Congratulations to the newly elected officers of the Title I District Parent Advisory Council. Officers will be installed at the October 3 Title I Annual Meeting and will hold office through September 2020. 

Click here for list of officers. 

Supervisor Patricia Moran gets a hug from DPAC member Shakirah Howard following a pinning ceremony at the Title I District Parent Advisory Council Meet & Greet on Wednesday, September 5, 2018. New representatives from each school were welcomed and had an opportunity to network with each other as a group. 

A Family's Guide to Supporting the Racial and Ethnic Identities of Black and Brown Kids - 
Chemay Morales-James of My Reflection Matters will provide families with tools and strategies you can use to raise liberated youth. 
Four Saturdays - 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Silas Bronson Library
September 15, 22, 29 and October 6.
Waterbury Bridge to Success - To register, click here. 

Waterbury Schools

Title I District Parent Advisory Council DPAC

Special Meeting

Election of Officers

Date:  Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Time:  5:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M.

Location:  Jonathan Reed Elementary School

33 Griggs Street

Your VOTE Counts!

Notice in English / Spanish / Albanian

The Board of Education Workshop scheduled for Thursday, September 6, 2018 has been relocated to Carrington School. 

Waterbury Public Schools' School Governance Councils Annual

Back To School Breakfast on Thursday, September 27, 2018

9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. at Gilmartin  School (Café). 

Flyer in English / Spanish / Albanian

School and city staff, as well as parents and community members, turned out to meet the new Superintendent of Schools Dr. Verna Ruffin, at a special reception on August 24th. Click here for more photos and information on this event. Below: Dr. Ruffin and Deputy Superintendent Robert Henry greet well-wishers. 

WELCOME BACK! Click here to see more photos from the first day of school and the previous week's professional development events for school staff. 

A few rain drops did not deter families from visiting the Back to School Rally being held at Library Park from noon to 3 p.m. (August 22nd). Board of Education President Elizabeth Brown provided a rousing welcome, and school staff visited with families. New School Superintendent Dr. Verna Ruffin visited the park and personally welcomed both families and community members in attendance. Pictured below: Waterbury staff and parent members of the Title I Disrict Parent Advisory Council prepare to welcome families as the gates opened for the event. 

The Special Education Department in collaboration with the Special Education Advisory Council is hosting a Middle School Transition informational session on Wednesday, August 23^rd, 2018 from 5:30-6:30 in the Chase Building Training Room, second floor.  Refreshments will be served.

Dear Waterbury Community Members:

Students will be returning to Waterbury Public Schools on Monday, August 27, 2018. Please be aware that students will once again be walking to and from school and that school busses will be transporting students out on our roads. State law requires that you must stop for your vehicle at least ten feet from the front or rear of a school bus until it no longer displays its stop signals. Crossing guards will be assisting students at main intersections but there are other intersections where students may be crossing on their own.  Please remember that the safety of our students should be paramount to all. Thank you.  

Dear Parent/Guardian,  

It is very important for us to work together to protect all the children in our care.

• School physicals performed by authorized medical providers in Connecticut need to be on file prior to student entering Kindergarten, Grade 6 and Grade 10.
• If your child is entering Grade 1, 7 or 11 and still has no physical or immunization on record, please provide the school nurse with all required medical documents prior to August 27, 2018 or your child will not be allowed to attend school.
• There are exceptions to this rule that recognize your rights as parents. Please see the district website www.waterbury.k12.ct.us for full information.
• You may also click on this link to the School Nursing website for more information. 

REMINDER: The first day of school for Waterbury Public School students is Monday, August 27, 2018. Bus routes are posted here on the website. Additional information for parents is available under the link "Parents" on the top right of this page. Lunch menus will be posted when they become available.  WELCOME BACK!

Bus Routes now finalized and available, except for Brass City Charter and Yeshiva (revisions pending). Links available under Parents or Staff - or click here for direct link to page. 

The complete 2017-2018 Education Department Annual Report is available by clicking HERE. 

Dr. Ruffin greets staff as they arrive at the reception to welcome her to Waterbury Public Schools. 

Parents:

1. HUMAN GROWTH, DEVELOPMENT AND FAMILY LIFE EDUCATION POLICY

Any parent or legal guardian of a Waterbury Public School student may exempt his/her child from any or all lessons dealing with Human Growth, Development and Family Life portions of the Health and Wellness Education Curriculum.  This may be done by written notification to the Principal of the building that the child attends.  Copies of the curriculum are available at the school for parent review.  If you would like to read the curriculum, please call the school and make an appointment to go in and review the material.

"Applications for Pre-K will be accepted through August 3rd. Please come in and enroll today." This registration is for prekindergarten classes offered through the Office of Early Childhood and does not include any magnet school choice (e.g. Maloney or Rotella, Waterbury Career Academy). 

Dr. Verna D. Ruffin is the new Superintendent of Schools for Waterbury. The Board of Education official named Dr. Ruffin at its meeting June 28, 2018. 

Dr. Ruffin comes to Waterbury from a position as a Chief Academic Officer for the Achievement School District in Memphis, Tennessee. Prior to that position, she had served as Superintendent of the Jackson-Madison County Schools in Jackson (TN) and Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction and Area Superintendent in Tulsa (OK) Public Schools.

