Weekly Message from the Superintendent

Superintendent's Weekly Message - September 22, 2023

Dear Staff and Families,

It is hard to believe that we have finished our fourth week of school. At our principals’ meeting last week, several of the principals shared that the school year is off to a great start. The goal of the first weeks of school is developing rituals and routines. It is also an opportunity to lay the foundation so that all students feel that they belong in their school community.

An excellent question to ask each of your children is who their trusted adult is at school, their “go-to person” when they need support or guidance throughout the year. Please reach out to your building principal if you need help.

Happy IT Professionals Day

Tuesday’s IT Professional Day was celebrated across the country. We want to thank our City IT department and as well as the technology teachers and administrators across our district. The work that you do to support instruction, devices and infrastructure is impressive and appreciated.

Café con la Super

Thank you to all of the families that joined me for the Café con la Super. During the meeting our mental health community partners and SPS experts in that field spoke. Teams shared the resources available in the community for those struggling with mental health issues.

Next month Mayor Simmons, her team, and community partners will join us to discuss housing issues in Stamford. Other topics that will be explored in future meetings are food service, program of studies, and special education, as well as working with principals to discuss topics that are school specific.

Open House

We had a great turnout at our middle and high school open house nights. We really appreciate families for taking time out of their busy schedules to join our teachers and staff.

The elementary school open houses are scheduled for Thursday, September 28. A quick reminder that there is no school on Monday, September 25 and an early release is scheduled for Wednesday, September 27.

Constitution Day and Citizenship Day

Sunday, September 17 was Constitution and Citizenship Day which commemorates the September 17, 1787 signing of the U.S. Constitution and an observance that began in 1940 as “I Am an American Day.” The following are some family resources:

Student Voice

Next Tuesday, September 26, the Office of Family and Community Engagement will host a Student Voice session. We will take the time to get feedback on policies and regulations that have been, or are currently being, updated including open campus, replacement of books and technology, attendance, loss of credit, and cell phones. Please encourage students to join us.

Policy Update

Please mark your calendar for the Tuesday, October 10 Policy Committee Meeting where we will discuss the 6000 series policies that our Board of Education Ad-Hoc committee has been working on.

Please note that all of our policies are now translatable on our website for our multilingual families.

COVID -19 Guidance 23-24 School Year

Please note the following information from Stamford Department of Health – CDC currently recommends: Staff and students should stay home when they are sick. Staff and students exposed to COVID-19 that are not experiencing symptoms may attend school following CDC recommendations for exposure to COVID-19.

If you tested positive for COVID-19, stay home for 5 days. You may return on days 6-10 with a mask if: