Board Update: Apr 4, 2025

Testing & Accountability 

The Testing Office has delivered training to Building Test Coordinators (BTCs) for the administration of Smarter Balanced (ELA and Math, grades 3-8) and for Next Generation Science testing (grade 5,8, and 11). BTCs are preparing for state testing by training test proctors with resources provided by the Testing Office. Schools will schedule their testing sessions within the district window: May 1 –20 for Smarter Balanced and May 1 –28 for science.  Supports for special populations have been uploaded to the state’s test engine, TIDE. School teams will review them and provide practice sessions for students, prior to live testing. Additional training sessions have been provided for MLL teams. These sessions focus on understanding MLL supports in TIDE.  

The annual Panorama survey window opened on March 12th. Students in grades 3-12 take a Social Emotional Learning survey and a school survey. Teachers, staff and families also participate in Panorama surveys. School and district leaders use Panorama survey data to identify students' social-emotional strengths and areas of need. Results are integrated into school improvement plans. Norwalk has used the Panorama surveys since 2020.  

School Quality Review (SQR)  

Norwalk Public Schools is in the fourth year of a process called a School Quality Review (SQR), that produces additional data points for focused school improvement. There will be 12 schools receiving a School Quality Review for 2024-25. Nine schools have undergone the School Quality Review: West Rocks Middle School, Concord Magnet School, Center for Global Studies, Kendall College and Career Magnet, Marvin Elementary School, Cranbury Elementary School, Rowayton Elementary School, Fox Run Elementary School, and Ponus Ridge STEAM Middle School. Their reports are in the quality assurance process and drafts. The next school receiving an SQR will be Jefferson Marine Science Elementary School on Tuesday-Wednesday, April 22-23, 2025. 

Research & Analytics  

Presented at the Board of Education Workshop with a focus on the effective communicator competency, which will guide our work in the 2025–26 school year. The session highlighted how this new focus builds on the critical thinker competency from 2024–25 and deepens our Portrait of a Graduate work. We also explored how AI will be used in service of the Portrait of a Graduate and shared plans to continue building AI capacity among district and school leaders through targeted training.  

Presented at the Norwalk ACTS quarterly convening regarding collaborations between data scientists and youth-serving organizations.  

Analyzed focus group interviews from My Brother’s Keeper and My Sister’s Keeper programs, which will complement quantitative analysis during final program evaluation report. 

Compiled results of articulation parent questionnaire and teacher responses to distribute to middle schools to facilitate grade 6 course placement.  

Secondary Leaders and Coaches Curriculum Pilot Training

Administrators, coaches, teachers, district leaders, and our partners at TNTP came together for a Curriculum Pilot Training to learn about the ELA curriculum platforms and begin to plan for the upcoming unit of study to be used during the spring pilot. Representatives from all middle schools and high schools participated in the training and will kick-off the curriculum pilot beginning on April 7th. 

District Wide Learning Walks

All buildings have completed their third round of learning walks and data will be collected as a district to measure the impact of the work and will plan for professional learning based on the trends seen in buildings and across the district. 

Food Services 

The Smoothie bike is back! The debut will be this week and begins the tour at Silvermine, then Cranbury and finally Wolfpit  

Get in line at Breakfast for a chance to receive your golden ticket to ride at lunch. 

Next week April 9th the bike will ride into Naramake. 

Congratulations to Chartwells Discovery Kitchen Cookoff winners  Lady Glitter Sparkes!  It was a great event!  The winning dish will be on the secondary menu April 11th  

The Fresh fruit and Vegetables this week will be Cherry Tomatoes and Sweet Honeydew Melon! 

Next week the FFVP will  send us off to break with Broccoli and Raspberries. 

 Please be sure to visit Mrs. Kelly’s Youtube channel for all the fun nutritious information about everything we serve in the FFVP program. 

Transportation 

Spring is here and it is time for Bus Evacuation Drills!  Students will participate in bus evacuation drills next week.  This practice is completed twice a year per the State of CT regulations.  Upon arrival at school, students will wait for the driver's direction and will exit off the back of the bus through the emergency door.  Students are required to sit and slide off the back of the bus, ensuring that they can exit the bus in an emergency situation.  Additional staff will be on site to assist students upon arrival.   

