January 2012

Dear Members of the Litchfield Community,

As we enter 2012, public school districts in Connecticut are on the threshold of a truly exciting and challenging time. The concept of educational reform in Connecticut’s public schools has now reached the agendas and action plans of the Governor’s office, the State Board of Education, the State Department of Education and the legislature. In December, Governor Malloy directed Commissioner Pryor to develop legislative proposals based on principles including expanded early childhood education opportunities, support for underperforming districts, reduction in regulations that inhibit innovative initiatives in high performing districts, expanded school choice for parents, and development of teacher and principal evaluation systems that “value skill and effectiveness over tenure and seniority” (Malloy, 12/20/11). The Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents (CAPSS) and the Connecticut Education Association (CEA) have each published proposals for restructuring significant areas of our professional practice.

Two of the key recommendations in the CAPSS proposal include “allowing students to advance through school and graduate based on their demonstration of essential knowledge, skills and dispositions—not in the amount of time that they have spent in classrooms” and “redefining the use of time (counting mastery of concepts rather than Carnegie units/calendar) in order to support a personalized learning environment; make achievement the constant and time the variable; allowing students to learn anytime and anywhere”.  The CAPSS position paper can be accessed at www.ctnexted.org.

I had a significant opportunity to participate in recent conversations with the Commissioner and a representative of the State Department of Education regarding the Governor’s proposal to reduce regulations for successful districts, such as Litchfield. We specifically discussed the idea of personalized learning as described by CAPSS. Small districts with declining enrollment such as ours would benefit greatly by having the flexibility to structure educational programs to meet the needs of every student, utilizing options such as internships and virtual learning. The initial step that we are taking in district to move toward a personalized learning environment is rolling out our Bring Your Own Technology plan. We have started the work to expand wireless capability throughout the district, beginning at LHS, and to review our content filtering protocols. This initiative will be supported in my 2012-2013 budget proposal. In addition, I will be seeking job shadowing and internship opportunities for our students as I meet with community groups during the upcoming months.

Teacher and principal evaluation and professional development are also on the district’s action plan. During the next several weeks a committee of teachers and administrators will be established to develop new evaluation plans for recommendation to the Board of Education. Litchfield has formed a consortium with five surrounding districts to provide professional development for these teachers and administrators regarding current research and practice in valid and reliable evaluation. Both CAPSS and CEA present viable recommendations for improving our system of evaluation and addressing the issues of tenure and seniority. These recommendations, along with the work of the CT Performance Evaluation Advisory Council (PEAC) will form the framework for our new system. The CAPSS position paper can be accessed at www.ctnexted.org. The CEA position paper can be accessed at www.cea.org.

Several other items of interest:

   ·Litchfield High School students will begin the course selection process for next year on January 26. Parents 
     should anticipate contact from their child’s school counselor to begin the process.

    ·Kindergarten registration for September 2012 will begin at the end of January. Specific information will be
      published by Center School within the next few weeks.

    ·The Litchfield intermediate School/Center School PTO has rescheduled the 2^nd annual Parents’ Night Out for
      February 3.

    ·The Board of Education and I encourage community groups to schedule informal sessions with us to review and
      discuss the 2012-2013 draft school district budget. If your organization or neighborhood group convenes with 8

         or more participants, Board members and I will be happy to attend, share information and garner your
      feedback. Please contact my office at 860 567-7500 to schedule a budget information session.

I would like to remind families that the Winter Weather Advisory Letter is available on the district website at www.litchfieldschools.org, under Superintendent’s Corner. This letter presents our process for notification of weather related school cancellations, late openings and early dismissals. Please note that due to recent variances in our district calendars, Litchfield and Region 6 school districts no longer make unified decisions regarding school sessions. When listening to school announcements, be sure to follow only the information presented for the Litchfield Public Schools.

Please consider signing up for our free CONSTANT CONTACT service. We provide daily emailed updates from the schools, and our athletics department as needed, to keep students, parents and the community aware of school-related information as it becomes available. In addition, information about school cancellations is emailed directly to all subscribers, and is generally the first site to publicize such information. CONSTANT CONTACT SIGN UP information is available on the district website at www.litchfieldschools.org

I sincerely welcome interest in our school community and cordially invite you to explore the educational opportunities offered by the Litchfield Public Schools. Additional information and data pertaining to the Litchfield Public Schools are available on the Connecticut State Department of Education website at www.csde.state.ct.us.  In addition, I recommend that you bookmark our district website at www.litchfieldschools.org for up to date information about our schools and programs, including our district activities and athletic department calendars.

I can be reached at wheelerd@litchfieldschools.org . Thank you again for your ongoing support of the students and staff of the Litchfield Public Schools.

Sincerely,

Deborah S. Wheeler, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools