SPOTLIGHT
on New Milford Schools
Dear New Milford Public Schools Families, Faculty, Staff, and Community,
Here we are at the end of January, where the weather has been fairly quiet for us so far. We are lucky to have so many exciting and joyful events taking place across all of our schools in January. You will see these happenings throughout the pages of this month’s edition of the Spotlight on New Milford Schools. Please enjoy the stories about and photos of our students in action in every grade level!
The late fall and winter seasons also bring our annual school district budget development presentations and meetings. Our school administrators and central office department directors work hard each year to present requests that meet the needs of our students and our schools while maintaining a stance of fiscal responsibility. Each of the presentations for the 2025-26 school and department budgets can be found at this link. On Wednesday, January 22, the Board of Education adopted a budget following all of the school and department presentations. The Board of Education adopted budget presents a 3.93% increase over the 2024-25 district budget. We look forward to explaining to families what is contained in the Board of Education adopted budget over the upcoming weeks. The Board of Education adopted budget is then presented to the Town Council and Board of Finance for their consideration in late February. The final step in the budget process is the Town-Wide Referendum in May. As always, please reach out with any questions you might have about the budget or budget process as we move on through the months.
Please enjoy the rest of this month’s Spotlight! Thank you for your continued support of our students and our schools.
Sincerely,
Janet P. Parlato, Ed.D.
To make sure you have all the latest news, you can continue to check this newsletter for updates. You should also do all of the following:
How to find out if we have a weather-related delay/closing:
- Sign up here for text alerts
- Check our website
- Make sure you are registered on our school notification system
- February 5th: Freshman Orientation ~ 5:30pm ~ NMHS Theater
- February 5th: HPS PTO Meeting ~ 6:30pm
- February 6th: Staff PD Day: Early Release for students
- February 7th: Town Wide PTO Spirit Day ~ Fav. Sports Team
- February 7th: NES PTO Bingo Night ~ 5:30pm
- February 14th - 17th: President's Day Weekend - SCHOOLS CLOSED
- February 21st - School Bus Driver Appreciation Day
- June 14th: Graduation ~ 10:00am @ NMHS Joe Wiser Stadium
NMHS Masked Singer Staff Edition
NMHS held their *first-ever* Masked Singer, STAFF Edition. It was an amazing evening and first go for this event ! Thanks to Mrs. Titus and Mrs. Fodor for arranging, and Mr. Best and Lia M. and Regan O. for hosting the event.
The runner-up was Maya R. and the winner was Mrs. Benson ! Special thanks to Dr. Parlato and Mrs. Lacava who assisted as judges.
Blood Drive Hosted by SADD
SADD hosted a Blood Drive on January 29th in honor of all who have fought cancer and those who are fighting cancer. NMHS dedicated this Blood Drive in honor of two beloved teachers Ms. Aguirre and Mr. Neff who are forever in our hearts.
Pictured here are Ms. Aguirre's parents who participated in the drive along with Mrs. Schichler, Ms. Church, Mrs. Brito, and our NMHS student volunteers.
Will Neeb Scholarship Fundraiser
The NMHS Athletic Council, Coach Vaughn and Mr. Lipinksy did a fantastic job creating a shirt to honor the recent passing of classmate, Will. Proceeds will support the trust that will fund an associated scholarship in memory of Will for years to come. You are missed #12.
Robotics Clubs
In our Robotics clubs, Students are actively engaged in learning to construct and program VEX Go Robots as part of the after-school Robotics Club. VEX integrates elements of STEM, Computer Science, and Robotics. Teams of two students work collaboratively to build a rover, followed by programming the rover to complete various challenges within the classroom. One such challenge involves programming the rover to recognize colors and navigate a maze based on the colors it detects. Students appreciate the opportunity to tackle these challenges in an enjoyable and supportive environment.
New Year Whole-School Assembly
We kicked off our new year with a whole-school assembly immediately after arrival the first morning back to do the pledge, moment of silence, and morning announcements, together💥 Students learned about what perseverance is, how it can be applied to the midyear iReady, and together we revisited expected behaviors for school and on the bus. We couldn’t be more proud of the students’ attention and engagement right from the start.
Instructional Keystones Work
Happy New Year !
NES enjoyed the break but we're ready to get back to our routines at Northville! As we settle into the next few winter months, we will continue to strive to meet our C.A.R.E.S expectations.
In early January, the whole school enjoyed the town-wide "Decades" day. Teachers, students and staff members dressed in their favorite outfits from different decades.
Word Wizard Wednesday
Did you know that NES has "Word Wizard Wednesday" ? This is an opportunity for our students to learn two new words a month. Thanks to the efforts of Mrs. Filogomo, our students have learned the definitions and how to use the following words for January: "accumulate" and "assemble." Two books staff shared with the students were The All Together Quilt by Lizzy Rockwell and The Boy who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba.
KidSight Screenings and Fun Winter Assemblies
The Lion's Club once again came and screened our students who "opted in" for the KidSight screening and we are grateful for this service.
Here at NES we are trying to ward off the cold winter blues by scheduling lots of fun and educational things. We have a whole slew of assemblies coming up and our classes are looking forward to their spring field trips.
Our department is dedicated to bring more local farm items to the school lunch program and we have found a way to do it in the traditional non growing seasons in Connecticut. We have started to purchase Non GMO, Pesticide Free and Ready to Eat Hydroponic Lettuce.
Hydroponic Lettuce is grown in a nutrient-rich water solution without soil. We are currently using the hydroponic lettuce at the High School in “Grab & Go Salads”, which are are available daily.
There are different types of lettuce and some are higher in nutrients than others. One cup of lettuce
(any type), has 0 grams of Cholesterol/Fat, Folate, Vitamin A and Vitamin K. Our menus (K-12) offers a salad daily. Please try them !
