Episodes

On this week’s episode of Ridgefield Tiger talk we welcome three RHS music teachers. Michael McNamara VPA chair, Lauren Verney-Fink chorus teacher, and George Beratis Band teacher. They tell us about an amazing opportunity that our music students will be having by traveling to New Orleans later this month. They will perform live at a few venues. Participate in a college level music clinic, and learn about the rich musical history of New Orleans. Thanks for listening!

With the inevitable thaw of winter, we welcome back Ridgefield High School’s Director of Athletics Dane Street to give us a winter sports update. We discuss the many amazing accomplishments that RPS athletes achieved this past season, what teams are making it to the finals, a preview of spring sports, and some of the mental health training/community outreach athletic staff are participating in. Thanks for listening! Link to the athletics website.

We have an All-Star crew for this week’s episode of Ridgefield Tiger Talk. Dr. Susie Da Silva Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Elizabeth Hannaway Assistant Superintendent of Special Services, and Jill Browne Director of Finance join the show to tell us about a very important vote happening February 25th. We discussed the importance of the new space needed for the Alternative High School/Ridgefield Transition Program, the long-term cost savings it can bring the community, and the importance of havi...

It’s budget season and on this week’s episode of Tiger Talk we welcome back Superintendent Dr. Susie Da Silva and Director of Finance Jill Browne (our second attempt at doing a budget podcast). We discuss the budget building process, some of the factors that go into creating the budget, how we arrived at this year’s number, and the upcoming presentations/meetings to bring the budget to completion. Thanks for listening! Click here for the budget website that was mentioned on the podcast. Click h...

On this week’s episode of Ridgefield Tiger Talk, we welcome Stephanie Cheung Counseling Supervisor and Lori Bran School Counselor. We discussed this year’s course selection for RHS students and students coming from middle school, next week’s (01/15/25 @6pm) open house for parents of eighth graders to see the high school’s elective offerings, and tips and tricks for both parents & students when trying to figure out what courses to take. Click here for the counseling website that was mentioned in ...

In this week’s episode of Ridgefield Tiger Talk, we welcome back to the show the Director of Safety and Security, Josh Zabin. We discuss how the new school security officer (SSO) model is working, the benefits/community impact of having these SSO’s at each building, the continuing work in making our buildings secure, and Sandy Hook promise our anonymous reporting system. Thanks for listening!

On this week’s episode of Ridgefield Tiger Talk we welcome back Physics and Robotics teacher Michael Murphy. Joining him are Ridgefield high school robotics team members Addis Engel, Declan Kelly, Juliette Langberg & Vijay Pertab. We discuss the robot club/high school course offerings that students can choose from, this year’s Vex robotics tournament game, the amazing skills that our students are able to develop in these courses/club, and how you can see these robots in action this Saturday 9am ...

This week we have a very patriotic episode of Ridgefield Tiger Talk. Joining us is Tom Grace Assistant Principal at East Ridge Middle School, Michael Settanni Social Studies Teacher and Alison Picarella Health/PE Teacher. We discuss this very meaningful an annual that that has been running at East Ridge Middle School for the past 23 years. It is not only become a Ridgefield tradition, but it helps connect us to the veterans in our community. Thanks for listening!

This week’s episode of Tiger Talk, we welcome Dr. Elizabeth Hannaway Assistant Superintendent of Special and Services Andree Fitzgerald Director of Nursing, Health, & Wellness. Just a few things we discuss are, how this new position supports our students, how the role of a school nurse has changed over the years, the new emphasis on mental wellness, and how RPS works with community partners to best serve our children. Thanks for listening!

It’s time for a sports update here at Ridgefield Tiger Talk! Joining us on today’s podcast is a guest everyone is familiar with, Dane Street Director of Athletics for Ridgefield High School. We talk about the amazing fall season. Some of our sports teams are having (many qualified for both FCIAC and States), highlights of some amazing students, and the amazing work that our coaches put in for our athletes. Thanks for listening! Click here for the athletics website.

It’s that spooky time of year again! We welcome back to Tiger Talk the First Selectperson of Ridgefield, Rudy Marconi. We discussed all of the exciting and fun activities that are happening in the next few weeks. From a very scary paranormal park to an adorable trunk or treat at the Lounsbury house. There’s something for everyone this Halloween in Ridgefield. Thanks for listening! Click here for more information on these events.

On this week’s episode of Ridgefield Tiger Talk we have an All-Star cast to talk about World Language at the Elementary level. Joining us is Cory Gillette the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, Linda Johnson the director of elementary education, Allyson Power World Language Department Head, and Jill Quattrocchi Elementary World Language teacher. We discuss how the program began, the benefits of learning new languages at a young age, the experience our students are having in...

