Dr. Semmel's August Newsletter
August 2025
We’re excited to welcome students, staff, and families back on Tuesday, August 26! This year, we embrace the district-wide theme: “Empowered to Thrive: Skills for Life, Learning, and Growth.”
This theme reflects our commitment to nurturing the whole child—academically, socially, and emotionally. It’s rooted in our Vision of the Graduate, which emphasizes the development of critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration, growth mindset, innovation, emotional intelligence, integrity, self-efficacy, and communication. These are the skills that empower our students to thrive not only in school, but in life.
To help families prepare for a smooth start, here are some important resources:
📅 School Calendar: 2025–2026 Calendar – Key dates, holidays, and events. We are beginning work on our 2026-2027 and 2027-2028 Calendars
🚌 Bus Routes: Transportation Info – Details available via Infinite Campus
🍎 Lunch Menus: Food Service Information – News, Pricing, and Menus
🌐 District Website: Trumbull Public Schools – News, policies, and updates
We look forward to a year filled with growth, connection, and opportunity.
Let’s make it a great start—together!
One of our district-wide goals is to reduce chronic absenteeism. A student is considered chronically absent if they miss 10% or more of the school year—about 18 days. While Trumbull continues to outperform the state and most districts on this measure, we know that every day in school makes a difference.
In the 2024–2025 school year, 6.3% of Trumbull Public Schools students were chronically absent. Our goal is for each school to reduce that number to below 5%. Congratulations to Daniels Farm (2.1%), Tashua (3.8%), and Hillcrest (4.6%) for meeting this goal during the 2024-2025 school year! All other schools remained below 8%, which gives us a strong foundation to build on.
How Families Can Help
Prioritize school attendance. Whenever possible, schedule vacations, appointments, and family events outside of school hours.
Keep students home only when necessary. If your child is sick, especially with a fever, they should stay home until they’ve been fever-free for 24 hours without medication.
Stay connected. If your child must miss school, please notify the school and work with staff to keep learning on track.
Consistent attendance helps students build routines, relationships, and readiness for success—both in school and in life. Thank you for partnering with us to make every day count.