NPS Hires New Teachers and Administrators

Norwalk public schools have hired about 35 new teachers and several new administrators for the coming school year.


Despite millions of dollars in budget cuts, teaching positions remained largely unaffected and the Board of Education was busy over the summer hiring personnel lost due to retirements and attrition.

“At the end of the day, we had a lot of vacancies to fill,” said Superintendent of School Susan Marks, who presided over an orientation for new teachers last Friday.

Six of the seven assistant principal and high school housemaster positions have been hired. Damon Lewis, a former special education administrator from Stratford, is the new assistant principal at Ponus Ridge Middle School. At Norwalk High, Edward Singleton, who was an assistant principal at Hamden High School, was hired as one of the two new housemasters. A former literacy coach from Dolan Middle School in Stamford, Crystal Perry, is the new assistant principal at West Rocks Middle School.

In accordance with the district’s contract with the Norwalk Association of School Administrator’s, individuals who lost their jobs due to budget cuts were eligible for open administrator positions. Norwalk’s former director of elementary education, Carol Marinaccio, is a new housemaster at Norwalk High. Patti Mattera, most recently a literacy specialist for the district, returns to Columbus Magnet School (she used to be a teacher there) as the new assistant principal. Italia Negroni, former grants specialist, is the new assistant principal at Marvin Elementary School. One assistant principal position remains to be filled at Ponus.

Superintendent Marks says she is pleased with the new staff. “I’m very impressed by the quality of candidates. It was a very strong pool,” says Marks, noting in particular the qualifications of the new high school science teachers.

“We want the best and brightest,” said Bruce Mellion, president of the Norwalk Federation of Teachers. “We also want people who want to teach in a diverse setting.”

The hiring of new staff has implications for the district’s budget, said Steve Colarossi, chair of the Board of Education’s finance committee. New elementary teachers typically start at a lower salary than a senior teacher, which results in savings. However, high school teachers usually have more experience and have graduate degrees in their area of expertise, so there is less savings with them.

“We’ll need to look at the real numbers versus our projections,” said Colarossi.

Mellion said on Monday that teachers are still in the process of being hired. He is working closely with the school administration to monitor enrollment, which has been in flux throughout the summer, and class sizes. Class size, which determines the number of teachers the district needs, is determined by the teacher’s union contract. In Norwalk, for example, lower elementary classes are limited to 22 students, and upper elementary to 24.

“We’ll be watching the situation very closely over the first five days of school,” said Mellion.

Norwalk Expands Technology in Schools

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A version of this story appears in TheDailyNorwalk.com

Norwalk students and staff can expect to see more new technology in the classrooms this fall. All fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms are being outfitted with five new computers and new mobile interactive whiteboards called “Mobis” will be installed in 150 classrooms. The district is also finalizing the purchase of a powerful data system that collects student test scores, grades and attendance records.

“We are working to create a 21st-century classroom,” says Robert Polselli, the district’s director of information technology. “One where teachers and students have access to information at their fingertips.”

Polselli’s team is installing 550 computer stations in the districts fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms, which until now had the oldest machines in the district. Instead of buying five separate computers, the district bought one higher quality computer per classroom to serve five virtual desktops — a screen with a keyboard. Polselli says this configuration has many savings: it’s cost effective, energy efficient and saves desk space. Also, fewer computers will need to be wired and serviced. “The amount of energy saved will be huge, and we’ll be able to provide better tech support,” he said. The computers were part of capital budget allocation made a couple of years ago.

Mobis, which will be distributed at all grade levels, are similar to other interactive whiteboards, but teachers are able to walk around the classroom and write on a tablet device instead of an actual whiteboard. The tablet, which is about the size of a notebook, is connected to an LCD projector mounted on the ceiling. They were introduced in the district last year on a small scale. “You can create a lesson with slides, video, websites and then do an assessment to see if students are understanding the concepts,” says Polselli.

The Mobi, with less hardware, is significantly less expensive — $399 versus $1,500 — than a SMARTboard.

This year, every school will get a new set of “clickers." Students can answer multiple choice and short answer questions on these remote control-like tools and teachers get instant results. The Mobi is also integrated with clickers. “The technologies are tied together,” says Polselli.

Brookside third-grade teacher Jeff Beckley considers himself an “early adopter” of technology. For the past year, he has been actively using clickers in his classroom. “We need to know real time what the kids know,” he says.

