BPS Bulletin

August 14, 2025

There is often a nervous energy, anticipation or excitement that occurs toward the end of summer, as students, staff and families prepare for the upcoming school year. The district has been working hard behind the scenes to maximize impact, ensure fiscal responsibility, and shift from a reactive approach to one that is well-organized, well-executed, and proactive in supporting students.

I want to take a moment to update our Bloomfield Public School families and the wider community on the progress we have made to date in support of our students and the district’s long-range success plan.

I am hopeful this information will add to the positive excitement that surrounds the start of new school year when we welcome students back on Wednesday, August 27, 2025.

To ensure minimal disruptions on our school campuses during the Primary Election on Tuesday, September 9, 2025, all Bloomfield Schools will operate on an Early Dismissal Schedule. Early dismissal times are as follows:

Early Dismissal Times

• Bloomfield High School - 12:15 p.m.
• Global Experience Magnet School - 12:47 p.m.
• Carmen Arace Schools - 12:45 p.m.
• Metacomet Elementary School - 1:25 p.m.
• Laurel Literacy Academy and The Nest - 1:30 p.m.
• Wintonbury Early Childhood Magnet School - 1:00 p.m.

School hours and the updated 2025-26 academic calendar can be located on the district website.

While our schools and departments have always understood the positive impact of teamwork, each of our schools has functioned with different staffing structures especially as it relates to their ability to provide supports for our struggling students. Not having the ability to adequately support students often leads to lowering expectations in daily instruction. Starting in 2025-2026, our K-8 schools (Laurel Literacy Academy, Metacomet Elementary and Carmen Arace Intermediate and Middle Schools) will have a similar staffing structure and daily school wide schedule that naturally allow students to receive intervention in literacy, numeracy and social emotional development. While it will take the district some time to fully develop our Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) within and across our K-8 schools, students will most certainly benefit from these new positions and structures in the upcoming school year. Each K-8 school now has at least one of the following positions in their staffing structure:

• Dean of Students: This staff member will play a key role in developing and sustaining productive, predictable and joyful learning environments in their respective schools. Working under the direction of the building principal, the Dean of Students will spend approximately 50% of their time working with students and 50% of their time guiding staff through the tenets of Responsive Classroom, our new K-8 social/emotional program. Deans will also play an important role in the development of the district’s Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS).
  

• Literacy Instructional Coach: This staff member will play a key role in developing their students’ literacy skills while ensuring effective literacy instruction is delivered in each classroom of their respective schools. The Literacy Coach, under the Principal’s vision and direction, will work collaboratively with staff, students and families to ensure there is a literacy rich culture that leads to mastery of grade level standards and a love for reading, writing, speaking and listening. Like our Deans, the Literacy Coaches will split their time evenly between students and staff and will also play an important role in MTSS.
  

• Math Instructional Coach: This staff member will play a key role in developing their students’ math skills while ensuring effective math instruction is delivered in each classroom of their respective schools. The Math Coach, under the Principal’s vision and direction, will work collaboratively with staff, students and families to ensure there is a love of mathematics and an understanding of its importance in our students’ lives and future aspirations. In addition to their important role in the MTSS process, The Math Coach will lead a school wide effort to ensure the Standards of Mathematical Practice are regularly embedded in our students’ learning experiences. Like their Dean and Literacy Coach counterparts, the Math Coach will divide their time evenly between students and staff.
  

• Literacy Interventionist: This staff member will play a key role in our MTSS efforts, actually spending 100% of their time working with our students to close achievement gaps and ensure they are mastering grade level literacy standards. Working collaboratively with their Literacy Coach counterparts and under the Principal’s vision and direction, our Literacy Interventionists will be focused on delivering small group and customizable instruction designed to provide students with the literacy skills and strategies they need to function independently within their grade level classrooms.
  

• Math Interventionist: This staff member will be dedicated entirely to supporting our MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Supports) efforts in math, spending 100% of their time working directly with students to close achievement gaps and ensure mastery of grade-level math standards. Working closely with their Math Coach counterparts and guided by the Principal’s vision, Math Interventionists will deliver small-group and individualized math instruction tailored to student needs. The focus will be on equipping students with the skills and strategies necessary to succeed independently within their grade-level classrooms.
  
  

The K-8 MTSS restructure is a strong step toward improving student outcomes and staff efficacy and is necessary to ensure state compliance. It will also naturally support the district’s commitment to improving how we provide special education services, another key lever in our transformational efforts. All of the new MTSS positions will be working closely with classroom teachers, instructional support personnel and, of course, our students’ families, to maximize the impact on student outcomes. While these initial MTSS improvements are focused on our K-8 schools, our ultimate goal is for an expansion that includes both Wintonbury Early Childhood Magnet School (WECMS) and Bloomfield High School (BHS) as the district budget will allow.

In addition to the MTSS positions in our K-8 schools, the district has also begun to staff a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) Pathway. This initiative will enhance our ability to bring the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) to life for our youngest students and connect the dots between the Inquiry-Based learning model that guides the Wintonbury Early Childhood Magnet School (WECMS) and the college-credit science courses offered at Bloomfield High School and in our Agri-Science Center.

