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09/01/2017 09:05 AMBranford went back to school on August 28 with district-wide efforts on track to continue improvements stretching from the town’s youngest learners up through the high school experience.
“We’re doing a lot of good things,” said Superintendent of Schools Hamlet Hernandez, who joined the district in June 2010. “I’m thrilled. I think about looking back to where we were years ago. We had 30 Pre-K slots; we now have over 100 slots of Pre-K. We were talking about a building swap my first year, we’re now in the construction document phase and getting ready to go out to bid, hopefully in early winter, for Walsh Intermediate School.”
In summer 2018, work is hoped to begin on the town’s $88.2 million project to bring about a next-generation Walsh Intermediate School [WIS], which serves Branford’s fifth - eighth graders.
“We’re excited about where we are with the construction project,” said Hernandez.
What’s Happening at WIS:
While the WIS construction project is still waiting for state bonding grant approval (contingent on finalizing a state budget) to offset approximately $30 million of the $88.2 million project, the town has been moving forward on several levels with a goal of construction beginning in the summer of 2018. The design includes a new building addition to connect to the portion of WIS that will be renovated into a three-story building with a fifth-sixth grade "lower school" and seventh-eighth grade "upper school." As part of the design, the former WIS Industrial Arts (IA) area will become home to the new Branford Public Schools (BPS) Central Office. This year, the IA area will remain closed at WIS.
“The old Industrial Arts area is being cleared out in preparation for construction this coming summer,” said Hernandez.
The most recent development in the project process arose during pre-construction environmental testing in all portions of the existing WIS building to be renovated as part of the new school. Air tests detected PCB levels in the pool and gym areas which are at acceptable levels for ages 12 and over but slightly higher than federal regulations allow for prolonged exposure in children 12 and under. Out of an “abundance of caution,” the areas were closed as of August 25 will remain temporarily closed until the issue is resolved, said Hernandez (see related story here).
Big Changes in the District -- Looking Back:
Hernandez said changes BPS have experienced as a district in the past seven years are worth noting.
Back in 2010, “...we had no English Language Arts and Math curriculum revision cycle; now we have a cycle by which we do that. We did not have Instructional Coaches, we now have coaches working directly with teachers. We did not have a one-to-one [technology platform] program at the intermediate school, we now have it. We didn’t have ELL [English Language Learner] teachers to meet the needs of an increasing ELL population, now we do,” said Hernandez.
The district won a federal/state grant which also introduced a free summer meals (breakfast and lunch) program at Branford High School and some other school buildings four years ago (this year, also at Tisko and Sliney Elementary schools) which has grown to now serve over 20,000 meals this past summer. The program, which served nutritious meals Monday – Friday during the school summer vacation, is not needs-based and includes participation of children 18 and under in Branford Parks and Recreation and Soundview YMCA summer camp programming.
“I think our district has a tremendous amount to be proud of. We couldn't do it without the support of Board of Education, Town of Branford and the community,” said Hernandez.
What’s New in 2017-18:
In other good news, the district’s enrollment, which has been trending down, is slightly higher than anticipated this year. The 2017-18 school year started with 2958 students and could rise by several more before the count for the state is finalized on October 1; based on past patterns, such as students arriving to start school after Labor Day, said Hernandez.
“We were at 2,958 as of [August 28] but we’re anticipating just under 3,000,” said Hernandez.
In Pre-K, the district is benefiting from a program review conducted with Area Cooperative Education Services (ACES) during the past school year, to assist with providing “continuity in programming,” said Hernandez. The review work continues this year with district-level “self-assessment” underway for Pre-K programs in all of the town’s public school buildings.
“At Early Years [Center] and the three elementary schools, we’re doing that kind of self-assessment this year. We’re moving toward a common curriculum more appropriately aligned to developmental needs, with less emphasis on all of the academics and more emphasis on developmental readiness of children,” said Hernandez.
Hernandez visits each school during the first days and spent time at two buildings with principals who have transitioned within the district with the start of the new year. Former WIS principal Robin Goeler is now heading Mary T. Murphy Elementary School, and former Murphy principal Raeanne Reynolds is now at WIS.
“We’re supporting our principals at Walsh and at Murphy School, and both are off to wonderful starts,” said Hernandez.
A continuing review of the district’s World Languages program has the district in the process of planning a different approach in the future, by“...making the shift more towards a proficiency model, where kids are capable of actually using the language, and not just grammar,” Hernandez said.
As far as bringing World Languages to the elementary schools within the regular curriculum, getting the program off the ground continues to be a “long-range model for us, as is the proficiency model,” said Hernandez.
In the new year, curricular instruction [coaching] will help district educators with a focus on science. The district has already undertaken coaching in English Language Arts and Math curricular instruction.
Overall, student performance test results (Smarter Balance as well as SAT) “continue to be at or above state averages,” said Hernandez, who anticipates presenting details in October. “We also look at cohort models – the same students over time. Probably our biggest challenge area is math at the intermediate school, but I feel very confident, with the resources we put in place, that we will start to see improvement in that area. The [math] instructional coaching started only last year – it was the only position we hired.”
Hernandez said the district continues to send high school graduates on to “excellent post-secondary schools, or workforce or placement in the military.”
In 2017, three students were accepted at exceptional military academies, a "huge" achievement, said Hernandez. One is attending U.S. Military Academy at West Point, another U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, while a third, accepted to attend U.S. Air Force Academy, opted to join an ROTC program with a traditional university.
Positioned for ECS State Impacts:
Due to the continued delay to bring about a state budget, and several municipality-impacting scenarios being presented as solutions to close the state budget gap; Branford could stand to lose over $2 million in state Education Cost Sharing [ECS] funding in 2017-18 once the state budget is finalized. But under the leadership of First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove, the town took the bold step of preparing for that, and other worst case state impact scenarios, during the town budget process last spring, on the way to adopting Branford’s 2017-18 Town Budget for the fiscal year. The decision-making puts Branford Public Schools in position to weather the potential cuts, said Hernandez.
“I think we’re in a great position, and that speaks to the town-board collaboration in leadership,” said Hernandez. “I think that we are as good as the way that we approach our challenges; and when it’s with unity of purpose, we get things done.”