State Of The Guilford Schools, 2013

Here is the introduction from Paul Freeman, Guilford Superintendent of Schools, from the State of the Schools, 2013 report. Here is a link to the full report. Here is a link to a video done by students about the report. 

It is a pleasure to present the sixth annual State of the Schools Report to the Guilford Community. This report will provide data and information with regard to the progress we are making as a school district in educating the young people of Guilford in an evolving educational landscape

Changing educational expectations, new mandates for school districts, local initiatives, unanticipated weather events, and the tragedy at the Sandy Hook Elementary School presented school districts across Connecticut with challenges that have tested their systems, their communities and their capacities.The Guilford Community and the Guilford Public Schools rallied around our children this year and responded to all these changing expectations and unsettling events thoughtfully, collaboratively and with a continued commitment to excellence.Our focus on learning and on rigorous instruction in every classroom continued and deepened this year.

Beginning with a convocation address by internationally recognized educational philosopher and thinker Sugata Mitra, and continuing through a year focused on the implementation of the Common Core State Standards, we have challenged our teachers to focus on deep understandings and to shift their instruction in ways that allows students more time on truly challenging and worthy tasks, developing persistence as they struggle with difficult concepts. We have repeated often this year that “task predicts performance,” and we have worked to improve our design of instructional tasks and our structures around learning in the classrooms to maximize rigor and to meet the learning needs of every student.

I continue to believe that the Common Core State Standards is one of the most exciting and most positive advents in public education, and we are proud of our work in Guilford as we leverage the Common Core to advance student learning.

Working with the State and with neighboring districts, we have restructured our teacher and principal evaluation procedures to meet the new mandated expectations and to continue our focus on continuous improvement and on truly excellent instruction that expects students to be active and engaged learners. We are proudof the evaluation process that we developed locally this year with a committee of teachers, administrators and Board of Education members, and we are prepared for much work ahead as we train all our staff and roll out the procedures related to this new system.

Following the events in Newtown on December 14, we have also entered into a conversation with our parents and with our community about safety and security around and within our schools. I want to express our sincere appreciation to our Town leaders and to our Guilford Police Department for their immediate response to this tragedy and for their continued partnership as we have reviewed all of our safety and security protocols, implemented initial changes and plan for additional measures. I also want to thank our extended community members for the good questions, suggestions and expressions of concern that came forward. I take great pride in the schools of this community, and I am humbled by the caring and compassion and commitment that this community affords to those schools and to the children who populate them every day.

I am thankful to Guilford for the support that our schools receive. I am continually impressed by the achievements and the successes that our students realize. And I hope that you find this report to be helpful to you in better understanding all that we do.