Weekly Message from the Superintendent

Dear SPS Community: 

The school year is in full swing, with plenty happening across our district. On Monday night, I was delighted to attend my first Café con el Super, which is our monthly meeting for Spanish speakers. More than one-third of our families report speaking Spanish at home. Providing opportunities for families to access information about their children’s education in their primary language is an important part of our family engagement efforts.

On Wednesday night, I returned to the Welcome Center for the first SCOPES meeting of the school year. During this meeting, we provided an overview of the SPS Special Education Program, including the continuum of services available to students in grades K-12 and the process for evaluating a child for an Individualized Education Program (IEP).

Navigating the special education system can be complicated for families. Through our partnership with Stamford Cradle to Career and the Stamford PT Council, SCOPES provides additional information, resources, and support to families of students with disabilities, who comprise 18 percent of our student body.

I also would like to thank the hundreds of teachers who worked late on Tuesday and Thursday night to welcome families into their classrooms for Middle School and High School Open School Nights. These evenings give families an important opportunity to meet their children’s teachers, learn more about what is happening in the classroom, and strengthen the connections between home and school. I appreciate our school leaders and teachers for making Open School Nights possible. 

Magnet School Lottery

The 2027-28 Magnet School Lottery is now open. Stamford’s magnet school program exists to help balance enrollment in accordance with the Board of Education’s integration standard. 

BOE policy states “no elementary, middle or high school should have a variance in the percent of disadvantaged/advantaged students that is greater than 10 percentage points from the district-wide average at that level.” The magnet school lottery supports balance across our schools. 

The primary entry points are Kindergarten, Grade 6, and Grade 9, and the number of seats available through the lottery each year is based on projected enrollment. Seats in other grades may be available on a very limited basis. The district utilizes a controlled lottery to help achieve the BOE integration standard. 

If you or someone you know is considering applying to a magnet school, please join us for a Magnet School Information session on Monday, September 28 at either 9 am or 7 pm via Zoom. 

Each session will provide an overview of the magnet school program, the controlled lottery process, admission priorities, and what families should know before applying.  

Hispanic Heritage Month began on Tuesday, September 15 and is an opportunity to celebrate the history, cultures, and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans. During the next few weeks, many of our schools will provide opportunities for students to learn about the contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans to our nation and to Stamford. 

Outside of school, there are many Hispanic Heritage Month events happening throughout our city and the state, including a Rhythm & Rumba Salsa Night sponsored by the Mayor’s Multicultural Council and the Mill River Park Collaborative, and the Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration on September 27 at the Ferguson Library.

Finally, please remember that there is no school on Monday in observance of Yom Kippur. School will resume on Tuesday, September 22. 

Thank you for reading, and thank you for being an important part of the Stamford Public Schools community. 

Sincerely, 

Adrian B. Talley, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools