CAPT scores up across the board

It’s nice to see that West Hartford’s sophomores raised their scores in every category this year over last year’s performance.
Here’s the results:
MATH – 59.3 percent at goal this year compared to 56.8 last year
SCIENCE – 64.6 at goal this year compared to 63.9 last year
READING – 64 at goal this year compared to 62 last [...]

Vacuuming up the leaves

Is there anything more ridiculous than the West Hartford Taxpayers Association?
It demands that we cut, cut, cut and then, when cuts are made, it screams NO! NOT THAT!
For Judy Aron, its vice president, to tell The Hartfor Courant that eliminating curbside leaf  vacuum truck pickup is “a direct hit on our senior citizens” is both [...]

The budget debacle

There’s something seriously wrong if taxpayers have gunned two straight budgets by wide margins.
So what is it?
One could argue that the problem is that town leaders are simply trying to spend more money than residents are willing to support. This clearly has some truth to it, but it’s simplistic.
Another alternative is that people are struggling [...]

Goodbye, Superintendent Sklarz

 The town’s $188,000-a-year school superintendent, David Sklarz, is retiring in June 2009.
Sklarz, 61, has done a commendable job dealing with the town’s conflicting demand of maintaining a great school system without hitting people up for more money to pay for it. That’s tough work.
But he’s also been too secretive and too polarizing, failing to pull [...]

One big happy school district?

In yesterday’s Courant, Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez called for “a radical departure” to address the racial isolation that has helped keep his city’s students from greater academic success. He said that Hartford County, which exists only as a line on the map, should be one giant school district.
Forget the districts in West Hartford, Farmington, Simsbury, [...]

Meet the school board candidates Tuesday night

West Hartford SEPTA (Special Education PTA) is pleased
to invite everyone to one more opportunity to meet the
Board of Education Candidates, at Duffy School on
Tuesday October 30 from 7-9 pm.
This event is for everyone in the community, not just
for those interested in special education.
Please spread the word!  Attached is a flyer you can
reproduce.
Don’t be complacent…
 Show your [...]

Let’s focus on education for a bit

With the election fast approaching, there’s on issue I care about more than any other: education. I want to know what each of the candidates will do to ensure proper funding of our schools and how they’ll maintain the quality programs offered to our students.
I want to hear what they’d do differently than the current [...]

A total waste of money and a travesty

I learned today — thanks to a sharp-eared parent at a school’s opening day event — that the Board of Education is paying to have full-time security greeters at every elementary school this year. The logic, apparently, is that having someone there to be “security” will keep our kids safer.
Well, phooey.
I’ve been in the schools [...]

CAPT test results for West Hartford

SCHOOL DISTRICT: WEST HARTFORD
MATHEMATICS: 56.8
SCIENCE: 63.9
READING: 62.0
WRITING: 68.3
The state averages are as follows:
Math: 45.2 | Science: 44.4 | Reading: 45.6 | Writing: 52.9
I’m predicting a new push in math so watch out kids!

King Philip and Hall on failing school list

King Philip Middle School and Hall High School are listed among 315 Connecticut schools that are “in need of improvement” for failing to meet federal No Child Left Behind Act benchmarks, the State Education Department reported today.