The Windham Connection

Happy New Year, Windham Community,

Our work will continue to center on three priority areas that are essential to every student’s success:

• Daily Attendance: Every day matters for learning. “Every Thread Counts - Be in School Every Day!”

• Challenging and Supportive Instruction: All students will learn rigorous, grade-level, standards-driven content with the support they need to succeed.

• Safe, Welcoming Schools: Every student will learn in an environment where they feel included, respected, challenged, and supported.

I am excited to share with you updates and highlights connected to all three priorities, along with examples of the important work taking place across our district. I am grateful for the dedication of our staff, students, and families, and I look forward to all that we will continue to accomplish together in 2026. Thank you for your continued partnership as we build a strong foundation and bold future for every learner in Windham Public Schools.

With gratitude,

Dr. Iris Gomero

Superintendent of Schools

Windham Public Schools

Our data continues to show encouraging progress at the midyear point, reflecting the collective efforts of our schools, families, and community to ensure students are in school every day.

Districtwide Highlights:

• Year-to-date (YTD) attendance is 92%, compared to 91% last year (up 1%).
  

• Permanent chronic absenteeism is 6.37%, compared to 8.06% last year (down 1.69%).
  

• Weekly attendance is holding steady at 92% districtwide.
  

• October: 19.0% this year, compared to 21.6% last year (down 2.6%)
  

• November: 20.5%, compared to 25.1% (down 4.6%)

• December: 24.1%, compared to 27.5% (down 3.4%)

School Highlights:

Schools showing improvement in January chronic absenteeism include:

• Natchaug School: 10.31% this year, compared to 22.00% last year (down 11.69 %) and 28.36% in 2024 (down 18.05 %).

• Windham Middle School: 27.03% this year, compared to 28.69% last year (down 1.66%)

• Windham High School: 28.62% this year, compared to 43.11% last year (down 14.49 %) and 48.57% in 2024 (down 19.95 %).

Additional Attendance Highlights:

• WECC: YTD attendance increased to 89% from 87% last year.
• Natchaug School: YTD attendance increased to 95% fom 93% last year, and the current permanent chronic absenteeism is at 0%.
• North Windham School: YTD attendance remains steady at 93%.
• Sweeney School: YTD attendance increased to 92% from 91% last year.
• Charles H. Barrows STEM Academy: YTD attendance remains steady at 95%.

• Windham Middle School: YTD attendance remains steady at 93%.

• Windham High School: YTD attendance increased to 90% from 86% last year.

Thank you all for your continued focus, diligent monitoring, and problem-solving, especially during these winter months. Together, we are building a strong foundation for our students to thrive.

As part of our ongoing efforts to ensure all students are exposed to rigorous, grade-level, standards-driven instruction with appropriate supports, Windham Public Schools launched Instructional Rounds through our Leadership Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), engaging leaders across the district in collaboratively defining what high-quality instruction looks like in every classroom.

The next phase includes calibrating expectations and commencing Instructional Rounds in all schools. We are also developing an integrated Instructional Rounds and Equity Walks framework to ensure instructional improvement remains grounded in equity and access for all students.

We look forward to this next level of work and appreciate our leaders’ continued engagement, collaboration, and commitment to strengthening teaching and learning districtwide.

In the Windham Public Schools, we are setting out to ensure that all of our students thrive, become leaders, and bring about change in their communities. In order to do so, we are committed to fostering inclusive school cultures that are safe, supportive, and challenging for all learners. With that, the District is focused on school climate initiatives and their impact on our individual and collective successes.

Since the onset of the school year, all of our faculty have been engaged in important work related to school climate. Some of this work was prompted by changes in legislation, specifically to Public Act 23-167. The key changes for the 2025-2026 school year include:

• School climate policy: The District adopted and implemented a new policy meeting statutory requirements.

• Restorative practices policy: The District adopted and implemented a new restorative practices policy for incidents of nonviolent challenging behavior or student conflict.

• Uniform complaint form: This is a standardized form for reporting alleged bullying and incidents of challenging behavior. It is available on the District and school websites.

• School Climate Specialists, Committees, and Improvement Plans: Each school has a School Climate Specialist who leads the school climate work and facilitates the school-based committee. Part of the work of the Committee is to develop a standards-based, data-driven School Climate Improvement Plan to guide efforts and school climate work throughout this year. Plans will be posted on the school websites by January 31st.

• Updated roles: The roles of school climate personnel have been updated to align with the new policies.

• Annual training: The District is providing required training to employees related to social and emotional learning and research-based interventions, including restorative practices.

