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School Profile

Griswold Building


SCHOOL STATISTICS

  • Enrollment: 526

  • Avg. Class Size: 19.88

  • Total Teacher FTE: 40.1

  • Student-Teacher Ratio: 14:1

  • Per Pupil Expenditure: $15,512

SCHOOL CLIMATE & CULTURE

Griswold School is committed to maintaining a school climate and culture that promotes high academic expectations, as well as positive social and behavioral outcomes for students. Our Safe School Climate Plan details the current status and goals related to our school climate. Both students and staff at Griswold School work to achieve these outcomes in many ways, including:

Responsive Classroom

Responsive Classroom  

The Responsive Classroom approach to teaching is comprised of a set of well-designed practices intended to create safe, joyful, and engaging classroom and school communities. The emphasis is on helping students develop their academic, social, and emotional skills in a learning environment that is developmentally responsive to their strengths and needs (Responsive Classroom, 2018).

At Griswold School, we utilize this research-based approach to enhance our classroom and school communities.  One example of this work is through a daily classroom Morning Meeting, where students engage in greetings, messages, sharing, and games to connect to classmates and have shared experiences as they grow and learn together. 

Other aspects we focus on include teacher language, interactive modeling and learning, and logical consequences.  All areas of responsive classroom work to integrate academic and social-emotions skills to create an environment where students can do their best learning.

Habits of Mind

As an International Habits of Mind Learning Community, Griswold School has committed to recognizing the importance of supporting students' Habits of Mind in parallel to teaching grade-level standards and curriculum. The Habits of Mind are based on decades of brain and intelligence research. According to researchers and philosophers, knowledge and intelligence must be accompanied by these habits for people to be successful in all aspects of life. What good are knowledge and intelligence if people don't know how to use them, especially when facing adversity, problems, and new situations?

Habits of Mind Summary Page

Bucket Filling

Bucket Filling

Have you filled a bucket today? All classrooms use the bucket filling philosophy to promote respect and empathy towards others, as well as positive self-esteem. As students move through different grade levels, activities may include: read alouds, role-playing, filling a classroom bucket, certificates, and creating classroom rules.

School Families

All students and staff are members of various School Families, which are mixed groups of kindergarten through grade 5 students. Each year, these families remain the same, which helps to carry student and teacher connections through many years at Griswold School. We believe that students benefit from multiple connections beyond their classroom teachers and students; the more teachers and students they can talk to and rely on, the better their experiences - socially, emotionally, behaviorally, and academically - at Griswold School.

Code of Conduct

Code of Conduct

The Code of Conduct hangs proudly throughout our school. As it is introduced to students, teachers discuss what each expectation of conduct looks like throughout different aspects of the school day.

'Makes Things Better' Awards

These awards are a school-wide effort to promote student success in character,  behavior, and social interactions, and academics.  Teachers and students give out awards throughout the year to recognize those that make Griswold School a better place. The awards are announced during our morning announcements and are hung up on a bulletin board outside of the library.  Afterwards, these awards are mailed home for students to share with families and friends.

CURRICULUM

Griswold School's curriculum encompasses various research-based learning programs. The goal of our academic programs is to provide experiences which enable children to meet academic and social challenges and develop their potential as life-long learners. These programs include:

  • Columbia Reading Workshop- a model focused on helping students become avid and skilled readers and inquirers
  • Columbia Writing Workshop- a model focused on helping students become authentic and skilled authors
  • Words Their Way- a hands-on approach to word study that teaches students to look closely at words to discover the spelling patterns, syllable structures, and spelling-meaning connections needed for reading and writing
  • Investigations© - supports students to make sense of mathematics with a focus on computational fluency and reasoning and communicating mathematical ideas to become mathematical thinkers
  • Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) - a collaborative set of standards throughout dozens of states that are rich in content and instruction to ensure a comprehensive and coherent science education throughout all grades
  • Social Studies Framework - State of Connecticut Standards, following a national framework, designed to promote inquiry in economics, geography, history, and civics

Different grade levels utilize additional research-based programs throughout the curriculum.

STANDARDIZED TESTING

Griswold School uses various forms of standardized testing throughout the school year. The goal of standardized testing is to create a picture of student growth, as well as to inform instruction in academic areas. The following standardized tests are integrated into our program:

Each grade levels also utilized various district-wide literacy and math skill assessments to assess student growth and inform teacher instruction throughout the school year.

RECOGNITIONS

Griswold School recognizes teachers, students, and parents throughout the school year for various achievements. Recognition's include:

  • Berlin Bravos
  • Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents Student Award (CAPSS)
  • Connecticut Association of Schools Celebration of the Arts Award
  • Connecticut Association of Schools Parent Volunteer Award
  • Connecticut Association of Schools Student Leadership Award (CAS)
  • Friends of Berlin Schools
  • Non-Certified Staff Member of the Year
  • Teacher of the Year