Month: November 2021


Connecticut Schools Face Tricky Balance of Costs, Staff and Services for Special Ed

November 30, 2021

“I think when you have a greater understanding and a greater awareness of what type of disability it is, I think parents are asking those questions of their pediatricians or even school personnel,” says Tracy Sinclair, an assistant clinical professor of special education at the UConn Neag School of Education. “Better diagnostic tools allow doctors to diagnose children with autism as early as nine months — allowing these children to receive services as soon as possible.”


MLK Mural Unveiled Outside Mansfield Community Center

November 29, 2021

The city of Mansfield held a ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 13, to unveil the new MLK mural in front of the community center. The unveiling was accompanied by a host of other festivities, including music by Joaquan Kinsey from UConn’s Voices of Freedom Gospel Choir and UConn’s Jazz Quartet. About 130 people attended according to Margaret Chatey, who is the Mansfield communications specialist and runs the Town of Mansfield Facebook page. She also said that there were multiple speakers including the master of ceremonies professor Glenn Mitoma, Mayor Toni Moran, Matt Conway, Mural Artist Emida Roller, professor Carlita Cotton and superintendent Kelly Lyman.



A Higher Purpose

November 21, 2021

Initially going the coaching route, Chloe Pavlech was a graduate assistant at UConn under legendary coach Geno Auriemma, earning her master’s in sport management in 2018. She started with the Huskies in August 2016, eight months after playing against them in the Maggie Dixon Classic at Madison Square Garden. “I’ll never forget my first day there, I sat down for breakfast check, and Kia Nurse walks in and says, ‘What are you doing here?”’ Pavlech said. “She was so confused, and I was kind of taken aback, too. I felt like a traitor.”





Book cover Follow Me to Distance Learning

Alumna Publishes Children’s Book on Socio-Emotional Learning

November 16, 2021

Agnieszka Petlik ‘16 6th Year, a kindergarten teacher in Simsbury, Connecticut, and graduate of the Neag School’s UConn Administrator Preparation Program (UCAPP), knows this transition all too well. “When COVID hit, I had to make some choices because my parents live downstairs, and they’re [immuno] compromised,” says Petlik. “I was very nervous, just like the rest of the world, as to what is going on and what we are going to do.”


Mark Shibles

In Memoriam: Dean Emeritus Mark Shibles

November 16, 2021

Mark R. Shibles of Wilton, Maine, a former dean and professor emeritus of the Neag School of Education, was a highly respected scholar and leader in educational leadership and policy. With his passing on Aug. 24, 2021, at 83, the Neag School honors Shibles’ impact and his legacy.