During the early release Professional Development on January 14, 2026, employees across all schools participated in “A Look at School Climate” (pictured below). This session was designed by District School Climate Coordinator, Kimberly Beck, and led by the School Climate Specialist in each school. The learning supported meeting statutory requirements and focused on aligning thinking and practices throughout the District. This learning will continue into the spring and set the stage for ongoing transformation in our schools.

Additionally, this spring, we will administer a School Climate Survey to students, families, and staff at each school. The purpose of the survey is to collect data for assessing our current improvement efforts and developing future plans and activities. We look forward to hearing from the entire Windham Public Schools community on this important topic.

We have officially started the Superintendent Advisory Boards! This month, I met with students, staff, and parents/guardians to begin this important work, focusing on building connections, clarifying the purpose of the advisory boards, and grounding our efforts in our district's mission, vision, and priorities. Our next level of work will focus on identifying key areas aligned with our “Strong Foundation, Bold Future” Blueprint for Student Success. These reflections will help guide our next steps.

We are continuing to strengthen our Parent/Guardian Advisory Board and invite additional families to join us. We are also exploring dividing the Student Advisory Board into middle school and high school groups to create more targeted spaces for students to share their experiences. More information coming soon.

As we build student leadership across the district, I invite middle and high school students to sign up using the link below. No experience is required, just an open mind and a desire to share their voice to help strengthen our school community.

Upcoming Advisory Board Meetings:

• Student Advisory Board: February 12 at 4:00 PM
  

• Staff Advisory Board: February 19 at 3:30 PM
  

• Parent/Guardian Advisory Board: February 26 at 5:00 PM
  
  

Please use the links below to sign up:

• Student Advisory Board

• Parent/Guardian Advisory Board

Charles H. Barrows STEM Academy is excited to welcome back the STEM Exploratory Block, a dedicated time in the school day where students can learn through hands-on, interest-based experiences connected to science, technology, engineering, and math.

This opportunity strongly aligns with our Responsive Classroom approach and our belief that student choice is essential to helping students feel engaged, motivated, and excited about learning. STEM Exploratory also highlights the talents and passions of our staff—each offering is led by teachers who are genuinely excited to share what they love with students.

Students in grades 5–8 can choose from experiences such as Coding, AI and Ethics, Boat Building, Rocketry, Graphic Design, Advertising, Stop Motion, Foley Art, Food Science, Coral Bleaching, Micro Mystery Lab, Nature Walk, STEM in Fashion, Origami, Plan a Disney Trip, Scrapbooking, Weight Training, and Yoga.

Grades 2–4 students will also have a wide range of options including Brain Games, Cursive and Calligraphy, Desk Design, Grow a Garden, Kids Kitchen, Let’s Go Running, Math Tech, Nature Drawing, Once Upon a STEM, Origami, Rubber Band Boat, Short Stories, Tech-tastic, Winter Planting, and Yoga.

We look forward to seeing students explore new interests, build confidence, and strengthen problem-solving skills through this exciting part of the school day.

Charles H. Barrows Elementary School recently had the pleasure of welcoming Connecticut folk legend Sally Rogers for a truly unforgettable learning experience that blended science, music, and hands-on discovery in a way our students will be talking about for weeks.

Sally visited Barrows not only as a talented musician, but also as a “scientist for the day,” spending an hour with each of our first grade classes exploring the fascinating science of sound. The timing of her visit could not have been more perfect: sound waves, and how sound travels are key concepts in the first grade science curriculum, and Sally’s engaging approach brought these ideas to life in a way that was both meaningful and memorable.

Using innovative, interactive tools such as drums and instruments, slinkys, and movement-based demonstrations, Sally helped students visualize how vibrations create sound and how sound moves through different materials. Of course, her lesson wouldn’t have been complete without what she does best- song. By combining music with scientific exploration, students were able to connect learning to real-world experiences through rhythm, sound, and joyful participation.

Throughout each session, our first graders were highly engaged, curious, and eager to participate. Students demonstrated strong listening skills, thoughtful observations, and enthusiasm from beginning to end, showing just how powerful experiential learning can be.

We are grateful to Sally Rogers for sharing her time, talent, and creativity with our school community. Her visit was an inspiring reminder that when we connect curriculum to authentic experiences, students don’t just learn here at CHBSA they discover.