Our next date for DMV driver testing is April 14th, we have 3 candidates training to test for their school bus endorsement, we are wishing them the best as they complete behind the wheel training the next two weeks.  

For our April Driver Safety meeting, Durham will cover ‘Distracted Driving Awareness’ month.  A campaign to drive home ‘no phone zone’ communication surrounding cell phone usage while driving.  Specialized equipment is being provided to drivers to ensure a safe environment for all.    

Health Services 

School health services ensures that every school is staffed with a registered nurse and continues to maintain its own substitute nurse pool for coverage when the full-time nurse is absent. This creates a more cost-effective staffing arrangement. Additionally, substitute nurses may be utilized for field trips that require a nurse to attend for students with special health needs. 

School-Based Health Centers 

During the month of March, The Human Services Council Dr. Robert E Appleby school-based health centers, located at Norwalk High School/P-TECH, West Rocks Middle School, and Nathan Hale Middle School, provided 312 medical and behavioral health appointments to students at these schools.   

During the same time, the Norwalk Community Health Center school-based health centers, located at Ponus Ridge STEAM Academy/Concord Magnet School, Brien McMahon High School/Center for Global Studies, and The Family Center Health and Wellness Center, provided 642 medical and behavioral health appointments to NPS students. 

Grants 

The Grants Team is actively collaborating with school leaders to allocate funds for the FY26 budget following the BET's decision to set the cap at 4%. In addition, we’ve been working to adjust Title I allocations for the upcoming school year across all Title I schools in Norwalk. We’re also excited to share that we have received $236,338 in Perkins funding, which will support Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs at all four of our high schools. These funds will help enhance opportunities for students in career pathways and technical fields. 

Humanities

As we continue to build capacity as a school district, the focus has been on visiting classrooms and observing teacher practice through the Look-For document.  These walkthroughs provide opportunities for the district team to norm around instruction. In addition, literacy walkthroughs will take place at every K-5 school over the next month. The team is looking for instructional trends and implementation of materials across the district in order to plan for upcoming professional learning. The secondary schools are just beginning to implement a pilot for a new ELA resource.  We have been working in partnership with TNTP on this new project.  In our elementary schools, we will begin to further revise/enhance the units of study so that they are aligned to the new K-12 Vision of Literacy.  

Fundation Lesson in Action

Mathematics/STEM

The STEM department has been continuing to strengthen existing curricula with the focus on intertwining preparation for end of year testing. Coaches have been getting continued support to work with schools and teachers on preparing for testing (Smarter Balanced and PSAT/SAT) while delivering the major work of each grade and the NPS mathematics curricula. Additionally, the department has been celebrating STEM in different ways throughout the district. Ponus STEAM Academy held its second annual STEMWAVE event and Silvermine held an innovation celebration.

Jefferson Marine Science Elementary School held their annual STEAM fair. Parents and students celebrated with an evening of projects and prizes highlighting the exploration of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math at Jefferson.

Multilingual Learners 

The Multilingual Learner (MLL) department has been continuously collaborating with various schools to develop and deliver professional development sessions tailored to meet the specific needs of each school. This collaborative effort ensures that the training is both relevant and impactful for the teachers and staff involved.  In addition, school administration and instructional coaches are beginning to take the lead in facilitating these professional development sessions. They are supported by the district departments, which continue to provide guidance and resources to ensure the success of the initiative.  This approach is fostering a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement across schools, helping to build stronger, more effective educational practices.

The Multilingual Learner department has been able to provide coaching support to Dual Language schools by coaching on best practices, modeling lessons, collaborating with grade-level teams to unpack units of study, and assisting in creating and refining lesson plans to ensure effective dual language instruction.  This collaborative approach helps strengthen the teaching and learning experience in dual language classrooms.

