By Linda Conner Lambeck

WESTPORT — Members of the Staples High School Class of 2028 have grade point averages on par with the four classes before them.

Their PSAT scores remain high, as are their rates of daily attendance and recommendations for Advanced Placement courses by faculty.

It appears that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which subjected this year’s ninth graders to periods of remote and hybrid instruction, they are no worse for the wear.

“Overall, the Class of 2028 demonstrates encouraging trends,” concludes an April 24 report from Staples High School Principal Stafford Thomas to the Board of Education.

Still, Thomas said despite the positive trajectory, the district should continue efforts to support and provide early intervention where needed.

Supt. of Schools Thomas Scarice agreed. “The long-term effects of early educational disruption — particularly in academic and social-emotional development — remain areas of focus,” said Scarice in his own memo to the school board last week.

Ninth-grade inflection point

For the past five years, the district has kept an eye on the academic and social-emotional health of the town’s high school freshmen to measure the impact the pandemic may have played on students.

They picked the ninth grade because Scarice called that year an inflection point in a student’s 13-year journey through the school system.

This year’s freshmen were fourth graders in the spring of 2020 when schools were physically shuttered, and learning became remote. 

That fall, their last year of elementary school, instruction for the class began in a hybrid model with students attending school in person in the morning or afternoon.

Not until middle school, did the class ease back to normalcy with students in class full-time and with fewer restrictions.

Assistant Supt. Anthony Buono said that since the data collection began, it has expanded into a multi-dimensional view of the class performance, taking into account not just academics, but mental health, special education and other indicators.

Class of ’28 keeping pace

The GPA for the Class of 2028 is 3.54, as it was for the Class of 2024. PSAT scores for this year’s freshmen were 551 for language arts and 537 for math, on par or higher than the four classes before them.

Other data points:

● Attendance rates for the class is 96 percent this year, also on par with previous classes.

● The number of mental health crisis forms completed by the class in 2025 is down to four this year. That compares to 14 in 2022.

● Both special education referrals and those deemed eligible for special education services are down. There were 16 referrals and two deemed eligible in 2025, compared to 36 referrals and four deemed eligible in 2023.

● The number of referrals for honors and AP courses, as of now, stands at 293, compared to 232 in 2024 and 257 in 2023..

Thomas said some of the positive data might be attributed to new programs at the high school, including orientation programs, a freshman-only morning on the first day of school and the use of Link Crew, a student mentorship program helping with a smooth transition from middle to high school.

There are also more clubs than ever, said Thomas, to help students become and stay engaged.

Some of the collected data points, Buono said, may find their way onto a student performance dashboard the district is creating.

Board members react

Board Chair Lee Goldstein said she was pleased to see the number of students completing so-called mental health crisis forms has decreased.

Board Vice Chair Dorie Hordon asked if the district monitors the number of students provided the accommodation of more time on tests. She wondered if there has been an uptick.

It doesn’t monitor that number, she was told, but William Plunkett, director of school counseling, said officials can look to see how many students have 504 plans, which often call for students with a disability to have accommodations, such as longer time on tests, so that they can learn in a regular classroom.

“I don’t know if there has been a significant increase or decrease,” Plunkett said. “I would guess it is consistent.

Some board members said they thought all students should have as much time as they need to complete exams.

Board member Kevin Christie asked if future reports on the class might also look at discipline data. 

Since the revision of the Student Code of Conduct this year, the district has started collecting statistics on certain code violations. He was told a report on what has been collected may be discussed at a future board meeting.

Freelance writer Linda Conner Lambeck, a reporter for more than four decades at the Connecticut Post and other Hearst publications, is a member of the Education Writers Association.