To SPS Staff and Families:

As you may have already heard, Trailblazers Academy, a charter middle school serving Stamford, has announced that due to financial difficulties they will cease operations.  While it is unfortunate that Stamford families will no longer have the option to send their student to this charter school, Stamford Public Schools (SPS) is excited to welcome, or in many cases welcome back, these families to our community. SPS is committed to working together with Trailblazers’ administration and staff to ensure a smooth transition for all impacted families and students.  In fact, next week we have set aside two days for Trailblazers’ families to meet with staff members to register their students in our schools and to establish individualized student transition plans, either into a traditional middle school or into an alternative learning environment.

We are currently reviewing the data, and we believe that the closing of Trailblazers will affect about 100 families. Please know that we are committed to addressing any staffing and student support requirements to meet the needs of all students. We are currently utilizing the $450,000 earmarked for Trailblazers in our 2019-2020 SPS budget to do so. 
The SPS mission is to provide an education that cultivates productive habit of mind, body and heart in every students. You can be certain that we will continue to meet the needs of all who attend our schools. I know I can count on each of you to demonstrate habits of heart by warmly welcoming any new or returning family to our schools this fall. 

Dr. Tamu Lucero, Superintendent Stamford Public Schools

Stamford Public Schools (SPS) announced that Rogers International School sixth and seventh grade teams’ recently earned second and third places respectively at the  37^th Annual National Academic Championship in Washington D.C. The students qualified for the competition at the Northeast Division Thinking Cap Quiz Bowl, held earlier this year.

During the qualifying event, each of the 30 competing teams was required to take a 100 multiple-choice question computer test, which included math, geography, government, sports, spelling, science, literature, English, history, general information and trivia. The test, taken as a team activity, requires all team members to participate around one computer. Each team gets two chances to answer the questions correctly, earning points for both speed and accuracy.

Rogers’ Sixth Graders Owen Brooks, George Carr, Tommy Caviness, Andrea Cordulack, Matt Greco, Katelyn Laureano-Rikardsen, Mia Luciani, Bennett Schindelman and Caleb You placed fifth in the Northeast and sixth in the country for total points earned, qualifying them for the national competition. Rogers’ Seventh Graders Emma Argenio, Frank Bear, Grady Connell, Ronan Connell, Tyler Denison, Tallulah Lintern, Arush Rao, Lucas Tan, Kristina Yosypiv, and Tomas Zaleski earned first place in the Northeast and fifth in the country for overall points in the qualifying competition.

Under the direction of Rogers’ Teachers Michael Argenio and Cara Denison, the students traveled to Washington D.C. for the 37^th Annual National Academic Championship. According to the rules of the organization, each of the two teams had to split into two separate teams (four teams total) to compete. The sixth grade team of Brooks, Cordulack, Luciani, Schindelman and You placed second overall in their division, while the seventh grade team of Argenio, Denison, Rao, Lintern, and Zaleski came in third.

In April, the Dalio Foundation awarded Fund for Teachers (FFT) professional learning grants to educators across Connecticut, including four from Stamford. According to the organization, the foundation provided some $875,000 in grants this year.  

As FFT Fellows, grant recipients will embark on self-designed professional learning odysseys this summer.  This year, Stamford’s FFT Fellows will be traveling across Vietnam and the United Kingdom and will return with new insights, connections and tools to benefit their students.

Stamford’s 2019 FFT Fellows are:

• Miranda DePoi, Alternative Routes to Success: Retrace the footsteps of Alpha Company from Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" across Vietnam to enhance a literary analysis unit on the novel that is authentic, historically educational and engaging.
• Daria Van Nostrand and Linda Marchisio, Stamford High School: Explore how fashion and storytelling are connected in Scottish culture to create collaborative lessons that increase students' engagement and encourage creativity.
• Melissa Hadsell, Stamford High School: Explore the historical and cultural influences of William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and the Bronte sisters across the United Kingdom to connect modern students with classic authors and experiences.