Family Center

The Family Center is excited for the 2nd annual Say Yes to the Dress & Suit event beginning on Saturday, April 5th!  We have partnered with Fashion Forward, a student-run program at Open Doors shelter, who has been able to donate over 300 dresses!  Additionally, we have partnered with Camillo’s Tuxedo who has donated pants and suit jackets.  This year we have added additional dates so that students who plan on attending either the Junior prom or Senior prom for both high schools can benefit from this exciting event.  We are looking forward to our opening day this Saturday, where we will also be offering refreshments and live music!

School Counseling/Workforce Development

The School Counselor Practicum and Internship Program is expanding! School Counselors who have been in the field for three or more years, have the option to request a School Counselor Master’s Level Student in Training. The student is interviewed for fit and if placed, will work with that School Counselor for either a semester or year. This will enable the School Counselor to train the student while gaining valuable support with their families and scholars. The district attendance team has introduced a K – 12 Attendance Support Tool for staff use with their families and scholars. This tool supports staff in having guided conversations around attendance and addresses any additional needs related to attendance and mental health. School Counselors receive a curated and detailed newsletter called The School Counseling Corner K - 8 and the Guidance Gazette 9 - 12 that works to build capacity and houses all their important information for easy reference. The bi-monthly newsletters also provide almost all live flyers for sharing with their families and scholars. School Counselors have been working with our scholars in Grades 5 – 8 and 9 – 11 on course selection. The next step in the process is families and scholars will review their course request choices in PowerSchool. Our districtwide First Book event planning is underway and promises to be an exciting event this year. The School Counselors will now be pivoting from the RISE Junior Survey to the Senior Survey, which will be released in April.

The Norwalk Public Schools' high school Career Pathways have been updated with new courses that will appear in the course catalog next year. The next update of this new information will occur once school closes in June in the Workforce Development Guide for Families and Scholars. The NPS Internship Program is still reviewing applications for scholars interested in pursuing an internship opportunity. The Virtual Academy Scholars and Faculty/Staff participated in a Workforce Development Virtual Workshop, which focused on post-secondary planning support in Apprenticeships, Trades and Training, Internships, and Job Opportunities. They were also taught how to use the NPS Workforce Development website for all current and future possibilities. For all NPS Workforce Development Opportunities and more, visit www.norwalkps.org/careertraining. Please be sure to bookmark the site and check back regularly for new and exciting opportunities! 

Specialized Learning

The Specialized Learning Department is recognizing Autism Acceptance Month during the month of April.  Members of the team participated in the Light it Up Blue event at the Norwalk Town Green on Tuesday night.  This year’s campaign theme is “From Autism Awareness to acceptance and inclusion.”  

We are also celebrating Paraeducator Week.  Paraeducators are vital in our schools.  They offer support to our students and teachers everyday in our schools.  They make sure our students get the services and support they need.  Thank you all so much!!!

SRBI

We have been visiting schools to look at intervention programs.  We are looking to support further training if necessary and create model environments to support.

Enterprise Software/Data

Student demographic data is now automatically synced to NWEA nightly, replacing the manual process that had been in place for years. Our team worked closely with all sync partners to ensure the successful implementation of this change.

We are also working toward developing a scalable model for e-book distribution. Several vendors have responded to inquiries regarding the perpetuity of e-books and options for class sets, particularly at the curriculum level. While this will take some time to fully develop, we are confident that a viable solution can be achieved.

We are actively researching and testing various AI platforms to generate insights into software application costs, usage patterns, and redundancy. Our ultimate goal is to provide Central Office and school leaders with visibility and oversight of the software and apps used at their locations, enabling them to make more informed decisions about these products.

As expected, our Help Desk, along with other team members, consistently manages support requests, including email inquiries from all staff, on a daily basis.

Infrastructure/Operations

In February, our team of technicians successfully completed more than 230 service tickets, ensuring the continued functionality and support of our systems.

As part of our ongoing efforts to strengthen security, we have introduced a new initiative that involves a weekly reset of passwords identified as insecure—those that are easily guessed or commonly used. To further support staff in maintaining strong cybersecurity practices, we are developing comprehensive documentation that will provide guidance on selecting secure passwords. Additionally, we are creating an intranet site designed to help staff generate strong, reliable passwords that align with security best practices.

