SPOTLIGHT

It's been quite a winter so far in terms of school delays and cancellations with the number of school disruptions more than we've seen in a long while. Here's hoping that this cold spell breaks soon so that we are all a bit more comfortable each day. We have officially entered budget season, as each of our schools and departments has presented its budget, and the Board of Education has adopted a budget for the 2026-27 school year. The increase for 2026-27 is 3.20%, which we believe is a fair and responsible budget to bring forth to the community. At this time the statewide average school district budget increase is close to 5.5%. We look forward to providing additional specific information as the budget process moves ahead over the upcoming weeks. We appreciate the ongoing support of our schools from families as we aim to improve every aspect of our district each day and throughout the year. In the pages of this edition of the Spotlight, you will see our students and staff in action, learning and growing together! Thank you for all of the care and continually cheering us on as we reach the halfway point of this school year!

• February 5: Staff PD/Early Dismissal for Students
• February 6: District Wide PTO Spirit Day ~ Sports Fan
• February 13-16: President's Weekend - NO SCHOOL
• March 4-5: Parent-Teacher Conferences
• March 6: District Wide PTO Spirit Day ~ Crazy Hair
• March 12: Staff PD~ Two-hour delayed opening

The past two months have been about trying colorful root vegetables from the farm, conducting two more sample days for the students/staff and trying out a few new menu items in the cafeterias. The department also won the “Great Plate Prize” from the CT Department of Education. The winning plate consisted of Asian Dumplings with Local Stir Fry Vegetables and Watermelon Pizza.

Northville had a taste test (Bean/Salsa Dip) in November and the students had a chance to try their harvested dried beans from the Plant Patch (school garden). Participation was high and the students enjoyed the experience. The beans were offered to approximately 244 students and 193 students tried it. 81% of the students loved or liked it.

In December the High School students had the opportunity to try three varieties of roasted beets and three kinds of pierogies. The pierogies were a big hit and the beets were embraced by many of the students and the staff, including the Principals. The beets were from Vibrant Farms in Bantam, CT. Their produce is as colorful as the name of their farm. In addition to the roasted beets, Kohlrabi, Watermelon Radishes and Purple Daikon Radishes were introduced to the students.

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Mr. Raymond Manka, Principal

Mr. Kevin Best, Assistant Principal

Dr. Megan Dwyer, Assistant Principal

Mr. Anthony Blake, Assistant Principal

Congratulation to NMHS on achieving the Silver Recognition for the 2024-2025 AP Honor Roll!

The College Board is the organization that creates and offers all Advance Placement (AP) courses. They released the school-based "AP Honor Roll" recognition for AP culture, credit, and college optimization. NMHS received SILVER recognition for 2024-2025! This is a great honor, especially since this is the LAST year The College Board will offer this award to schools. This is a big thank you to all the staff and students who worked very hard. Keep up the great work!

The NMHS Counseling Department is happy to share that our students are off to a great start in 2026! This month, we begin our individual junior meetings that are focused on post-secondary planning and course selection for your student’s senior year. We also started holding large group, seminar styled meetings with juniors during FLEX. During these meetings we are conducting a short survey focused on our student’s post secondary interests (i.e. college, trade school, work or military service). This survey will allow us to pinpoint student interest and needs while planning for our spring offerings.

ILC students celebrated the holidays by making and delivering holiday treats to the staff.

On December 15th, the French Honor Society held its Star Project wrapping party. Thanks to the generosity of staff and students at NMHS, we were able to help 45 New Milford residents, from babies to teens who need new boots for the winter. Madame Quaintance, Advisor of FHS, would like to recognize everyone's commitment to the values of service and sense of belonging so dearly emphasized here at NMHS.

NMHS continues its collaboration with Camella's Cupboard in January with a food drive focusing on items for elementary student lunch boxes. In addition we collected insulated long johns for New Milford's Homeless Shelter. Pictured with Mr. Arthur Palmer are Jamie Hendrix, secretary and Emma Coleman, vice president and co-advisors Cara Abraham and Shelby Church.

