Wilton Curriculum Chief Chuck Smith to Retire at End of 2026-27 School Year, but Work Continues

Members of the Wilton Board of Education took time at their most recent meeting to recognize Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Charles “Chuck” Smith, who will retire June 30, 2027, after 14 years with Wilton Public Schools and a 45-year career in education.

Superintendent Kevin Smith said the district will begin searching for a successor later this fall, allowing time to recruit a candidate and provide a lengthy transition period before Chuck Smith’s departure. 

“We have a major leadership change that we’re going to need to begin to contemplate,” Kevin Smith said. “His fingerprints are over everything we do.”

BOE Chair Ruth DeLuca said Chuck Smith’s work provides the foundation for what district teachers do for students. 

“His work is at the core of what we do,” DeLuca said. 

Chuck Smith joined Wilton Public Schools in 2013 after 16 years with Greenwich Public Schools, including six years as the principal of North Street School. He previously worked as a special education program administrator in Greenwich and held several education positions in New York.

During his Wilton tenure, Smith established the district’s instructional coaching program, created two curriculum coordinator positions and helped reorganize remedial intervention services into a unified district department, according to a Wilton Public Schools press release announcing his retirement. The district also credited him with leading instructional recovery efforts that produced strong academic growth following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following the board’s recognition, Chuck Smith returned to discussing the work at hand, outlining curriculum development completed by teachers and administrators over the summer and describing how that work has evolved in recent years. He also addressed questions from BOE members about efforts to reduce the use of screen time in the classroom.

Curriculum Work Continues

While Chuck Smith provided an overview of the curriculum work that district staff completed over the summer, he also updated the board about the positive results he’s observed over the last few years. 

“What I do find exciting, though, is how the quality of the work has evolved over time,” Smith said. “Over the last few years, we’ve focused heavily on refining our unit design template, and training all of our writing teams in evidence-based curriculum development practices, and that investment is really paying off.”

Smith said the newer curriculum units provide more interactive and inquiry-based learning experiences.

In English language arts (ELA), Smith said the work includes stronger integration of the science of reading principles, a clearer vertical progression across grade levels, and more consistent guidance for teaching writing and vocabulary. 

“And in math and science, there’s a greater emphasis on access and active engagement, shifting away from passive lecture approaches and toward more collaborative problem-solving tasks,” Smith said. 

Smith continued, providing examples of how curriculum coordinators and instructional leaders have helped make the district’s curriculum “sharper, more focused on clear learning goals, and built to ensure high expectations are accessible to every single student.”

At Miller-Driscoll and Cider Mill Schools, elementary teams restructured many of those new ELA modules and refined plans for small-group instruction. In math, first- and second-grade teachers also adapted standard textbook lessons into collaborative thinking exercises completed on whiteboards, Smith explained. 

“And Cider Mill developed a really excellent new grade five ecosystems unit, anchored entirely around local phenomena, specifically the Norwalk River and trout life cycles,” Smith said. “Trout is very important here in Wilton.”

At Middlebrook School, seventh-grade science teachers replaced some digital labs introduced following the COVID pandemic with hands-on experiments for units on rocks and the water cycle. Teachers also integrated lessons about the ethical use of technology and artificial intelligence into the school’s digital citizenship curriculum.

At Wilton High School, Smith said teams focused on making Chemistry II and Algebra II more accessible to a wider range of learners.

“Teams spent a substantial amount of time building intentional scaffolds, pacing guides and inquiry labs so that every student gets access to what they need,” Smith said. 

Board Raises Questions About Screen Time

BOE Vice Chairwoman Nicola Davies asked whether curriculum writers consider ways to deliver units without screens. 

Smith said faculty writing curriculum are particularly attentive to screen use in the elementary grades. He acknowledged a tension between limiting screens and using digital resources in which the district has invested, particularly because students are assessed on digital platforms. 

While the district relied heavily on screens following the COVID pandemic, Smith said educators have moved away from having students use them continuously over the last three years, especially at the elementary level. 

DeLuca said the district rejected one ELA curriculum because it relied more heavily on screens than another option under consideration. She added that the broader question of screen use is one the board will examine “more in a thoughtful and deliberative way as the year progresses.”