A complete list of 2019 Fellows, their schools and their fellowships can be found here.

At each monthly Board of Education (BOE) Meeting, we are proud to celebrate the accomplishments of select students and staff members. Following are those who will be recognized at the June 2019 BOE meeting:

4^th District Congressional Art Competition

Stamford High School (SHS) Senior Ivy Zingone is the winner of this year’s 4^th District Congressional Art Competition hosted by Congressman Jim Himes. Ivy’s winning artwork, “Counting Screens,” is a graphite and colored pencil drawing featuring a baby in a crib reaching for a mobile of screens. An independent panel of artists selected Ivy’s drawing from a record number of 80 entries from high school students across the district.  Ivy, who is a student of SHS Art Teacher Paul Cusano, received two round-trip tickets to attend the competition’s ceremony in Washington, D.C., where her art will be on display in the corridor leading to the U.S. Capitol Building for the next year.

Fairfield County Bar Association’s Law Day Art and Essay Challenge

The Fairfield County Bar Association recognized 14 elementary and secondary SPS students for winning entries in its Law Day Art and Essay Contest in a ceremony at the Stamford Superior Court. Thirteen judges, representing the Superior Court of the Judiciary of Stamford and Norwalk, celebrated the winning students. Students addressed the topic, “Free Speech, Free Press, Free Society,” in either essay or art submissions. Winning students:

• Ariel Bailey, Scofield Magnet Middle, Honorable Mention
• Sophia Chen, Scofield Magnet Middle, 2^nd Place Essay
• Ethan Effren, Scofield Magnet Middle, Honorable Mention
• Anthony Fabricatore, Scofield Magnet Middle, 3^rd Place Essay
• Elizabeth Hernandez, Scofield Magnet Middle, 1^st Place, 8^th Grade Art
• Fernando Hernandez Mesinas, Scofield Magnet Middle, 3^rd Place, 8^th Grade Art
• Lucia Kempton, Scofield Magnet Middle, 1^st Place Hybrid
• Divyaj Parekh, Westhill High School, 1^st Place High School Essay
• Nathalie Saon, Davenport Ridge Elementary, 1^st Place, Grade 3 Art
• Sandi Saon, Rippowam Middle School, 1^st Place, 6^th Grade Art
• Brynn Spingola, Westhill High School, 1^st Place, High School Poetry
• Serena Sweeney, Scofield Magnet Middle, Honorable Mention
• Grace Tolla, Scofield Magnet Middle, 2^nd Place, 8^th Grade Art
• Christina Zinicola, Scofield Magnet Middle, 1^st Place Essay

CASA Stamford Administrator of the Year

Connecticut Association of School Administrators (CASA) named SPS Director of Curriculum and Instruction Natalie Elder McClarty “Stamford Administrator of the Year.” CASA, a professional organization open to all Connecticut school administrators, recognized Natalie among seven Connecticut administrators. Members of the executive board of the Stamford Administrative Unit chose Natalie from among all of its administrators to represent Stamford for CASA’s award. The award was created to provide positive recognition to deserving administrators.

CMEA Regional and All-State Festivals

Thousands of students across the state auditioned before a panel of professional adjudicators to be considered for the Connecticut Music Educators Association (CMEA) Western Region High School Festival. Each student performed an advanced selection in his or her specialty area: Orchestra, Concert Band, Jazz Band or Chorus. Those students who scored above a designated threshold qualified to perform at the festival. Of the 10 who qualified for regionals from SPS, five qualified and subsequently competed at the All-State Festival. 

