Unified Cheer team performance applauded in competition at Seymour Middle School

"Our Unified Cheer team got an opportunity to perform this weekend at the cheer competition held at Seymour Middle School. Lots of smiling faces and enthusiasm filled the gym.

"Thank you, Unified Cheer for making us proud."

This is shared from Seymour Public Schools' Facebook page.

Seymour seniors to have free admission to school events, performances

This is shared from Seymour Public Schools' Facebook page.

Seymour Public Schools to hold kindergarten registration

For more information: https://www.seymourschools.org/.../kindergarten-registration

Seymour to light community menorah today at Broad Street Park

This is shared from the Seymour Public Schools' Facebook page.

Seymour Public Schools facing bus driver shortage

Shared from Seymour Public Schools' Facebook page.

Seymour Public Schools seeking nominations for Teacher of Year, annual awards

From the Seymour Public Schools' Facebook page:

"Hello Seymour School Community,

"Now is the time for you to recognize a teacher by nominating him or her for the 2021-2022 Seymour Teacher of the Year.

"The form is located on our website at

https://www.seymourschools.org/board.../teacher-of-the-year

"The deadline for Teacher of the Year submissions is April 12, 2021.

"We are also accepting nominations for our District Awards until April 12, 2021.

"This is a great way to acknowledge the work of those who have contributed to our district."

Seymour Public Schools to hold remote learning day Friday

Good evening Seymour Public Schools Community,

As a result of the storm continuing into tomorrow, Seymour Public Schools will have another remote learning day for all students and staff on Friday, February 19, 2021.

Please stay safe and warm!

Best,

Michael Wilson

Superintendent of Schools

Seymour Public Schools to hold remote learning day Tuesday

February 8, 2021

Good evening,

Due to the impending storm tomorrow, February 9, 2021, the decision has been made to have a remote learning day for all. Please stay safe and warm!

Best Wishes,

Michael Wilson

Derby Public Library to present virtual program on ancestral research

DERBY - Derby Public Library invites residents to join instructor Sarah Miller via Zoom at 6:30 p.m. Monday as she presents strategies for getting started with ancestral research using online sources. 

We’ll focus on the types of American records available and how to locate them. Please collect family documents and information as Miller will be happy to answer your questions.

This class is designed for those just beginning their ancestral research.

Registration is required for this program and will be conducted through Zoom. To download Zoom, visit your app store or download from Zoom.us to register for a free account. 

Note: Prior to the event, you will receive a reminder email with the Zoom meeting details and link.
Miller has been researching her family history for nearly 20 years. She combines her experience as an elementary school teacher with her passion for genealogy to give new researchers the tools to build their own family trees. 

Miller works as a Literacy Tutor for Seymour Public Schools. She lives in Seymour with her husband and daughter and their five cats.


This is shared from the Derby Public Library website.

Wilson: Seymour public schools to close for 2 weeks

Sharing from Seymour Public Schools' Facebook page:

March 12, 2020

Good Evening Seymour Families,

As you are all aware, we have been closely monitoring the current COVID-19 virus concerns and have been in constant contact with our Director from the Naugatuck Valley Health District. 

Over these last several days, we have seen an escalation in the concern across the state. Late this afternoon, I again took part in a conference call with all State Superintendents where the Commissioner of Education alerted us of new information around the concern for the virus and about being proactive.

The Director of the Naugatuck Valley Health District has stated that as of this evening, there are no confirmed cases in the Valley. While this is positive news for us, the threat of the virus impacting the Valley is still potentially there. 

Therefore, in an effort to be overly cautious and to take on an abundance of precautionary measures to help ensure that our students and staff remain healthy, we will be closing schools for two weeks (Monday March 16, 2020 through Friday March 27, 2020). 

The plan is to reopen on Monday March 30, 2020. Throughout this time, we will remain in constant contact with our local Health District, community stakeholders, head nurse, as well as review updates from the CDC (Center for Disease Control) every day in order to respond safely and responsibly to the new information as it becomes available.

We understand that an extended closure of schools can place a burden on families and we empathize with you on that. To reiterate, since there are no confirmed cases in the Valley, we jointly decided with the Naugatuck Valley Health District to have tomorrow be the last day of school so that our students and staff can take home any materials that they deem necessary for their continued learning during this period.

