Board Update: Mar 7, 2025

Testing & Accountability 

The winter NWEA testing window closed on February 14. In math, across grades K-10, almost 41% of students were above the 60th percentile, compared to 35% in the fall.  62% of students who tested in both fall and winter met or exceeded their projected math growth. In reading, across grades 3 through 10, approximately 40% were above the 60th percentile, compared to 39% in the fall. 50.5% met or exceeded their projected fall to winter reading growth. 

Preparation is underway for the annual Panorama Survey. Students in grades 3 through 12, staff and families will take the survey between March 12th and March 28th. Student topics include social-emotional learning competencies and school environment. Staff topics include school climate, safety, and staff-leadership relationships. Families respond to questions about school climate, family support and school communication. A report on survey results will be available in late spring.  

Research & Analytics 

Since the last Board Update, we have updated data dashboards to include NWEA MAP winter data, began scheduling scientific research-based intervention meetings with school leadership teams. We also conducted analysis of gender gap in advanced math courses in middle and high schools for ad hoc inclusion committee (meeting recording). Collaborated with curriculum and IT departments to begin gathering data for middle school course articulation process. Collaborated with special education department to examine special education teacher caseloads and predict future staff needs.  

Schools are currently engaged in mid-year progress monitoring for their School Improvement goals. The team supported in providing calculations for goals related to rigorous instruction in both ELA and math and with Chronic Absenteeism, as well as through meeting with school leaders to reflect on progress thus far. Schools will be further developing their action plans for the remainder of the school year. 

Last week, the final Post-Secondary collaborative session was held in partnership with Connecticut RISE Network. During this session, which was held at Brien McMahon High School, school counselors, Assistant Principals, and instructional coaches from each of the four high schools gathered to review data related to the post-secondary plans of the Class of 2025 and 2026, reflect on the positive impacts made through change ideas they’ve implemented, and develop next steps for supporting all of our students in graduating with a solid, post-secondary plan. 

Student Information System  

The elementary lottery will close for applications on March 3, 2025, and the lottery drawing will be held on March 11, 2025.  Notifications of lottery acceptances are expected to be sent out by March 14, 2025. 

School leaders continued to deepen their understanding of effective literacy practices and how to embed the district’s core beliefs about literacy into classroom instruction. Our partner TNTP challenged our thinking around what it means to develop strong readers and writers.  Leaders then further explored the Hearts and Mind work with Paul Forbes to reflect on ways in which they can design systems and structures in their schools that ensure access for all students.

Instructional Coaches engaged in reflective practices during their monthly meeting as a way to study the impact of the work that is being done in their buildings during their cycles of improvement. Coaches collaborated on next steps and created an action plan for this month to be discussed and reviewed at the April Coaches’ meeting. 

Food Services 

Our Fresh fruit and Vegetable program will be serving up asparagus and mango this week 

Learning & Tasting: Mango. 

Click here to see Ms. Kelly’s video that teaches all about the health benefits of mangoes: 

Learning & Tasting: Mangoes 

March 11 to March 13 our schools will enjoy brussel sprouts and apples. 

Mood Boost Pop up visits begin this week, Wolfpit will enjoy smart tasting a fruit salad mix and Marvin will enjoy a roasted cinnamon pineapple treat.  

This month our Global Eats menu at our Secondary schools will be Korean inspired Bulgogi Chicken Taco. 

On March 13 Students at Norwalk High School will taste Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich and decide to Love it or Lose it! 

Friday March 14 is 3.14 Day! A PI Day special menu will be available at the schools. There will be meat lovers' pizza at the high schools and at the elementary schools Hawiian Pizza. 

On St. Patrick's Day, Monday, March 17 all levels can enjoy loaded potatoes at lunch. 

Jill Kress will be in Washington next week with the School Nutrition Association of CT to speak to our CT leaders about Free Meals for all Students in CT. The Position Paper being discussed also includes increasing the CEP Multiplier. 

Facilities 

Tracey Air Conditioning – On February 11, the Common Council approved this project by unanimous vote. The City’s Legal team will be generating a contract with authorization by the Mayor to execute an agreement with Olympus Construction, so this project can take place during the summer of 2025.  

Fox Run floor tile asbestos abatement – On February 27, the office of Connecticut Administrative Services completed their review of this project with positive results. A written approval letter is expected very soon so this project can be publicly bid as a summer 2025 project.   

Brookside and Tracey Underground Storage Tanks – On February 11, the Common Council approved these projects by unanimous vote. The City’s Legal team will be generating a contract with authorization by the Mayor to execute an agreement with B&W Landscaping and Paving, LLC, so this project can take place during the summer of 2025. 

School Safety 

Norwalk Public Schools has teamed up with the Norwalk Police Department to implement the “Handle with Care” initiative to provide context for educators and school staff if a child’s behavior in school is altered because of an incident and to be proactive in the provision of supports. If the NPD is aware that a child was exposed to a potentially traumatic event off school grounds, the NPD will notify school administrators that a child “handled with care’, thus initiating a flow chart of supports for the student. 

