Get ready, parents! Kids head back to Guilford classrooms on Thursday, Aug. 30, just two weeks away.

Superintendent of Schools Paul Freeman is exited to kick off his first full year as the district-wide leader.

"I'm thoroughly excited for my first September here in Guilford," said Freeman. "This is my first opening, so being able to welcome all the staff and students back is something that I'm really looking forward to."

Tallying up the retirements at the end of the 2011-'12 school year, Freeman said the teachers who retired had more than 500 years of combined service. Students can expect a number of new teachers and staff members replacing those spots.

"We have at least one or two teachers joining us in every school and we've got nine new staff members that will be joining us at the high school this year, so we're very excited to be bringing in a group of talented and excited teachers," he said.

There are also a few new administrative positions that were filled. Jill Hale is the new principal at Guilford Lakes Elementary School, Lloyd Johnson is the interim special education director, and Janet Calabro is the new food service director.

Freeman said the biggest change that the schools will be focusing on going into the new school year is the implementation of the Common Core State Standards. These standards have been adopted by 46 states, including Connecticut, as well as the District of Columbia.

According to the Guilford Public Schools website, "the standards are based on the principle that academic standards in literacy and mathematics should be consistent in every state, relevant to the real world, and reflect the knowledge and skills needed by students to be prepared for college and careers in our global economy."

The implementation will work with the schools' principles of learning and help clarify what the expectations are for students at each grade level. Professional development for faculty has already begun to make sure staff members have the tools needed to align these standards to the curriculum.

Freeman said that the schools have been working intensely on this new shift for the past year.

"What's particularly exciting about the Common Core State Standards is there's a real focus on doing fewer things, but going more in depth on the things that we spend time on," he said. "We're going to be working very closely with our principals and teachers, looking at the grade-level standards and aligning our work to make sure we are really going in, giving our students the time that they need to really explore these topics and to make sure that we implement the standards in a way that makes sense and continues to position us to do as well as we've done here in Guilford."

The superintendent hopes to continue leading a school system that was ranked among the top 11 performing schools in Connecticut by ConnCAN last year, according to his state of the schools address earlier this year.

"We're a very successful school system and we want to make sure that we continue supporting the kids and providing the services that the community has come to expect from us," Freeman said.