GPS District Digest (v6, i10)
Stories, news, and updates from Greenwich Public Schools
Oh, the weather outside is frightful.
Frightful indeed. But your children are toasty warm in their classrooms thanks to GPS' hard-working facilities staff members who head into work in the cold dark early mornings to get those furnaces going full blast.
And on the way to school? Your school bus driver revved that engine and turned up the heat well before the kiddos walked up those steps.
Only 56 days until spring. Sixteen days until pitchers and catchers.
Enjoy Issue No. 10 and thank you for your support.
GPS District Digest
What is the all time record for the number of mentions by one person in the GPS District Digest? We have no idea, but you would have to think Greenwich High School senior Ashley Malkin is somewhere near the top of the list.
Society for Science recently announced that she was included in the top 300 scholars in the Regeneron Science Talent Search 2025, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors. Ashley will be awarded $2,000 with an additional $2,000 being awarded to GHS.
She continues the amazing Greenwich High School tradition of success in this competition being the 13th student to be named scholar since just 2021. Her project is entitled: “Development and in vitro Verification of a Polymersome for Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB) Transport Through a Novel Machine Learning Model.”
Regeneron Science Talent Search scholars were selected from nearly 2,500 applications from 795 high schools across 48 states, Washington, D.C., American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico and 14 other countries. Scholars were chosen based on their outstanding research, leadership skills, community involvement, commitment to academics, creativity in asking scientific questions and exceptional promise as STEM leaders demonstrated through the submission of their original, independent research projects, essays and recommendations. The 300 scholars hail from 200 American and international high schools in 33 states, Washington, D.C., China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Switzerland.
Later today, 40 of the 300 scholars will be named Regeneron Science Talent Search finalists. The finalists will then compete for more than $1.8 million in awards during a week-long competition in Washington, D.C., taking place March 6-12.
We cannot wait to read even more about Ashley in future issues of the Digest.
Western Middle School's Alisia Ortiz earned a Silver Key in the Connecticut region of the 2025 Scholastic Art Awards for her sculpture entitled, "West Side Wanderer."
The Connecticut Regional Scholastic Awards program is arts education based and as such, recognizes teachers as the central connection to the completion of successful student submissions. This program is a high quality level, professionally juried event which recognizes only the best Connecticut student artwork.
Congratulations Alisia! In the next issue of the Digest, we will feature honorees from Greenwich High School.
By Gemma Hardwick
Special to the Digest
The Greenwich Girls' indoor track team has had a fantastic start to the season! There have been several personal bests set across the team, and overall there have been many successes and qualifiers for FCIACs and the State LL Championship.
Greenwich High School was the only team from Connecticut to compete at the Freedom Games Invitational at Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Staten Island two weeks ago. With more than 100 teams from the Eastern seaboard, Greenwich placed 25th as a team with seven points earned by Sophie Passalacqua, Ellie Daplyn, Gemma Hardwick, Maggie Mccooe, and Orla Muir. Many girls earned PR's and qualified during that meet. Sophie ran 10:36.95 in the 3000m (CT #8) and Maggie ran 5:18.60 in the 1 mile (CT #5). In the 600m, Gemma Hardwick ran a personal best of 1:40.43 (CT #3) and Ellie Daplyn ran 1:40.81 (CT #4).
On January 11, the Greenwich Team competed at the Armory Hall of Fame Invitational with teams from across the coast. Starting off the day, Ava Passamano ran a personal best of 12:48.24 in the 2 mile, which is currently ranked CT#7. Sophie Passalacqua ran a new personal best of 5:23.18 in the Varsity Gold 1 mile (CT#4). In the Varsity Gold 1000m, Ellie Daplyn ran 3:07.09 for a new PR for the seventh fastest time in CT today and 13th overall, Orla Muir ran 3:08.22 (CT#10) for 15th and Gemma Hardwick ran 3:09.80 (CT#13) for 20th. Lastly, in the Varsity Gold 600m, Gemma Hardwick ran 1:40.82 for fifth overall and Ellie Daplyn ran 1:40.88 for sixth - both ran just milliseconds off their personal bests from the previous meet.
Notable relays from this invitational include the Sprint Medley Relay team of Gemma Hardwick, Nina Silver, Livia Binick and Ellie Daplyn who placed third overall with a time of 4:25.61. In the 4x800, the team of Orla Muir, Sophie Passalacqua, Adriana Bozza, and Avery Sciulla with a time of 10:26.39 (CT#10).
Chief Financial and Administrative Officer Ben Branyan recently announced that Mr. Patrick Lai has been promoted to Director of Finance - BOE. Since joining Greenwich Public Schools in June of 2023, Patrick has proven to be an amazing asset to not only the business department, but to the entire leadership group district-wide.
As director, he will be responsible for the oversight of all financial operations at GPS, including budgeting, accounting, payroll, and financial reporting within the boundaries of the relevant regulations and policies. Staff, including accounts payable, financial analyst, and student activity fund clerk will now report to Mr. Lai.
Mr. Lai came to GPS as a financial analyst, and then budget management director, after 28 years with IBM, mostly recently as chief financial officer, IBM Technology Support Services. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Finance from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and a master’s in Business Administration from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Who is that impeccably dressed canine that pops up in the lower righthand corner every time you head to Greenwich Public School's website?
It is G.P. Sleuthhound, of course! He is the district's new chatbot ready to track down the answers to your questions related to all things GPS. There is no better breed of dog to pick up a scent than the loyal bloodhound. He is relentless and stubborn.
Since August, G.P. has done his best to answer thousands of your questions, and with that deerstalker hat on the top of his brown head, he is dressed for success.
Greenwich Food Alliance, in collaboration with Food Rescue US-Fairfield County, Greenwich Land Trust, and Waste Free Greenwich, has invited the entire GPS community to "Community Solutions to Advance a Sustainable Food System," a free, in-person panel discussion on Wednesday, February 5 from 6:00-7:30 PM in the Greenwich Town Hall Meeting Room.
The impressive panel includes our very own superstar, Food Service Director Martha Ramkellawan.
The purpose of "Community Solutions to Advance a Sustainable Food System" is to build community support around local food systems change and raise awareness of the Greenwich initiatives necessary to strengthen the regional food economy.
For more information, including how to RSVP, head to the online invitation.
Social media, when done responsibly, can be a great tool to share information. Here at GPS, we use social media to give you a behind the scenes look at what is happening in our buildings, celebrate staff and student achievement, and to break news.
Are you one of our 2,154 followers on X (formerly known as Twitter)? If not, why aren't you? We know the world can be a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. But here, it's all sunshine and rainbows.
