What a great stretch of late summer/early fall weather we have been having so far in September! We are settling into the 2024-25 school year nicely, and students are becoming experts at all of the routines and expectations that come with a new school year. Each of our schools and departments is striving to create the conditions for all of our students to remain "On Track" throughout the course of this year! We have been and continue to develop ideas and ways to support students' learning and growth as they progress each day, with the very important goal of On Track Grade Level Achievement for All Students.

I would like to introduce our Instructional Keystones, which are quality classroom teaching practices that we are working on from PreK-12. The Instructional Keystones are: 1) Being clear about the purpose of each lesson and task; 2) Robust and engaging task design; 3) Student collaboration with purpose; and 4) Behavior-specific praise. These are teaching strategies that we know have a powerful impact on learning, and we will continue to practice them and develop our expertise with them over time.

Here's to a productive autumn season for us all! Thank you for your continued support of our district and our students.

Sincerely yours,

Janet P. Parlato, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools

• October 3rd: Rosh Hashanah - SCHOOLS CLOSED
  
• October 14th: Columbus Day - SCHOOLS CLOSED
• October 15th: BOE Meeting, 7pm, SNIS LMC
• October 24th: Staff PD Day/PSAT Day - Early Dismissal for Students
• November 3rd: Daylight Savings Time Ends
• November 5th: Election Day/Parent Conferences - SCHOOLS CLOSED
• November 11th: Veterans Day - SCHOOLS CLOSED
• June 14, 2025: Graduation 10:00am at NMHS Joe Wiser Stadium

Our Staff Convocation is an opportunity for New Milford Public Schools faculty and staff to gather together as the new school year starts. The link to the full Convocation is below, and highlights are at these points in the video:

4:05 - National Anthem by seniors Meadow Hall and Jack Maloney

6:37 - Pledge of Allegiance by Building Level Teachers of the Year

10:23 - Student choral performance of “Give Us Hope”

18:50 - Building Level and District ParaEducator of the Year - Karin Dieterle, Northville

27:25 - Teacher of the Year reveal

32:15 - Teacher of the Year introduction by former student, Deidre Nappi ‘09

38:30 - Teacher of the Year speech - Colleen Peterson, NMHS

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Thank you to our Board of Education members for their unwavering dedication and hard work. Their commitment to enhancing the educational experience for all students does not go unnoticed. The countless hours spent in meetings, planning, and implementing policies to ensure the highest standards of education are deeply appreciated. Your efforts have a profound impact on the community, shaping the future of our children and fostering an environment where learning and growth can thrive. Thank you for your steadfast support and the invaluable contributions you make every day !

For information on BOE meetings, policies and more, visit the website and click Board of Education:

https://www.newmilfordps.org/

Pictured, standing left to right: Mr. Brian McCauley, Mr. Dean Barile, Mr. Randall Scofield, Mr. Eric Hansell Seated: Secretary, Mrs. Tammy McInerney, Chairperson, Mrs. Wendy Faulenbach, Vice Chairperson, Mrs. Leslie Sarich, Mrs. Sarah Herring not pictured: Assistant Secretary, Mr. Tom O'Brien

Mr. Raymond Manka, Principal

Mr. Kevin Best, Assistant Principal

Dr. Megan Dwyer, Assistant Principal

Mr. Anthony Blake, Assistant Principal

The 2024 New Milford High School Marching Band and Color Guard hosted their annual Home Show on Saturday, September 21st. Ten bands from across the state took the field in competition alongside our very own band and guard. This year's show, Dia De Los Muertos, incorporates visuals and music inspired by the holiday. It is a day of celebration for remembering loved ones lost. Congratulations to the band and guard on an outstanding performance!

The first Wingman Day of the year was a huge success ! Students were seen collaborating with their student leaders and peers, with their teachers and all were engaged in the activities and lesson.

See the link for below that captured an amazing collaboration between Wingman, NMHS Chorus and the Video Production class. Amazing work by all involved! Special shoutout to Mr. Amenta, Ms. Rosen, the Wingman student leaders and NMHS student body !

On 9/11, NMHS did their part for the community and held a Blood Drive sponsored by SADD.

BBQ Dad (Mr. Best) and Soccer Mom (Mrs. Hinz) certainly caught the Spirit. 💚

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Ms. Linda Scoralick, Principal
Mr. Michael Boucher, Assistant Principal

Ms. Shannon Surreira, Assistant Principal SMS/NES

Mrs. Jennifer Powers, Assistant Principal

🏆 SMS Staff trained hard for Back to School ! 💪

Students and teachers on 8 Red started the year together as a team participating in a variety of activities to get to know each other and strengthen our bonds as a community. One particular activity the students enjoyed was filling out a personality traits inventory, determining their personality traits and then matching them to possible career opportunities.

Our most recent venture was visiting the newly revived LMC, exploring all the resources available to support learning through research and reading, as well as having some fun time with our peers through conversation, puzzle building, and book discussions. We continue to build our expectations of ourselves as learners and people in all our classrooms. For example, in ELA students created a display of their expectations of themselves as readers and writers on the 8 Red bulletin board. We are looking forward to a great school year together on Team 8 Red!

