Year Round Schooling

The success of the program, of the teachers, and of the students and families has been showcased in a variety of ways over the past year and a half. These include through:

• CABE (CT Association of the Boards of Education),
• CAPSS (CT Association of Public-School Superintendents)
• the CT State Department (CT SDE)
• the Carnegie Foundation,
• the NEASC Association, (New England Association of Schools and Colleges)
• the Columbia Center for Public Research and Law, (CPRL)
• the CT Innovation Conference,
• WFSB, Channel 3 News,
• and at the CABE/CAPSS Annual Convention. (November 2024)

Staff, interested in working in this model have met over the past few weeks to highlight the program’s strengths, make suggestions for program modifications, and to discuss ways to further build out enrichment programs for students, teachers, and families. All are also working to recruit additional business and community partners to work with us, thus expanding learning opportunities across our school community.

• Calendar allows benefits for both students and adults; a nice blend of academic time and mental health breaks.
• Calendar provides teaching team-designated opportunities to work as a team to co-plan lessons and events aligned to students' needs.
• Calendar allows for active engagement and involvement of parents and caregivers to support students and the classes' success. Parents and caregivers will be active members of this educational team.
• Calendar allows set times for ongoing professional development for teams of educators and parents/caregivers.
• Calendar allows for three times as many opportunities for parents and caregivers to review students' data together as the current model. Parents will meet with the educational team after every six-week session.
• Calendar builds in real-world connections to learning. Students and families will partake in infield trips and special enrichment activities at the end of each learning session. They will also meet community providers and specialists.
• Calendar builds in opportunities for wrap-a-round services. Students will have access to School-Based Health, referrals for (additional) outside therapies, dental cleanings, free breakfast and lunch, after-school programs, 1:1 technology, and access to Wi-Fi (in school and at home). Families will continuously be given information regarding additional community resources, too.

• Younger children have different learning processes than older children.
• Developmentally appropriate practice is about making sure children have fun so that they will learn.
• Play is used intentionally to ensure each child makes progress towards specific learning goals.
• Teachers use documentation to show children's progress –for instance comparing work from the beginning to the end of the year.(Reference: NAEYC)
• Lessons must be differentiated based on students' various levels of development and success levels mastering grade level standards.

• Proposed model aligns to current Teacher Contract; teachers' work year does not change. (185 days per year). However, there are new opportunities for teachers to work additional hours, outside of the school day, if they are interested.
• The proposed model aligns with current requirements in the Teachers' Contract regarding planning period and uninterrupted lunch.
• Proposed model will align to the district's school hours.
• Proposed model meets (and exceeds) instructional minutes for math and literacy.
• Proposed model provides (additional) virtual tutoring to students during the two-week school break.
• Proposed model allows teachers to work in teams to be able to differentiate and deliver instruction in critical content standards, which each student needs.
• Proposed model ensures each child has an individualized educational plan with specific goals in the areas of academics, SEL, enrichments, and executive functioning skills.
• Proposed model allows student to still participate in school-wide and district-wide events.

Parents are their child’s first and best teacher! Therefore, we embrace parental engagement and co-teaching models with our families. Parents/caregivers are asked to come into the classroom, to join their student, on a morning of the last week of each academic session. Here families will co-participate in classroom learning activities, seeing both students and teachers leading and learning! Teachers will take time to give a synopsis of the learning that occurred during the session and will preview the objectives of the next unit of study for the session ahead after break. Take home practice assignments will be shared as optional activities for a family to partake in, during the session break. Parents are also encouraged to join the class on a field trip and to serve as a regular volunteer within the classroom.

We have found that families who choose this option often like to network together, finding themselves getting together outside of the school, during session breaks. Many have shared that they appreciate these friendships and mentorships and have found many strengths through these connections.

Something new we are adding to this model in school year 2026, is the opportunity for Parent Leadership Team Meetings, to help review curricular aims and build enhanced programming around them. A parent leadership team meeting is planned for a time during each session.

Additionally, the district will continue to host monthly Birth to Age 8 Community Gatherings, whereby the school community and several professional partners, from across the City of New London, gather to partake in hands-on learning activities, a warm and delicious meal, and several give-a-ways. Our Birth to Age 8 initiatives have become widely popular, with over a hundred and fifty participants coming out each month. We are hopeful that every family who is a part of our session-based schooling model will attend a few sessions this coming year!

Our session-based schooling model will be organized according to the following structures:

• Transitional Kindergarten/Kindergarten classrooms
• Grade One/Grade Two classrooms
• Grade Three/Grade Four classrooms
• Grade Five/Grade Six classrooms* (located at Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School)

Classrooms will be held at the following locations:

• Winthrop STEM Elementary Magnet School
• Nathan Hale Arts Elementary Magnet School
• Jennings International Education Elementary Magnet School
• *Bennie Dover Jackson Multi-Magnet Campus (STEM and International Education)

Classrooms will follow the same hours of operation as the traditional model classrooms do. Students will ride the same buses and have the same lunch and specials as peers.

Multi-aged classrooms will be taught through a team approach, that provides opportunities for flexible grouping to match instructional needs. Classrooms will remain small, with no more than eighteen students per class. The homeroom teacher will be the teacher of record for the class and will actively partner with a certified special education teacher, an MLL (multi-lingual language teacher), an instructional coach, and an interventionist to co-teach in the areas of mathematics, English language arts, and science. Based on the teacher team’s discretion, students may be regrouped to attend math or literacy class, in a neighboring teacher’s homeroom, to be paired with students at the same instructional levels. Students will travel to their specials classes as a homeroom class.