Pomperaug Regional School District 15

The purpose of the Superintendent's Message is to maintain communication about events, initiatives, and general information. 

Dr. Frank H. Sippy, Ph.D. Superintendent of Schools Email: fsippy@region15.org Phone: 203-758-8259

Good communication implies open, honest dialogue among constituents. If you have a question or concern, please feel free to contact me via phone or email.

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Holiday Wishes

Well, we finally made it to the holiday season--my hope is that we paid forward any weather debts we owed Mother Nature. It is truly an honor and privilege serving the Region 15 communities. We have a great school system made so by your support. Forgive my bias, but we have the greatest kids on the planet which makes working here all the more special. I hope you have time to relax and enjoy the holidays with your loved ones and I will see you on the other side of 2012. All the best and here is wishing you the happiest, healthiest and most prosperous 2012 possible.

School Calendar

Originally, the 2011-12 start date for our students was scheduled for August 30. Hurricane Irene delayed the start of school until September 6th. As a result, we did not have school on August 30, 31 as well as September 1 and 2. Then we were visited by Storm Alfred which disrupted our lives and caused us to miss school on October 31 as well as November 1-4.

Working off our  allotment of 11 make-up days in this year's calendar, we now must make up  9 days. It is pretty clear that our history of winter weather will most likely cause us to miss another 4-7 days placing us in excess of our allotment.

However, because these disruptions occurred so early into the school year, I wanted to see whether or not parents would feel better using the balance of June make-up days which totals four before having to sacrifice days during the April Break. Thank you for responding to the survey -- over 2,800 of you did -- and 60% of you preferred sticking with the calendar's published contingency of making up days from the April Break first. As a result, we will adhere to the previously published contingency and if we need to make up more than 11 days, we will do so starting with the April Break, starting with Monday, April 16 and working our way toward Friday, April 20. Using April Break as a make up bank contingency will give us 5 additional make up days beyond the two we have remaining. Let's hope all of this planning is not necessary.

Enrollment

As you are aware, Region 15 is going through a period of enrollment decline which may result in a disproportionate school membership among our schools, and may be impacting class sizes in some cases.

On the 22nd of December, civil engineering and planning consultants Milone & MacBroom, Inc. met with Administrative Council to discuss enrollment patterns and trends in Region 15. Over this six month process, they will do a comprehensive study of our assets to furnish the Board with redistricting guidelines if necessary as well as grade configuration plans.  Click here to view their Powerpoint presentation.

The engineers will be evaluating the number of new housing units, change in composition of the communities, and where growth is expected to decline or expand.

Additionally, the firm is researching the number and location of births in the two towns in order to project, with a high level of certainty, future enrollment at specific schools and grade levels.

With this information, Region 15 will have the most accurate information in order to develop programming, facilities, and transportation needs for the future.

The planning process is a collaborative effort that requires the input of all community members.

Therefore, school principals will be nominating parents and teachers to sit on an Enrollment Steering Committee to discuss enrollment forecasts and proposed plans for Region 15. The first meeting of the Steering Committee will be held at the PHS Cafeteria on January 23, 2012 (snow date:  Jan. 30). A calendar for future meetings will be set at that time.

Administrators will have significant input in the process in order to offer ideal capacity and programming needs.

The timeline allows for public talk-back in order to give feedback and questions to the Steering Committee. We anticipate a number of community feedback opportunities designed to share progress information and solicity feedback about possible recommendations. These dates have not yet been scheduled.

Region 15 will be developing an "Enrollment" page on its district website which will feature presentations, maps, facts & figures, and a schedule time line.

SUPERINTENDENT'S MESSAGE ARCHIVES