We have several different summer school programs to meet the needs of our students, including some programs that are enrichment programs. Dates, times, and locations vary.

Click here to view a listing of programs or continue reading. 

Video of the Superintendent Candidates Forum held on June 19, 2018 is now available on YouTube. Click here to view. 

The 21^st Annual Back To School Rally will be held on August 22, 2018 at Library Park from 1:00pm-3pm. 

The public is invited to attend a special forum to meet the two candidates for the position of Superintendent of Schools. The forum is scheduled for Tuesday, June 19th, at the Waterbury Arts Magnet School. Candidates will be introduced separately to the public, with Pamela Brown, who currently serves as chief of elementary schools in the Fontana Unified School District in California, speaking first at 7:00 p.m. and Verna Ruffin, current chief academic officer for the Achievement School District in Tennessee, speaking second at 8:00 p.m. Those members of the pubic wishing to submit a question must do so in advance prior to the forum between 6:00 and 6:30 p.m.  

Thirty-one teachers, three paraprofessionals, one administrator, and one support staff person of the year will be honored at a ceremony at Crosby High School on Thursday, June 14th, at 4:30 p.m. The Administrator of the Year and the Waterbury Teacher of the Year will be announced at that time. Continue reading this article on the next page to see the list of winners. 

For the past few months, over 2500 students in several Waterbury schools have been running parts of a marathon before or after school. In addition to practicing how to run  efficiently and how to eat healthy foods, students learned about setting and working toward goals.  The experience culminated in a “Final Mile” event held on Wednesday, May 31st. That day students came to Library Park  then paraded to the area on Grand Street between City Hall and the Chase Building, the starting point for a run  through downtown streets that finished back at Library Park.  In all, students ran the full marathon distance over the course of the program. Click here to see more photos from the event. 

Waterbury Public School students displayed their talent on May 18th during the district-wide talent showcase, "Celebrating Community Through the Arts," at the Palace Theater. Please click here to see photos of the event, along with the names of students who participated. 

There is a new Pool Registration Procedure. Every child who is going to use the pool must be registered and then have a photo taken at River Baldwin Recreation Center starting June 4, 2018 Hours for photos are 11:00 a.m. -7:00 p.m.   Monday - Friday and Saturday  10:00 a. m.  - 3:00 p.m.  There is a also a pre-registration process online at www.waterburyparksrec.com. Click on the link to create an account with all the household information.

Information in English / Spanish. 

Fifty one students received recognition during the annual Superintendent's Student Awards Recognition ceremony, held May 10, 2018 at Kennedy High School. Click here for full set of photographs and student bios from that evening. 

the Pre-K registration will continue through June 21^st.  Enrollment and placement will be determined by June 30^th.

*updated 20180517 -SOLD OUT-

Parents and friends are cordially invited to attend an evening presentation at Wilby High School on Wednesday, May 30th from 6:00 – 7:30 pm:

The opioid epidemic is a national crisis that has hit Connecticut hard.  Over 900 people died from opioid overdoses in 2016 in Connecticut and in 2017 the Connecticut Medical Examiner’s Office reported a total of 1038 opioid overdoses.  In response, the Waterbury Board of Education, the Waterbury Department of Public Health, the Mayor’s Task Force Against Substance Abuse and the Central Naugatuck Valley Opioid Workgroup have teamed to invite the United States Attorney’s Office to present an educational event for our entire school community offered by the Heroin Education Action Team (H.E.A.T.).

The program will discuss the statistics and the serious problem with abuse of prescription painkillers, which many times leads users to purchase the cheaper alternative, heroin.  However, the heroin seen on the streets now is almost always laced with fentanyl, an even more potent and lethal drug which is prevalent in most overdose deaths.  In response to the spike in the number of overdose deaths in Connecticut, in 2016 the United States Attorney’s Office began prosecuting drug dealers whose drugs contributed to the death of the victim(s). 

Twenty-four Waterbury Public Schools teachers had their Donors Choose projects funded in full recently, through the generosity of Ripple, a San Francisco-based technology company who donated $29 million to DonorsChoose.org., funding every single classroom project request across the U.S. requested at that time. Here in Waterbury, 28 projects were funded, totaling $19,856. Donors Choose allows those who would like to support education on a classroom level to donate funds to projects that interest them.

Three Waterbury Public Schools teachers have been awarded grants for summer projects through Fund for Teachers.  Alison Kirchberger (Hopeville) and Doreen Lawson (Wilby) will travel to Crete, Greece (click here for their blog) to study storytelling and memoir writing, while Matthew Weiner (Enlightenment) will travel to Thailand to study meditation in a Buddhist monastery. The national Fund for Teachers granted awards to 487 teachers this year, with 149 of those teachers being from Connecticut. The Dalio Foundation funds the Connecticut projects. 

Applications are now available for students interested in Waterbury Hospital's Summer Bridge Program. The program runs from June 25 - July 27. A Maximum of 30 students will be accepted. Click here for more information. 

For the past several years, Waterbury students have participated in a district-wide Invention Convention competition as preparation for competing at the Connecticut Invention Convention. This year, 131 students participated in the district competition, with a group of these students going on to compete this Sunday in the Southern Connecticut Regional Competition at Hamden Middle School. Winners at this competition will be selected to compete at the state finals later this year.