We assembled an all-star cast for this very special episode of Ridgefield Tiger Talk. Joining us is Dr. Susie Da Silva, Superintendent of Schools; Dr. Elizabeth Hannaway, Assistant Superintendent of Special Services; Dr. Anthony Showah, Assistant Director of Special Services; Jessica DiValentino, Transition Program Coordinator; and Kate Collins, Alternative High School Coordinator. We have heard many questions from the community regarding the new proposed location of our transition program and a...

Ridgefield Tiger Talk is back for the 24-25 school year! In our first episode of the season, we welcome back Jill Browne our Director of Finance and Billy Gramajo our Transportation Coordinator to go over some frequently asked questions about transportation. Some of the topics we cover are how bus routes are planned, all the factors that decide where a bus stop is, and how the student first app works. Thanks for listening! If you have any further questions regarding transportation here’s the em...

RPS has Leveled UP! This is Ridgefield Tiger talk’s season finale for the 23-24 school year. On today’s show, we welcome Cory Gillette, the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum & Instruction. We discuss all of the amazing work that our teachers, students, and administrators have done this year to Level Up Ridgefield Public Schools. Even though there will be no new episodes of Tiger, talk this summer everyone here will be hard at work getting ready for the next school year. But don’t worry the ...

Continuing our theme of environmentally friendly shows, this week we welcome Ridgefield High School Biology teacher, Arlyn Kilduff to Tiger Talk. She tells us about the Environmental and Sustainability Club, their involvement with the town, and current projects like the Pollinator Pathway and the RHS recycling audit. Thanks for listening!

We have a charged-up episode of Tiger Talk! Joining us is Dwayne Escola, the chair of the Ridgefield Energy Task Force. We discuss the environmental impacts of installing solar panels on our schools, the up-and-coming solar canopies that will be installed in the high school parking lot this summer, and some of the future endeavors that the task force is looking forward to. Thanks for listening!

On today’s episode, we welcome back a Ridgefield Tiger Talk MVP. Dane Street, the Director of Athletics for Ridgefield High School joins the show. We discussed the many accolades that our amazing athletes received, winter sports recap, a current update on Spring sports, and a call to anyone in the community who’s interested in helping out in athletics. Thanks for listening!

We’re Trash Talking on this week’s episode of Tiger Talk! We welcome back to the show Tiffany Carlson Ridgefield’s Recycling Coordinator. We discussed the 50th anniversary of the Ridgefield Recycling Center, how the schools are helping in the composting effort, some of the free services that the recycling department offers, and ways that you can help your community. Thanks for listening and for more information please email: recyclingcoordinator@ridgefieldct.gov

In this episode of Ridgefield Tiger Talk Stephanie Cheung RHS’s Counseling Supervisor joins us to discuss the 2024 College Fair. There is a lot of noteworthy stuff happening this year. Currently there are over 80 colleges signed up, the Editor and Chief of the Princeton review will be the keynote speaker, and the counseling staff will be hosting many informational breakout sessions. Definitely a must listen, if you have a high school age student(s)! Link to the RHS counselors page mentioned in t...

Wow, we made it to 100 episodes! On this very special episode of Ridgefield Tiger Talk we reach out to some of our teachers and administrators to tell us why RPS is such an amazing place! Joining us is Elizabeth Van Duyne, Jennifer DeJulio, Michael Murphy, Sarah Kehoe, Jamie Palladino, Tom Grace, Cory Gillette, and Dr. Susie Da Silva. We are so proud and fortunate to have the remarkable staff that we do. Thanks for getting us to 100 episodes, and thanks for listening!

In this week’s episode of Ridgefield Tiger talk we welcome back Dr. Anthony Showah Assistant Director of Special Services. We discuss the many updates in the special services department, the expansion of the RISE program, pre-kindergarten, the transition program, how we can leverage AI in helping meet the needs of our students, and much more. Thanks for listening!

On this week’s episode of Ridgefield Tiger Talk, we welcome Linda Johnson Director of Elementary Education and Jamie Palladino District Math Specialist. We discussed some of the modern methods in which we educate elementary age children in mathematics, what a math fact is, and what parents can do at home to help their children become dynamic math thinkers. Thanks for listening! Click Here for more info on the Summer Bridge Program.

It’s that time of the year again, Ridgefield Public schools is in budget season! On this week’s episode of Tiger Talk, we welcome Dr. Susie Da Silva, Superintendent of Schools and Jill Browne, Director of Finance. We discuss how the budget process works, and the schedule for up-and-coming events, as well as some frequently, asked questions. Click here for our budget website and thanks for listening!