We also want to convey that it is the State Department of Education’s recommendation to close schools outright and to not implement a distance learning model at this time. The rationale is that providing educational access to the curriculum for all learners is very difficult to accomplish through a digital platform. As a district, we will continue to work as a team with our State Department of Education with the potential for distance learning opportunities in the future. The Governor and the State Department of Education did agree to relief with respect to the number of school days needed and stated “that at no time will the State of Connecticut go past June 30, 2020”. Any days where the schools are closed due to COVID-19 concerns prior to the June 30, 2020 date will have to be made up as if they were used during the year for inclement weather. As a result, every attempt must be made to use the days up to and including June 30, 2020 for the waiver to be considered. To summarize, we will use the next two weeks as inclement weather days, thus placing our last day of school on June 25, 2020.

Please continue to look on the following mediums for any communications from our schools:

• Seymour Schools Facebook
• Seymour Schools website

If you have any questions about COVID-19, please call 2-1-1. My team will continue to monitor the situation daily and will keep you informed as changes occur. We will get through this together as a team. We remain positive and hopeful that we will resume our normal school routines on March 30, 2020.

Please make every effort to keep your families safe and healthy.

Sincerely,

Michael Wilson
Superintendent

Veteran to discuss novel about Vietnam War at Seymour Public Library

Danny Magic to perform at Seymour Public Library

SEYMOUR - Join us [at the Seymour Public Library] for an evening Magic Show perfect for the whole family at 6 p.m. April 16!
The wonderful Danny Magic will be here to wow the audience with his fabulous and funny magic.

Registration is requested.
For more information, please call 203-888-3903.

The Library is at 46 Church St.

*Info shared from a Facebook event page.

Seymour Public Schools to present 5th anniversary Rise Up show

Holiday concert slated at Seymour Middle School

Seymour school district names 'Teacher of the Year' for 2018-19

SEYMOUR - Superintendent of Schools Michael Wilson last week announced Angelique McAuliffe is the district's 'Teacher of the Year.'

Seymour school superintendent Michael Wilson congratulates Bungay School second grade teacher Angelique McAuliffe, the district's 'Teacher of the Year.' 

Photo courtesy of Seymour Public Schools.

Please click here to read a story by Jean Falbo-Sosnovich, New Haven Register correspondent.

Film, discussion of opioid abuse epidemic slated in Seymour

Newsletter highlights Shelton business, people helping people in Ansonia

Dear readers,

Today's newsletter is now out, and it features a grand reopening celebration at Peralta Design in Shelton and a tale of ice skates in Ansonia.

Please click here to 'read all about it.'

Thanks,

~ Patti and Ralph

Seymour school district named to advanced placement honor roll

SEYMOUR - The Seymour Public School District has received national recognition this week as one of 433 school districts in the United States and Canada to be named to the seventh annual Advanced Placement Honor Roll by the College Board. 

The College Board is a mission-driven, not-for-profit organization that connects students to college success and opportunity.

The AP District Honor Roll recognizes school districts for increasing AP access to students while simultaneously maintaining or increasing the percentage of students earning AP exam scores of 3 or higher.

Students who take AP courses have the opportunity to earn college credit which decreases college costs.
They tend to be more successful in college than those students who do not take an AP course.

Students who have taken at least one AP course had higher college course grades, and were more likely to graduate from college within four years.

To qualify for the AP Honor Roll, a district must work to broaden the pool of students taking Advanced Placement classes while also maintaining or improving the percentage of students earning scores of 3 or higher on AP exams.

To be included on the 7th Annual AP District Honor Roll an examination of three years of AP data, from 2014 to 2016, is done for the following criteria:

• Increased participation/access to AP by at least 4 percent in large districts, at least 6 percent in medium districts, and at least 11 percent in small districts; 
• Increased or maintained the percentage of exams taken by African American, Hispanic/Latino, and American Indian/Alaska Native students who scored 3+ on at least one AP Exam; and 
• Improved performance levels when comparing the percentage of students in 2016 scoring a 3 or higher to those in 2014, unless the district has already attained a performance level at which more than 70 percent of its AP students are scoring a 3 or higher. 