Natchaug School is excited to once again partner with EASTCONN Adult & Community Programs to offer free English classes for our parents, continuing a program that was successfully offered last year. These family literacy classes support adults in strengthening their English reading and writing skills while also building confidence in parenting, job readiness, and basic computer skills. Classes are held Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 1:00–3:00 p.m. at Natchaug School. To make participation accessible for families, free on-site childcare will be provided in our Family Resource Center while parents attend classes in our Community Resource Hub. Enrollment is ongoing, and we are proud to continue offering this valuable opportunity for families to learn and grow together.

Most recently, North Windham has had mysterious Golden Tickets showing up under students’ chairs. Students present that day earn a prize! This has been an exciting time for students, motivating them to be at school each and every day! No one knows when the next Golden Ticket day will arrive..stay tuned!

Students became text feature surgeons in Miss Holden’s 3rd grade class! After “diagnosing,” the problem they prescribed a text feature that would help them better comprehend the text.

Sweeney Stars in grades K-3 welcomed the New Year with their WHS Whippet Readers, and Grade 1 was visited by their Windham Tech friends, while Grade 4 students enjoyed another session with their Best Buddies from the RISE classrooms. Testing is in full swing as students work hard to complete winter ELA and Math benchmark assessments, as well as English language testing. Students are earning their reading medals each week for logging their ARC steps! As we continue to focus on good attendance, all K-4 classrooms have had at least one visit from Ms. Firth and the Sweeney Treasure Chest for working as a class to all be in school!

The Lady Wildcats came back from 16 down to beat East Hartford in a nail-biter at the Manchester tournament on January 31st!

Congratulations!

Windham High School is pleased to announce that Chelsea Portuguez, Class of 2026, has been awarded a full scholarship to Washington and Lee University through Questbridge National College Match.

Chelsea plans to study biology or biochemistry, with the intention of becoming a researcher. She is looking forward to living on campus at Washington and Lee and sampling their famous bagels. At Windham High, Chelsea has excelled in a wide variety of Advanced Placement and Early College Experience courses and participated in National Honor Society, Community Service Club, and Whippet Readers.

QuestBridge connects high-achieving high school seniors from low-income backgrounds with full four-year scholarships to the nation’s top colleges. This year, QuestBridge’s 55 college partners matched with 2,550 Finalists, who are recognized as Match Scholarship Recipients.

"This year’s Match Scholarship Recipients embody excellence in so many ways, and we're excited to support them as they continue to dream big," said Ana Rowena Mallari, Co- Founder and CEO of QuestBridge. Each Match Scholarship Recipient receives early admission and a full four-year scholarship to a QuestBridge college partner, ensuring for these students and their families that an education at a top college is affordable.

This year’s Match Scholarship Recipients represent all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, as well as the territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico.

The QuestBridge National College Match has successfully connected over 19,000 students with full scholarships at some of the nation’s best colleges.

QuestBridge is a national nonprofit organization that connects high-achieving students from low-income backgrounds with a thriving community and transformative educational, career, and life opportunities that help propel them to lives of fulfillment, meaning, and purpose. From QuestBridge’s founding over 30 years ago, the organization has always focused on creating opportunities for students from low-income backgrounds, regardless of race, geography, or academic interest.

Jilliana Halder is a Windham High School senior who just completed her fall semester internship at the Windham Early Childhood Center. Jilliana worked with students in the Panda Room, and she was so touched by the card and gifts the Panda Room teachers and students gave her on the last day of her internship.

We are proud to share that Elizabeth Bumgardner, Director of the Windham Early Childhood Center, has been appointed to the Building Educational Responsibility with Greater Improvement Networks Commission (BERGIN Commission) in Connecticut. Established by state law, the Commission studies key issues related to public education, including school funding, charter schools, and special education, and has been extended through July 1, 2030.

The BERGIN Commission also focuses on areas such as behavioral health and professional training for educators, with the goal of strengthening educational systems and supports across the state. This appointment was made by Connecticut House Majority Leader Representative Jason Rojas.

Elizabeth was encouraged to apply by her son Benjamin’s school, River Street, in recognition of her advocacy on behalf of families and children with special needs. She is honored by their confidence and grateful for the opportunity to represent and amplify the voices of families navigating special education in Connecticut.

We are proud to have Elizabeth representing Windham Public Schools and advocating on behalf of our students and families across the state.

Friday Chats with the Superintendent provide staff and community members an opportunity to engage in informal, one-on-one conversations. These sessions are designed for sharing ideas, asking questions, and building connections. Meetings are available virtually or in person on Fridays from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. To schedule a meeting, please email Loren LeBel at lLebel@windham.k12.ct.us.

Superintendent of Schools

Windham Public Schools

Email: igomero@windham.k12.ct.us

Phone: (860) 465 - 2300