NORWICH – If you are looking for the scent of new erasers and freshly sharpened pencils in the air, you’ll have to wait a few more weeks. You are more likely to smell construction dust and fresh paint on any stroll through Norwich school halls this week.
Despite the construction debris and hard hat requirements, Superintendent Gerard O’Sullivan fully expects all four of the district’s schools to be ready for students come the first day of the 2008-09 school year.
“I get more confident every day,” said O’Sullivan. Don’t expect, however, for all of the final details to be finished by Sept. 4.
At Stanford Gibson Primary and Perry Browne Intermediate, the second half of the work begun last summer is near completion. “I’m very pleased to see where they are with the construction,” said O’Sullivan. “We’re in really great shape in those buildings.”
O’Sullivan showed similar confidence in the progress of work at the middle school. More of a concern is the high school. “It will be a race to the finish line,” reported O’Sullivan. “In a perfect world, everything should have been done.”
Some projects, like replacing lockers in the high school, are being put on hold while work is focused on more critical areas. The library, nursing/community health center, gymnasium and pool are some of the projects that O’Sullivan considers “non-negotiable.”
“We don’t want to take time out of task,” said O’Sullivan, stressing that student areas are the priority.
The high school’s Large Group Instruction Room is one space that will not be completed in time for the first day of school. The district can live with this, said O’Sullivan, because the room will not be needed right away. It should be finished by the end of September.
The superintendent is more concerned about the high school gymnasium, “We’re running into problems getting sub-flooring in,” said O’Sullivan. While he’ll be unhappy if the gym isn’t finished by Sept. 4, he is confident it would be turned over within the first few days.
The district offices is one of the projects being moved to the back burner, reports the superintendent. The district will continue to pay rent at their present location in the Eaton Center until the new offices are ready.
The move, originally planned for August, is now slated for December. “It is so far in the future, that it’s not on the radar screen,” said O’Sullivan.

Special Education
Construction isn’t the only thing on the superintendent’s mind. He is also dedicating time and resources to the district wide focus on special education.
The focus on special education is tied to the middle school’s School In Need of Improvement (SINI) status. “Overall our general academic scores are rising,” stated O’Sullivan. The exception is special education students.
In order to move away from SINI status, one of the things the district will need to work on is improving scores in that segment of the student population.
Spurred on by this and the fact that Norwich City Schools have a higher than average special education drop out rate, O’Sullivan announced that the district will be expanding one of the most popular special education programs.
Academic Comprehensive Educational Services (ACES) introduced the concept of team teaching in the middle school last year by pairing up special education teachers with classroom teachers. The goal was to give special education students the tools they needed to be successful in the classroom.
There was such improvement in the level of academic achievement by program participants that the district has decided to expand the program into the high school.
According to O’Sullivan, the fact that parents of ACES students voiced their support of the program was a factor in the district’s decision. “Parents wanted it to expand,” said O’Sullivan. “The program will grow with (these students) from the middle school into the high school.”
Another addition to the special education program is the creation of a classroom at Gibson to meet the needs of autistic children. The class is designed for kindergarten and first grade students that were previously taught outside of the district.
Primary school special education staff member Nicole Ackerly has been selected to teach the autism class.
Iraina Gerchman, director of instruction and staff development for the district, is confident they have selected the right person for the job. “She is a very motivated, dedicated person,” said Gerchman. “When we spoke to her about the position, she jumped at it.”
Ackerly received special training this summer through a program called TEACCH in North Carolina. According to Gerchman, the training provided an understanding of the autism spectrum and behaviors that can manifest in the classroom as well as strategies to meet the needs of autistic students.
The self-contained classroom will utilize space made available by the migration of the third grade to Perry Browne.

Middle school’s accountability status
Of constant concern for the district is the Middle School’s SINI status. District and building staff are working toward one end goal: To get the school off the SINI list.
“The Middle School is doing a tremendous amount of curriculum re-development,” said Gerchman. And it doesn’t end there.
According to Gerchman, teachers have put in some 4,650 staff hours this summer in staff and curriculum development. This is nearly double last year’s number. “The work has become quite focused,” said Gerchman, complimenting the teachers on their efforts.
“We’ll continue to look at student test data until we get it right,” said O’Sullivan.
With the continuation of the 100 Book Challenge in Gibson and Perry Browne, the district hopes to not only get the middle school out of accountability status now, but also keep it off the list in the future.
“The program focuses on reading fluency, vocabulary development and comprehension,” stated Gerchman. “There will be a continued focus this year and some additional staff training.
The program, now in its third year, is rolled out in all Pre-K through fifth grade classes. Test scores in the classes who participate in the 100 Book Challenge have shown significant growth. The students in this year’s sixth grade participated in the program last year. Gerchman and O’Sullivan believe test scores at the middle school will rise as a result.