Numbers & stats on how COVID-19 impacted one school

SALISBURY — At the Monday, June 21, meeting of the Salisbury Board of Education, Salisbury Central School Principal Stephanie Magyar said that student assessments for the 2020-21 school year were consistent with previous years.

“We were able to keep people in a consistent place in this crazy year.”

Region One School District Superintendent Lisa Carter noted that Region One was part of the roughly one-third of Connecticut school systems that had in-person learning at the start of the school year last fall. The six Region One kindergarten-to-eight schools were open, with restrictions, and Housatonic Valley Regional High School operated under a hybrid system combining in-person and remote learning until mid-April.

Each town in the region has its own K-8 school, and its own town school board; the six towns share the regional high school and a regional board of education.

Magyar said that while the assessments were consistent, they were also flat, and did not show a lot of growth.

She said this was acceptable because so many Salisbury Central  students are at or above their grade level. “But we’re still looking for growth.”

Both Magyar and Carter said the pandemic restrictions on cohorts, class sizes, and the lack of enrichment programs contributed to the flat scores.

For those students who are struggling, Magyar said that most had already been identified by the school as being at risk. Students received counseling, including making sure they understood the questions on the assessments, and families were notified.

Magyar announced two new hires: Salisbury native and SCS/HVRHS graduate Deana Conlogue will teach grade two, and Kathleen Ruiz, most recently the elementary Spanish teacher in Region 6, will teach Spanish at the middle school.

And Chelsea Murray has been re-hired as cafeteria assistant for next year. 

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