Have you participated in this year's online annual meeting yet? This involves nothing more than reviewing and voting on several documents, including the proposed 2015-2016 budget. To cast your e-ballots, go to http://www.casciac.org/am1415/ and log into the secure, members-only area of our website using your school number and login ID. You can ask questions and/or post comments prior to submitting your votes. Online voting will be open until midnight on June 30th. We need forty-two more voters to reach our quorum requirement. Please help!

Back to Contents

Nominations are now being accepted for the CAS First-Year Principal Awards for 2015-2016. These awards recognize individuals whose instructional leadership, innovative practices and managerial skills have had a positive impact on the school district in their first year of school administration. One award is given at each level: elementary, middle and high school. The deadline for submitting nominations is September 11, 2015.

Back to Contents

Registration for the CAS Annual Summer Leadership Institute closes Friday. Don't miss the association's largest and most lauded yearly educational gathering. Join us at the Heritage in Southbury on June 25th and 26th to learn from regional and national experts how to forge a coherent, student-centered approach to preparing students for life and learning in the 21st century.

Back to Contents

High school principals are invited to nominate a student to be considered for service as a member of the State Student Advisory Council on Education (SSACE). The council gives Connecticut students a voice in education planning and provides educational decision-makers with high school students’ perspectives on key issues. Please consider nominating one of your students. The deadline for submitting a nomination is June 26th.

Back to Contents

Are you a brand new administrator or in your first few years of school leadership? If so, please join us here at CAS on August 19th for our Second Annual New Leaders Reception. Take advantage of this opportunity to network with other new leaders from around the state and to learn how CAS can support you in your work. Join us from 4:00-6:00 p.m. for good food and great conversation! Register at http://casci.ac/1288 or call Anna at 203-250-1111 for more information.

An additional opportunity for beginning administrators is the New Leaders Academy. The Academy offers principals and assistant principals in the first year or two of their leadership careers the opportunity to hear experienced presenters and to engage with veteran practitioners on a wide range of topics. This six-session series provides information critical to new administrators, including legal updates, hiring tips, hints on having difficult conversations, leadership strategies for personalizing student learning, and a Myers-Briggs assessment of leadership types.

Back to Contents

As a follow-up to CAS’ very popular series of workshops on the upcoming changes in the SAT and PSAT/NMSQT, the College Board’s Alan Bernstein is returning to CAS on September 22, 2015, to discuss the specific impact of these changes in English Language Arts and social studies.

Back to Contents

CAS will continue its highly successful leadership training for teachers in 2015-2016. The CAS Leadership Academy provides teacher-leaders with theoretical frameworks and practical experiences that enhance their leadership skills. In this age of distributive leadership, it is critical that building administrators create capacity among their teaching staff to lead key programs. Principals are urged to enroll teacher-leaders in this five-session program.

Back to Contents

The state board of education is considering the adoption of Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) as one pillar in a statewide effort to improve STEM education and keep Connecticut’s students nationally and globally competitive. In an effort to engage stakeholders regarding the implications, benefits and challenges of adopting NGSS, the CSDE hosted a pre-adoption webinar which provided an overview of the standards and explained how the new science learning goals would build upon Connecticut’s current science standards. The webinar is now archived and is available to all CAS principals and assistant principals.

Back to Contents

On June 1st, the CT State Department of Education presented the 2015 Challenge to Educational Citizenship Awards to seven Connecticut schools. These awards celebrate student-organized activities that demonstrate good citizenship, a commitment to others, civic awareness, leadership, responsibility and teamwork. Read about the amazing projects which were chosen for this year's awards.

Back to Contents

The Council on Standards for International Educational Travel (CSIET) just recently published its list of approved programs for the 2015-2016 academic year. This year’s list includes schools and programs that place international (F-1) students. Any principals wishing to have their school considered among the approved CSIET organizations for the 2016-2017 year should review these important guidelines.

Back to Contents