being named the only ShowCase School in Connecticut by SMART Technologies. For information on ShowCase schools you can visit; http://education.smarttech.com/ste/en-US/Classroom+solutions/Advantages/Showcase+Schools.htm Congressman Courtney was very impressed with what he found at Hall Memorial. He stated that the tour “provided him with his best yet look at how technology is being utilized in the classroom”.
The Board of Education recently approved the 2008-2009 school budget. It represented a 4.7% increase over last year’s budget. The Board of Education budget was presented to the Board of Finance on February 7. The Board of Finance will receive the town’s departmental budgets for review and approval before sending the requests to the town for a referendum in May.
Another exciting event for Willington is Community Conversations About Education. This will be an opportunity for all Willington residents to participate in discussions on the future of Willington’s schools including the importance of involving families and community in a child’s learning. The belief is that the whole community gains when families are learning together. If you are interested in participating please contact my office at 487-3130.
When you’ve driven by Hall Memorial School you have probably noticed the school zone warning lights. What’s interesting about these lights is that they are solar powered and the first of their kind in Connecticut. Traffic has slowed down noticeably providing for a more safe area for our staff and students.
In closing, I would like to thank the Willington Public Schools’ staff for providing our students with the highest quality education. I would like to thank the community for your continued support and cooperation. And finally, I would like to thank the students for their incredibly funny stories, their passion for learning and for reminding me of why I entered this profession.
