Friday, August 30, 2019
www.northhavencitizen.com
Volume 12, Number 23
New leadership at Ridge Road Elementary By Everett Bishop The Citizen
Thamar Rodriguez passes out cups of granola for students to try. Photos courtesy of Evelyn Rossetti-Ryan
ACES provides free lunch, breakfast for students By Everett Bishop The Citizen
Students at participating ACES schools will be provided with free breakfast and lunch for the 2019-2020 academic year. This includes all schools except for the Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven, which runs a half-day program, and Thomas Edison Middle School and Wintergreen Interdistrict Magnet School, whose lunch program is provided by Meriden Public Schools.
Ridge Road Elementary School has a new face for the 2019-2020 school year. Chris McLaughlin, originally an English teacher for North Haven High School, has taken the principal position previously held by North Haven superintendent, Patrick Stirk. This year marks McLaughlin’s 16th with North Haven Public Schools. After serving as an English teacher for six years, he was promoted to assistant principal of the high school and had finished his ninth year before moving to Ridge Road. “I went into this career to dedicate myself to working with students,” he said. “It was through my teachings and working as a teacher at the high school I became very close with Russ Dallai, who I think was the assistant principal at that time.”
The meal program allows all students to receive free meals regardless of their family’s income.
The nutrition kiosk at ACES schools. Dining staff walk through the halls during class times to pass out fruits and vegetables to students.
“What we’re now in is something called the CEP, the Community Eligibility Program,” said Tim Howes, assistant executive director of
finance and operations. “… if your school meets a certain criteria, and the criteria is if you have 40 percent or more
of the students that are identified as direct certification … your school can be entireSee ACES, A7
McLaughlin said that it was actually Dallai who had convinced him to make the move into administration. Originally, McLaughlin “had never thought twice” about making the transition. But the transition didn’t end with McLaughlin moving from teaching to administration. Moving
Chris McLaughlin, new Ridge Road Elementary School principal. Everett Bishop, The Citizen.
from high school to elementary school for the first time at North Haven was another change the new principal would have to face. “So far it’s been awesome. It’s been a great journey so far,” he said. “The staff here, the community here, has just been so welcoming and tremendous. I get excited more and more each day. This summer I had an opportunity to meet a lot of the students … and it just really makes me realize this is where I want to be.” Stirk said that McLaughlin’s transition into his role at Ridge Road “has been seamless.” See McLaughlin, A7