Enriching Opportunities for Youth: Southington Schools Unveil New Gifted Program Approach

When the Southington Board of Education made the decision to cut the SOAR program at the town’s elementary schools in early June to meet the state’s new Common Core Standards and enhance individualized learning, parents came forward with concerns.


They wanted something for the more gifted students, a challenge that would encourage learning beyond the typical classroom experience and something that would challenge the most talented learners in the district. Now thanks to work from teachers and administrators at each of Southington’s schools, that opportunity is in back in place.

The Southington Board of Education on Thursday evening heard from several educators as they unveiled the new “Like Learners” program, an effort that aims to provide non-traditional learning and enrichment to the districts most talented students.

“The focus this summer was to capture the immediate losses of our gifted and talented program,” School Superintendent Joseph V. Erardi Jr. said. “The hope was to put together a proposal that would at least meet what we had before. I believe what our teachers have done, through more than 250 hours of their own volunteer time, is produce a proposal that is already better than what we had previously.”

The new program, which hinges on providing enrichment activities for students without taking away from instructional time, is built on a multi-step process of program implementation that includes in school and extracurricular opportunities at both the elementary and middle schools levels.

The programs were unveiled by a group of educators Thursday that included Thalberg Special education teacher Jonathan Cop, Kelley special education teachers Erin Nattrass, Melissa, D’Orazio and Dea Laviero, DePaolo social studies teacher Kim Kalat and Meriden Board of Education Chairman Mark Hughes.

Cop, who will implement programs at the elementary school, discussed the importance of combining in-school personalized learning with out-of-class activity and resources to provide a comprehensive plan to help provide ongoing enrichment.

Cop said one aspect implementing tools and programs including Canvas, an interactive Internet-based system that mimics blackboard, to provide 24-hour learning opportunities in addition to class learning. The district will also look to establish 30-minute learning periods for “like learners” to work together each day, the Kelley special education teachers said. In addition, the special education teachers will work together to expand the Invention Convention once offered only to SOAR to all students at the town’s eight elementary schools.

But what Cop was most excited about was the schools participation in a new Talcott Mountain Science Center virtual classroom program.

“This is an opportunity for the students to experience activities and modules without having take time out of district,” he said. “They will be participating in these modules both in and out of class, learning during the school day as it relates to curriculum and being able to focus on what they want to learn specifically in the evenings.”

The program, a pilot through the science center, is only eligible to those students who meet the gifted and talented qualifications and will only be available to 36 in the first year, Erardi said.

At the middle school level – the first year will actually include fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students – a partnership with Middlesex Community College will provide Saturday “classrooms” for specific instructional learning.

Hughes, an East Haven teacher by trade, said Meriden has seen significant returns after just one year and would love to partner with Southington to expand opportunities in both communities.

“This is a partnership that is natural,” Hughes said. “To merge those unused seats across districts, as this program grows, we can extend into the upper levels and elementary levels. I can say first hand, it is hands-on learning that follows both common core standards and provides STEM opportunities.”

Erardi said these are just a small sample of what programs may continue to develop. He said the entire district’s fourth-grade students will again have the opportunity to attend the Discovery program at Camp Sloper, thanks in part to grant funding and support from the Southington Education Foundation’s , and is seeking several grants to enhance enrichment as well.

One program includes the introduction of after-school enrichment in partnership with the Southington Cheshire YMCA.

The grant, if received, would provide $250,000 and would allow for enrichment provided to both the gifted students, as well at those considered at risk and would be open at all eight public elementary schools, Erardi said.

Another program would provide a resident artist at each school, a few weeks each, he said. Both grants are still awaiting review and approval at a state level.

“There are so many exciting things here coming from this committee, but one of the most important things is the personalized learning so each learner gets to connect their talent, passions and aspirations to their own experiences,” said Board of Education Vice-Chairwoman Terri Caromdy.”This truly is a win-win.”

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