West Hartford Public Schools teachers begin the 2026-2027 academic year on Monday, Aug. 24, 2026, and all students return to buildings on Aug. 26.

By Ronni Newton

While many may feel that summer is far from over, with Labor Day still two weeks away, West Hartford Public Schools teachers and students are preparing to return to classrooms and Superintendent of Schools Paul Vicinus is eagerly anticipating the start of a great school year.

Newly hired teachers and administrators have have gone through orientation, and on Monday morning, Aug. 24, will officially begin the academic year with the annual convocation ceremony held at Conard High School.

In an interview Thursday afternoon, Vicinus provided some updates on what to expect regarding staffing, construction projects, nutrition, transportation, and curriculum.

“Overall we’re doing very, very well,” he said, with 47 new staff members that include three new elementary school principals and several other administrators, and 35 new contracted teachers. The district is preparing to serve more than 9,400 students including Pre-K, K-12, and those enrolled in the Post-Secondary program.

Administration, staffing, and enrollment 

Three new elementary school principals will great students and their families on Wednesday morning, but all have already been available over the summer.

At Webster Hill, which was celebrated last spring as one of Connecticut’s six Blue Ribbon Schools, Michael Larkin has been appointed to the top role, to “lead the next chapter of excellence,” Vicinus said when he announced the appointment.

Norfeldt also has a new principal, with Katherine Leonard appointed to succeed Jen Derick, who announced in March that after 12 years as principal she planned to return to the classroom.

Morley School’s former principal, Ryan Cleary, announced in late June that he would be leaving the district after 14 years for a central office position in Rocky Hill. After a comprehensive and competitive search process, Vicinus recently announced the appointment of Laura Meka to lead Morley.

There are a few changes at the assistant principal level as well, with Jillian Carnes moving from Hall High School to Sedgwick Middle School, Sadie Robinson taking her place at Hall, and an interim assistant principal at Wolcott Elementary School.

Also at the administrative level, Nadia Gonzalez has been hired as department supervisor for Multilingual Education.

Among the new teachers hired are seven special education teachers and one science teacher – and Vicinus is pleased to have found great candidates for these in-demand positions.

The district has a handful of openings for paraprofessionals and student aides, and has placed lawn signs on school properties to help recruit applicants.

Enrollment is up from last year, and while the number of students fluctuates especially as the first day nears, “There were no big surprises at all,” Vicinus said. Section counts are roughly as estimated last spring, and none of the classes are above the guideline capacity.

There had been some concern expressed by Braeburn families about potentially large classrooms in fourth grade, and Vicinus said they were able to justify another section due to the expansion of the RISE (Respect, Inclusion, Self-Respect, Engagement) program, formerly known as “IB,” to students from other districts whose home districts pay tuition for outplacement into the program in West Hartford.

As of the end of last week, Vicinus said total enrollment in West Hartford Public Schools Pre-K through Grade 12 was 9,328 (342 students in Pre-K; 4,063 in elementary school; 2,100 in middle school; and 2823 in high school), which includes students who are out-placed. There are also roughly 90 students in the district’s Post-Secondary program.

Enrollment updates will be provided to the Board of Education at its first meeting on Sept. 1, as well as when “final” enrollment is calculated in October.

One project that was originally planned for this summer has been delayed until next year – the installation of the new fresh air ventilation system and air conditioning at Webster Hill. In a report to the Town Council’s Public Works, Facilities, and Sustainability Committee last week, Director of Plant and Facilities Services Robert Palmer said final design revisions have been completed and the project will be going back out to bid, including for a state grant.

“The goal is to be ready for the next school year,” Vicinus said regarding the Webster Hill ventilation and air conditioning project. The work at Webster Hill, which opened in 1949, will be less complicated than what took place at Duffy over the course of two summers because the school has mechanical tunnels underneath the building and doesn’t have a second story.

Nutrition services

“All students now qualify for free breakfast,” Vicinus said. The universal free breakfast, a statewide plan touted by Gov. Ned Lamont, was included in the FY27 state budget. Breakfast is served daily at all of the town’s public schools.

In addition, all students who previously qualified for “reduced lunch” will now be able to receive lunch at no cost, eliminating that distinction which had been put back into place for the 2025-2026 school year once federal funding that had provided the additional subsidies during the pandemic was cut back.

