I hope this communication finds you and your family well. The time has finally arrived to return to the best school district in the state of Connecticut. I want to thank you for your continued support and understanding as we open the doors to the Granby Public Schools with safety, equity and academic excellence for our students and staff.
We are so excited to welcome our staff and students back to what promises to be a wonderful year. Granby Public Schools has the reputation of being a “flagship” district in the State of Connecticut. It is the effort of the entire school community whose commitment to excellence continuously elevates our sights for student success.
I have received nothing but kindness, warmth and respect from this wonderful school community. Mutual respect binds our community together and is one of the most important values that we will ever learn from one another and I am grateful to the Granby community and honored to be your Superintendent of Schools.
Each school year we have the awesome responsibility to educate children and continue to prepare them for their future endeavors. In my 27 years as an educator serving children and their families, this year’s opening of school is like no other. At the time of this writing, Granby Public Schools’ staff and students have not been in our buildings for learning since March 13. They are coming back on September 1 to a different schoolhouse from what they once knew. The Granby Public Schools’ Reopening Task Force, administration and staff have been hard at work this summer completing district and school plans for the return to school.
Our Stronger Together: A Working Plan for a Responsive Return to the Granby Public Schools meets or exceeds all guidelines established by the Connecticut State Department of Education for a return to schoolhouse learning. We were required to prepare for a full reopening, hybrid reopening (50 percent of our student population in each of our buildings at a time), full remote learning, and finally a remote learning environment for students who have selected not to return to schoolhouse learning. This was an incredible task, but with safety, health and the social and emotional well-being of students and staff at the core, we developed plans that were approved by the Granby Board of Education on Aug. 10.
Some specific highlights from our plans:
• Students and staff will be required to wear face coverings that cover both their nose and mouth while in the school buildings unless otherwise documented by a medical professional. Frequent face covering breaks will be provided throughout the day.
• Students will be grouped to travel through their day in a way that limits the number of other groups with whom they come in contact.
• Social/physical distancing will be maximized in classrooms and other settings through purposeful arrangement of seating and traffic patterns throughout each school.
• There will be enhanced cleaning and disinfection of all areas in each school throughout the day.
• Routines for frequent handwashing and/or use of hand sanitizer will take place.
• Buses will operate at full capacity and face coverings will be required. In order to reduce the number of passengers on a bus, parents/guardians are encouraged to transport their child(ren) to and from school as they can.
For more information regarding our return to school by going to Stronger Together: A Working Plan for a Responsive Return to the Granby Public Schools at sites.google.com/granbyschools.org/stronger-together-reopening/home
This was also a very busy summer hiring new administrative and teaching staff for the Granby Public Schools. Below you will find names and positions for outstanding educators we welcome to the Granby community:
Jennifer Parsons, Asst. Superintendent of Schools
Taylor Wrye, Principal, GMMS
Colleen Bava, Principal, Kelly Lane
Heather Tanis, Asst. Principal, GMMS
Carly Williams, First Grade Teacher
Ashley Hyatt, Third Grade Teacher
Carla Stoddard, Strings Teacher
Leigh Ann Ryan, Media Specialist, GMMS
Justin Piwonski, Special Education Resource Teacher, GMMS/GMHS
Lauren Erickson, School Psychologist, GMMS
Jacqueline Davis, Special Education Resource Teacher, GMHS
Francis Butler, Social Studies Teacher, GMMS/GMHS
Natalia Pylypyszyn, Math Teacher, GMMS
Laura Abel, Social Studies Teacher, GMMS
Please be assured that the Granby Board of Education and the staff of Granby’s public schools are committed to providing the best possible education for our students moving forward. I urge you to view our district website (granbyschools.org) to learn more about our school district.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns at 860-844-5260 and follow me on Twitter @GranbySuper.