Danbury Public Schools:
Superintendent of Schools

Dear Families, Students and Community Members:

Welcome to the 2009-2010 School Year. We invite you to be an active participant in pursuing our ultimate goal, “to develop in all children the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values which will enable them to live a productive and self-fulfilling life and engage in responsible citizenship in an ever-changing global society.” As Danbury’s educators’ work to meet the educational needs of each student we need your help. We invite you to join our educational family by developing a deep and ongoing partnership with your child’s teacher.

After the community conversation on parental involvement a Parent Engagement Action Plan was designed by a joint committee of Board of Education Members, Community Members, School Principals and Central Administration which rolled out the following six areas that will be worked on during the coming year.

• Create a welcoming environment for all parents/families.
• Connect parents/families with community agencies and organizations to help schools and parents reach mutual goals.
• Unify the role of Parent Teacher Organization, and their function, for consistency across the district. • Clarify district school board policy regarding parent participation at the school level.
• Clearly communicate the district curriculum and learning expectations.
• Help all families establish home environments to support children as students.

Five early dismissal professional development days have been added to the school calendar. These days will be building based with a focus on looking at data, data teams, and school improvement initiatives. Those dates are: September 29, October 27, January 26, March 30, and April 27.

The new Ellsworth Avenue Elementary School, which replaces Roberts Avenue School, will be open on the first day of school. The school will have increased technology in each of the classrooms including interactive white boards, ceiling mounted projectors and increased mobile lap tops.

The purpose of The Danbury Enhancement Collaborative (TDEC) is to study and improve all aspects of curriculum development, instructional planning and delivery, formative and summative assessment, professional development, monitoring of teacher and administrator performance, and to establish a rigorous protocol for district-wide and school-based alignment and accountability through the development, implementation, and monitoring of a comprehensive improvement plan and related implementation process. My leadership and work with our educational community will be aligned with the following two goals:

• All students will demonstrate academic success.
• Increase the engagement levels of all students.

Please join me and our staff to ensure that every student works to his/her full academic potential. Parent involvement and support is the key to student success. We hope you will take an active part in your child’s education.

Best wishes for a successful school year.

Dr. Sal Pascarella, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools