Board of Education

‘Students Have Benefitted’: Board of Ed Reviews Survey Results, Feedback on New School Start Times

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The new school start times schedule that took effect last fall following years of discussion and analysis has received positive feedback for its intended outcomes, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi said this week. 

Citing the results of a survey launched in the spring, Luizzi told Board of Education members during their regular meeting Monday that the new schedule “appears, based on this feedback, to have met our goals as we were looking at improving these three domains—overall wellness, amount of sleep, academic performance.”

“Students have benefited,” he said during the meeting, held in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School. Nearly 2,500 people participated in the survey, which used a platform from Norwalk-based ThoughtExchange. They shared more than 1,500 thoughts to answer the overall question of “What impact has the new start times had on your (or your students’ or children’s) overall well-being and academic experience?” They also provided more than 24,000 “rankings,” in the survey itself and by up- or down-voting thoughts shared by other participants. (Luizzi’s full presentation can be found here—during the presentation, he thanked New Canaan Public Schools Webmaster and Social Media Specialist Michelle Schneider “who really became a ThoughtExchange expert in doing all of this and put it all together and really has been a amazing help in using this tool and putting together the slides.”)

About 80% of responding students—nearly all of them at NCHS—agreed or strongly agreed that “my overall well-being has improved because of change in school start times,” according to the results, while 73% of K-12 parents agreed and 64% of faculty and staff disagreed or strongly disagreed (speaking on behalf of themselves, not their students). Luizzi noted that the new schedule is a “brand new implementation” and there are “some challenges around rebalancing the ecosystem.”

“The school exists in an ecosystem of individuals’ lives,” he said.

Government

Election 2023: Lara Kelly Announces Candidacy for Board of Education

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New Canaan’s Lara Kelly has announced that she will seek a seat on the Board of Education. The Republican will seek party backing at the GOP Caucus on July 25. We put some questions to Kelly ahead of the Caucus, which is open to all registered New Canaan Republicans. 

Here’s our exchange. ***

New Canaanite: What is your background professionally and in terms of living and volunteering here in New Canaan? Lara Kelly: I am a mother to four children: Caroline (13), Spencer (9), Addison (6), and James (3). 

I grew up in Connecticut and moved back to New Canaan in 2019.

Board of Education

Election 2023: Matt Wexler Announces Candidacy for Board of Education [Q&A]

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New Canaan’s Matt Wexler has announced that he will seek a seat on the Board of Education. The Republican will seek party backing at the GOP Caucus on July 25. We put some questions to Wexler ahead of the Caucus, which is open to all registered New Canaan Republicans. 

Here’s our exchange. ***

New Canaanite: What is your background professionally and in terms of living and volunteering here in New Canaan? Matt Wexler: I have lived in town with my wife and two children since 2011 and am a graduate of New Canaan High School.

Amy Murphy Carroll

Election 2023: Democrats Put Up Three for BOE; Murphy Carroll Accepts First Selectman Nomination

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A Democrat seeking election to the Board of Education on Tuesday night described New Canaan as “a large community with a ton of tiny communities within it.”

For Lauren Connollly Nussbaum and her husband Matt, town residents for 10 years whose three daughters—ages 8, 10 and 13—attend South and Saxe Middle Schools, those communities include one in special education that they’ve found “remarkable and humbling,” she said during the Democratic Caucus, held at Town Hall. 

Other communities “may be in the sports world, in a house of worship, that may be in the Beautification League,” Connolly Nussbaum told 75-plus Democrats in attendance . 

She continued: “Wherever people in New Canaan are, we are building communities. And that is what I want to do on the Board of Education. Continue to build community and include everyone.”

Connolly Nussbaum added, “I feel ready. I feel nervous. I feel excited.

Government

Election 2023: Matthew Campbell Announces Candidacy for Board of Education [Q&A]

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New Canaan resident Matthew Campbell has announced that he will seek a seat on the Board of Education. The Republican will seek party backing at the GOP Caucus on July 25. We put some questions to Campbell ahead of the Caucus, which is open to all registered New Canaan Republicans. 

Here’s our exchange. ***

New Canaanite: What is your background professionally and in terms of living and volunteering here in New Canaan? 

Matthew Campbell: I’m a credit investment professional with over 17 years of experience at premier financial institutions on Wall Street. I have extensive experience investing in primary and secondary credit markets mostly involving distressed debt in emerging markets.