As part of his lessons, Beckley regularly uses his interactive whiteboard and video, saying classrooms must keep up with the reality of kids’ lives. “Kids are so technology exposed these days.  We can’t have a disconnect between what they do outside of school and inside.” 

Of all the new technologies, Polselli is most excited about the new data portal that will give educators access to a broad range of student data, including standardized test scores, reading scores, grades and attendance. “Every teacher has to use data,” says Polselli. “They can look at which scores are weak and which subject areas individual students need help in.”

Currently, the district has a data portal but it captures only test scores and has limited reporting capability. Polselli says the new system will have more “robust” data that will be useful for teachers, principals and  administrators. Polselli expects the program to be running by January.

Staff training is critical to make the best use of the technology, he says. Training, however, will be more challenging this year because the district lost an IT staff developer and a technician in budget cuts. Polselli says his remaining staff will assist with training, and he’ll also rely on the Norwalk Education Foundation.

This year, the foundation plans to hire, through a grant from JP Morgan Chase, two tech liaisons in each school. The liaisons are staff members who, for a stipend, get training on the new technologies in the school, which they then pass onto others. “Our goal is to build capacity into the schools and free up central office.” 

Beckley says his colleagues have become increasingly interested in learning about how to incorporate technology into the classrooms. “There is more desire now, teachers realize they don’t have a choice.”

Comment About Comments

I am very concerned about some of the comments that have been posted in response to my last article.

I started this blog two years ago as an exercise of fostering a discussion about the important issues affecting our children's education, not as a platform for ad homonym attacks. I purposely let comments be anonymous because I recognize that parents, teachers, and administrators sometimes have very good reasons to not identify themselves publicly. This does not mean, however that there is free license to talk about people's personal lives, who they have lunch with or when they're getting married. I am also dismayed by the repetitive attacks commenters are making on each other.

I don't want this blog to turn into a battlefield betweeen various factions of Central Office, and I'm going to be taking a more active role in editing our comments that are not constructive.

Having said that I'm not a PR platform for the public schools. Just because a comment doesn't put a positive spin on the activities of the district and its administrators doesn't mean it's not valuable. There are very real educational issues that need to be dealt with and we have to have a frank discussion about them.

Nevertheless, one of the impediments to creating a good school system in Norwalk is the rancor that infects Central Office. The pettiness, the backbiting, the distrust of colleagues seems to permeate the organization. One may argue that it's only a couple of disgruntled people venting on this blog, but what then what do we make of the leaks to The Hour of food receipts? Collectively, they are a sign of an unhealthy environment and it's hard to see how these people can work together on the needs of our children when they're at each others throats. As she searches for the new Director position Susan Marks needs to address the problems within her Central Office staff. Denying that they exist or ignoring them won't make them go away.

BOE Extends Marks' Contract, New Director Position Approved

The Norwalk Board of Education voted to extend Superintendent Susan Marks’s contract at Tuesday evening’s meeting. She received more good news at the meeting when the board finally voted to create the position of Director of Grants, Enrollment, Academically Talented and Operational Projects, a position she has been proposing, in one form or another, for the past two months.


With a 7-1-1 vote -- Migdalia Rivas voted against and Steve Colarossi abstained -- a year was added to Marks's contract, extending it to June 30, 2014. Her annual salary of $200,000 with an annuity of $30,000, remains the same with no raises. Colarossi explained that his abstention was not a vote against a person, but rather a vote against the Connecticut practice of automatically extending contracts one year to maintain three year contracts.

The vote happened without much discussion. During public comments, however, Bruce Mellion president of the teacher’s union, suggested Marks's contract was being extended without following prescribed evaluation procedures and timeline. He added that the evaluation had not yet been made available to the public . “Not one word has become public,” he said.

Also at the meeting, the board voted 7-1-1 to renew the contract of Assistant Superintendent Anthony Daddona. Sue Haynie voted against the renewal and again Colarossi abstained. This year, Dadonna will make $192,151, which includes a deferred 2.5 percent raise to be taken in the form of furlough days and a $5,000 annuity.

After a lengthy discussion, the board voted 6-2-1 in favor of creating the Director of Grants, Enrollment, Academically Talented and Operational Projects. Board members Rosa Murray and Migdalia Rivas voting against the position and Jodi-Bishop Pullan abstained.