Handle with Care.pdf 

Transportation 

Durham School Services March Safety Meeting will include Driver Health and Wellness and Hours of Service. This training will assist drivers in understanding the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle and how it affects their compliance with DOT standards and hours of service (driving).  

Durham welcomed three new drivers to the team this month!  Welcome Rita (456), Ashlynne (437) and Sandra (418)!  Our current route coverage can be found here Route Coverage   These are routes that currently are covered by spare drivers.  Three more hires/candidates will test with DMV for their CDL/School bus endorsement.   

On February 27 Durham participated in shuttling the NPS Black History Event at Norwalk High, over 100 families were shuttled from Andrews Field, Nathan Hale MS and Naramake ES.  These services were provided to assist families who parked off site.   

Health Services 

The School Health Services team has applied to receive free EpiPens from the pharmaceutical manufacturer. The EPIPEN4SCHOOLS program helps improve access to epinephrine in the event a person experiences a life-threatening allergic emergency (anaphylaxis) in the school setting. Epipens are stocked in every school for emergency use. This free program is valued at approximately $30,000. 

Due to overwhelming interest, the Norwalk Community Health Center dental pilot program at Jefferson Marine Science Elementary School has been put on pause for the necessary, increased staffing to be put in place before the program can commence. 

School Based Health Centers 

During the month of February, The Human Services Council Dr. Robert E Appleby school-based health centers, located at Norwalk High School/P-TECH and West Rocks Middle School, provided 185 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 371 medical and behavioral health appointments to students at these schools. 

The Norwalk Community Health Center has received a highly competitive School-Based Health Association (SBHA) grant. This grant will enhance outreach, education, and awareness through their NPS School Based Health Centers. Two campaigns, an anti-bullying campaign as well as a nutrition and wellness program, will take place this Spring.  

Grants 

Over the last few weeks, our team has been extensively involved in developing the 2025-2026 grant budgets for every school to guarantee sustainability and alignment with our strategic goals. We have been engaged in understanding new government guidelines to evaluate how they might affect our present grant portfolio and guide future planning. As we get ready for our Middle-of-Year triennial Alliance and Priority School District monitoring meeting with the Connecticut State Department of Education, we are eager to show progress in how these funds strategically work towards gains in our accountability index and build capacity in our staff.  

 Humanities

We’ve received excellent feedback on the new Building Block Inquiries Social Studies teachers are developing. Recently, 7th-grade students engaged in lessons exploring water scarcity, access to clean water, and its connection to justice and government responsibility.

Key Compelling Questions & Student Learning Experiences

• Is the world running out of usable water?

Students analyzed drought-prone regions and global water consumption trends using maps. Through discussion and synthesis, they explored the causes and effects of water scarcity and proposed conservation solutions.

• Why should we care about unclean drinking water?

A Charity Water video and a Think-Feel-Care perspective-taking exercise helped students step into the lives of those affected by waterborne diseases, deepening their understanding of the human impact of the crisis.

• Why should we care about finding solutions to unclean drinking water in Africa?

Students analyzed waterborne diseases, researched global water scarcity, and developed interview questions for agencies addressing this issue.

• How does access to clean water reflect larger issues of justice and government responsibility?

A Jigsaw investigation of the Flint water crisis led students to examine causes, government responses, and activism. They then engaged in a Circle of Viewpoints discussion and wrote evidence-based op-eds on whether Flint’s crisis was a failure of policy, infrastructure, or environmental justice.

Literacy coaches engaged in reflective practices to refine the work they are doing in schools. They reflected on goals, specific strategies that lead to results, and what to adjust, adapt, or adopt moving forward.  

Mathematics/STEM 

The STEM department welcomed coaches this week to continue to reflect and refine the work being done in schools, specifically around reflection on goals, specific strategies that lead to results, and what to adjust, adapt, or adopt moving forward.  Additionally, new alignments were created for the rest of the Math unit plans to explicitly include lessons from the Smarter Balanced Tools for Teachers website, aligned to curriculum learning targets.  This work encompasses grades 3-8.  Middle school math teachers will be getting training on March 13th around SBAC preparation strategies and best practice, another presentation in the works from the STEM department.  We are also going to be providing professional learning for middle school science and physical education teachers.

• The IB Marine science students at Brien McMahon High School participated in coastal resilience and surface currents activities with the Maritime Aquarium.
   
• BMHS also hosted a Career day with Connecticut Maritime Association’s Education Foundation.  More than 25 professionals from a wide range of Maritime businesses and schools came to talk in small groups with our students. 
   
• A group of students in the Marine Science Pathway worked over the winter break on the “Source to Sound” Expedition report.  This is a partnership with the Norwalk River Watershed Association, Norwalk High School’s Digital Media and Communication Academy and our Marine Science Academy.  Norwalk High School's DMCA students came to the Marine Science Academy lab to interview students and talk about the source to sound water quality testing that was done in the fall.
   
