Together We Can

As we wrap up the first month of school, I want to take this moment to celebrate the strong and successful start to the year. From the excitement of the first day to the positive energy in our classrooms, hallways, and school events, it is clear that our students are engaged and thriving. This success is a reflection of our dedicated teachers and staff, the support of our families, and the spirit of collaboration across our entire school community. Thank you for your continued partnership. We look forward to building on this momentum in the months ahead.

Best

Stacey

Stacey Heiligenthaler, Ph.D.

Chief Officer of Special Education and Student Supports

stacey_heiligenthaler@greenwich.k12.ct.us

Mrs. Warzoha's preschool class at Old Greenwich School enjoyed a bilingual read-aloud of Quinto, Day and Night, by Ina Cumpiano. The story introduced children to opposites, such as running fast or slow, in both English and Spanish. It was a fun and engaging way to explore language and concepts together.

Ms. Medico's preschool class at Cos Cob School is learning to spell their names. As a first step, students are matching letters to the ones in their own names. This activity helps build early literacy and recognition skills.

Ms. Szanto's preschool class at Hamilton Avenue School practiced their colors after reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Eric Carle. The children identified and named colors from the story. They then reinforced their learning through fun, hands-on activities.

Ms. Micallef's preschool class at North Street School practiced creating patterns on their smartboard. Each child took a turn adding to the 10-frame pattern. This interactive activity helped develop early math and reasoning skills.

Principal Hammack joined a lesson at the International School at Dundee about fairness. Students learned that fairness does not always mean everyone gets the same thing. Instead, it means giving each person what they need to succeed.

Mr. Carlan at New Lebanon School is leading a fun activity where students share some of their favorite things. This helps everyone learn more about each other and build new friendships. The students are excited to write and talk about what they love.

Old Greenwich School’s Physical Education teacher, Mr. Mickel, leads a fun and active game called, "Stuck in the Mud," where tagged players must freeze in place until a teammate frees them by crawling under their legs. This energetic game encourages teamwork, coordination, and continuous movement. Joining in the fun is School Psychologist Ms. Hickey, who helps support student participation and inclusion during the activity. Together, they create an engaging and collaborative environment that benefits both physical and social development.

Cos Cob School third grade co-taught math groups are working on multiplication. Students engaged in problem-solving alongside their teachers and classmates. The group setting encouraged teamwork and deeper understanding of math concepts.

Principal Grandville and Assistant Principal Cheris led a full-school assembly focused on reinforcing our GPS norms at Parkway School. The event began with a special celebration recognizing students who have demonstrated the norm "Be Safe" — a great way to spotlight positive behavior and inspire others to follow their lead. The assembly then shifted to their upcoming featured norm: "Be Honest." Students were invited to reflect on what honesty looks like in action and to share their thoughts on what it truly means to be honest. By celebrating students who exemplify our norms and engaging everyone in meaningful conversations, Parkway continues to foster a respectful school community.

Reading Lab Specialist Ms. Jocelyn Bruchman recently facilitated a lesson using the Preventing Academic Failure (PAF) program, a structured, multisensory reading approach designed to support early literacy development. PAF helps students build strong foundational skills in reading, spelling, and handwriting through systematic, research-based instruction. By addressing individual learning needs and promoting confidence, the program empowers students to become more successful, independent readers.

In Ms. Young and Ms. Anderson’s grade 4 co-taught classroom at Cos Cob School, students are learning to take ownership of their reading through clear learning targets and success criteria. During reading workshop, they engaged the students in reflecting on three key questions: “What am I learning?” “Why am I learning it?” and “How do I know when I have learned it?” This clarity helps students stay focused, monitor their progress, and understand the purpose behind their work. By making learning visible, Ms. Young and Ms. Anderson foster deeper engagement, independence, and confidence in her readers.