Marks described the position as “urgent”, because several administrative positions were lost due to budget cuts, especially the oversight of grants. “How are we going to meet the needs of students and staff? We need this position to pick up key work,” she said.

Marks called the position a “bridge to a future reorganization of central office.” She also said that she scaled back the position’s responsibilities based on the board's recent comments. “After each meeting, I tried to listen and be responsive to feedback from the board so we have common goal.”

Bishop-Pullan and Murray asked if the position could be a lower paying specialist position. Colarossi wondered if it could be an executive assistant.

Marks emphasized that she needed a qualified 12 month position and that the difference between a director level position and an instructional specialist position (a 10 month position) was only $4,000. “This position requires at least a master’s and a broad knowledge of school systems,” she said. Board member Glenn Iannaccone spoke in favor of the position. “We already put back positions into the schools like housemasters and assistant principals. Now it’s time to put back one into central office.”

I'll post later today on the public comments about Briggs and the district's response. 

New Law Pushes Back on School Bullies

A version of this story appears in TheDailyNorwak.com

Schools across the state are taking steps to tackle bullying in schools, on buses and online. A revised law signed last month by Gov. Dannel Malloy requires that every member of the school staff, from the principal to the cafeteria worker, immediately report any instance of bullying.


“Creating a safe school environment is critical for kids to learn,” says state Sen. Toni Boucher, R-Wilton, a member of the Education Committee that introduced the bill.

A 2009 state report found that one in four high school students had been bullied on school property. For freshmen, that figure was one in three students.

The law, which was originally passed in 2002 and revised twice, was updated this time to specifically include “cyberbullying” through text messages, email, Facebook and other social media. “Whatever bullying does happen here, happens mainly online,” says John Dodig, principal of Staples High School in Westport.

“The impact of cyberbullying is broader and does more damage,” says Boucher, who also represents parts of New Canaan, Weston and Westport. “This stuff goes viral.”

As part of the law, the entire school staff must receive annual training on bullying. “The staff need to have guidance about this issue and how to discuss it with kids. It will be good to have various adults supervising,” says Boucher. She credits high school students with casting a light on the seriousness of bullying. “They brought the issue to me,” she says. Boucher singled out Brien McMahon’s Center for Youth Leadership and students at Staples High School.

The Center for Youth Leadership adopted bullying as a major issue in 2008, according to Director Bob Kocienda. A delegation of students went to Hartford in the spring and testified on behalf of the bill. They put special emphasis on the link between bullying and dating violence at the high school level.

In December, two-dozen Staples students hosted a discussion on cyberbullying and Internet safety. Westport middle school student Alye Pollack helped shine a national spotlight on the when posted a powerful anti-bullying video in March on YouTube.

The law also requires that, by next year, each school district appoint a safe school climate coordinator and each school have a school climate committee to implement and monitor anti-bullying efforts.

On Monday, Norwalk Superintendent Susan Marks held a meeting with administrators to examine bullying policies. “We certainly will be getting information out to parents and students as soon as we can,” she said. “It is also important to provide training to staff as well.”

Staples principal John Dodig said he has reviewed the new legislation and produced a brochure of its important points that will be passed out on the first day of school. He says, however, that nothing in the legislation is new to Staples. “We already talk about it all the time, so its redundant to what we’ve been doing.”

The Briggs Non-Story

Where's the beef? That's the question readers of The Hour should be asking themselves after reading Danielle Capalbo's series of stories this weekend about a supposed "audit" being performed of finances at Briggs High school.

Three articles later I'm still left wondering what improprieties are causing this hullaballoo?

On Friday, Capalbo kicked off the topic by writing that an investigation was launched on whether grant money was misused during the term of recently retired principal Alaine Lane.

"Details remain vague about the potential mishandling of funds but sources said there was no evidence to suggest that money was used for personal gain," she wrote.

Wow. The Hour raises the issue that funds are being potentially misused and then in the same breath says it's all very "vague." It turns out that the District regularly reviews a school's accounts when a new principal is appointed.

In Monday's The Hour Capalbo tries show some smoke by highlighting some food expenses: $96 for pizza purchased for a meeting with parents and $215 for what sounds like a staff Christmas party.

Maybe I'm missing the point and there is something more significant that will be revealed but if this is it, then come on! Given Briggs' overall grants budget of $423,000 these sundry expenses amount to little more than rounding errors.

