Marvin's Michelle Suda Honored as NPS nominee for CT Teacher of the Year Award

Norwalk Public Schools is happy to announce Michelle Suda as the district’s nominee for the 2027 Connecticut Teacher of the Year. Suda is a fifth grade teacher at Marvin Elementary School.

Suda has served the Norwalk Public Schools community for over 30 years, both as a teacher and a coach. She drew on that wealth of experience to address her colleagues across the district on Monday, Aug. 24 to deliver an inspiring speech at the annual Convocation ceremony.

“I've always believed that the foundation of student education starts with two things: building meaningful relationships and fostering a sense of belonging,” Suda began her remarks. She also spoke about a classroom mantra called “The G.O.A.T.” which she uses to encourage her students’ to become the greatest version of themselves and help others to do so as well.

“I hope every student leaves the classroom knowing: you matter, your voice matters, you belong here,” she said.

Suda has spent her entire teaching career at Marvin Elementary, first as a second grade teacher then as a third grade teacher before moving up to fifth grade at the request of her principal, Sue-Ellen O’Shea. 

“She has the ability to make connections with students, and that’s just what our fifth-grade students needed,” O’Shea said in a video tribute to Suda that premiered during Convocation. “And she knows exactly what she wants to get out of them. She knows what their abilities are and where she wants them to go.”

The 2027 Connecticut Teacher of the Year Ceremony will take place on Dec. 2, 2026 at the Bushnell Center for Performing Arts in Hartford, CT. All district teachers of the year are honored at the ceremony.