Education in Darien, Connecticut
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Darien, Connecticut has a total of eight educational institutions - seven schools in the public Darien Public Schools system and one private school, Pear Tree Point School.
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[edit] Darien Public Schools
The nine-member Board of Education in Darien is part of the Darien town government, and the total school budget must be approved by the town government Board of Finance and Representative Town Meeting, although the Board of Education has ultimate control over how its town-appropriated budget is spent.[1]
Total enrollment in public schools in Darien is 4,475 students (22.7 percent of the town population). A total of 85 percent of the total student population is in public schools.[2]
The 2005-2006 town education budget is $56.7 million, representing an estimated $11,928 in spending per pupil. Teacher salaries in the 2005-2006 fiscal year ranged from a low of $37,875 to a high of $90,766. Donald Fiftal, superintendent of schools, received a salary of $185,000 in the 2005-2006 fiscal year.
The town has five Elementary Schools: Hindley School, Holmes School, Ox Ridge School, Royle School, and Tokeneke School. A $27 million addition was completed in 2000 to the town's middle school, Middlesex Middle School, and a new $73 million campus for Darien High School was completed in the fall of 2005.[3]
[edit] Students
| Measurement[2] | Year | Darien | DRG | State |
| Eligibile for free/reduced price meals | 2005-06 | 1.2% | 1.1% | 26.9% |
| Eligible for free/reduced price meals | 2002-03 | 1.1% | n/a | 25.4% |
| Non-English language at home | 2005-06 | 3.0% | 2.5% | 12.6% |
| Non-English language at home | 2000-01 | 3.9% | n/a/ | 12.5 % |
"DRG" (District Reference Group) — "A DRG is a classification of districts whose students' families are similar in education, income, occupation, and need, and have roughly similar enrollment."[2]
[edit] High school academic statistics
- Average SAT scores for the Class of 2005 were 585 verbal and 612 math. For the Class of 2004, 86.6 percent went on to four-year colleges and another 6.7 percent went to two-year colleges. The May 2005 Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT) results (administered to students in the 10th grade): Of the 238 students who took the test, 62.2 percent scored at or above the state goal in all four content areas.[4]
[edit] Connecticut Mastery Test scores
- Students performing at or above the state performance goal in 2004:[5]
- Fourth grade: reading, 80.2 percent; writing, 88.9 percent; math, 84.5 percent
- Sixth grade: reading, 88.7 percent; writing, 86.1 percent; math, 90.1 percent
- Eighth grade: reading, 84.1 percent; writing, 84.7 percent; math, 87.1 percent
[edit] Royle School
Royle School serves about 430 students from kindergarten through fifth grade. The school's colors are blue and white. Its mascot, Sir Learn-a-Lot, is a suit of armor that stands at the main entrance of the school on Mansfield Avenue. Professional hockey player Hugh Jessiman (b. 1984), attended the school, as well as Ox Ridge School.[6]
When the Royle School was in a building on the Post Road (where the town hall was later located and where senior housing is now), movies would be shown until the town movie theater was built in the 1920s (admission was 25 cents).[7]
The school has held an annual "Royle Wrap Up" fundraiser for 17 years as of 2003. Students sell wrapping paper, candles and gifts in their neighborhoods for the fundraising drive, which accounts for 70 percent of the school Parent Teacher Organization's annual budget. The school enrichment program, funded by the PTO, brings in authors and drama companies to the school and includes an annual class field trip.[8]
The school has held an annual "Back to School Family Picnic" in September. In 2003, the picnic attracted 800 students and their families, Competitions were run by class with prizes for boys and girls, making all participants winners. A sack race, "baloon pop race", a water-balloon tossing contest, a tug of war with about 70 parents participating, and the launching of 20 silver balloons (one for each classroom) with postcards attached.[9]
The school Parent Teacher Organization donated $6,000 to the school in 2006 to pay for fans to be installed in the common room and cafeteria.[10] In 2007, the school received a $45,000 donation for new playground equipment from the PTO. The money replaced old equipment, some of which had been made in 1948. Two pieces had already been removed for safety reasons.[11]
[edit] Ox Ridge School
The farthest north of Darien's elementary schools, Ox Ridge School sits behind a small, private field where horses roam. The school's Kids Care Club puts together "Holiday Hope Chests" — decorated shoe boxes with small gifts — for children in Norwalk's Family and Children's Agency. The students give out the gifts at the agency's annual Christmas party.[12]
Teacher Annemarie Ekey's third-grade class emphasizes recycling, with students using recycled book boxes (made from old cereal boxes) to carry reading material to different places in the classroom, and a student project in which they put up signs in the cafeteria to ask students to separate milk caps from milk bottles, which is necessary in order for the bottles to be recycled. The students arranged with cafeteria staff to place more recycling bins, and each week, 800 to 900 caps are recycled.[13]
[edit] Private school
Pear Tree Point School (formerly Plumfield School) serves students in pre-kindergarten through Grade 5.
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Know Your Town Government: Darien, Connecticut" booklet published by the League of Women Voters of Darien, 20 pages, 2006 edition
- ^ a b c [1] state Department of Education's Strategic School Profile 2005-05, for Darien School District, accessed March 13, 2007
- ^ [2] Prevost, Lisa, "A Haven for Both Sailors and Commuters," an article (part of the ongoing "If you're thinking of living in" feature) in the Real Estate section of The New York Times, December 14, 2003, accessed online on July 14, 2003
- ^ Darien Answerbook 2006, page 28
- ^ Darien Answerbook 2006, page 28
- ^ Buono, Steve, "Huge Specimen" is Rangers' giant asset", article, The Darien Times, [[June 26], 2003, accessed via NewsBank Web site (www.newsbank.com), accessed November 15, 2007
- ^ Durland, Ann, "A look back at the Darien that was Along the Way", The Darien Times, March 15, 2007, accessed via NewsBank Web site (www.newsbank.com), accessed November 15, 2007
- ^ News brief, "'Royle Wrap Up' underway", The Darien Times, September 25, 2003, accessed via NewsBank Web site, (www.newsbank.com) on November 15, 2007
- ^ "Royle School students have a blast during the annual 'Family Picnic'", no byline, article in The Darien Times", October 2, 2003, accessed via NewsBank Web site, (www.newsbank.com) on November 15, 2007
- ^ Shultz, Susan, "Hindley, Royle elementary schools getting gifts", The D Darien Times, June 1, 2006, accessed via NewsBank Web site (www.newsbank.com) on November 15, 2007
- ^ Shultz, Susan, "At Royle School New playground is on the way", article in The Darien Times, January 25, 2007, accessed via NewsBank Web site (www.newsbank.com) on November 15, 2007
- ^ "Kids Care Club: Makes holidays special for others", no-byline article, Darien Times, December 6, p 1C 2007
- ^ Shultz, Susan, "Ox Ridge: Adding another R to learning", article, Darien Times, December 6, p 1C 2007