Seymour High School Principal James Freund said, "I am very proud of the faculty and students who have supported and participated in the AP Program over the last several years. To be nationally recognized is an honor for the Seymour community."


This is a press release from Rich Kearns, Director of Security, Seymour Public Schools.

Seymour schools to streamline registration process

DETAILS: On Oct. 1, 2016 - Seymour Public Schools will begin a new four-step student centralized registration process. 
Centralized registration will now be available for all Seymour schools and will make it possible to enroll all children in a Seymour family at one time in one central location.   

Parents/Guardians can now follow these four steps for a simple enrollment process:

STEP 1: Obtain a Seymour School’s registration packet and school information packets at the Central Office building, located at Seymour Board of Education, 98 Bank St., Seymour. We ask that you please call ahead for handicap accommodations.  All district forms must be processed for official enrollment registration. Packets may also be mailed or emailed upon request.

STEP 2: Parents/Legal Guardians must return in person with all completed district forms and required documents to the Centralized Registration Center.  We ask that when possible call ahead to let registration staff  know the time you are coming so that staff can be available to process your information more efficiently.  A notary will be on site for parents/legal guardians who need documents notarized.

STEP 3: The Centralized Registration Center staff will review and file legal documentation of each child (birth certificates, etc). Verification of documents and records may take up to three (3) days before notification to parents regarding acceptance can be made.  

STEP 4: Parents/ Legal Guardians will receive via phone and email a communication of acceptance and completion of the registration process, and will contact the child’s school administrator for a welcome and a date to report to school. Parents/Legal Guardians will be provided school forms/school-based information at this initial school meeting.

Parents are asked to contact the Centralized Registration Center for any questions regarding student enrollment and registration at 203-888-4564, ext. 1900.  

Information is available at www.seymourschools.org.

This is a press release from Rich Kearns, Public Information Officer, Seymour Public Schools.

Seymour schools prepare students for emergencies

Seymour Schools' Director of Security Rich Kearns works with Chatfield-LoPresti
Elementary School fourth grade students practicing an earthquake/tornado drill. /Submitted photo

SEYMOUR - A presidential proclamation was issued by President Barack Obama Aug. 31 declaring September as “National Preparedness Month.” 

Over the last two weeks all Seymour Public Schools' fourth graders participated in the Federal Emergency Management Administration’s “Students Tools for Emergency Planning” program, also known as STEP. 

This is the ninth year Seymour students have participated in the STEP Program which was piloted in Seymour in 2008. Seymour Public Schools Director of Security Rich Kearns received national recognition when FEMA modeled the national program after the Seymour program. 
The STEP Program is sponsored by FEMA and the Connecticut Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security. 
Rich Kearns, Director of Security for Seymour Public Schools, presented the program to all fourth grade students at Bungay Elementary School and Chatfield-LoPresti Elementary School. 
Seymour Police Department School Resource Officers Jack Harkins and Corey Tomasella assisted Kearns in showing students the steps on how to prepare their families in the event an emergency or disaster was to strike. 

Each student was given a backpack to take home that contained items to help start building their own family emergency kit along with information to share with their families letting them know where to start to better prepare them in the event of an emergency. 

Conducted drills
The goal of STEP Program is to provide some resources to families in the community to better prepare them for emergencies as it is found that if people are better prepared to deal with a crisis the outcomes and recovery process will be that much easier for them. 

The students also participated in an earthquake drill as part of the “2015 Great Northeast Shakeout” which takes place across the country each year during September. 

School bus evacuation drill held at Seymour Middle School.

Throughout September Kearns, Seymour Fire Marshal Tim Wills, Seymour Police Department Commander John D’Antona, Seymour Police School Resource Officers Harkins and Tomasella, as well as other first responders conducted fire drills and other emergency response drills district-wide with all students K-12. 

All Star Transportation Safety Supervisor Brenda Bass and school bus safety team members also joined Kearns and Seymour Police Officers in conducting school bus evacuation drills for all Elementary and Middle school students in the district who ride the bus to school. 

All of these programs and drills are part of a continuous effort by Seymour Public Schools and Seymour Emergency Services Personnel working together to better prepare our schools and families in the event an emergency were to occur and to help make our schools a safer place.



This is a press release from Rich Kearns, Director of Security, Seymour Public Schools.