Departing Superintendent Reflects On Five Years Of Service

By Nancy K. Crevier

Newtown High School graduation, Class of 2007, made the 28th school graduation in a row that Newtown Superintendent of Schools Evan Pitkoff has attended in some official capacity, but it probably marked his final one for many years to come, he said.

Dr Pitkoff departs the Newtown School System June 30 to take on the responsibilities as executive director of Cooperative Educational Services (CES) in Trumbull. According to its website, CES works to “identify and provide quality educational opportunities for educators, students, families, and communities.” The organization currently serves 17 districts from Stamford to Bridgeport and north to Shelton and Monroe, but does not include Newtown.

Sitting in his Peck’s Lane Board of Education office, Dr Pitkoff reflected recently on his five years as the head of the Newtown School System. “When I was hired,” he said, “I could see there were some directions the district needed to go,” he said. “I came here and knew this was a wonderful school system with high performing students, and I wanted to maintain this, of course. But I saw a need to address lower level students, as well.”

One of the weaknesses he identified in Newtown was the alternative high school program. “Now we have the afternoon program within the high school, so that students who are disenfranchised have a second chance to perform well — and they do. The alternative program starts after the regular school day ends and is taught by teachers certified in subject areas,” he explained, noting that prior to his hiring, alternative school students met in substandard surroundings at a Fairfield Hills location and had the expertise of only two teachers to teach all subjects. “We have definitely improved in this area,” he said.

“I was also concerned about the number of students who were placed out of our system with special needs,” said Dr Pitkoff. Trained in special education, Dr Pitkoff strived to see that the Newtown schools developed programs in-house to accommodate local special needs children. “We have made a strong and successful effort. [Special needs students] can now receive education within the district and we have tremendously reduced the number of students placed-out in a cost-effective way,” he said.

The implementation of an Early Intervention Program for children entering kindergarten was another area Dr Pitkoff addressed during his tenure. “It is crucial to identify students with the need for support early on,” he said.

“Getting this job [at CES] is bittersweet,” Dr Pitkoff said. “It will tap into my skills and personal desires, but when you work somewhere for five years, when you invest so much of your life, the sadness is that I won’t be working with the same people. The relationships you forge in a job are strong.”

He is pleased and proud of the people who make up the Newtown School System staff. “We have had tremendous faculty and have further enhanced that over the past five years, including some amazing administrators,” he said. He is confident that he leaves in place a strong and professional leadership team.

There are many little things that he will miss, he said, including moments like the one he experienced one day in a first grade class. “I saw a little boy holding back tears. He had to draw grass, and someone had taken the green crayon. So I told him to take his blue crayon and color the grass blue. Then I told him to color yellow over that. The amazement of this child as he watched the grass turn green was so rewarding,” he recalled. “And teachers get to do that every day.”

He has done his best to fulfill the duties bestowed upon him by the Newtown Board of Education, he believes. “If you want a great school system, it has to be great at all levels. There have been some bumps in the road along the way, but I believe we have done the best we can with the resources we were given.”

He looked at the shelves that cover an entire wall of his office, filled from top to bottom with his collection of school bus memorabilia. Sixty of the model school buses came into his possession during his service to Newtown, including a Magic School Bus signed by local author Joanna Cole and presented to him by illustrator Bruce Degen at his first school board meeting. Along with piles of papers and numerous files, they waited for the moment when final responsibilities such as adjusting the budget and preparing that final graduation speech would give Dr Pitkoff time to pack.

“I think I still haven’t quite grasped that I’m leaving,” he said. “I see a weekend of packing in my future.”