Kick off the new school year with your colleagues from around the state! The 17th Annual CAS-CAPSS Convocation will be held at the Aqua Turf on September 15th at 5:00 p.m. This year’s event will feature Dr. Dianna Wentzell, Connecticut Commissioner of Education, and, Deborah Delisle, ASCD Executive Director. Registration closes on September 11th!
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CAS recently announced its partnership with the newly formed Connecticut Association for Latino Administrators and Superintendents (CALAS). The new organization, which is the state chapter of the national organization ALAS, was founded by a group of school leaders from New Haven dedicated to expanding resources and opportunities for Hispanic/Latino educators. CAS is hosting an orientation session next week - on Thursday, September 10th – which will include a presentation from CALAS leaders about their association, mission and ideas for activities going forward. The session will begin with a light supper and time for socializing. We hope you will join us!

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The Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) and the Connecticut Association of Schools (CAS) are inviting principals and assistant principals to participate in a year-long leadership training program, The Principals’ Leadership Series (PLS). Using Michael Fullan’s The Principal: Three Keys to Maximizing Impact as the basis for its exploration of the work of effective school building leaders, this year’s PLS will feature a two-day presentation by Joanne Quinn, Director of Whole Systems Change & Capacity Building with Michael Fullan Enterprises. In addition to exploring Fullan’s work, participants will study key elements of Bryan Goodwin’s Simply Better: What Matters Most to Change the Odds for Student Success. The deadline to register is September 20th.

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Nominations are now open for the 2016 CAS Assistant Principal of the Year Awards. These awards were established in 1990 to honor outstanding individuals who have demonstrated excellent leadership skills, a commitment to their staff and students, service to their communities, and contributions to the overall profession of educational leadership. If you know or work with an exceptional assistant principal and would like to nominate him or her for the Assistant Principal of the Year Award, click here for further information.

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Due to great demand, CAS and Alan Bernstein of The College Board have collaborated to bring an additional session of The Redesigned SAT and PSAT/NMSQT: What School Administrators Need to Know to CAS on October 13th. Alan, the College Board’s Senior District Director, will explain the substantive test changes that will be in place beginning this fall with the redesigned PSAT. CAS is also offering a session on September 29th to discuss the specific impact of these changes in English Language Arts and social studies.

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Has a new administrator made a big impact on your school district? If so, please consider nominating him or her for the CAS First-Year Principal Awards for 2015-2016. These awards recognize individuals whose instructional leadership, innovative practices and managerial skills 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 has been extended to September 18, 2015.

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CAS is offering a four-part community of practice series focused on mastery-based learning. Presented by author Allison Zmuda, who began as a teacher at Newtown High School and has consulted with many school districts in Connecticut and other states, the series is designed for teacher teams. District and building administrators are encouraged to attend the first and last sessions with their teachers.

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CIAC leaders would like to visit principals' league meetings to speak about rules, discuss issues or concerns, or offer clarification on topics. There are many new state statutes and regulations in place regarding academic and activity programs. CIAC staff are available to attend small group/league meetings of school leaders at all levels to have in-person discussions about how these statutes and regulations impact your schools. If you happen to be the president/liaison/leader of your league, please contact Steve Wysowski (swysowski@casciac.org) or Karissa Niehoff (kniehoff@casciac.org) with your league schedule.

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On October 14th, the Connecticut Council for Education Reform (CCER) and the Connecticut Association of School Business Officials (CASBO) are hosting a school finance conference at the Sheraton Hartford South in Rocky Hill. “School Finance: Moving Forward” will feature a keynote address by Dean James Ryan from the Harvard Graduate School of Education as well as several breakout sessions such as Communication Strategies for School Leaders, Legislative Updates, Uniform Chart of Accounts, and Lessons Learned from School Funding Analyses. There will also be a panel discussion on the school funding issues in CT.

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The state department of education’s annual back-to-school meeting was held at Prince Technical High School in Hartford on August 19th. Dr. Dianna R. Wentzell, commissioner of education, and Allan Taylor, chair of the state board of education, greeted school district superintendents from all across the state. Be sure to watch - and share with your staff - the heartfelt, uplifting and inspiring messages shared by educational leaders from across the state, including CAS Executive Director Karissa Niehoff.

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In its 2015 legislative sessions, the Connecticut General Assembly made a number of changes in the statutes that affect Connecticut school districts. Shipman and Goodwin LLP has prepared a helpful summary providing a brief overview of some of the more significant changes that were made this year in the area of education.

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BookBugs is a benefit corporation that sells children’s books online and donates books to underprivileged kids. For every three books purchased through its website site, BookBugs will donate one to a child in need. CAS Executive Director Karissa Niehoff sat down with David Rader, BookBugs co-founder and chief executive officer, to talk about how member schools and their families can benefit from his company’s social entrepreneurship model.

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