In West Hartford, 28.5% of the overall student population now qualifies for the free lunch program.

Transportation and safety

Drivers should be aware that school buses will be returning to the roads, and students will also be walking and being dropped off at school. Many crosswalks in school zones now have Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFBs) as well as crossing guards, and the town has continued to add raised crosswalks and curb extensions to enhance safety.

Vicinus said the district has a planned partnership with the Vision Zero team, and further information about project goals will be forthcoming.

Ther are “no significant changes or issues with transportation,” he said. “We are pretty well staffed with driveres.”

Parents of students who take the bus have received information and are urged to sign up for FirstView, which uses GPS to track the exact location of their child’s bus.

Curriculum

Both high schools will transition to block scheduling for the 2026-2027 school year. “I am really excited about that,” Vicinus said.

Plans to convert high school schedules from the prior eight-period format had been under review since 2024, were outlined to the Board of Education last February, and Vicinus notified high school families in March that the decision had been made to implement the A/B block as of the start of the 2026-2027 school year.

One difference from the original schedule plan is that rather than having very short periods of all classes on Wednesdays, when there is early dismissal for teacher professional development, students will have four, one-hour blocks on Wednesdays, with each course having the extra Wednesday class every other week. The district will continue to evaluate the Wednesday scheduling during the year, Vicinus said, and may make further changes for next year.

A 30-minute lunch period is part of the daily schedule for all students, and has also been incorporated into the Wednesday schedule, when it will be paired with the community block at the high schools.

“This will be a real positive with the lunches,” said Vicinus. Previously 28% of high school students did not have a lunch period in order to accommodate electives. With the block scheduling, not only do 100% of the students have a lunch period, but “we’re seeing an increase in enrollment in arts, as well as career and technical education,” he said. “The number of conflicts have been reduced dramatically.”

Because of the block scheduling at the high schools, students in the middle schools who previously would have taken accelerated math or world language classes at either Conard or Hall will instead have those classes taught at their middle school.

Student access to the high school schedules was planned to go live late Friday afternoon.

New initiatives and courses at the high schools include the launch of a police explorers program as part of the public safety pathway. “We’re very excited about that,” Vicinus said, adding that it’s a great opportunity to partner with the West Hartford Police Department.

There is also a new EMT course, replacing the former EMR class, and it’s now a UConn ECE course that will not only provide college credit for those who pass but also lead to national certification.

The district has also re-launched its Teacher Leadership Academy this year, a program from which many of the current principals have graduated. It will take place primarily after school hours, and will be run by Conard Principal Jocelyn Tamborello-Noble and Assistant Director of Pupil Services Kelly Brouse.

Hot-button topics

Vicinus said the district is committed to reviewing its overall use of technology, and incorporating information from parent and teacher surveys there is draft guidance being reviewed by the Board of Education.

“We will do a close examination of the amount of screen time students have, with the overall goal of reduction,” he said, noting that technology should only be used when there is a defined purpose. Parents have voiced overall concern, particularly for younger students, but more specific details about their exact concerns need to be examined.

“There’s not a lot [of technology use] in K-2,” he said.

Vicinus said the Board of Education will be reviewing a three-phase plan looking at technology use at the beginning of the school year, suggested changes to make by the spring to ensure the “purposeful integration of technology,” and then an outlined response for changes to make for the next school year.

There will be “deliberate parent communication around this topic,” he said.

West Hartford Public Schools continues to adhere to its cellphone policy, which is in line with state guidelines, and any changes to the policy would have to be decided by the Board of Education.

“Our policy has been a bell-to-bell ban at the elementary and middle school level,” said Vicinus, and high school students are not permitted to use their phones during academic classes.

Vicinus said the district does not seem to have a problem with cellphone use at the high school level, and with lunch periods reduced to 30 minutes rather than 45 minutes, he anticipates even less cellphone use during that time.

Convocation 

All teachers have been invited to attend the annual Convocation ceremony on Monday, Aug. 24, beginning at 9 a.m. at Conard High School.

A different school hosts the program each year and this year the honor falls to Bugbee School. The program will include a greeting from the Board of Education, remarks from Teacher of the Year Elizabeth Ploof, a student speaker from Bugbee, and musical performances.

Vicinus will also deliver his “Superintendent’s Message” to welcome the start of the academic year.

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