THE SEDGWICK SCENE
October 16, 2026
Dear Sedgwick Families,
Fall is upon us and we are moving right along here at America’s TOP Middle School!
CONGRATULATIONS are in order for our own Katie Aponte, 7th Grade Art Teacher here at SMS! Katie was recently recognized as Connecticut’s 2027 Middle-Level Art Educator of the Year. This is a highly prestigious honor, and a very competitive state-wide process. We are so proud of Katie and her tremendous work in the classroom, and also proud of our entire fabulous Art Department here at Sedgwick. They are indeed the BEST of the best! *See We-Ha article below in honor of Katie in this edition of the Sedgwick Scene.
This week our 8th Graders went to Broadway in NYC to see The Outsiders! What an amazing way to celebrate the arts and truly make a text ‘come alive’ for our kids. I can’t even begin to express my gratitude and appreciation to our faculty and staff for their tireless efforts to plan this experience for our students - led by Kyra Blair, Sarah McNamee and Mike DiDomenico. I would also like to thank all of our families who so generously donated to this important cause. YOU helped to make this happen, and it will be a memory that our students will always treasure. I am SO very proud of our students - their behavior on the trip was absolutely stellar, and the theater staff complimented them several times for being an excellent audience. They represented our school and our community so well, and I couldn’t be more proud to be their principal. Bravo!! We are looking forward to our second trip next Wednesday on October 21st. I will be attending along with the students, truly looking forward to it.
THANK you to all of our families who donated to the cause - We are still in need of donations for our second trip to NYC next week! A message from the PTO: Fundraiser to Send the 8th Graders to Broadway! Please help send the 8th graders to Broadway to see The Outsiders live on stage in October. Your generous contributions will help offset ticket prices and be applied to the cost of student tickets and buses. Donate via Konstella We have several families in need, and we truly appreciate your generous support of our Sedgwick community! MANY thanks in advance!
Please SAVE the date for our next school-wide SMS Community Building Event! We are planning to hold our annual Turkey Bowl Game (Staff vs. 8th graders in flag football!!) and Turkey Trot fundraiser during the school day again this year, and once again ALL families are welcome to come and join us - we hope to see you there! Bring a blanket and/or a lawn chair, we would love to see you! It will take place on Friday Oct 30th, beginning at 1:30 PM on our back fields. We are very excited about this! Many thanks to Matt Celio, Jared Leghorn, and Shannon Saranich for their tremendous efforts to organize this great opportunity for our students and families. Please see this flier to register and for additional information about our annual Turkey Trot, a one-mile fun run/walk school-wide fundraiser to support our families in need over the holiday season. Return form to Mr. Leghorn in Room 135 or to your child's advisory teacher. Donation Information: The cost to participate is $10 per person (or more!). Cash donations will be accepted at the event, and a donation table will be set up. Volunteers Needed! We need volunteers for the parent sign-in table (arrival at 1:30 PM) and for clean up (at 2:50 PM), and for handing out Sedgwick gear to the students at the end of the run. If you would like to help out, please let me know. Every student who registers will be entered into a raffle for a chance to win awesome prizes. Thank you in advance to our amazing PTO for their help and support! Additional information on both of these community events has been shared with all students in Advisory this week.
Important Updates/Reminders:
An important safety reminder for all: We have been witnessing some ‘close calls’ with families driving in our parking lot in the morning and also along Wardwell - please be aware of students walking to and from school, please SLOW down and drive appropriately, even if you are in a rush. Our students are precious, we need to maintain our safety standards at all times. Our security officers and WHPD have been notified and will be more visible and vigilant in our parking lot, crosswalks, and surrounding neighborhood areas. They will also be assisting us with traffic flow and expediting our morning drop off process in a safe and timely manner. Thank you in advance for your patience and your support.
A reminder to all families of the changes made last year as a district and as a school to our Safe School Climate policy. Here is a notification that explains in greater detail, which has also been added to our student/family handbook: School Climate Policy Information for WHPS. As you know, the safety and security of ALL of our staff members and students is top priority for me, and for us as an administrative team. A healthy school climate is essential to learning, and challenging behaviors (major or minor) are addressed immediately upon report so that we can continue to maintain an environment where everyone can thrive. Please reach out to me if you have any questions or concerns.
We would like to take the opportunity to remind everyone of our Anonymous Alert system, where families and/or students can make reports of concerning events, any type of mean acts or bullying behavior that may be occurring, or if you are concerned about the safety and/or wellbeing of one of our students, etc. The link is on our website, and we will continue to bring this up with students to raise awareness throughout the school year. Here is a link to a poster that we are displaying around the building, along with a qr code for easy access: SMS Anonymous Alerts. Thank you in advance - the earlier we are aware, the earlier we can take action.
We are aware that Halloween is approaching quickly, and we’d like to remind everyone that while students are invited to come to school dressed in costume (our teachers and faculty members love to dress up as well! :), we do not allow students to wear masks or bring in anything similar to a facsimile of a weapon of any type (i.e. plastic knives, guns, etc.) as part of their Halloween costume. We respectfully ask students to avoid any costumes that are gory or depict frightening scenes, blood, etc. All costumes need to adhere to our existing dress code policy. Thank you!
Veterans Day is November 11th! We have a committee formed and are coordinating plans for a meaningful observance of this national holiday for our students - stay tuned, more to follow soon.
Our Intramural Program is in full swing, as well as our Clubs and Activities! Late buses have started as well. See this link to our SMS webpage and click on “Announcements” OR “Clubs & Activities” to view our 2026-27 offerings that are available for students: Sedgwick Middle School Webpage.
If you have not already done so, please set up your Parent Portal account. If you need directions on how to set up or login to your child’s PowerSchool portal, please click here for sets of directions from the WHPS Office of Information Technology. If you are experiencing difficulty accessing the portal please call our main office at 860-570-6500.
For Nutrition Services information, please see this link:WHPS Nutrition Services Information 2026-27, which includes meal prices and payment options. Information regarding applications for our Free/Reduced Lunch program can be found here: Free/Reduced Lunch Information 2026-27, Free/Reduced Lunch Eligibility Guidelines Info
Students may enter the building in the morning using the front main entrance or through the doors in the back adjacent to the gymnasium. For those driving their children to school, please review this document with Drop Off and Parking Procedures, linked here: SMS Safety Student Drop Off Procedures This information will also be available in the Parent Portal. Our doors open for student entry at 7:40 AM, unless they are participating in a before school activity.
Please feel free to reach out to me at any time with questions, ideas, or concerns that you may have. I encourage parent suggestions and value opportunities to brainstorm ideas to help make Sedgwick Middle School the very best that it can be! I am always available and appreciate your honest feedback. Our partnership is critical to our collective goal of providing the VERY BEST middle school experience for our kids. I am deeply committed to this mission at SMS.
Our next Principal’s Coffee will be held on Friday, October 23rd at 9:00 AM. This is a wonderful opportunity for me to continue to get to know our families, listen to your suggestions and ideas, and form meaningful partnerships. Your voices are highly valued, we are all in this together and it certainly takes a village! Hope to see you there.
Take care and be well,
Karen Kukish, Principal