Our E-rate requests are under review by USAC. We hope to begin purchasing equipment toward the end of the summer.

Digital Learning

• Virtual Academy – Three teachers are participating in our Portrait of a Graduate's internal assessment cohort, sharing student Digital Portfolios.
• Coaches – Before the February break, VILS C11 schools had their second school success visit with Digital Promise. All schools are progressing well in Year 1 of implementation, with a final success visit scheduled for March.
• NHS & Verizon Research – NHS is part of a Verizon Research project. Researchers will be at the school on March 11 to observe and interview staff and students.
• AI Learning Stations – Coaches are facilitating AI stations during P/AP meetings in April and May, with more to come!
• AI Workshops – Coaches are providing AI workshops tailored to Central Office staff. Registration is going well, and they are already preparing for a second round of professional development at the end of the year.

Budget

The Budget Team, in collaboration with the HR Department and school leaders, has successfully completed the in-depth School-Based Budgeting (SBB) meetings. These sessions involved a comprehensive review of school staffing rosters and overall budget allocations, conducted in partnership with cross-functional teams that included representatives from Finance, Grants, Leadership Development, School Leadership, Human Resources, Special Education, and Multilingual Learners (MLL) administrators.

As part of the SBB process, we faced difficult but necessary decisions around staffing and resource reductions for the 2025–26 school year due to budget allocations falling short of our initial funding requests.

The proposed changes and reductions have now been incorporated into the Munis budget projection system to evaluate alignment with our fiscal targets. Additionally, we’ve received updated health insurance rate projections indicating increases beyond our original assumptions. The State Partnership Plan is expected to rise by approximately 11%, and the Cigna plan by roughly 15%, compared to FY24–25 rates. Our initial planning had assumed a 10% increase across both plans.

With this updated information, the Human Resources team is now positioned to begin meetings with union representatives regarding the bumping and reduction-in-force (RIF) processes.

The Budget Team will continue refining budget details and supporting HR to ensure a smooth and transparent transition into the 2025–26 budget year.

Payroll

This week, the Payroll and Benefits team hosted their fourth Cigna webinar and began preparations for open enrollment scheduled for May. The benefits team is planning to meet next week to finalize enrollment dates and specifics. Meanwhile, efforts continue on the UKG implementation, with the team reviewing pay rules, accruals, and data in anticipation of the April 12 Go-Live date.

Grants

The Grants team reviewed and submitted grant-related timesheets for payroll processing. Additionally, they focused on reconciling school-based budget submissions and aligning all grant budgets with the updated insurance rates across multiple schools.

Purchasing/Accounts Payable

The team continues to monitor open purchase orders and review new requisitions to support a strong financial close to the year. Work is also underway with M&T Bank to establish a student activity fund for the Kendall College and Career Academies. In partnership with the City of Norwalk, the team is reviewing responses to the workers compensation RFP.

Capital

The Capital team collaborated closely with Project Managers to prepare for the upcoming April audits. They also supported progress payment reconciliation for various HVAC projects and processed multiple invoices related to ongoing capital work across the district.

Community Engagement

This week included a significant moment for school funding advocacy with a public comment hearing held by the Board of Estimate and Taxation (BET). We are deeply grateful to all the administrators, teachers, and parents who showed up in strong numbers to voice their support for fully funding our schools. Your presence and passion were essential in underscoring the importance of sustaining vital educational and community services

Human Resources Information System

Educator Evaluation Progress Reporting 

The team recently collaborated with Leadership Development to provide reporting on teacher evaluation progress. They also assist with monitoring the completion of evaluation goals for the various evaluation component deadlines.

HRIS Cross System Reconciliation for Compliance 

Preliminary work has begun on developing audit routines to identify and reconcile discrepancies between payroll, benefits, and HRIS datasets. The objective is to enhance cross-system data integrity in support of compliance monitoring, with future implementation expected to improve readiness for regulatory reporting and internal audits.

Human Resources Generalist

The team wrapped up the SBB meetings and is now focusing on coordinating summer school placements.