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Principal's Message
 Dear Families,
Welcome back to what is sure to be another wonderful year at Thomas Hooker School! I am very excited about the promise and potential that each new year brings. Excitement and renewed energy are in the air. We look forward to reconnecting with the students and families after a wonderful summer. Within the first few days of school we will all be back into the routine.
We welcome 77 new kindergarteners and 32 new students in grades 1-5 and their families to our school community. We are sure that they will find themselves at home here.
Over the summer, Thomas Hooker School was nominated to be the Connecticut Association of Schools' (CAS) Elementary School of the Year. This prestigious award recognizes schools for their exemplary work to improve student achievement and close the achievement gap. We completed a detailed ten-page application and were notified this week that we are one of tow finalists in the state! We are all very excited to welcome a committee from CAS to visit Thomas Hooker School on Thursday October 13!
We have some new staff members at Thomas Hooker this year. Becky Starrett will be our new library media specialist. Mrs. Starrett will be providing library media support throughout the district and will be here on Thursday afternoons. Mark Trecina and Donald Lamb joined our custodial staff this summer and will be working evenings. Our special education teacher, Amy Hersey, got married over the summer and is now Amy Dow.
Several of our staff have new assignments and rooms this year. Mary Crusberg will be teaching kindergarten. Mrs. Crusberg has many years of experience teaching kindergarten before coming to Thomas Hooker. She will remain in Room 4. Amanda Milardo got married this summer and is now Amanda Rothschild. She will be teaching first grade in Room 5. Claudine Scheer will be teaching grade 2 in Room 17 and Melissa Sciarretto will teach grade 3 in room 24. Allyson Twombly is still teaching third grade but has moved to Room 26. Rosa Sterling is still teaching kindergarten but has moved to Room 2. Her former classroom is currently being converted into a new computer lab.
Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) results arrived recently and they are excellent. I have been examining the performance of each student and grade level and comparing the results to previous years' scores. The faculty will have the opportunity to study the results as we formulate goals for individual students and areas of focus for our school.
Thomas Hooker once again achieved AYP (adequate yearly progress) based on these scores. AYP is a measure of a school's progress toward the goal of having students meet proficiency in reading, mathematics and writing. Thomas Hooker School has made AYP every year since the law went into effect.
These opening days of school are a fun and exciting time for all of us. We look forward to seeing the children each morning as they arrive at school excited to learn and enjoy all that the day offers. It is a pleasure to work with them as they grow and mature. I hope to see all of you at our next PTG meeting on Tuesday, October 11, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the gym.
Warmest regards,
Jim Quinn
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