Retiring Sorensen Sees Bright Future for Windsor's Students

After 35 years in the field of education, Assistant Superintendent Robin Sorensen is retiring. It's a decision she's considered for several years, Sorensen says, and she looks back on her eight-year career in Windsor with fond memories, and a hopeful outlook for the future of Windsor's children.

"I am thrilled for the district," she said. "We're on the edge of taking it to that next level."

Sorensen is leaving the district as schools make arrangements to begin full-day kindergarten in the fall, which Sorensen feels is what she will remember as her biggest accomplishment. 

The implementation of full-day classes for some of the district's yougest students was a topic of discussion long before Sorensen set foot in town, but it wasn't until 2011, with Sorensen at the helm of coordinating the districts' instructional services, that it has become a reality.

"The advantages to our students of having a full-day kindergarten program will allow teachers and students the time to develop the social, emotional and cognitive skills to position them for meeting the rigorous expectations of the Common Core State Standards," Sorensen said.

While she put in nearly a decade's worth of hard work to make full-day kindergarten a reality, her retirement will keep her from seeing it in action when implemented in the fall.

She will also not be in Windsor to see the launch of a multi-grade, district-wide world language program called FLES (Foreign Language in Elementary Schools) which she has been campaigning for.

In the fall, students in kindergarten and first grade will begin learning Spanish and the program will continue to move up the grade levels in subsequent years. "That took four to five years to get through the budget cycle," she said.

"Learning a (foreign) language at early ages is supported by educational research, and, again, will position our students for their place in a world without walls," Sorensen added.

While Sorensen admits she may not necessarily be staying in Connecticut for the long haul, she promises to continue to keep up on what is happening in Windsor. "I am anticipating great things," she said. "I believe all the raw materials are here."

Mary Ann Butler has been hired as .  Butler is coming to Windsor from Groton where she has been of curriculum and instruction.  She was also elevated to the position of interim superintendant in May of this year when Groton's superintendant, Paul Kadri, was placed on administrative leave.