Thompson Brook School Named One of State's 'Schools of Distinction'

The Connecticut State Department of Education announced this year's "Schools of Distinction" on Tuesday, and Avon's Thompson Brook School was identified as one of the state's schools with the "Highest Overall Performance" – schools that are "exemplars of best practices."

"Being recognized as a School of Distinction for Highest Overall Performance on the CMTs is a testament to Thompson Brook's students, educators and staff's commitment to high levels of teaching and learning in addition to their hard work," Avon Assistant Superintendent Donna Nestler-Rusack wrote in an email to Patch.

Thompson Brook Principal Anne Watson accepted an award on behalf of the school from Gov. Dannel P. Molloy and Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor at the ceremony. also honored us at this ceremony. 

"I am thrilled to accept the distinguished State School of Distinction Award on behalf of the Thompson Brook School community," Watson wrote in an email to Patch. "Our success can be attributed to our hard-working students, dedicated teachers and parents." 

In recent years, Thompson Brook School has also been recognized by President Barack Obama as a 2010 National Blue Ribbon School and by the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) for its "disaster training program" done in collaboration with the Avon Volunteer Fire Department, Watson said.

The Thompson Brook community donates every year to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and has been honored by the organization "for showing our empathy and fundraising," she said.

The Great East Festival also has recognized  the school "for continued excellence in music," she said.

"I'm proud to lead a school with such commitment to academic and social goals," Watson said.

Schools of distinction are identified annually and are placed into one of three different categories: Highest performing subgroup (for example students with disabilities, minority students, or students on free/reduced lunch), highest progress, and highest overall performance. This year the analysis was based on state standardized test data – Connecticut Mastery Test performance in the Avon upper elementary school's case – from 2011 and 2012.

A total of 97 schools were recognized under the state's new accountability system, which grades each school on a "school performance index (SPI)" that recognizes and rates performance on state standardized tests. The measurement system was put into place as a result of the waiver Connecticut received from the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act last May.

According to the State Department of Education guidelines, schools identified as "Highest Overall Performance" have SPIs greater than 88 and are performing within the top 10 percent of schools across the State, have achievement gaps less than 10 SPI points for the majority of their subgroups and, if they are high schools, have met their respective graduation rate targets.

Thompson Brook's average SPI for the past three years is 95.6, according to the Connecticut Department of Education's website.

“Connecticut has redoubled efforts to provide the best education to all of our students no matter where they live, which school they attend, or socioeconomic status,” said Governor Dannel P. Malloy in news release from the State Department of Education. “Last year we invested $100 million in our schools, and this year I’m proposing more than $150 million in additional Educational Cost Sharing funding over the biennium – resources that will be largely targeted to our underperforming schools," he said. 

Malloy praised the schools that were chosen to participate in Tuesday's workshop for sharing their brest practices. "Their commitment to education is tremendous and they are part of the larger conversation about replicating what works in education."

For a complete listing of this year’s “Schools of Distinction,” click here.