Unified Theater Performs for Board of Education

The West Hartford Board of Education has hosted presentations by the educational community at its meetings all year, and that effort was capped off by a Unified Theater performance at the board's last regular meeting of the 2011-2012 school year Tuesday night.

"There are no 'regular' kids and 'special' kids. There’s just kids. There are no 'buddies' and no 'volunteers.' There’s just a group of young people who want to be friends with lots of other young people, including people who have different cognitive or physical challenges," said Board Chairman Bruce Putterman as he introduced the performers.

The students, who represented all grades, from both and , performed several pieces including a dance to Fun's "We Are Young." Unified Theater's programs are directed and choreographed by students.

Tom Fiorentino, who was a member of the Board of Education for 12 years and is now chairman of the board of Unified Theater, said, "Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to perform. Unified Theater fills a role, it’s a void really. The most beautiful thing it does for these kids is extend a real feeling of community."

When Assistant Superintendent for Administration Tom Moore presented the annual "Safe School Climate and Discipline Report" later in the meeting, he cited the growth of programs such as Unified Theater as a positive force in teaching kids "to be nice."

"One of the best examples of what's righ in our schools is Unified Theater – teaching kids to be nice; that’s what school discipline is really about," Moore said.

Moore's report indicated some positive trends as well.

"Every year when I do this report and look at the numbers, the numbers are true numbers, but what’s a good number when it comes to discipline. Does a high number mean there are two many offenses or that a school cracks down? My job is the safety of West Hartford public school kids. What these numbers say is that the number of students that have been suspended this year is down everywhere from what it was 5 years ago," he said.

The Safe School Climate and Discipline Report (see attached PDF), indicates a steadily decreasing trend in suspensions at both high schools, from 12 percent of the student body at both Conard and Hall in 2007-2008 to 8 percent at Conard and 7 percent at Hall in the current school year. and also exhibit a steady decline in the percentage of students suspended over the five year period. The numbers showed an increase at for the current academic year, although the percentage is still lower than it was in 2007-2008.

Most suspensions, according to the report, are served in school and are for "infractions such as inappropriate language, accumulation of unserved detentions, and disruptive behavior."

There have been a total of 10 expulsions from West Hartford public schools this year, seven of those at the high school level and three at the middle school level. No expulsions occurred from the district's elementary schools.

That number is the lowest in the past five years, and half of what it was last year. "If there’s a middle school student who is on the verge of expulsion, I meet with them," Moore said.

Moore said these numbers are positive, and believes early intervention is a key element in the decline of needed discipinary action. "We do a lot of interventions. What mistakes did students make, what did we do to teach them appropriate behavior, what effect did that have? We have monthly assistant principal reports to discuss what’s working and we use each others' experience to get better as we build discipline in students," Moore said.

Programs such as REACH, STRIVE, and the Alternative Education Program for students who have been expelled (which is located at the district's 11 Wampanoag Drive facility) work to keep students in schools and help them graduate. They receive tutoring as well as counseling from outside groups such as .

Students are also reviewed halfway through an expulsion period to see if they can return to school. "Expulsion can't be a death sentence," Moore said.

Suspensions as a result of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco are down, but Moore cautions that it could be a result of the decriminalization of possession of small amounts of marijuana.

“It all starts at home," Moore told the board.

He added that the environment in town has changed, in a positive way, over the years. He believes the , by Conard student Micaela Connery 10 years ago, is one of those positive disciplinary forces.

"Unified Theater is my favorite thing in West Hartford. Now looking back here’s the thing I think – that wouldn’t have happened 20 or 30 years ago. But that happened, and that happened here,” Moore said.