Melissa Bailey File Photo
Imma Canelli, deputy superintendent of curriculum and instruction, is retiring at the end of this academic year, after almost 37 years in the district.
The main architect of the district’s transition to the Common Core curriculum, Canelli will continue to lead work on the curriculum until June 30, 2016, as district leaders work to find a replacement. She said she will focus on improving student access to technology, implementing better literacy interventions early grades and high schools, and decreasing class sizes in kindergarten and first grade.
The announcement comes just months after the Board of Education voted to extend Canelli’s contract from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2017, along with a $5,000 salary increase. Canelli’s contract includes a “mutual agreement clause” allowing her to terminate it early, with the support of Superintendent Garth Harries.
Since the beginning of the academic year, Mayor Toni Harp became president of the school board and issued a call for dramatic improvements in student test scores.
Canelli started as a reading teacher at Troup Middle School, then moved to teaching at Hill Central School and Davis Street School. Before becoming deputy superintendent in 2013, she served the district as a curriculum supervisor and assistant superintendent.
When Connecticut agreed to adopt the Common Core national academic standards, Canelli worked to align instruction to the new, rigorous English and math standards.
“My big plan is the development of curriculum, which is what I am most proud of. When I started in the district, we didn’t have any curriculum. We didn’t have any books,” she said. Now, “we have a five-year rotation in developing the curriculum so it’s always current,” until they had to readjust standards for Common Core.
Canelli said her priority has been getting teachers involved with developing the curriculum. Now, more than 200 teachers working as curriculum facilitators — compensated through the Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) — write assessments and deliver professional development to their peers, Canelli said.
According to a release Friday announcing Canelli’s retirement, New Haven’s Connecticut Mastery Test reading scores rose 17.2 percentage points between 2008 and 2012, while Canelli was assistant superintendent. New Haven scored below the state average last spring on the Common Core-aligned Smarter Balanced exam, with 29 percent of New Haven students on track for literacy and 14 percent for math, compared to 55.4 percent and 39.1 percent statewide.
Canelli said she still has a lot to do before June 30, such as ensuring kindergarten and first graders at high-needs schools are not starting behind. “If we don’t put a structure in place where we move kids through kindergarten and first grade in a developmentally appropriate way,” they won’t catch up, she said.
She also wants to push for a one-to-one ratio for students and technology in the classroom, although it’s “too expensive” for the district right now. “I would love to find dollars to get the right technology in the hands of our kids,” she said.
She promised not to “get sidetracked” from those goals over the next six months. And after retirement, she is not sure what she will do. “I’m not going to just be a grandmother,” she said. “I’ll spend more time with my family and I’m sure I will consult. I’m not going to do anything full time. I’ll see what my different options are.”
Congratulations, Imma Canelli, on your retirement! You are an amazing educator and district leader and you will certainly will be missed!