Curriculum
Office of Teaching, Learning & Assessment
Welcome to the Darien Public Schools Teaching, Learning and Assessment website. As a Professional Learning Community, we work collaboratively to prepare all students today to thrive in a changing world tomorrow. The office of the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction provides oversight of the written, taught and assessed curriculum to ensure that students have access to curricula that are aligned to standards as well as State and local policies.
Robust and rigorous curricula are a hallmark of the Darien Public Schools. The curriculum leadership team, including directors, department chairs and coordinators, work vertically across the system to provide challenging and dynamic learning opportunities for all students. This leadership team works in tandem with building principals and assistant principals to operationalize the goals, strategies and actions of the District's Strategic Plan and vision of the graduate.
The Darien Public Schools curriculum documents articulate content across all content areas and grade levels. These documents include essential understandings, along with goals and objectives. Beginning in the summer of 2022, curriculum will migrate to a new platform: EduPlanet21.
Units of study are created and aligned to national/state standards or frameworks and are anchored in research-based best practices. Written curricula provide assured opportunities for students to grow their content knowledge and capacities in communication and critical, creative and global thinking. Curricula reflect understanding of students' developmental needs. Darien uniquely approaches curriculum through a responsive approach, allowing for adaptation based on student-performance data and learning needs. Through the district-based curriculum team and Board of Education Curriculum Committee, students are appropriately challenged and prepared for post-secondary success.
A Closer Look at Our Departments
Curriculum Leadership Team
Central Services
Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum & Instruction
Amy Fedigan Ed.D.
(203) 656-7409
afedigan@darienps.org
Director of Elementary Education
Julie Droller
(203) 656-7479
jdroller@darienps.org
Directors, Department Chairs & Coordinators
Director of Athletics & HPE,
K - 12
Christopher Manfredonia
cmanfredonia@darienps.org
Director of Fine Arts,
K - 12
Colleen Thompson
cthompson@darienps.org
Director of School
Counseling, 6 - 12
Catherine Ostar
costar@darienps.org
Director of Mental Health
Alycia Dadd, Ph.D.
adadd@darienps.org
Mathematics Dept. Chair,
6 - 12
Roni Rodier
rrodier@darienps.org
Science Dept. Chair,
6 - 12
Christian Dockum
cdockum@darienps.org
Social Studies Dept. Chair,
6 - 12
Dennis Cabrera
dcabrera@darienps.org
English Dept. Chair,
6 - 12 Kristin Colonies
kcolonies@darienps.org
ESL
Coordinator, K - 12
Patricia Thalassinos
pthalassinos@darienps.org
Career Technology Ed.
Coordinator, 6 - 12
Greg Darin
gdarin@darienps.org
World Language
Coordinator, K - 5
Alyssa Valente
avalente@darienps.org
Program Director of Early Childhood
Laura Straiton
lstraition@darienps.org
Program Director for Gifted Education
Julie Droller
jdroller@darienps.org
Instructional Technology Coordinator, K-12
Tim McGuire
tmcguire@darienps.org
Teaching &
Learning Committees
- Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Team (DEI)
- Professional Development and Evaluation Committee (PDEC)
- Math Acceleration
- Gifted Education
- Teaching & Learning Principles
- Social and Emotional Learning Steering Committee (SEL)