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Mrs. Linda Demeyer, Principal

Ms. Shannon Surreira, Assistant Principal SMS/NES

Mrs. Jennifer Powers, Assistant Principal

Mrs. Alicia Hynes, Assistant Principal

Our hallways were buzzing with excitement during our recent Color Wars competition! Students from every grade level stepped up to represent their teams in a series of high-energy, "Minute to Win It" style challenges. From balancing acts to rapid-fire puzzles, the friendly rivalry brought out the absolute best in our school spirit. It was incredible to see classmates cheering each other on and working together to claim victory. Congratulations to all our participants for making it a day filled with laughter, energy, and memories!

Our school underwent a magical transformation in December thanks to our Festive Door Decorating contest! Students joined forces to turn ordinary classroom entrances into stunning displays of holiday cheer and creative artistry. The hallways are now glowing with spirit, showcasing everything from sparkling winter wonderlands to whimsical holiday characters. This collaborative project did more than just brighten our environment; it truly strengthened our sense of community. We are so proud of the teamwork and imagination displayed by every student involved!

Our 6th graders are tackling their literacy goals head-on with the high-stakes NFL Reading Challenge! Inspired by the excitement of the football playoffs, students are huddling up to rack up as many reading minutes as possible. The competition is heating up as classes vie for the prestigious "Super Bowl" trophy, awarded to the group with the highest total yardage (minutes). Meanwhile, individual star readers are sprinting toward the "MVP" title for the most minutes read solo. Keep turning those pages, 6th grade—the championship is within your reach!

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

Mrs. Jennifer Meyers, Assistant Principal

Joyful noise, indeed! December was a wonderful month of beautiful music at SNIS. Our students performed under the direction of Miss Teresa White and Mr. Michael Garbiel in five concerts of varied performing groups. These concerts are a celebration of our students hard work in pursuing success with instrumental and vocal talents. It was a pleasure to see!

Our CCMC PJ day fundraiser was snowed out in December but our make up day was a great success. It is a great example of the good we can do as a school community! Our online donations plus the dollar bills that rolled in put us above our $1000 goal for this great cause!

As Dr. Martin Luther King day approached how 5th grade students learned about the power of his words. After reading aloud Martin’s Big Words by Doreen Rappaport, the students discussed the author’s purpose of focusing on Martin Luther King Jr.’s words. The students compared and contrasted the words Martin Luther King Jr. heard and the words he used.

Students then brainstormed lists of powerful words including examples found in the book. In their groups,the students wrote these words on cups and built a tower to recognize the relationship between Martin Luther King Jr. 's words and a tower using metaphor and symbolism. Martin Luther King Jr.’s words exemplify how a person can stand up for others, express tolerance, show kindness, and change the world.

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Mrs. Catherine Calabrese, Principal

Mrs. Kerri Adakonis, Assistant Principal

Students dressed up for Fancy Day and enjoyed a wonderful Friendsgiving candlelit (battery-operated) feast together in celebration of Thanksgiving. A huge thank-you to our amazing lunchroom staff for preparing such a delicious meal for everyone!

The Kindergarten class celebrated the 50th day of school with a fun 1950s-style sock hop! Students dressed in their best ’50s attire and danced their socks off. Everyone had an amazing time!

The First Grade had their annual Balloons Over Broadway parade to mimic the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade after reading "Balloons Over Broadway", displaying the creative balloons they designed.

HPS Staff created a “Say Something Kind” Thanksgiving wall to celebrate gratitude throughout the school. Each staff member was given a paper turkey displayed on the main entrance bulletin board. Everyone then selected feathers at random, each labeled with a colleague’s name. Staff wrote a kind message about that person and added the feather to their turkey, filling the wall with appreciation and positivity. Through December, the word JOY was displayed to allow staff to write, “What brings YOU joy?” For January, staff will share their “one word” intention for the year, knowing words matter! As a school community, our school’s giving tree was able to provide 14 families with gifts for their children!

