SPOTLIGHT
on New Milford Schools
- May 6-10 - Teacher Appreciation Week
- May 8th - HPS/NES Mini K Experience
- May 11th - NMHS Senior Prom
- May 12th - Mother's Day
- May 14-15th - HPS/NES 2nd Grade visits to SNIS
- May 16th - Professional Development - Early Dismissal
- May 27th - Memorial Day - SCHOOL CLOSED
- May 30th - 5th Grade Send Off
- June 6th - 8th Grade Promotion
- June 7th - Last Day of School!
- June 10th - Teacher Work Day
- June 15th - NMHS Graduation at 10am
Dear New Milford Public Schools Families, Faculty, and Staff,
We are under 30 school days left in the 2023-24 year, and as always, this is a time filled with activities and events across each of our schools. The spring season also brings with it a variety of appreciation days for our staff members. I would like to acknowledge the hard work and dedicated efforts of all of our staff members, who give their best each day in support of our school district and our students. Our staff members' ethic of care aims to foster a strong learning environment for all, from the classrooms to the cafeterias to the playgrounds. I am grateful for the work of our staff each and every day, and it is a privilege to serve our community alongside them.
The month of May also brings important dates related to the school district and town budgets. A date for the budget referendum will be set soon, and we encourage our New Milford families and staff members who live in town to vote on referendum day. We will send a reminder of polling places when the referendum date gets closer.
Thank you for all of your support of our schools and our students so far this year, and I look forward to seeing you at our many upcoming district events.
Janet P. Parlato, Ed.D.
Superintendent of New Milford Public Schools
NMHS Career Expo
Over 100 local companies, organizations and business owners attended the 3rd Annual Career Expo on April 25th. The goal for this event was to educate our students on career opportunities in various industries, including those careers that may not require a traditional four year college degree.
Health Fair
We're thrilled to share the enriching experience our students in grades K-5 had while delving into the phenomenon of the April 8, 2024, solar eclipse.
Safety was paramount during our eclipse exploration, and our students learned the importance of using eclipse glasses and never looking directly at the sun. Through interactive discussions and demonstrations, they grasped the crucial safety measures to enjoy this celestial event responsibly.
Through engaging literature featuring "Total Solar Eclipse” (read by Mr. Delia - TAG Teacher) and "A Few Beautiful Minutes Experiencing a Solar Eclipse,” (read by Mrs. Bonnell - STEM Teacher) our students not only gained knowledge about the eclipse but also explored its significance in a literary context.
For our students, this experience went beyond a mere scientific phenomenon. It ignited curiosity, sparked imagination, and fostered a sense of awe and wonder about the universe. It encouraged them to look up, question, and explore, laying the foundation for a lifelong appreciation of STEM and discovery.
We believe that experiences like these are invaluable in shaping well-rounded individuals who are open to the wonders of the world around them.
Solar Eclipse
It's not often that students get to experience an extraordinary event so we made sure to pull out all the stops for the solar eclipse. It was a wonderful opportunity to observe a natural phenomenon. Teachers spent time teaching and our students not only learned about the event but also how to safely observe the solar eclipse. It was an exciting day, where our entire school, students and staff alike, went out to observe. In addition to viewing, while not looking up students created journals, complete with sketches of what they saw, and completed some other fun activities and right on cue the cloud cover cleared to allow some excellent views of the eclipse! The students did a great job and our hope is they left with a happy memory of an extraordinary event!
Spring Has Sprung!
Our potential "community friends" for our Excel program were invited to visit a classroom on March 27th. They enjoyed toys, activities and interacting with their peers as well as our teaching staff.
We are looking forward to our Mini-K experience which will be held on Wednesday mornings in April and May. This is an opportunity for fully registered kindergartners to come to the school and enjoy play time as well as interaction with peers and teachers. Parents will attend an informational session while students enjoy interactive play.
