Schools

Popular 5th-Grade Teacher Out at Saxe

According to comments from district officials, Michael Patrona failed to keep up required teaching credentials in Connecticut.

 

A popular educator at Saxe Middle School no longer is teaching after apparently failing to keep up qualification requirements required for classroom instruction.

According to an email sent Monday by Saxe Principal Greg Macedo to some parents of fifth-grade students, Michael Patrona left for personal reasons.

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“The students arrived today and noticed that, since Friday afternoon, Mr. Patrona had removed some room decorations and personal materials so it was evident that something was different this morning,” the email said. Students were told that morning that Patrona had left “owing to personal reasons,” the email said.

It isn't clear just why Patrona no longer is at Saxe. The 1994 New Canaan High School graduate, a popular and visible figure among students and in the community, could not immediately be reached for comment. Patrona had coached JV girls' basketball at NCHS and was an assistant coach for the school's baseball team.

Find out what's happening in New Canaanwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Saying she could not comment in detail on what is a personnel matter, Board of Education Chair Alison Bedula told Patch that the administration is handling the situation appropriately.

“They wouldn't disrupt a classroom unless they had no choice,” Bedula told Patch in an email. “All teachers are fully aware of the qualification requirements to teach in a classroom. The administration

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Here's the latest on the Michael Patrona situation: Kolek: ‘We Are Working through Things’

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is working to quickly rectify this very unfortunate situation and minimize the disruption to the students in this classroom.”

According to the Connecticut Department of Education, teachers in the state in order to maintain certification should apply for a professional educator certificate no later than six weeks before current certificates expire (see attached PDF).

Macedo’s email went to parents whose children are in what had been Patrona’s homeroom as well as students in another fifth-grade teacher’s homeroom.

A substitute teacher has been secured for this week and the search is on for a replacement for the rest of this academic year, Macedo’s email said. The school also “will be monitoring the scope and sequence of the daily curriculum via our Grade 5 Instructional Leaders,” Macedo said in his email.

Also, Saxe’s fifth grade administrator will monitor “the overall program for any impact on student behavior and performance,” Macedo said.

In his email, Macedo provided parents the name and contact number of the students’ counselor in case any of them wanted “to discuss this teacher transition process for your child.”


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