During academic lab at Central Middle School, Mrs. Kane’s sixth graders learned about convergent boundaries and located answers in the text. They practiced using evidence, such as dates, to support and confirm their ideas. The lesson focused on citing text evidence to answer questions while exploring how oceanic and continental plates collide and shift. To conclude, students shared their learning with one another.

Mrs. Abramovitch and Mrs. Catanzaro at Western Middle School guided students in designing personalized “crocs” to showcase their interests. These creative projects were shared during Back to School Night with fellow students and parents. The activity helped students express themselves and build connections within the school community.

In Collaborative seventh grade math class at Central Middle School, Ms. Warminsky had students change an improper fraction to mixed number and vice versa through modeling and guided practice. Students practiced with guidance and feedback to convert problems. The skills learned in this math lesson were aligned to the seventh grade curriculum and specific IEP goals and objectives for students.

In Central Middle School's sixth grade academic lab, Ms. Rose McKay taught students how to take notes while reading by using a “stop and jot” strategy during academic lab. She modeled the process, showed students how to number paragraphs, and demonstrated how to reference them when writing notes. Together, the class read the text and paused at key moments to jot down important ideas. Students learned six key times to take notes, such as when there is a contrast or contradiction, a tough question, important advice, an “aha!” moment, or something that repeats

Ms. Barnett had her students read Chapter 1 together to strengthen comprehension skills. They defined vocabulary using a dictionary and “word bluff,” and used a color tracker to follow along while underlining and highlighting key details. Students answered questions with text evidence, citing specific page numbers. Small group work supported collaborative reading and reinforced skills aligned with the grade-level curriculum and IEP goals.

At Western Middle School, Ms. Rhaniotis and Mr. Franco lead a reading activity focused on the theme of raking leaves. Students answered WH-questions by choosing from given options and completed sentences by selecting the correct word or picture. The activity was designed around each student’s strengths and areas of need as outlined in their IEP and was completed either one-on-one or in pairs.

During academic lab, Mrs. Catanzaro, a sixth grade teacher at Western Middle School, worked with students on powers and exponents. Students modeled problems, talked about what a power is, and identified the base number. They labeled the powers and exponents, solved equations, and shared their thinking with the class. The lesson also included a review of PEMDAS — parentheses, exponents, multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction — and students practiced solving problems step by step. These activities help reinforce 6th-grade math skills while encouraging participation and collaboration.

Mrs. Schmid worked the sixth grade students on building executive functioning skills. They practiced crossing off assignments in their planners once they were finished. This activity helps students stay organized and supports their IEP goals.

During a decoding class at Eastern Middle School, Mrs. Caldwell had students practice sounds for closed syllables and vowel patterns such as qu, g, ou, ow, oa, and oo to build automaticity. Students stayed engaged and moved quickly into activities. During spelling practice, they repeated each sound and identified the letters that made it before writing. We reviewed that ou and ow make the same sound, as do au and aw, while the u sound can be spelled with u, ue, or eu, and the o sound with oo, ow, ue, ui, or ou. Students also created words with prefixes and suffixes and timed themselves while reading.

The opening days of Greenwich High School have included special activities to welcome students and parents. Recently, the assistant deans from each house held a special lunch event to build house spirit. Ninth and 12th grade parents were welcomed to the GHS Open House by Principal Mr. Mayo and the PTA, and they then attended their students’ classes. Open House for GHS grades 10 and 11 will take place on Tuesday, September 30. Welcome all to GHS and the 2025-2026 school year.

The District Behavior Support Team was excited to take part in the Greenwich High School Health Fair. Students explored the benefits of mindfulness and discovered simple, practical ways to calm their minds, improve focus, and build healthy coping skills they can use every day , both at school and at home.

Please visit the new Special Education and Student Supports Department webpage on the Greenwich Public School Website. Information about Special Education supports and services as well as contact information is provided

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Email: stacey_heiligenthaler@greenwich.k12.ct.us
Website: https://www.greenwichschools.org/teaching-learning/special-education
Location: 290 Greenwich Avenue, Greenwich, CT
Phone: (203) 625-7493