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08/22/2018 08:45 AMAs August’s hot humid days come to a close, for Westbrook students, it’s time to go back to school. The first day of school for students this year is on Wednesday, Aug. 29.
Key Westbrook Schools Dates
Wednesday, Aug. 29: First Day of School for Students
Tuesday, Sept. 10: Middle School Photo
Thursday, Sept. 13, 6:30 p.m.: High School Open House
Thursday, Sept. 20, 6 p.m.: Middle School Open House
Staff and Enrollment Shifts
For the second year, Westbrook Schools will share both the costs and labor hours of two staff members with Old Saybrook schools: A behavioral analyst position assisting with special education students and a bi-lingual English Language learners (ELL) teacher to assist with teaching students for whom English is not their native language.
New staff are also joining the district, replacing staff who retired or left the district at the end of last year.
At Westbrook High School, Carrie Ryall joins the staff as a science teacher; she will be teaching biology and Advanced Placement biology. Amy Fortin will be the new high school science teacher. She previously taught Spanish at Jonathan Law High School in Milford.
At Westbrook Middle School, several new teachers will join the staff. Kayla Bartholmeo, a certified special education teacher, will be assigned to assist to the 6th grade this year. Also joining the staff as a part-time special education teacher will be Daniel Jennings.
Lynne Floyd will be teaching middle school chorus and general music at Daisy Ingraham Elementary School. Jodi Ouellette will fill an open middle school science position. She has been teaching middle school science during this past year at the school in the role of long-term substitute, filling in for someone out on medical leave. Well-known to high school students, Ouellette was for many years the high school’s athletic trainer. Under the state’s Alternate Route to Certification program, she went back to school to shift into a role teaching science to middle school students.
At Daisy Ingraham Elementary School, Elizabeth Haynes will be the new math teacher, filling the slot left open when Lesley Harrington retired. She recently served as the K-5 math coach in a New Haven Public Schools STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) academy.
Like many school districts in Connecticut, Westbrook’s student enrollment has been declining over the past decade and that trend appears to be continuing. While the graduating class of Westbrook High School in June 2018 was 88 students, the incoming 9th grade class is 60 students. But another enrollment trend is a steady—and possibly growing—number of students for whom English is not their first language. In June 2018, Westbrook Schools had 71 English Language Learners, also known as EL students, enrolled.
Programming Changes
Starting this year, Westbrook Middle School will be one of the first middle schools in the state to offer the subject of computer science—coding, applications, hardware, and software—to all students. To assist with this initiative, each middle school student will get his or her own Chromebook for use in the school and will be able to bring it home, too. The teacher, Dana Runkel, attended a week-long course this summer on teaching the subject to students.
At Daisy Ingraham Elementary School, the teaching approach of the Writers/Reader’s Workshop will be extended to math and science this year. The approach focuses on hands-on activities and in-class practice of skills taught and introduced.
This summer was the start of a new district initiative to help high school students keep active and fit during the lazy summer months. The school district for four weeks from mid-July through mid-August organized a strength and conditioning program for Westbrook High School students. It was supervised by the school district’s athletic trainer and held at the high school. Forty-one students participated.
Facilities and Operations
Removal of underground storage tanks (USTs) at Daisy Ingraham Elementary and Westbrook High School were key tasks completed in the last week of June 2018. A 20,000 gallon UST was removed at Daisy and a 10,000 gallon tank at the high school. The holes where these tanks were buried have since been filled in and the surface replanted with grass.
As happens every summer, another task was the replacement of worn carpeting and deep cleaning of the spaces that students and staff use.
“It has been a tough summer for heavy duty cleaning of the buildings due to the persistent heat and humidity. We have industrial fans going all the time,” said Superintendent of Schools Pat Ciccone.
This year is the first year of a new bus contract for the district. Instead of First Student, the school district now is using M & J Bus Company. The school bus routes are posted online at the Westbrook Public Schools website at www.westbrookctschools.org.
School Meals
The Board of Education left the price for breakfasts unchanged this year: At Daisy, it is $1.25, at the middle school, $1.50, and at the high school, $1.55. Lunch prices were raised for this year: Lunch at Daisy will be $2.75, at the middle school, $3.00 and at the high school, $3.25. Menus are posted on the school district website.