Classes open for Fairfield: Changes coming to Middletown, Hamilton Schools

Below is a summary of big things students and parents can look forward to this year in Hamilton, Middletown and Fairfield schools.

Middletown Schools

In Middletown Schools, some of the district’s students later this year will be part of an expansion of the city schools’ innovative “Passport To Tomorrow” partnerships with local and area businesses to better expose and prepare them for careers, college and military service options.

Middletown Schools Superintendent Deborah Houser described it as a pivotal year for the 5,900-student district, which begins a staggered opening start schedule on Aug. 19.

“This year we are still piloting, but this is all part of our Passport To Tomorrow strategic vision and we are preparing for a full roll-out in the 2025-2026 school year,” said Houser.

This year will also see new scheduling for students in the 10 city schools that will allow “more experiential learning in all of our classrooms which will give more of our students a real-world look on work” she said.

“It’s learning by doing,” she said referring to incorporation of business speakers, lessons and other career-oriented instruction.

“We are doing a pilot (program) in the fall and in January and February that involves two days a week that will have experiential learning days. Students will have 90-minute classes where teachers take workforce experiences and embed them into their curriculum.”

The Passport To Tomorrow program began three years ago with about a dozen businesses and now has grown to 85 partners.

Houser said this year’s efforts will be bolstered by a $125,000 state grant to help fund “Adopt A Class” business partnerships to focus on entrepreneurship for 8th graders “where businesses come in and work with every 8th grader and that is huge.”

And later this school year Middletown High School will see its first student-run coffee shop and a bank branch operated by students.

“You are starting to see where businesses and schools are coming together. And we have embedded career awareness in our K through 5th grades and in 6th through 8th we have a deeper dive into workforce readiness.”

All these current and coming partnerships “are about eroding the walls of schools,” said Houser.

For students — and teachers — “it’s learning what the whole world of work is about.”

Hamilton Schools

The new school year will also be pivotal for the 9,000-student Hamilton Schools headlined by a rare, yearlong leadership change as current Superintendent Michael Holbrook will retire in spring 2025 while also preparing his successor who is already actively handling some major responsibilities.

Andrea Blevins previously held top positions in Hamilton Schools’ central administration but earlier this year the district’s school board approved her transition to follow Holbrook as superintendent in the 2025-2026 school year.

Blevins, a veteran school leader, is now Hamilton’s associate superintendent of schools and leadership.

It’s an unusual and elongated turnover designed to enhance leadership continuity for the city schools, which open classes on Monday , said Blevins.

The advantage for school families, students and staffers, she said, “is that it’s a seamless transition.”

The traditional process of hiring a new superintendent who doesn’t start until their predecessor leaves is slow in comparison, said Blevins.

“Usually that first six months is a learning curve,” said Blevins. “But I already know the players. I know our staff and I know our teachers and our students and I know where we’ve been so I know where we can go.”

She said the changes students will see in Hamilton Schools include an expansion of partnerships with local businesses and a renovated auditorium for Hamilton High School.

And three elementary schools — Crawford Woods, Fairwood and Riverview — will see the installation of “sensory paths” where students can “regulate their emotions if they have the wiggles” by performing a series of physical tasks outlined on hallway floors designed to help them better focus.

The city schools are also joining “Adopt A Class” and will launch the program in a few weeks.

“We will partner with local businesses in grades three through eight and businesses will come into our classrooms once a month and they will actually teach our kids about their business. And they do hands-on activities with them (students) and take them on a field trip,” said Blevins.

“Hopefully, by the time students get to high school they will know about five to six possible career avenues they can consider exploring.”

Blevins said this first week of school “is extremely important … because it really sets the tone for the year. And it’s important to help kid feel safe and that they belong so that we can then unlock learning for them.”

Fairfield Schools

Fairfield Schools, which enrolls students from both Fairfield city and the adjacent Fairfield Twp., saw officials work during summer break to gear up for welcoming back students, said Superintendent Billy Smith.

Smith said Fairfield’s earlier-than-normal start — classes opened Thursday — was prompted by feedback from school families.

“We surveyed our families and staff members several years ago. The results from that survey were overwhelmingly in favor of a fall break, a week off at Thanksgiving, and a two-week winter break,” said Smith.

“In addition, there has been little interest in coming back to school after Memorial Day. In order to create a calendar that satisfies those interests, it was necessary to start on Aug. 8. We also surveyed our stakeholders again after experiencing this type of school calendar, and the results were almost identical,” he said.