Gilbert starts school year

WINSTED — The Gilbert School, the town’s semi-private high school, began its school year on Thursday, Aug. 27.

Principal Alan Strauss, who was hired in 2012, is now starting his third school year at Gilbert. 

According to Strauss, there are 559 students enrolled at Gilbert this year, up slightly from last school year’s enrollment of 551.

Strauss said that there are 198 students enrolled in the school’s seventh and eighth grade programs.

The Winchester School District started sending seventh- and eighth-graders to Gilbert during the 2011-2012 school year.

Previously, seventh- and eighth-grade students were educated at Pearson Middle School.

There was some debate by the Board of Education earlier this year on whether to continue to send seventh- and eighth-grade students to Gilbert.

“Our seventh- and eighth-graders are excited in being here,” Strauss said. “I know that this community has rallied wonderfully around Gilbert. We can only control what happens within this school building. Everything else will take shape as it’s supposed to take shape. Our job is to take care of the children, and our job as administrators is to take care of our faculty and staff. To say that we don’t read the newspapers is crazy. That would be wrong to say. But we are confident in what we do here.”

Strauss spoke positively about moving forward with the school year despite Gilbert currently operating without a contract with the Winchester School District.

While contract negotiations with Gilbert were being conducted, in March the Board of Education disclosed a controversial proposed plan that would allow district students to attend any of four different high schools: Canton High School, Granby High School, Litchfield High School or Torrington High School.

The Gilbert School was not listed as a choice in the plan.

At a Board of Education meeting on April 7, board members voted to negotiate solely with The Gilbert School and halt negotiations with other area high schools.

The contract, which lasted for one year, expired on June 30 and was not renewed, despite multiple negotiation meetings.

Strauss said that Gilbert will continue to operate despite a lack of contract with the Winchester School district.

“We kind of look at it like athletes who are in the middle of contract negotiations,” Strauss said. “We have a job to do. All of that stuff will take care of itself. Our teachers are safe and this building is safe because the community supports what we are doing. As long as our staff is doing their job, then the parents and community will support us. In the end, the right thing will happen.”

Strauss said that the school’s international program, which started in 2013, continues to have strong enrollment.

He said that this year the program has 53 students enrolled, up from last school year’s enrollment of 40 students.

“Right now the students all come from China, but the goal right now for Superintendent Anthony Serio and Program Coordinator Timothy Cronin is to work hard on a European market,” Strauss said. “That’s where they will be doing their travelling this year. I think the program has added a tremendous amount to this building and has given the opportunity for our students to understand new cultures. It’s helped them understand what life is like for others around the world.”

As for new programs this year, Strauss said that the school will introduce new business classes during the 2015-2016 school year.

“Also, our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) program is rapidly improving,” he said. “We also have many more students involved with AP classes and adaptive physical education programs. We’re working on transition and life skill programs. We don’t want to build on programs that we are creating without improving on what we already have. I think we should continue on what we have already started. One of the great things about Gilbert is our ability to add programs very quickly . If there is a high demand for an academic program, we will find ways to make it happen. To me, this is how educational programs should be operated.”

As for challenges not relating to the Winchester School district, Serio said that Gilbert is facing the same issues that are common with other high schools.

“I think one challenge is getting our students to believe that there is a tremendous world out there and that we can help them reach for whatever they want,” he said. “They don’t have to settle for merely ‘good enough’. We are vested deeply in them. We are always looking to improve upon statistics and find out why certain students are not successful. If you don’t look at that, we will go backwards.”