4 city schools rank among best in CT

SHELTON — Four of Shelton’s public schools have earned high marks from the state of Connecticut.

Sunnyside School, Booth Hill School, Mohegan School and Long Hill School were each tabbed as Schools of Distinction in the state’s most recent Next General Accountability System. The Board of Education honored the schools during its meeting Wednesday.

The grading — which showcases the 2021-22 school year — had not been done since 2018-19, the year before the pandemic forced school districts into hybrid or full remote learning.

“I think coming out of the pandemic, it was a great surprise and honor to earn this recognition,” said Booth Hill Principal Dina Marks.

Connecticut schools are named Schools of Distinction when their performance and/or growth, as measured by the Connecticut Next Generation Accountability System, places them within the top 10 percent of all schools across the state, according to a news release.

Overall, the state number slipped coming out of the pandemic, which forced students to hybrid or full remote learning for months at a time.

Looking at a dozen indicators — everything from academic growth to chronic absenteeism to access to the arts — the system gives the state’s public schools a combined grade of 69.7 out of 100 for the 2021-22 school year, compared with 74.2 percent for the last school year recorded, 2018-19.

Sunnyside School finished with a score of 90.9, a jump from 82.1 last year, while Long Hill School finished at 81.9, a drop from last year’s 85.5 but still enough to grab another School of Distinction honor.

“It really is something that the entire school community works together to achieve,” Marks said, “The teachers and staff are involved in keeping the students motivated and learning. The kids are working hard and striving to learn new things, and the families are making sure that the students are continuing the learning at home and getting the students to school when they are healthy enough to attend.”

Marks praised her teachers, saying that, coming out of the pandemic, they implemented a rigorous curriculum and extended the students’ learning with technology, when possible.

“The value of great staff and access to technology cannot be understated,” Marks said.

Long Hill Principal Andrea D’Aiuto praised staff, students and parents for her school’s success.

“It was truly a collaborative effort,” she said. “I am beyond proud of our students and our staff for achieving this recognition.

“It is through the hard work and dedication of our staff that accomplishments like this happen,” she added. “Academic and socialemotional success continues to be at the forefront of all we do.”

Principals cited Wit and Wisdom and Eureka Math programs, which they said provided for a new, challenging curriculum.

“The growth we saw in the students was amazing,” Marks said.

For example, she said, teachers commented on the difference between typical writing ability before Wit and Wisdom and present levels.

“The students seemed to be writing at a higher level earlier in the year, which extended through the end of the year to challenge the students,” Marks said.

In Shelton schools, online components reinforce math and language arts concepts that are being taught in direct instruction, and they were used with great success both in school and at home last year, Marks said.

“Coming out of the pandemic, I refocused the school system back on instruction by meeting with school leadership to pinpoint the categories that the state requires for instruction, attendance, and educational access,” Superintendent Ken Saranich said.

Saranich noted the four schools of distinction and the high school becoming fully NEASC accredited.

“This accomplishment is due to the collaborative hard work and dedication of the entire Shelton team,” Saranich added.

The Next Generation Accountability System is the system that the Connecticut State Department of Education uses to measure overall district and individual school growth. According to the state, the system “has 12 indicators that schools are assessed on; these 12 indicators aid in telling the story of how well a school is preparing its students for success in college, careers, and life. This accountability system moves beyond test scores and graduation rates to provide a more holistic, multifactor perspective of district and school performance and student growth over time.”