Students in Mrs. Mead’s STEM and PLTW classes have been spending a lot of time building! So far this year students have spent time building structures that would hold people, building three dimensional name tags, and seeing who could build the tallest tower. Students are enjoying the opportunity to engage in the engineering and design process which requires them to engage in a cycle of asking questions, conducting research, imagining possible solutions, making plans, creating prototypes, testing and evaluating their prototypes, and then improving and redesigning their designs as needed.

As part of our community building activities to start the year, each member of the SMS community was invited to decorate a puzzle piece to be included in our community puzzle. The puzzle was assembled by members of the faculty after school. This puzzle hangs in the hallway outside the cafeteria and is a reminder of the fact that we are all interconnected as part of one school, and that, though we are unique, we have many similarities as well.

On September 20th, “Good Morning SMS” made it’s debut at SMS. “Good Morning SMS” is a special newscast version of our morning announcements that we hope to continue. Our initial broadcast was hosted by Savannah Brown and Mr. Bradbury. The broadcast covered sports updates, upcoming events, a teacher spotlight, and more! We cannot wait to hear more from the “Good Morning SMS” broadcast desk!

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Mrs. Anne Bilko, Principal
Mrs. Jennifer Chmielewski, Assistant Principal

Mrs. Jennifer Meyers, Assistant Principal

Welcome Back from the staff at SNIS !

Start with Hello Week! Start with Hello Week is a national call-to-action week dedicated to making new social connections and creating a sense of belonging. It's been a long standing tradition here at SNIS to strengthen our sense of community among our students.

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Mrs. Gwen Gallagher, Principal

Ms. Shannon Surreira, Assistant Principal SMS/NES

Here at Northville Elementary School, we are off to a great start! Fall always feels like a fresh new beginning for students and staff.

Students who completed their summer "homework" in math and reading had the opportunity to "Slime the Principals" on the playground. It was a fun reward for their diligence in academic skill reinforcement over summer break!

Mrs. Surreira and Mrs. Gallagher wore hazmat suits and goggles so they were ready to be SLIMED!

Friday, September 6th was a townwide spirit day with a tropical theme. Students showed school spirit by dressing in bright florals and fun beach themes. Watch for School Spirit Days (Mrs. Gallagher sends the information in her weekly e-mail) to join in the fun!

Curriculum night was held on Tuesday September 10th. It was a nice opportunity for parents and care-givers to understand more about what our K - 2 students will be learning this year!

Mrs. Fidalgo's First Grade class had loads of fun making salsa using vegetables picked from the plant patch at NES! They had fun seeing the harvest come together as healthy food.

The year in gear, and we're rolling along at NES!

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Mrs. Catherine Calabrese, Principal

Mrs. Kerri Adakonis, Assistant Principal

Our Annual Fun Fest and Mum Sale was a fun event for families to enjoy.

Whole-School Assembly about what it means to show and feel RESPECT!

Slime the Principals to celebrate the completion of summer math and reading work.

Town-Wide Spirit Day-Tropical Day had many participants bringing us together as a community!

Curriculum Night was for staff to highlight the work and goals set for the year and for families to meet support staff, the Art, Music, Gym and Library teachers, the PTO, the food service staff and the nurse!! Watch the video below:

Pajama Day, because we met a fundraising goal of $2,500 for the 1st Annual PTO Color Run coming at the end of September.

Our Food Service staff is amazing, as always, incorporating the colors of the rainbow into food choices for students! Serving a fresh variety of melon and mint was delightful and refreshing for these last warm summer days…

New Milford High School is a Michaels Cup recipient this year! The Michaels Jewelers Cup Committee recognized these exemplary athletics programs for their willingness to subscribe to the Class Act Sportsmanship standards, empowering students to take an active role in their school climate, and their continued support for community service. These 28 schools have made sportsmanship a priority in their district.

The main gym has been resurfaced and it looks fabulous. It's Game Time !

For the complete Fall Sports schedule, please click on the link below. Come out and support the teams!

https://ciac.fpsports.org/DashboardSchedule.aspx?SchoolID=105&QuickFilter=3

School lunches have evolved in several ways over the past decade and the health benefits of what is served in the cafeteria might surprise you. Some of the highlights are:

• Nut free

• Whole grains

• Age appropriate portions

• <10% Saturated Fat

• No Trans Fatty Acids

• 5 subgroups of vegetables & a variety of fruits which helps provide antioxidants & minerals

• Local farm produce

• Great customer service from our fabulous 33 food service workers

The week of October 7th-11th is the CT Grown for CT Kids Week! This annual event happens every October in Connecticut and it is a special week for our department. We aim to celebrate and support local agriculture and the role it plays in healthy nutritious meals in schools. The CT Grown for CT Kids Week aims to celebrate and support local agriculture, public education and our community commitment to the importance of healthy nutritious meals in schools. We will be featuring some of the gifts of fall from CT farms in several new items on the menu such as local apples, pears, apple cider, cabbage, squash and greens.