Regional Qualifiers:

• Eva Mitskevitch, WHS Sophomore, Alto
• Audrey Molina, WHS Senior, Alto
• Lucas Pinto-Leite, WHS Junior, Tenor
• Cristina Principe, SHS Junior, Flute – Band
• Elizabeth Sachs, WHS Junior, Tenor

Regional and All-State Qualifiers:

• Katy Aillery, SHS Senior, Soprano
• Mary Chobanyan, WHS Junior, Soprano
• Alessandro Schiro, WHS Senior, Tenor
• Jayce Schwartz, SHS Senior, Tenor
• Rona-Lyssa Tulien, SHS Senior, Alto

Perfect ACT Score

Westhill High School (WHS) Sophomore Gaurov Bansal earned the highest possible composite score of 36 on the ACT standardized test.  According to the ACT organization, only around two-tenths of one percent of students who take the ACT earn a top score. The ACT consists of tests in English, mathematics, reading and science, each scored on a scale of 1–36. A student's composite score is the average of the four test scores. Students who earn a 36 composite score have likely mastered all of the skills and knowledge they will need to succeed in first-year college courses in the core subject areas. 

Connecticut COLT Award for Excellence in World Languages

The Connecticut Council of Language Teachers awarded Alyssa Craner, Siomara Rodriguez, Erika Ricalde, Daniel Stevens and Kevin Duffy, all students of World Language Teacher Anna Koltypin, the CT COLT Award for Excellence in World Language. To qualify, each awardee must be enrolled in a World Language class, demonstrate excellence by achieving an average of 90% or better for three consecutive marking periods in the same language, and demonstrate evidence of a positive attitude toward language and cultures by using language beyond the classroom and/or participating in clubs.

Athletic Achievements

Stamford Public Schools has many high-performing individual athletes, teams and coaches. In the spring of 2018-19, the following student-athletes were honored at the regional level for both academics and sports or at the state level for exceptional spring sports achievements. 

Boys Tennis

• Tyler Pomerance (WHS): All-State
• Jordan Soifer (WHS): All-State
• Rohan Suryawanshi (WHS): All-State
• Adarsh Sushanth (SHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete
• Shiloh Williamson (WHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete

Girls Tennis

• Tamar Bellete (WHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete, All-State, All-FCIAC
• Sophia Negyesi (SHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete
• Devon Yaghmaie (SHS):  All-State, All-FCIAC (doubles)
• Taylor Yaghmaie (SHS):  All-State, All-FCIAC (doubles)

Boys Lacrosse

• Jacob Hansen (WHS): FCIAC Exemplary Scholar-Athlete
• David Marciczkiewicz (SHS):  FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete
• Zachary Rubin (WHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete

Girls Lacrosse

• Katelyn Benner (WHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete
• Julia Chapell (SHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete
• Abigail Sottile (WHS): FCIAC Exemplary Scholar-Athlete

Baseball

• Shane Hackett (WHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete
• Jonathan Hoch (SHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete
• Nicholas Otis (SHS): FCIAC Exemplary Scholar-Athlete
• Montana Semmel (WHS): All-State, All FCIAC
• TJ Wainwright (WHS): All-FCIAC
• Robert Zmarzlak (WHS): All-State, All FCIAC

Softball

• Olivia Butler   (WHS): All-FCIAC
• Madison Cortell (WHS): All-FCIAC
• Betsy Sachs (WHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete
• Rebecca Schwartz (SHS): FCIAC Exemplary Scholar-Athlete
• Dana Serricchio (SHS):  All-State, All-FCIAC

Golf

• Rishi Jaaswal (WHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete
• Brian Somody (SHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete

Boys Track

• Reynell Burke (WHS): All-FCIAC
• Andrew Fang (WHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete  
• Ashton Williams (SHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete

Girls Track

• Juliette Lipson (SHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete
• Tatianna Taheri   (WHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete
• Sophia Thagouras (WHS): All-FCIAC

Boys Volleyball

• Panos Ketonis (SHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete 
• John Mathew (WHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete 

Each year, Stamford Public Schools graduates are accepted at many of the nation's top colleges and universities. We are proud of their successes and are pleased to share them with you. 

Link to PDF copy of list for printing.