New Superintendent of Schools Welcomed
By Andrew J Legnani
Staff Writer
The new Superintendent was introduced to the community on Wednesday.
Jefferson Elementary School’s “Hotstix” Drum band welcomed the New Superintendent of Schools with a bang inside New Britain High School’s cafeteria. The 2 hour event started at 5 p.m. and included refreshments.
Nancy Sarra, who begins her role as the new Superintendent for the New Britain School District on April 1st, smiled wide as the room full of parents and community members burst into applause.
“I see myself as a dot connector,” Sarra remarked to the parents and community leaders. “As I like to say, the most important thing for all of us to walk in stride with focus and purpose, knowing that we are in pursuit of excellence one student at a time, one staff member at a time.”
Bridget Brown, mother of four, was visibly excited about the prospect of Sarra’s future with the school district.
“I was so excited we all choose Nancy Sarra to be our Superintendent” Brown remarked “She’s going to help take these schools to the next level”
According to the Superintendent’s office Sarra is more than qualified to make a difference. Sarra has received advanced degrees in educational leadership from the University of Connecticut and Central Connecticut State University. Sarra has worked in the New Britain school district for the last 22 years. Starting as a classroom teacher and eventually becoming principal of Jefferson Elementary School. Sarra has been working in the New Britain School District central office for the past 3 years, as the Director of Teaching and Learning, where she built and re-built an infrastructure of district-wide processes and procedures to better meet the needs of all staff and students, according to the New Britain School District central office.
“My door will always be open,” said Sarra. “But my primary goal will be to get around to all the schools to see where I can help.”
Nancy Sarra has also worked within the community to create summer learning enrichment as well as curbing chronic absenteeism.
Sarra went on to remark, “I am extremely competitive and will work to get New Britain Public Schools to be in Connecticut Magazine as one of the top ten places to work.”
Sarra was appointed by the Board of Education on February 22. Over 200 people attended the Board of Education meeting where they voted to approve Sarra’s appointment. Erin Stewart, New Britain Mayor, who was unable to attend gave remarks to those in attendance using video conferencing.
“This was an easy decision,” said Stewart to Sarra. “You have a staff here that’s behind you and going to support you through this while understanding the tough decisions that you’re going to make.”
In an e-mail to staff on Tuesday morning, Sarra noted that there is much work to be done to not only maintain what’s already in place, but to also grow and build new relationships and initiatives built on honesty and trust.