• Jefferson Marine Science Elementary students were able to explore a life-size model of a whale at their school. NPS and Maritime Aquarium staff collaborated to invite students to explore a 37 foot inflatable model of a humpback whale. Additionally, students engaged in activities focused on the anatomy and physiology of whales. These activities included the study of echolocation, food webs, and ocean pollution.

 Multilingual Learners 

School Counseling

The District Attendance Committee convenes regularly to support our attendance programming and data in schools. School Counselors continue to meet with their scholars in service of their needs. Our School Counselors in Grades 8 – 12 continuously work on their Scholar Meeting Tracker to inform our scholars’ needs through data. Our College & Career Specialists are supporting scholars and families with FAFSA and AACTUS applications. “Norwalk Helps” has been created as a one-stop shop for mental health and wellness resources for all our stakeholders, including other communities, as it is a free and open website resource. The third RISE Post Secondary Collaborative Session was held at Brien McMahon High School. 

Workforce Development

The NPS Internship Application is still open for Grades 10 – 12 who have earned a 2.0+ GPA and are 16+ years old. School Counselors are assisting their 9^th grade scholars in selecting their Career Pathway during course selection which has begun in February. The Workforce Development website has been updated. 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! 

NPS Juniors and Seniors were offered the opportunity to apply for a CT Trade Class. The CT Trade Class will provide exposure to trades including audio/video, electrical, flooring, general contracting, home building, lumber yard/wholesale, mechanical and plumbing. This opportunity will enable our scholars to develop mentors in the field, gain exposure to networking opportunities, and learn valuable trade skills. Additionally, NPS Seniors were offered the opportunity to apply for a Patient Care Technician Training Program with Nuvane Health. This free class is designated for Senior scholars who are considering a Gap Year, looking for employment while in college locally or scholars who want to enter the workforce as a healthcare worker. This opportunity will enable scholars to learn essential patient care skills, gain hands-on experience at the hospital, and be connected with potential job opportunities upon graduation. 

Specialized Learning

The first meeting of the Special Education Parent Advisory Group met on Wednesday from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at the Family Center.  We are so excited to meet with members of the community to collaborate on enhancing programming for our students.  

Members of the Specialized Learning team attended the CONNCASE Conference in Mystic Connecticut on Thursday March 6, 2025 and Friday March 7, 2025. The team will get an update from special education attorney Deanna Arivett on legal matters regarding special education law and Keynote speaker Bob Hutchins on how to Leverage AI as a Tool for Success.  

SRBI

We have been engaged with schools to support and model support around foundational literacy. We hosted our improvement staff professional development on March 6. This PD focused on MOY data and tools for teachers. 

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.

Payroll

The Payroll Department has successfully conducted training sessions for school leadership and Central Office staff on the new UKG Ready system. To facilitate a smooth transition from NOVAtime to UKG, comprehensive training resources have been developed and distributed to all staff responsible for time management. The integration of UKG Ready with Tyler Technologies' Munis ERP is a significant advancement for our district. This seamless integration is designed to streamline processes by automating time and attendance tracking, reducing manual data entry, and ensuring accurate data flow between systems. As a result, we anticipate improved accuracy in payroll processing, enhanced compliance with labor regulations, and more effective workforce management.​

Budget

The Budget team is diligently working on several key tasks to ensure financial accuracy and strategic planning. They are processing demographic information concurrently in both live and budget systems, ensuring consistency across platforms. Additionally, the team is finalizing payments for staff members departing the district and administering necessary retroactive pay adjustments. In preparation for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, preliminary School-Based Budget (SBB) meetings are being conducted with schools to foster collaboration and alignment. The team is also updating General Ledger summaries for various departments and schools, engaging in discussions regarding year-end spending for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. To maintain financial integrity, they are managing the processing of special education invoices, budget transfers, and journal entries.​

Grants

The Chief Financial Officer continues to monitor shifts in state and federal grants to ensure the district stays ahead of these changes and their potential impact on NPS.

The Grants team has been actively engaged in preparing for the upcoming Superintendent's Grant report to ensure comprehensive and accurate reporting. They have addressed and resolved minor invoice issues to maintain smooth financial operations. Collaborations with various principals are ongoing to tackle school-based budgeting concerns, ensuring that financial planning aligns with educational objectives.​

Purchasing & Accounts Payable

The Purchasing and Accounts Payable team has undertaken several initiatives to enhance financial efficiency. They are analyzing open Purchase Order reports and encumbrances across all departments to ensure that committed funds align with the budget for the remainder of the year. A meeting with Amazon representatives was held to review the Norwalk Public Schools Amazon Business account, aiming to optimize features, reduce costs, and enhance overall purchasing efficiency. As a result, additional discount categories have been added, and efforts are underway to clean up outdated data and user groups.​

Capital

The Capital team has been focusing on organizing and preparing for the upcoming April audit of Jefferson and Ponus schools, collaborating with the Construction Capital team to ensure compliance and readiness. They have processed several substantial capital orders and completed multiple change orders for the Norwalk High School new construction project, keeping the project on track and within budget.