The STEAM Pathway offers the district an opportunity to build on some of our long-standing strengths and utilize theme-based experiences to naturally engage students while offering multiple ways to demonstrate mastery of grade-level standards. This approach has the ability to positively impact student attendance, engagement and achievement —not only on state science assessments, but also in the cross-curricular standards that support science learning. In short, these are the experiences that make students excited about coming to school. I know I can still remember some of the science experiments and special projects I did in elementary and middle school.

Starting in 2025-2026, both Laurel Literacy Academy and Metacomet Elementary School will each have a STEAM Exploration Teacher who will provide learning experiences on a rotating schedule similar to Art, Music and Physical Education. In addition to these STEAM experiences, students K-12 will experience NGSS aligned science curriculum as is required by the State Department of Education and necessary to prepare our students for success on state assessments, college and career.

In addition to supporting a stronger focus on science instruction, the STEAM Exploration Teachers, K-4, will be introducing age-appropriate competitive opportunities such as the Invention Convention and Science Olympiad. Using the OpSciEd curriculum, and building strong partnerships with colleagues and families, these two new positions will lay the foundation for a PreK–12 STEAM Pathway we can be proud of. Our goal is to expand this pathway each year as district budgets allow.

The Donald F. Harris Sr. AgriScience & Technology Center at Bloomfield High School now has a brand new leadership staffing structure designed to maximize efficiency, ensure state compliance, and strategically grow student enrollment in this academically engaging program, which attracts students from other districts into Bloomfield.

In addition, BHS has also received a Dean of Students and reinstated its Department Head stipend positions. These changes add a number of teacher leaders to the BHS Leadership Team, strengthening communication, supporting the rollout of academic initiatives, and enhancing student support services.

As the district has carefully evaluated its spending habits and worked to ensure our fiscal priorities center on student access, opportunity, and achievement, we are pleased to restore Health Education and World Language (Spanish) to Carmen Arace Intermediate and Middle Schools in 2025–2026. Access to these two courses is the norm in Connecticut middle schools and therefore must also be the norm in Bloomfield.

As you are aware, 2025-2026 represents the final year of Global Experience Magnet School (GEMS). The district continues to work closely with the Regional School Choice Office (RSCO) to ensure GEMS students are not negatively impacted by the decision to close this school at the end of the school year. We are working to ensure all GEMS students can maximize their high school credit attainment options and that Class of 2026 is prepared to meet all state graduation requirements.

In an effort to preserve the inquiry-based instructional experiences at the core of this school’s philosophy, we have worked diligently to ensure it is adequately staffed to meet all students’ needs. To this end, WECMS is starting the school year with smaller student-to-staff special education caseloads and is considering a number of creative, student-centered solutions for delivering specialized supports.

As we prepare for the upcoming school year, we are asking families to complete the 2025-2026 Return to School Form for your students in the PowerSchool Parent Portal. Please check your emails for additional information.

One of the district’s key priorities is Family and Community Engagement, as it is impossible to meet our goals without forming a partnership with our students’ families. I am happy to report that we have already established a District Parent Advisory Council (DPAC) that will meet for the first time on October 22, 2025. The focus of the advisory council is to foster communication between families and the school district and to bring family perspectives into school and district improvements.

If you still wish to be added to the list of amazing volunteers, please reach out to Krista Cherry at kcherry@blmfld.org.

In addition to our District Parent Advisory Council, the district will regularly be offering opportunities for families to be heard on issues that directly impact them. These Family Forums will be offered in person and virtually in order to provide opportunities for both families and students to share their thoughts on a variety of topics. While some will naturally be connected to our Board of Education Meetings, these sessions may also be held separately as was the case in June when my team and I provided a Q & A Session about the closing of GEMS. Three topics that I am already interested in hearing from parents and students on are as follows:

• Bloomfield’s School Uniform Policy currently being used in our K-8 schools
• Moving Grade 5 to Metacomet School at the end of the 2025-2026 School Year
• Eliminating distractions caused by student cell phone use in the learning environment

In addition to the Family Forums, I plan to continue offering a series of Listening Sessions across the district during the 2025–2026 school year. The feedback I received from simply sitting and listening to our families was overwhelmingly positive. I also strive to be as responsive as possible to emails and phone calls, so please do not hesitate to contact me if something is on your mind. I can be reached at tyoungberg@blmfld.org or (860) 769-4211.

In closing, while I have just reached my eight-month mark as your superintendent, I am incredibly optimistic about the progress we have already made in putting key levers in place to support students and staff and to ensure the long-term fiscal health of the district. I am deeply honored to work alongside the dedicated members of the Board of Education and to lead the talented staff of Bloomfield Public Schools in service of your incredible children. I am certain our work together will result in amazing opportunities and successes for the students of Bloomfield. I am very happy to be back in this community and I know 2025-2026 is going to be a great year!