Dr. Semmel's Monthly Update
February 2024
The Board of Education approved their 2024-2025 budget at the February 6 BOE meeting. The $126,133,448 budget includes all of the current literacy and math coach positions, which are critical to the success of our students. The budget also provides two additional high school teachers. One of the THS positions is an additional Business teacher to ensure that all students starting with the class of 2027 can complete the newly mandated Personal Finance class by graduation. The second high school position is a Technology Education teacher, which will help with the demand for these courses. We have a great deal of information about the 2024-2025 budget on our website so please take a look. There is an Executive Summary if you want the highlights, a two-page Infographic, and all of our presentations to the Board of Education to this point.
Each year the Board of Education reviews and adopts district goals in the summer. Goal development begins during the March/April timeframe so that we can receive input from our instructional leadership team, school improvement teams, and staff. We use this input to help craft meaningful goals that will increase safety, improve teaching and learning, and enhance the systems that lead to better outcomes. We are a data driven district so we take advantage of our suite of assessment data, coupled with our expert classroom teachers, to consider the development of the whole child. At this time of the year, we report on the success of our goals to this point with our Midyear Update. While it may not read like a best seller, it will give you a strong understanding of the efforts being made in the Trumbull Public Schools to ensure a high-quality education for all children.
Did you know that this past spring the Connecticut Legislature passed a new law regarding the age of Kindergarteners? They passed Public Act 23-208, which amended Section 10-15c of the Connecticut General Statutes requiring that all public schools be open to all children five years of age and over who reach age five on or before the first day of September of any school year. The previous law allowed children to start Kindergarten if they reached age 5 by January 1 of any school year.
The new law does allow parents/guardians of children who will not turn 5 until after September 1, but before January 1, the right to send a written request to the district requesting that their child be allowed to attend Kindergarten in the fall.
For any Trumbull resident interested in registering for Kindergarten this fall, please use the link below. This link will guide you through the process for entering Kindergarten in the Fall of 2024.
https://www.smore.com/xvyt5-2024-2025-kindergarten-registration
TPS Curriculum Creation, Approval, and Implementation
Trumbull Public Schools is proud to offer a variety of curricula that can be used by our educators to create lessons that result in some of the highest outcomes in our state. Starting with the teachers, and with the oversight of administration and approval at multiple levels, it is a collaborative process that has earned Trumbull respect from many of our surrounding districts. See below for some of the key components that have helped to keep our curriculum development process strong over the years.
Highly Effective & Certified Personnel
Trumbull Public Schools aims to hire and retain highly effective teachers with education backgrounds, beliefs, and values that resonate with the high expectations and knowledge that will allow for high quality curriculum creation and implementation. Knowing that teachers must adjust for the needs of students with instructional strategies and supplemental materials during the course of instruction, having personnel that are qualified and can be trusted with a high level of expertise and acumen regarding the appropriateness of materials and instructional strategies is at the heart of our curriculum development and programming.
Trumbull Public Schools Curriculum Guides
Trumbull Public Schools Curriculum Guides define the philosophy, goals, standards, enduring understandings, essential questions, scope and sequence, assured assessments, and texts of each of the District’s courses of study. Within each guide, core texts which all teachers must teach for that course are listed as well as supplemental texts and materials which a teacher may choose to use depending on the needs of their students.
Review of Materials
In order to meet the future ready needs of our students, Trumbull Public Schools systematically reviews our curricula for updating, revisions, and potential new courses offerings. New courses such as Forensic Science, If You Love It, Teach It, and Percussion are examples of recently developed and approved courses by educator teams in Trumbull. While core course materials are all reviewed in depth, supplemental materials and supplies are frequently decided by educators as students needs may shift. One way Trumbull teachers embrace our motto "Committed to Excellence," is through determining the appropriateness of the materials implemented in their classrooms. We are proud that in Trumbull, their selections and instruction have continued to help us maintain a top level of performance in our state.
Curriculum Approval Process
Do you know the steps of the Curriculum Approval Process? Please see below for more information.
STEP ONE: Application for New Courses
Unless the course is a core subject required for all students, educators must submit a proposal for any new courses with the rationale, standards, outcomes, and potential texts for their submission. Such new course applications are first reviewed for approval by principals, and if approved, then submitted to the Assistant Superintendent of Teaching & Learning. If approved at the central office level, the application is moved to the Curriculum Committee of the Board for first level of Board approval and finally to the full Board for final approval to begin the writing process.
STEP TWO: Curriculum Writing Teams of Certified Educators Working Together
The curriculum development process begins with District Curriculum Writing Teams, which have the responsibility to develop, review, and recommend curriculum for the District. Teacher leaders, under direction from district team leaders, program leaders, department chairs and/or the Assistant Superintendent, meet to examine state and national standards, college requirements (for those classes that allow students to earn early college credit,) and a wealth of instructional materials. They use these resources and their professional experiences to create curriculum guides which define the philosophy, goals, standards, enduring understandings, essential questions, scope and sequence, assured assessments, and texts of each of the District’s courses of study. Some teams have also collaborated with the state and/or local universities regarding new courses such as the newest course in the Social Studies Department, American Indian History. In the past three years, guides have also been updated to include prioritized standards, academic vocabulary, and even key connections to our Vision of the Graduate.
STEP THREE: Piloting the Material
Typically, new courses of study are then piloted in their first year of implementation based upon a draft curriculum approved by the Assistant Superintendent of Teaching & Learning. If no pilot is needed, the course is immediately moved to the next step in the process for approval.
STEP FOUR: Curriculum Committee of the Board of Education Discussion and Approval
Next, all new and/or revised guides, texts, and courses, are presented for the approval by the Curriculum Committee of the Board of Education. The Curriculum Committee reviews all core materials in depth and supplemental materials to the extent possible. After discussion and review, this committee makes a recommendation to the full Board for review and approval or provides feedback regarding next steps.
STEP FIVE: Full Board Approval
If approved at the Curriculum Committee level, new courses, guides, texts, and/or revisions are sent on to the full Board for review and approval. This third reading and approval structure assists in assuring every opportunity has been taken to ensure that courses are aligned with the Trumbull Public Schools mission, vision, and values.
STEP SIX: Professional Development for Teachers & Implementation
After approval, many times, curriculum guides and materials are reviewed again by teacher teams to collaboratively discuss implementation during our professional development days. It is from these guides that educators are expected to develop the engaging and detailed daily lesson plans which have been a large component of our district's success.