The Hamden School District is an educational agency functioning under the laws of the State of Connecticut. The Board of Education recognizes that the district exists to provide an important service to the community. This policy is a statement of that mission. It is intended to clarify for the community, students, and staff the primary purposes upon which all activities are to be focused. Toward this end the Board of Education stipulates that the following statements comprise the mission of the school district:

1. Schools exist to meet the educational needs of students. The Board of Education believes that all children can learn and that the primary purpose of school is teaching and learning.
2. Students differ from one another. They have differing needs, learning styles, and interests. They differ in levels of maturity, degrees of responsibility each can accept, and levels of personal motivation to learn. The district's instructional program shall recognize these differences and shall strive to achieve both quality and equity in the results which are achieved.
3. Schools should foster in each student a strong desire to develop an inquiring, self-directed, and creative mind. A major purpose of school is to teach children how to learn to prepare them for a lifetime of learning.
4. Regardless of societal factors that may interfere with learning, good schools do make a difference in a child's life. Schools exercise control over many factors which can significantly influence student achievement. Maximizing student achievement is a major responsibility of schools. While the process of education is important, student achievement can only be assessed and measured in the outcomes demonstrated by students.
5. Students must share responsibility for their own learning but schools help them do so by:

A. Cooperating with parents to support and assist students.

B. Making available worthwhile learning experiences for all students regardless of social or economic background, sex, levels of maturity, motivation, or intelligence.

C. Stressing the organization, interpretation and application of information to real situations rather than the acquisition of information for its own sake. 

D. Recognizing that learning occurs at home and in the community and that instruction should unify this knowledge through concept and problem-centered learning experiences rather than through an isolated study of content areas. The mission of the schools is best fulfilled when students, staff members, parents, and community residents participate in the decision-making process in matters that affect them. Constructive dissent enhances good decisions. The school's policies and procedures should reflect trust in people. Education excellence, the ultimate mission of the school district, is the product of open communication within the school district and between the school district and the community it serves.

Policy adopted: December 9, 1997 

HAMDEN PUBLIC SCHOOLS     Hamden, Connecticut