Fitch Middle Fallout: Kadri To Meet At Schools Today

Superintendent Paul Kadri will meet with staff and students at this morning to talk about the school board’s decision to close the school.

Kadri will also visit and middle schools to speak to teachers and students.

and to keep Cutler and West Side open. Fitch Middle would close at the end of the school year and staff and students would be reassigned. The school would be used as "swing space" during construction at other schools.

Fitch Principal Robert Pendolphi, who is out on a temporary leave, has been communicating with staff and the central office by e-mail. He said if a school must close, it’s better the decision was made early.

“I think people knew it was coming,” he said. “It was just that unknown of which school it was going to be and why the choice of one over (another).  But now that that decision has been made, we have to put all that behind us. There are great people in the school system, and a lot of talent in all three buildings.”

He said students will respond to the adults around them.

“We need to make sure that we maintain as positive an attitude that we can,” he said.

Kadri sent an e-mail to staff Tuesday morning saying he expects no layoffs as a result of the school closure.

The students

Fitch Middle School enrolls 413 students, about one-third of whom live within walking distance of the building. The school also serves a large number of military families; 45 percent of the students have at least one parent in the military. About half of the students at Fitch Middle leave or enter the school as new students each year.

Pendolphi said this may help with the change, because many students are used to moving. All three middle schools, including Fitch, also have students trained in the junior student-to-student program, which pairs new students with other children who know the school well.

Fitch Middle has 20 students trained in this program.

Seth Danner, assistant principal at the school, said there were no tears Tuesday. He said some students are aware of the decison, but others are not.

“Not everyone knows yet,” he said. “There are bound to be a lot of questions. Concerns are going to be ‘What school am I going to go to?’ and ‘Who’s going to be my teacher?’ Those are valid concerns for a 12 and 13 year old.”

Sylvia Blount, 12, said she had a feeling the school might close, but didn't know for sure until Tuesday.

"I'm a little upset because I don't want to leave this school," said Sylvia, interviewed with friends in her neighborhood after school Tuesday. She said she'll have to take a bus, and she's worried it will be crowded.

The teachers

Kadri said he expects staff will have two main concerns: keeping their jobs and understanding how school assignments are decided.

Kadri said he had an initial conversation with union leadership about staff assignments and requests a week ago, but the group couldn’t discuss details because the school board hadn’t made a decision yet.

Now that a decision has been made, Kadri said detailed discussions would begin after the holiday break.

Fitch Middle School has about 50 staff.  More than a dozen have been at the school since the early 1990s or before.

Next steps

The plan for two schools would place six teams of students - or roughly 515 students each- at Cutler and West Side.

Kadri said Groton will need two portable classrooms at West Side and Cutler to accommodate the students. City officials were expected to meet with architects Friday to determine whether this is possible.

Once it’s confirmed that portables can be placed at West Side, the school department would proceed with seeking approval from the Town Council and Representative Town Meeting for portables so Groton can apply to the state for reimbursement.

The process of redistricting students would start in January, Kadri said.

Pendolphi said his hope is that before the end of the school year, students could get together with their peers from their new school and get to know them.

Pendolophi said he also wants transition time for staff, so don’t feel like outsiders coming in.

"Tremendously emotional"

Carolyn Doutre, interim principal at Fitch Middle until Pendolphi returns in late January, was principal of Noank School when it closed.

She met with guidance counselors Tuesday morning to talk to them about dealing with questions from students.

She said closing schools is “tremendously emotional,” but the flip side is it can lead to a better facility. Doutre retired as principal of Northeast Academy last year.

“It’s always a difficult transition for a community because you’re saying goodbye,” she said.  But she added, “When a decision is made that will benefit a community, it is positive.”

A new era

Kadri said he wants to reassure students that administrators are prepared but take nothing for granted.

His plan in the near future is to gather a group of students that represent each grade in each middle school and include the children in the process so they can talk to their classmates about what's decided and relay questions back to administrators.

He said he knows there will be some grief but hopes there will also be some excitement about the future.

“While this is a change, this is not being done as a change out of desperation,” he said.  “This is being done as a change at the beginning of a new era.”