Royle Lands New Assistant Principal, Energy-Efficient Fountains

New Assistant Principal at Royle

students will welcome a new assistant principal in the fall.

At its Tuesday night meeting, the Board of Education unanimously accepted the appointment of Natasha Torre-Heffron, who is currently an instructional specialist at . She will succeed Mary Michelson, who is departing Royle to become the principal at .

“Mrs. Torre-Heffron has been recognized as a school leader who possesses excellent oral and written communication skills, an ability to use quantitative and qualitative data effectively, and a sense of compassion, understanding and humor in her interactions,” Falcone said.

A veteran educator, Torre-Heffron began her teaching career in New York City at the William T. Harris School. She earned a master’s degree from New York University in the foundations of reading and learning disabilities, a certificate in curriculum and teaching from Fordham University, and a sixth-year degree in administration and supervision from Southern Connecticut State University.

Water Fountains, Athletic Gifts Accepted

The school board accepted gifts from two organizations Tuesday night.

The Royle School PTO donated two water fountains at a cost of $1,400 apiece. These fountains will be more energy efficient than the ones they are replacing.

“This provides healthy filtered water to the children and helps with keeping green,” Judith Pandolfo, assistant superintendent for elementary education, said.

The Blue Wave Pride Club also donated goals for the girls soccer teams, water carts for the boy’s football team, kettle ball weights for the girls swim team, music to the girls cheerleading team, and goalie bags and practice pinnies to the girls field hockey team. These items total $5,211.

Guidance Coordinator Outlines Goals

guidance department coordinator Paul Ribeiro wants the incoming ninth graders to meet with guidance counselors within two months of the start of the academic year. Ribeiro spoke about the outgoing academic year and outlined his goals for the upcoming year at Tuesday's meeting.

“By the end of October, each ninth grader was scheduled to meet with his or her counselor,” he said. “I am not saying we achieved this goal. Some kids do not like to meet with their guidance counselors.”

Board member Susan Perticone questioned the wisdom of requiring ninth graders to see counselors right away. She suggested they need time to get used to their new schedule and new school building.

“The student has been at Darien High School for only one month,” Perticone said. “Why force these students to see their guidance counselor?”

Ribeiro said meeting sooner rather than later was part of becoming familiar with the school.

“I wanted to make these meetings as uniform as possible so that each student received the same message from the counselor,” he added.

DHS will receive a new guidance counselor in the fall, as a result of the school board approving his request in the winter during budget session. The newest counselor will work with freshmen, sophomores, and juniors, Ribeiro said.

“We felt our guidance counselor should have a case load but not have seniors,” Ribeiro added. “We do not want next year’s high school seniors to have a different counselor in their final year. She is going to focus on the ninth grade transition process.”

Board member Heather Shea asked about current students who will be switched to a different counselor. Ribeiro said he had discussed the issue with the incoming counselor.

“I do not think it is going to be flawless and perfect, like anything else in life," Ribeiro said.