Dear Students, Families and Community Members:

To quote Christina Rosetti’s poem Spring, “There is no time like Spring, When life’s alive in everything.” After a winter of indoor sports and other activities, our campuses are once again vibrant places from sunrise to sunset. Trees and flowers are beginning to blossom, and the grass is returning to a bright green. With increased sunlight, and fresh air the energy is also increasing in our schools. We hope that you are motivated by the change of seasons, too.

This is also the time of year that we began to celebrate the accomplishments of our students and staff. Most recently, the Board of Education recognized Ryan Moores and Grace Gorreck, the class of 2023 Valedictorian and Salutatorian (see below). In the coming weeks our schools will hold a series of awards assemblies and banquets. We will also have students recognized by the Connecticut Association of Schools as Scholar-Athletes. Regardless of age or school, it is important to recognize the efforts of our students in multiple arenas. Colchester has bright, hardworking students, and we also have talented athletes, musicians, artists, engineers, etc. When students achieve at a high level, or demonstrate a unique level of commitment or leadership, awards are both appropriate and serve to motivate others. Finally, we will also take time to celebrate the careers of longtime Colchester employees choosing to retire after years of dedicated service. As these various awards and recognitions become public, please take a moment to extend your congratulations to our students and staff.

While there are still a few steps to go in the budgeting process, including the referendum, we would like to take a moment to thank everyone that attended public meetings, and participated in the process. We value your feedback and hope to work collaboratively with all constituents in the best interest of students. FYI, we will keep the website updated with budget information.

Sincerely,

Daniel Sullivan and the Colchester Leadership Team

Meet Kendra Dickinson!

Kendra is the District Multilingual Learner Coordinator. She is a certified TESAL educator who has experience teaching English learners at all levels. She also has experience as an early childhood educator, middle and high school ELA teacher, and a drama/chorus teacher and director.

Kendra is a proud mom to two daughters, Ella (15) and Riley who (17). She has been married to her husband Chris for almost 19 years, who is a teacher as well! Kendra and her family live in East Hampton with two dogs, two chinchillas, six cats, and even an axolotl! She is passionate about hiking, fishing, traveling, and musical theater. In the summer Kendra helps run a summer theater camp called the Young People's Center for Creative Arts. This summer they are expecting to have between 80 and 90 campers in grades 6-12, and are producing the musical, Rent!

Kendra’s favorite part about working in Colchester is that she gets to work with children of all ages. In one day alone, she might work with a student on 11th grade math, and then with a pre-k student as they learn to write their name. The best part of her day is when the students arrive at school. Their excitement and energy is infectious! The Multilingual Learner (ML) population in Colchester is growing very rapidly! Over the past three years, our ML population has grown almost 200 percent! Kendra said it is exciting to work with children and families from many different cultures and linguistic backgrounds.

Kendra’s dream vacation would be to travel to Mongolia as she is very interested in learning about the nomadic Mongolians who depend on horses for their livelihood.