Norwich school officials to explain new magnet plans Wednesday
Norwich — School officials will hold a public forum Wednesday for families of middle school-aged students to explain the transition to two magnet themed middle schools next school year.
The forum, to be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, will be open to the public and will be carried live online on Facebook.
Norwich was one of three local school districts in September to receive federal grants through the LEARN regional education agency to fund new magnet school programs. Norwich received approximately $4 million over five years from the federal Magnet Schools Assistance Program.
Wednesday’s forum is for anyone wishing to learn more about the plans to convert Kelly Middle School and Teachers’ Memorial Sixth Grade Academy into magnet themed middle schools for students in grades six through eight. Kelly will become the Kelly STEAM Magnet School, with an emphasis on science, technology, engineering, arts and math. Teachers will become the Global Studies Magnet Middle School, with emphasis on world languages and global studies.
Both will be intradistrict magnet schools, limited to Norwich students.
The forum specifically is designed for parents of students currently in grades five through eight. The school system will hold a lottery for middle school students to choose between the two programs beginning Feb. 1.
Even with the grades evenly divided, Kelly being the larger school will be able to house more students. The school currently has about 700 students in grades seven and eight, while Teachers’ Memorial has about 335 sixth-graders.
At the forum, Superintendent Abby Dolliver will give an overview of the decision to transition into magnet middle schools, and Curriculum Director Thomas Baird will explain the timeline for the transition and provide details of the process.
Teachers’ Memorial Principal Alexandria Lazzari and Kelly Principal William Peckrul will describe the specific plans for their schools, their vision for the programs and how the themes will be integrated into daily education.
The district officials will take questions from the audience and will ask for feedback on the plans following the presentations. Facebook online participants are asked to submit questions in advance, given time constraints.
For more information about the forum, contact Norwich Public Schools' central office at (860) 823-4245.
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