Daily Five: Capitol Back-to-School Conference, Teacher Welcome Back, and Excellent Schools

1. Today should be a lovely August day. The forecast calls for a mix of sunshine and clouds, with a high of about 82 accompanied by summer breezes.

2. This is the third day of Montville Patch’s education story-a-day countdown to the first day of school.  Today we introduced you to a 10-year-old student that made an impression on the Montville Public Schools Board of Education.  Whether or not the BOE was planning on working to get kids bused to area magnet schools, the remarks from a child, standing alone, making his case, made an impression. 

3. Montville Schools Superintendent Pamela Aubin is joining superintendents from around the state at the annual Department of Education’s Back-to-School Conference hosted by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy today at the Capitol. Aubin said she expects a lot of ground will be covered and she’s “anxious to hear” information about initiatives and will share what she learns with school principals and the BOE.

4.  At Tuesday’s BOE meeting there was a presentation on the new state accountability system. Montville Patch will be doing a more in depth story soon, but suffice to say that the No Child Left Behind waiver approval in May has opened the door for a new system that rewards improvement over sanctions while still setting he bar high. Aubin said the new system is at once “high stakes” but “something we can work with. “

5. Today is also the district’s Teacher Professional Development Day, all day and Thursday is the Teacher Welcome Back Convocation.  Teachers are gearing up! And Aubin said she visited all the schools and everything “is in excellent shape; the buildings look great and the grounds look wonderful.”