Obviously school officials need to be held accountable for the money they spend, but is it constructive for administrators to explain their lunch bills? We all know the story of the boy who cried wolf. When so much attention is focused on trivialities there's a significant risk that no one will care when real misuses of funds occur.

Marks Proposes New Administrator

Staffing at Norwalk schools’ central office continues to the be a hot topic at the city’s Board of Education meetings. This week, for the second meeting in a row, Superintendent Susan Marks pushed for a new position that would take over the functions of several eliminated positions. 
“There were five positions cut, I’m asking for one back,” she said.  

The Norwalk central office administration lost the director of elementary education, instructional specialist for grants, instructional specialist for academically talented/social studies, IT staff and secretarial staff. At the close of budget season in June, the Board of Education agreed to let Marks reorganize and add central office staff with funds that were unallocated.

“The position is to support curriculum and instruction,” said Marks. The primary functions would be overseeing grants, academically talented education, and afterschool and other programs. 

"It’s a big job with supervisory responsibilities,” said Marks, explaining why she made the job a director level job with a salary of approximately $150,000. Marks said she and Assistant Superintendent Tony Daddona will still be solely responsible for evaluating principals. 

Board members appeared divided about the proposed position. Sue Haynie, Glenn Iannaccone and Heidi Keyes spoke in favor of the position. But the idea met resistance from Board member Steve Colarossi, who questioned whether Marks could create a less senior position. He also questioned why the position reported to the COO as opposed to the assistant superintendent. 

During public comments, teachers union president Bruce Mellion said that job was too broad in scope. “It’s not a position for one person. It’s not doable in its current format.”

The board did not decide on the position but Marks also outlined how the central office could be reorganized. The proposed plan included a department of school performance -- not tied to the administrators union -- that would evaluate the district’s principals. She also proposed year-round instructional specialists, an expanded role for teachers to work on district projects, and more resources for human resources, community outreach and public relations. 

Summer School Trains Teachers in Reading

The children in Scott Santinella’s summer school class spent a lot of time on their feet. These struggling readers swayed and stretched as they sounded out words. Standing up, Santinella showed the kids a picture of a drum. DR—the kids touched their head, U—next their waist and M- their toes. Next was FR-O-G.


During the summer program at Brookside Elementary school, Santinella was one of eight teachers who received several sessions of reading instruction from Margie Gillis, a reading expert from Haskins Laboratory at Yale University and president of Literacy How, a non-profit that specializes in reading research and teacher training.

As a result, Santinella incorporated new reading strategies like “Say it, move it” that he had learned into his lessons. He also intends to bring these lessons back to his third grade Naramake classroom in the fall. “They were really helpful. I plan to use them,” he said.

Norwalk schools are hopeful this type of on-the-ground teacher training in early literacy can be made available to all of the district’s elementary schools. On Tuesday, Norwalk submitted a $3 million federal grant called “Investing in Innovation”, which is part of President Obama’s stimulus program and education reform initiative.

The grant would set up a “lab” at one of the schools to focus on reading instruction for the district’s elementary school teachers. “Through hands on training and observation, the goal would be to create master teachers in reading,” says Gillis who has been training Norwalk teachers on and off at select schools for several years.

As part of the grant, the district aims to tackle the city’s literacy rate. The 2011 Connecticut Mastery Tests show that only 52 percent of third graders are reading at grade level.

This type of intensive teacher training was piloted at the Brookside summer school in July and attended by 427 elementary students who are “substantially deficient” readers. The program is mandated by the state for designated “priority” school districts. The feedback and results of the 19 day program are being incorporated into the grant application.

Gillis’s training was based on “decoding”, meaning that it was about breaking apart the sounds. “For kids who can’t read, the English language is a mystery,” said Gillis. “For kids who struggle, they need other ways to conquer the sounds and parts of the words. I’m using strategies that are multi-sensory. It’s another hook.”

Italia Negroni, the district’s grants specialist, spearheaded the compiling of the grant. The district also applied last year but was rejected. Recently, the application was modified to include the input of special education, literacy and ELL administrators, as well as from school board member Sue Haynie and Norwalk Education Foundation president Lauren Rosato. The district will learn if they are to receive the grant by the end of the year.

Larry Somma, a second grade teacher at Brookside, also participated in Gillis's training and summed up his resolve. “There’s a reason these kids are here. We have to something to stimulate them in a different way.”