Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Full court press from supporters to build Greenwich High School auditorium, music classroom space successful in quashing RTM move to delay project funding.
When many Greenwich High School students would have preferred to be studying for this week's Advanced Placement exams, they spent a few hours Monday night getting a real-life lesson on how local government works. Their efforts to convince the 230-member Representative Town Meeting to continue to fund the Music Instruction Space and Auditorium project at the tune of $12.2 million for the 2012-13 fiscal year—along with those of their teachers, headmaster, members of the Greenwich Board of Education and Board of Selectmen, parents, PTA leaders and RTM members—paid off. A contingent of RTM members, led by District 7 members Lucia Jansen and Valerie Stauffer, failed in their efforts to kill the funding during the meeting of just more than 3 …
Your daily guide to news, what you need to know, and a bit of trivia in Greenwich.
Today is Tuesday, May 15, 2012 and it's National Chocolate Chip Day. This day in history: In 1942, a bill establishing a women's corps in the U.S. Army becomes law, creating the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAACs) and granting women official military status. In 1973, California Angel Nolan Ryan strikes out 12 Kansas City Royals and walks three to pitch the first no-hitter of his career. In 1982, Paul McCartney wrote the biggest hit record of his post-Beatles career: "Ebony And Ivory," a duet with Stevie Wonder which assumed the top spot in the Billboard Hot 100, the start of a 7-week run. Things you should know: 32 Greenwich teachers, administrators to retire Between them, they have a total of nearly 810 years experience in helping and …
GHS teacher-instructional coach Jason Goldstein named Cantor House administrator.
Greenwich High School teacher and instructional coach Jason Goldstein has been name as the Greenwich High School Cantor House Administrator, effective July 1. GHS Headmaster Chris Winters, said, “Jason has been providing strong leadership at GHS both in the classroom and throughout the school for many years. As House Administrator in Cantor, Jason will make connections with students, parents and staff. His calm demeanor, sharp analytical mind, communication skills, and passion for people make him a wonderful addition to the GHS administrative team.” Goldstein has been an educator for 17 years, and with 12 years at Greenwich High School. According to a statement released by Greenwich Public Schools, as an instructional coach and mentor …
Monday, May 14, 2012
Investigation focused on printed images of child pornography found in former public school music teacher Steven Allen's residence.
Greenwich Police and the FBI have concluded that the child pornography found in a former music teacher's home "was not produced locally nor where there any local victims." Greenwich Police spokesman Lt. Kraig Gray said the joint investigation into the photographs found in the home of the late music teacher Steve Allen "were not new images. They were images well-known by the Center for Missing and Exploited Children which catalogs all known instances of child pornography." Gray also said, "The only evidence we have was that he was in possession of child pornography which he did not produce or trade. He most likely downloaded it from the Internet." He added, "The case is closed." Investigators discovered the photos in Allen's Cos Cob home …
Your daily guide to news, what you need to know, and a bit of trivia in Greenwich.
Today is Monday, May 14, 2012 and it's National Buttermilk Biscuit Day. This day in history: A year after the United States doubled its territory with the Louisiana Purchase, the Lewis and Clark expedition leaves St. Louis, Missouri, on a mission to explore the Northwest from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean in 1804. In 1948, in Tel Aviv, Jewish Agency Chairman David Ben-Gurion proclaims the State of Israel, establishing the first Jewish state in 2,000 years, and with Ben-Gurion becoming the first premier. In 1998, the legendary singer, actor and show-business icon Frank Sinatra dies of a heart attack in Los Angeles, at the age of 82. Things you should know: Greenwich Police now have a iPhone, Smart Phone apps Over the weekend, …
"This is where the middle school magic happens, friendships blossom, and new relationships form," reflects GPS teacher Stacey DeBlasio
At the Korean War Veterans Memorial there are 19 stainless steel statues, but the "spooky shadows in the reflection" of the wall really symbolize 38, explains 8th grade Western Middle School science teacher Stacey DeBlasio. This is just one of the history lessons that come to life for Greenwich Public Schools 8th graders every spring. While certainly many families from Greenwich have visited Washington, D.C. before, the trip is an opportunity for all students to travel with friends and teachers allowing them to experience education in a different way. Taking The Classroom On The Road DeBlasio says the annual D.C. trip is "where students and teachers see one another in a new light. Teachers are not the authoritative dictators demanding …
"A significant majority of PTA Council ... continues to be in favor of MISA, a long-overdue necessary repair to our Town's one and only public high school."
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Monday, May 14
To the Moderator, Moderator Pro Tempore, and Members of the Representative Town Meeting (RTM), On behalf of Greenwich PTA Council, the umbrella organization for the fifteen Parent Teacher Associations of the Greenwich Public Schools, I am writing to you in support of the Education Budget, as presented within the Town Budget, both Operating and Capital. We encourage you to vote for the Budget, including the appropriation for the Greenwich High School (GHS) Music Instructional Space and Auditorium renovation (MISA). A significant majority of PTA Council, many voicing the opinion of their PTAs' leadership, continues to be in favor of MISA, a long-overdue necessary repair to our Town's one and only public high school. The PTA supports …
Saturday, May 12, 2012
35 percent of Connecticut eighth grade students reached proficiency in the subject in 2011 — the same percentage that reached proficiency in 2009 — however since then numerous other states have beefed-up their science programs.
As Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy prepares to sign the state's new education reform bill into law, a report from The National Center for Education Statistics shows that the state has dropped in the rankings for science proficiency. According to the report (see attached PDF), 35 percent of Connecticut eight grade students reached proficiency in the subject in 2011 — the same percentage that reached proficiency in 2009 — however since then numerous other states have beefed-up their science programs. As a result seven states have pushed ahead of Connecticut in the national ranking, according to the report. The report notes that although Connecticut has slipped in the rankings, its student proficiency rate in science is higher than the …
Thursday, May 10, 2012
GHS PTA wants to use letter to RTM for community awareness.
- GOVERNMENT
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Thursday, May 10
The Greenwich High School (“GHS”) PTA believes there needs to be appropriate facilities to meet current educational specifications and physical needs of our students. Facilities should be comparable with other school districts and should meet state guidelines. The Board of Education’s capital budget for 2012/13 includes the phase 2 funding for the MISA project and the long term capital plan addresses other needed maintenance projects as well as the improvement of athletic facilities. Completed in 1970, GHS is 42 years old. We support the BOE’s capital plan which provides for upkeep and investment in the building and grounds to address the needs of the 2,700 students attending GHS and the nearly 300 faculty and staff who work there. …
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
The reform bill now goes to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy for his signature.
The Connecticut House of Representatives unanimously approved the education reform bill Tuesday night, after the state Senate approved the lengthy bill early Tuesday morning. The legislation is viewed as a compromise of sorts and ends months of controversy between Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the Connecticut Education Association, the state's largest teachers union. Malloy has pledged to sign the bill into law. "I can say, with confidence, that this bill will allow us to begin fixing what is broken in our public schools," Malloy said during a hastily assembled press conference late Monday evening at the state Capitol to announce the agreement. The state Senate then huddled in chambers for the better part of the night Monday into Tuesday …
Bernard Schneider
10:41 am on Thursday, May 17, 2012
Statisticians will tell you that the most vauable information comes not from the mass of similar information, but from the "outliers",those data points that do not conform to the norm. For example, if there appears to be a relationship between a town's edcuation budget and the performance of its students, what can we learn from a school system in a low-income community that performs at a … more ›