Superintendents Blog Archive

EPS – Where the Grass is Green

By Dr. Scott Nicol, Superintendent
July 2017

"The grass is greener on the other side."

"The grass is greener where you water it."

"The grass is always greener over the septic tank."

"If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, you can bet the water bill is higher."

"Even if you think the grass is greener on the other side, you're going to have to mow that side too."

"Sometimes the grass will appear greener on the other side because it has been fertilized by manure."

Well, in Ellington we sure do have plenty of manure. Of course, I mean that literally!

Some would contend that we live in a world where comparison is the primary measuring stick of success. A world in which misleading statistics, social media misinformation, and the casual judgement of others is par for the course resulting in a confused and distracted populace.

A populace in this state tends to be accusatory as opposed to introspective; a populace that places a standard on others that they would never place on themselves.

Quite frankly, we all tend to make matters more complicated then they need to be.

Let us simplify and start by recognizing some great accomplishments by Ellington Public Schools' teachers and students from the 2016-2017 school year!

Ellington Educators

On June 16th the Ellington Public Schools held their 6th annual educator recognition event. At this event, the Ellington Public Schools' administration recognized over 100 hundred accomplishments by teachers. Here is a representative sample:

With Ellington Middle School (EMS) winning the Connecticut Association of Schools' Middle School of the Year Award, we honor the EMS application writing committee comprised of teachers: Rachel Dio-Rand, Kelley Griffin, Edith Vibert- Johnson, Michael Nash, Scott Raiola, Jennifer Reynolds and Christina Roy.

With Ellington High School working with the Anti-Defamation League to bring the program, The Truth About Hate, we honor Caleb Johnston, Aaron Hoffman, Juanita Carroll, Rebecca Aldred, Deb Ward, Jason Scavotto, Lindsay McGinn, Kathryn Lanz, Dylan Schroth, Emily Wry, Bill Prenetta, Lori Greenberg, Tim McCluskey, David Helmin, Christine Plummer and Catherine Lebron for their tireless efforts on behalf of students.

For creating an Innovation Zone at EMS which is a combination digital production lab, Maker Space and collaborative meeting area, we honor the leadership of John Collins, Jenna Dhandapani, Michael Nash and Lisa Polack. Moreover, we thank the EMS PTO donation of $9,000!

For helping to schedule and organize special assemblies, notably the Windermere School 50th Anniversary, we honor Susan Horvath.

For facilitating a Girl's Leadership Club at Windermere School which had women in high profile, leadership positions visit the school to speak with 5th and 6th grade girls, we honor Jessica Marshall, Megan Glunt and Kate Preuss.

For encouraging reading in the 4th and 5th grade classes at Crystal Lake School by organizing a Battel of the Books which introduced new titles, gave students an exciting purpose to read and encouraged teamwork and classroom continuity, we honor Brie Malone.

For bringing mindfulness and to introduce yoga to classrooms across the school district, we honor Krista Hespeler, Amy Borio, Katie Johnson, Terry Johnson, Chris Marshall, Shannon Bostiga and Cheryl Warriner.

And we honor all the staff at Center School who were recognized by the Connecticut State Department of Education as a School of Excellence and awarded a grant of $25,000 for being a top performing school who will share strategies with other school districts to boost student performance.

Ellington High School Students

The following is a sample of student awards given at the annual academic awards evening.

For Excellence in:

Advanced Placement (AP) Government and Politics: Elizabeth Gerlach

Social Studies Over Four Years: Thomas Arbeiter

Early College Experience (ECE) Calculus: Erica Clarke, Matthew Piotrowski

Honors Algebra II: Timothy Schaefer

Honors Geometry: Ariana Bahavar, Joseph Champeau

Honors French IV: Megan Aubin

Honors French III: Aadhya Lal

Spanish II: Alexis Cantin, Samantha Curtis, Andrew Heyman, Clara Mattson, James Maznicki, Ashka Patel

Spanish III: Michael Motisi, Ian Pyne

Latin I: Colton Faletti

AP/ECE Literature: Jenni Giacalone

Sophomore English: Alison Bennett, Katelin Berube, Isabella Kupferschmid, Aditi Natarjan

Shakespeare: Lillian Bannock

Creative Writing: Emma Barry

Theater Arts II: Nicholas Cantin, Olivia Gionet, Grace Hinckley

AP Biology: Joseph Champeau, Samantha Curtis, Tina Ma, Noah Marshall, Sarvenaz Ranjibar, Kavya Sajeev, Olivia Santini

Honors Chemistry: Elizabeth Gerlach, Lia Guerette, Megan Knowling, Timothy Schafer

College Prep Environmental Science: Kaleigh Jezouit

And other accolades:

Highest Score on the AMC Math Exam: Nicholas Willett

National Art Honor Society: Gina Carroll, Erica Clarke, Rebecca Cyr, Jenni Giacalone, Lia Guerette, Sneha Koripella, Noah Mashiak, Julia Pepitone, Stella Pontius

The Rensselaer Medal: Daniel Meaney

Bausch and Lomb Honorary Science Award: Lia Guerette

2017 Class Scholars: Thomas Arbeiter, Kate Walder, Katlyn Tarbox, Timothy Ross, Elizabeth Canavan, Nicholas Cantin, Ciara Dobrowolski, Olivia Gionet, Stella Pontius, Randy Philavong

Salutatorian: Kate Walder

Valedictorian: Thomas Arbeiter

The Ellington Public Schools is an outstanding school district with dedicated educators and talented students. Let us all recognize how green the grass truly grows here in Ellington.