Seven Seniors Named as National Merit Semifinalists
Staples High School is proud to announce that seven members of the Class of 2022 who have qualified as National Merit Scholarship Corporation semifinalists in the 67th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
The Staples High School semifinalists are: Emma Alcyone, Natalie Bandura,
Zachary Bishop, Michael Brody, Chloe Nevas, Maxwell Tanksley and Julian Weng
Nationwide, approximately 16,000 semifinalists -- fewer than 1 percent of the over 1.5 million students who took the 2020 PSAT/NMSQT qualifying exam --will compete for 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $30 million.
Staples High School Principal Stafford Thomas Jr. praised the achievements of these students, saying “It is an extraordinary honor for these students to be recognized for their academic abilities, and an honor for our school because each of these students demonstrate talents and passions beyond academics every day, making them wonderful representatives of the Westport Public Schools.”
Niche Names Staples #1 High School in the State; Westport #28 School District in the Country
Staples’ Grades from Niche for 2022Niche, an online database of schools and communities, rated Staples High School as the #1 public high school in Connecticut and #103 in the United States, while the Westport School District as a whole was noted as #28 in the Country. Staples received A or A+ grades for all areas except Diversity, where it was given a B-.
Westport Elementary schools were rated in the State as:
#4: Greens Farms Elementary School
#5: Coleytown Elementary School
#7: Long Lots Elementary School
#8: Kings Highway Elementary School
#10: Saugatuck Elementary School
Bedford Middle School was rated as #2 in the State and #133 in the United States. Coleytown Middle School was not yet listed.
Niche grades all of the schools and districts in their surveys and studies based on academics, staffing, social life and other factors - with data being pulled from SAT and ACT scores, student, parents, and staff surveys, and community demographics and safety profiles.
The #1 high school in the country was The Davidson Academy based in Reno, Nevada. Behind Staples in Connecticut was New Canaan High school.
Superintendent: 9 New Cases in District since Saturday
Dear Westport Families and Staff,
As mentioned in prior emails, we would move from weekly updates of new positive cases of Covid-19 to more frequent updates as needed. This evening we are providing an update from the past five days. We will move to daily updates during the week to ensure timely information is received by the community. The news cases reported since Saturday all went through a thorough contact tracing protocol which allowed for limited quarantining of students.
We have 9 newly confirmed cases of Covid-19 from Saturday through today. The reports came from the following schools:
Stepping Stones Preschool - 1
Greens Farms Elementary School - 3
Kings Highway Elementary School - 1
Saugatuck Elementary School - 1
Bedford Middle School - 3
Please remember that families are asked to report positive Covid-19 cases of students using our reporting voicemail or email. Please follow this link for more information on reporting.
Additionally, we want to remind families that students with pending Covid-19 tests should not return to school until receiving negative results. This approach is critical in helping us minimize the potential for transmission in our schools.
Respectfully,
Thomas Scarice
Superintendent of Schools
Superintendent: 3 New COVID-19 Cases in 3 Schools
From Superintendent Thomas Scarice:Dear Westport Families and Staff,
Similar to this past school year, it is our intention to remain transparent with reports of positive Covid-19 cases associated with our schools. We will provide weekly updates unless additional reporting becomes necessary.
As of the time I am writing to you this afternoon, we have 3 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 from yesterday and today. The reports came from the following schools:
Greens Farms Elementary School - 1
Saugatuck Elementary School - 1
Coleytown Middle School- 1
Please remember that families are asked to report positive Covid-19 cases of students using our reporting voicemail or email. Please follow this link for more information on reporting.
Additionally, we want to remind families that students with pending Covid-19 tests should not return to school until receiving negative results. This approach is critical in helping us minimize the potential for transmission in our schools.
Respectfully,
Thomas Scarice, Superintendent of Schools