Superintendent’s Page – Canterbury Public Schools

Dr. Lois DaSilva-Knapton, Superintendent of Schools, 860-546-6950
lknapton@canterburypublicschools.org

SUPERINTENDENT’S COMMUNICATIONS

July 18, 2019

Hello and Happy Summer! I bet you are all wondering “what does the Superintendent do over the summer?”

Well let’s see….Since school got out on June 8th, I have been working on finalizing contracts, strategic planning, curriculum work, and writing the bus RFP for the lease of three new school buses. Summer is also a time for us to attend professional development such as the New England School Development Council (NESDEC) in Marlborough, MA full day workshop called Demystifying Curriculum. This was very informative and will assist the District in focusing on more cohesive / vertical curriculum development; and the Leadership team and I attended two full days of Strategy Mapping with the CT Center for School Change and we look forward to the stakeholder feedback session on July 25, from 9-12 at BMS media Center. Come join us to start envisioning our portrait of the graduate and strategic visioning process.

Summer also allows the leadership team to meet uninterrupted for deep conversations to discuss and plan for the next school year, to review and revise handbooks, procedures, prepare parent letters and handouts, and back to school materials. Staff members also voluntarily attend professional development workshops and / or attend college courses.

In addition to all the academia work, we all find some time to rest and relax, and spend quality time with family and friends to come back ready to reignite the fire in our belly and inspire all those around us to reach for the sky as we continue to fulfill our mission to “foster and cultivate all students to their highest potential, through rigorous academics in a safe, nurturing, and respectful environment” (Canterbury Public Schools Mission Statement).

Please mark your calendar for July 25, a community building 1/2 day event where stakeholders will come together to hear how far the Executive Strategic planning committee has come and discuss next steps; please invite anyone in the Canterbury Community that would want to be part of this strategic planning process. We are working with the CT Center for School Change on this process.

Strategic Visioning Stakeholder Input please open this flyer for more information

We thank you for your unwavering support!

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Mrs. Dottie Horn, Executive Assistant to the Superintendent
dhorn@canterburypublicschools.org
860-546-6950

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NESDEC Historical Enrollment 11/5/2018

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Strategic Visioning Stakeholder Input

Superintendent’s Message

CPS Mission Statement:

In collaboration with our community, the Canterbury Public Schools will develop, foster, and cultivate all students to their highest potential, through rigorous academics within a safe, nurturing, and respectful environment.

Superintendent’s Message by Dr. Lois DaSilva-Knapton

Welcome to our web site. We hope you find it user friendly and full of information. We will strive to keep this website updated in a timely fashion and we will use this website to communicate all school events.

We will continue to focus on shifting from a rules-driven school culture to a values-driven school culture and finding creative ways to combine academic success with mental well-being.

“In traditional academic settings, power flows from individuals in positions of authority, including administrators and teachers. In self-governing classrooms, the primary source of power flows from a set of values-inspired ideas.” (Bowman, 2016). Therefore, the students have more ownership of the classroom.

Shifting from a rule-oriented to a values-driven school culture requires looking for the underlying principle in existing rules. For example, the don’t-put-your-feet-on-the-furniture rule is about a positive societal value – Respect our common spaces.

Here’s an elementary school sample of Values-inspired Rules :

– One’s words and hands should help others to do the right thing, not hurt them in any way.

– Treat others with respect and respect others’ things

– Take personal responsibility for each of your actions by asking, “Is this who I am?”

– Be a promise keeper.

Bowman believes there are only three ways to get students to do the right thing in classrooms: coercion, motivation, and inspiration.

Coercion and motivation depend on external punishments and rewards, these are “expensive” in terms of teacher time and effort, and tend to be unsustainable. Inspiration, on the other hand, is “internal, intrinsic, and enduring… there is an overarching sense of the mutuality, common purpose, and collective responsibility required for deep learning”

This type of environment encourages students to be reflective learners and ask themselves, “What am I doing” and “Why am I doing this”

I am encouraging us to choose inspiration.

Once again I thank the town for working so closely with the school system. As I enter my sixth year as Superintendent in Canterbury, I’m still glad to call this my home.

***“Why School Rules Fail: Causes and Consequences” by Richard Bowman in Kappa Delta Pi Record, July-September 2016 (Vol. 52, #3, p. 100-105), available for purchase at

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00228958.2016.1191891; Bowman can be reached at rbowman@winona.edu.

Convocation Powerpoint 2018-2019

Superintendent’s Self Evaluation Accomplishments January 2019 (1)

2019-20 School Calendar pdf

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