Ms. Becker led the 1st grade in a beautiful winter performed a beautiful concert ending with a family sing-along!

Dr. Parlato surprised our kindergarten winner of the annual holiday card contest while he was feeling under the weather! Dr. Parlato ROCKS!!!

We ended 2025 with a whole-school holiday sing-along and Barkley visited! Looking forward to 2026. Our collaborative staff bulletin board shows that:

• I matter.

• You matter.

• School matters.

• Our words matter.

• What’s your “one word” for 2026?

Happy New Year 2026! To begin the year on a positive note, staff were asked, “What’s Your One Word for the Year?” Their chosen words are proudly displayed on our front entrance board throughout January. Peace, love, confidence, perseverance, compassion, and purpose are just a few of the inspiring words shared. Wishing everyone a happy and healthy New Year!

School-wide Pajama Day took place on January 7th, and thanks to the generosity of HPS staff and families, over $550 was donated to Connecticut Children’s Hospital. This special day honored children who wear pajamas daily while recovering from illness or during hospitalization. Thank you to everyone who participated and donated to support such a meaningful cause!

The Golden Tray Reward has kicked off to encourage positive behavior during lunch periods. When a class shows respect, kindness and follows directions during lunch, they earn the Golden Tray Reward. Students are so excited about this reward that they are enthusiastically following cafeteria rules and expectations!

The HPS PTO sponsored a successful “Movie Night” at our High School for our elementary age students. Also, KindWorks came to meet with the second grade students and had them make Kindness Tiles for our outdoor 'Be Kind' Mural.

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Mrs. Gwen Gallagher, Principal

Ms. Shannon Surreira, Assistant Principal SMS/NES

The month of December was filled with the spirit of giving, connection and fun. Our staff enjoyed dressing up in holiday themes, and the 12 days of Nessy” which was a daily contest to find Nessy (a small stuffed cow hidden in the school) each day. We also enjoyed “Day 67” on the 67th day of school. Students had a faux snowball fight in the gym with Mrs. Gallagher and Mrs. Surreira and we all enjoyed a terrific holiday sing along!

Our Kindergarten winner of the District Holiday Card contest met with Superintendent Parlato, Principal Gallagher and Art Teacher Mrs. Cherniske. They were on hand for the call home to announce the special news.

“Grinch Day” in Kindergarten was lots of fun. Staff and students had a great time dressing in Grinch themed outfits. Kindergarten also enjoyed Polar Express Day with a movie and hot cocoa.

Additionally, we received a visit from FineLine Theatre Arts. They performed a lovely rendition of the Nutcracker Ballet right before the holiday break.

As we transitioned into January, the focus shifted back to working hard in the classroom and our C.A.R.E.S. expectations. We are so proud of the way our students have returned from break with renewed focus. We've noticed kind words and good behaviors toward everyone they meet. The Kindness Crew from Mrs. Pilla’s class visited the office and walked around the school encouraging everyone to practice kindness each day.

Skyler Gustas, one of our amazing building substitutes won a raffle from ESS, and Beatriz Andrade came to Northville to deliver the prize and pose for a photo.

Students and staff enjoyed a fun dollar dress down “Pajama Day” and donated all proceeds to the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford, Connecticut.

New Milford Wrestling takes the home tournament! Go, Green Wave !

The Green Wave ladies are in the home stretch of their regular season. See their schedule below and come out sometime and support these student-athletes!

The boys had another win on January 29th against Weston. The boys worked as a team and won as a team. Keep up the awesome work, guys! Check out their schedules below, and come out to catch them play before the season ends.

🤸🏻‍♂️🤸🏻‍♀️🤸The 2025 SWC Champions are in full swing. Let's support these super student-athletes!

Check out the Boys Swim and Dive Team Meet schedule below, and come out to watch them sometime!

Let's support our Green Wave Puck. Go, Wave ! 🏒🏒🏒

Central Office staff members participated in "Dress like Doug" (Muckerman) for his birthday-- blue button down shirts and dress pants. 👔