Weekly Message from the Superintendent

Dear SPS Community: 

This week, I concluded my beginning of the year school tours with visits to AITE, Rippowam Middle School, and APPLES PreK. Similar to my school tours last week, I was pleased to see how smoothly things are going in each of these schools just days into the new school year. 

I also had the opportunity to spend time with some of our community partners this week. On Monday night, I joined Mayor Simmons, BOE President Andy George, and members of our City Boards at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new ROSCCO office. ROSCCO operates before- and after-school programs in 15 Stamford Public Schools, and they have been a trusted partner of the district for many years. Congratulations to everyone at ROSCCO on the opening of their new office. 

On Tuesday, I toured the new Astronomy Center & Planetarium at the Stamford Museum and Nature Center. SM&NC welcomes thousands of SPS students each year for educational field trips, as well as supporting families with after-school, summer, and vacation programs. If you have not visited the SM&NC in a while, I urge you to take advantage of the many high-quality environmental and astronomy programs available for children. 

Now that everyone has had a couple of weeks to get into their routines and acclimate to the new school year, I want to talk about an important aspect of how we will Build Together as a school community. Specifically, I would like to address how parent questions and concerns should be managed. 

Effective leadership requires a system in which responsibilities are clear and concerns are addressed at the level closest to the issue whenever possible. I believe strongly that the people responsible for leading our schools must be afforded the opportunity to resolve issues in their buildings. Therefore, when questions and concerns arise, I am asking families to follow the chain of command to allow school employees the opportunity to respond. This is often the fastest and most efficient way to address parent questions and concerns. Following a chain of command also creates greater consistency and accountability across our 23 schools and programs.

The chain of command is shared at the end of this email in both English and Spanish. This information is also in the SPS Family Guide and available to view in ParentSquare. Thank you in advance for following the chain of command for questions and concerns. 

As a reminder, there is no school on Monday in observance of Labor Day. I hope you and your loved ones enjoy the long weekend. I am looking forward to visiting my almost 92 year old mother and doing the list of chores she wants me to complete this weekend. I will also share with her how welcoming the Stamford Community has been during my first two months as Superintendent.  

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

The Rowan Center Introduces KidSafeHQ to Protect Children When Online

The Rowan Center, a Stamford-based nonprofit focused on trauma prevention and crisis response, has introduced KidSafeHQ, a first-of-its-kind digital resource hub that provides clear, age-based guidance to help families navigate the complex social, emotional, and digital world that today’s kids are growing up in. KidSafeHQ offers clear, practical, trauma-informed tools to help protect children from online and offline exploitation, including sextortion, grooming, and exposure to violent sexual content. Through KidSafeHQ, families can explore age-specific tools and resources to help protect children in today’s digital and real-world environments. 

Parent-Teacher Council Meeting is Thursday, September 10

The first Parent-Teacher Council meeting of the year is Thursday, September 10 at 7 pm.  This meeting will be hybrid; parents can attend in person at the Government Center (BOE Boardroom / 5th Floor) or via Zoom. 

Superintendent Talley will attend the meeting to share information about what is happening in Stamford Public Schools. This is a wonderful opportunity to meet Dr. Talley and to learn more about how PT Council supports the school PTOs. 

Join Superintendent Talley for Cafe con el Super, the monthly Spanish-language parent meeting. This month’s meeting is Monday, September 14 at 6:30 pm at the SPS Welcome Center.  Topics will include what families need to know for 2026-27 school year, supporting your child’s academic success, how to make the most of your ParentSquare account, and more. 

Superintendent Talley and members of the SPS Special Education Team will be at the SPS Welcome Center on Wednesday, September 16  at 6:30 pm for the first SCOPES meeting of the school year.  

SCOPES is a support group for parents of students with disabilities. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet Dr. Talley and hear from the Special Education Team about what’s new for the 2026-27 school year.