Rowayton Elementary School Overview

Rowayton School has a rich history of service to the community. If you have not had an opportunity to view the Introduction to Rowayton Area Schools please take a moment to do so. As the Metropolitan New York megalopolis rippled outward into the southwest corner of Connecticut, the Rowayton School became a suburban school. However, it has never lost its strong attachment to the local Rowayton "village".

The school is one of twelve elementary schools in the City of Norwalk, each serving six grade levels, kindergarten through fifth grade. The student body of approximately 350 students is truly representative of the diversity of Norwalk; nearly half of the students travel to Rowayton School from other areas of Norwalk. The school is the smallest of the twelve Norwalk elementary schools, and as a result enjoys a sense of close community.

Rather than go on at length about the many achievements and attributes of the Rowayton School students, staff, parents and greater school community, we have extracted pertinent facts from the 1994-95 School Handbook:

· Incoming kindergartners are visited at their nursery/day care programs by the principal during the months of May and June. The average class size for kindergartners, second graders and fifth graders is smaller than the state average.

· Over the past five years, student performance consistently exceeded the Connecticut Mastery Test goals for Reading and Math.

· For three consecutive years, more than half of the fifth graders qualified for placement in Middle School Phase II Math (advanced placement for high achievers) .

· Rowayton School has an Odyssey of The Mind team for the third, fourth and fifth grades. The 1993-94 team placed fourth in Connecticut’s statewide competition.

· Performing Arts and Fine Arts are integrated into the curriculum across all grades, and Rowayton School students perform musicals for the school and the community.

· Each of the four self-contained special education classes is matched with a mainstream class in the Big Class/Little Class Project. The classes combine for science and social studies activities. Parties and field trips are joint ventures.

· Representatives from each class comprise the Human Relations Committee providing food and gift baskets to needy families; hundreds of gift baskets and presents are given each year.

· Evening presentations are made by the principal and staff informing interested parents about the educational programs across the six grades. Outreach volunteers work to increase the percentage of minority parents who participate in these activities, and report card conferences as well as monthly and special PTA events such as the annual Spring Carnival.

· The percentage of the school's faculty who have obtained a Master’s Degree or more exceeds the state average. Approximately one third of the faculty are Fund for Excellence recipients.

This fact list conveys many, but not all of Rowayton School's fine educational attributes. To be sure, the staff and community are committed to providing our youth with an excellent education. Each year the State of Connecticut's standardized test scores indicate our continued progress in meeting this commitment. Perhaps most importantly, the many students who have returned years later to pay tribute to their former teachers underscores the fullness of education received at Rowayton School.