It’s not a secret that the Groton school system is in the midst of transition. In just the past year, there have been construction projects underway and the addition of new staff members, making the new school year fairly busy.
John Jones of Niantic recently was appointed as the principal of West Side Middle School. With a Bachelor of Science in music education from Central Connecticut State University, a master’s in education and curriculum from the University of Connecticut, and a sixth year degree in education administration from Sacred Heart University, Jones began work at the middle school in July and is thrilled to return to the Groton education system.
Aside from serving as assistant principal at Stonington High School for six years and assistant principal at Pawcatuck Middle School for three years, Jones also taught at Fitch High School for 15 years.
“If I had my option to choose where I wanted to go, Groton would have been at the top of my list so I was very fortunate that they selected me to come here,” Jones said.
He’ll begin as an observer to learn how West Side operates.
“It’s easy to see how things say they run on paper, but once the kids get in the schools, then you see how things are actually moving and actually working,” he explained. “That’s when you look and make decisions…My decisions will be based entirely on collaborating with the staff. The staff are the professionals in the building in their specific areas of education.
“As far as our education plan, our focus will still be on our district assessments and the CMTs [Connecticut Mastery Tests]. Those are the tools that we use in order to see where there are weaknesses and strengths in the students,” Jones added.
On the second day of school, the PTO hosted an ice-cream social for students to congratulate them for passing their Annual Yearly Progress test.
“Last year they took the test and scores came up to the point that the state recognized them as making AYP,” Jones explained, adding that the test’s standards are set by the state and continue to rise every year. “It’s an award for having done a good job in improving their scores on the test,” he continued, referring to the ice-cream social. “We thought it was a good time to not only combine rewarding the school for doing so well but also welcoming them back…The administration and the staff worked very hard to improve their scores and they achieved that.”
Interim Superintendent of Schools Dr. James E. Mitchell said in a recent release that Jones’ most impressive qualities were his professional leadership skills, dedication to students and learning, and his proven positive impact on school communities.
During the Board of Education’s search for a new superintendent, Mitchell has agreed to serve as interim superintendent.
“The board [of education] is working on the search process now and as soon as they finalize it, they’ll let me know and we’ll be looking at when the new superintendent will be beginning,” Mitchell said.
After 35 years of service in the Groton public school system, it was near the end of this past school year that Mitchell surprised many when he announced his retirement effective July 1. Groton Board of Education Chairperson Beverly Washington announced on the school’s Web site that the board “retained services of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education Search Services (CABE), a search firm which specializes in assisting boards seeking new superintendents.”
The Board of Education’s next meeting will be held on Sept. 8 at 7 p.m. in the Groton Town Hall Annex located on Groton Long Point Road.
Construction Update
Rick Norris, the project manager for Groton’s school construction work, said the construction at Fitch High School is focused on placing the finishing touches on the parking lots and renovating a couple of areas inside the building.
“Right now, we put a second coat of pavement on all the parking lots except the new ones that are being built on the west side of the school,” Norris explained. “The demolition of some of the old buildings is still proceeding in the back,” he said, referring to the construction trucks in the back of the building near the school’s old entrance. “It’s part of where the parking lot is going.”
He added that the demolition of the building in the back of the school will also open up a greener path leading to the high school’s playing fields.
As far as the school’s interior, Norris said classrooms have been renovated, progress in the new offices for the administration staff has been finalized, and what’s left to complete are two robotics rooms.
Over at Pine Point School, crews recently finished the construction of the new DeMovick Early Childhood Center. Working with Shawmut Design and Construction, Principal Paul Geise looked over the newly developed center with a sense of accomplishment. He plans to have the children of the school help plant flowers to enhance the landscaping around the building.
Changes at Sacred Heart
Anxious to start the year 2008-2009 as Sacred Heart School’s new principal, Soraya Betancourt-Calle, Ph.D., of East Lyme said, “I am very excited about being [at Sacred Heart]; it’s an excellent opportunity.”
A scientist and educator, Betancourt-Calle has a Bachelor of Science from the University of Puerto Rico, a master’s in microbiology and immunology from the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. in cell biology from the Medical College of Georgia.
“I’m a scientist by training,” she explained. “One of the things that I dream of is to strengthen our science curriculum and our science program. Science is something that always needs to be looked at because science continues to grow and change...so I am very inclined and interested in continuing to develop our science curriculum. We have a good science curriculum, and I intend to continue to develop and strengthen it.”
A former science education consultant for Pfizer, Betancourt-Calle has taught at Paine College in Augusta, Ga., Mitchell College in New London, and as a middle school science teacher at Sacred Heart.
Betancourt-Calle said the school has finalized its Responding to Inclusion and Special Education Needs Learning Resource Center, officially adding the center in an effort to provide better services to the students with special needs and create an enrichment component for students who have accelerated.
“It’s an academic support center,” she said.
Along with introducing a new math curriculum this year, the school has acquired four new Smart Boards to bring the school’s total to five. The multimedia interactive white-boards, Betancourt-Calle said, give teachers the ability to connect the boards to a computer, show the class different Internet sites, and present lessons in PowerPoint.
Betancourt-Calle noted, “This is such an extraordinary environment, and it already has the foundation for excellence,” she said, referring to Sacred Heart’s environment. “There’s always room for growth, and I intend to make sure that every possibility for growth is available to our school, our teachers, and to our programs.”