We had "Ben's Bells" present a program to second graders. Ben's Bells is a "spread kindness" initiative and was funded by our amazing PTO. The students learned about ways they could spread kindness to others in their school and in their community. They participated in a team building activity where they wrote kind things about their peers. They also got to paint kindness coins. The students were encouraged to pass their kindness coin onto someone else who they witnessed demonstrating kindness.
The second graders performed a concert on April 10th for their parents, caregivers and families. Mrs. Belardinelli, our Music Teacher, put together a nice concert and the students did their best singing!
On April 8th we hosted "We Love our Support Staff" day and had coffee and goodies for all our stellar para professionals and other support staff at Northville.
The Pratt Center visited on April 22, 23, and 24 to talk to our Second Graders about the importance of water and soil science.
Also in April, our First Graders attended James and the Giant Peach at Western Connecticut State University Theater.
Big Shout Out to our Assistant Principal Mrs. Shannon Surreira, for being an amazing leader and Administrator. She is well loved by our staff and students!
Tere Luna came to NES for her Interactive Mexican Folkloric Song and Dance Performance on April 11th. This assembly was brought to us by a PTO Grant and it was part of our Arts for Learning program.
We experienced a Solar Eclipse on April 8th. All students were supplied eclipse glasses to protect their eyes and enjoyed parts of the eclipse at school. It was a special experience for all!
April showers (and apparently earthquakes too) bring May flowers!
April Fools Fun & Bash the Trash!
Hill and Plain kicked off April laughing on April Fool’s Day since some teachers gave out brownies, aka “ brown Es”.
Our awesome PTO organized and sponsored “Bash the Trash” to perform for our students to celebrate Earth Day. Bash the Trash is a group that builds and performs on musical instruments made from trash, making connections to science, plastic pollution, and climate change along the way.
Solar Eclipse
We want to thank the Department of Instruction for purchasing special eclipse glasses. This allowed staff and students to safely experience the solar eclipse, which was a unique opportunity. The next time something like this will occur is in 2044. A huge thanks to Mr. Dan Delia, our Talented and Gifted Teacher, and Mrs. Cindy Bonnell, our K-5 STEM teacher, who developed materials for K-5 classroom teachers to use when they discuss the eclipse in their classrooms.
Books, Bulletin Boards & More!
Our school was granted hundreds of books by The Marine Toys for Tots Foundation which was initiated as an endeavor to help children by providing books. All teachers added to their classroom libraries to enhance our students’ learning!
Thanks to Mrs. Bollard, our art teacher, who created the front bulletin board so we could tie it into our bus behavior initiative. We review bus expectations daily and beginning after April break, we will have a healthy competition in which the winning bus will have a special reward for following expectations!
After our vocabulary professional development session, Ms. Stratman created a vocab wall for the gym to enhance physical education classes and students’ learning,
Celebrating our Assistant Principal and Paraprofessionals
Happy National Assistant Principals’ Appreciation Week to Mrs. Adakonis. Thank you for playing an integral role at Hill and Plain supporting our staff, students, and families.
Happy Paraprofessional Appreciation Day to all our hard-working, dedicated, kind, and patient paraprofessionals. We celebrated all of YOU and our support staff with a festive spring-themed breakfast.
A little science, anyone? These students learned through observations, describing patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive.
During UFLI (phonics work) Kindergarten and first grade had spring egg hunts to find heart words. What a super and fun outdoor learning opportunity where they hunt for SpringTime plastic eggs, they are to find all their heart words- read them, and then write them on their recording sheet.
Top Readers
Finally, meet the top readers from our annual Read-a-thon. These students were awarded a certificate, books, prizes, and lunch with the principals.
2nd grade:
-DJ, Arlo, and Elijah
1st grade:
-Lydia, Grayson, and Riley
Kindergarten:
-William, Josephine (pictured on the left), and Arlo
Excel (not pictured):
Dylan, Sophia, and William
