RPS Update

In a recent conversation with a small group of superintendents from around the country, we discussed the values that anchor our professional lives. We reflected on Brené Brown’s Dare to Lead framework as a way to consider how our values show up, not just in what we say, but in what we do — the behaviors and practices that bring those values to life.

I share this reflection in today’s update because earlier this week, I had the privilege of sitting alongside First Selectperson Rudy Marconi, Police Chief Jeff Kreitz, and local business owner Elizabeth Ellis, as we interviewed 21 remarkable student candidates for the Boys & Girls Club of Ridgefield’s 2026 Youth of the Year award. Each student spoke thoughtfully about their experiences, their challenges, and their hopes for the future. Listening to them reflect on wellness, academics, leadership, and their goals was incredibly inspiring. What struck me most was the sincerity with which they spoke about the values they try to live by today — and the kind of people they hope to become.

Two quotes from our students are worth sharing as powerful reminders that leadership, empathy, and character are already alive and well in the next generation.

“Everyone is fighting a battle you don’t know about. In a world where you can be anything- be kind.”
— Youth of the Year Award Candidate, 2026

“Something I live by is that I always want to be the person in other people's lives that I wish I had in mine.” — Youth of the Year Award Candidate, 2026

I also want to invite our community to support the talented students at Ridgefield High School by attending their upcoming spring musical, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, opening next Friday. The cast and crew have been working hard to bring this production to life, and it promises to be a wonderful showcase of the creativity, dedication, and collaboration that make our arts programs so special. Purchasing a ticket is a great way to celebrate their work and enjoy an evening of outstanding student performance.

Finally, we continue to encourage members of the community to share their thoughts on the budget with all of our elected boards — Board of Education, Board of Finance, and Board of Selectpersons. The current recommendation is to reduce the adopted budget from a 4.62% increase to 3.45%, a reduction of approximately $1.4 million to the Board of Education’s adopted budget. Your engagement and perspective are important as we move through this process together.

Also… can anyone bring back spring? ☀️

Have a great weekend.

Warmly,

Susie

Susie Da Silva, Ed.D

In this week’s episode of Ridgefield Tiger Talk, we welcome back Counseling Department Supervisor Joy Squitieri. She tells us about the RHS College Fair happening next Wednesday at 6:30 pm. There will be over 100 college representatives in attendance, and the counseling department will be holding many informational sessions for parents and students. This year, they’re also excited to roll out a digital sign-up system to make staying in contact with colleges you were interested in easier. Thanks for listening!

School Year 2027 is rapidly approaching, and kindergarten planning is underway. Remember to register your rising kindergartener to be able to attend the orientation and mini-kindergarten events coming in May and June, as well as the Jump Start Kindergarten orientation program this summer. Please help RPS by reminding neighbors, friends, and coworkers who have kindergarten-eligible children to register ASAP. We can't wait to start this exciting rite of passage

All registration information, including eligibility, can be found here.

RHS Class of 2027 and 2028, please note that RHS offers summer courses for credit to fulfill graduation requirements in Government/Politics, Health/Wellness, and Personal Finance. Please register ASAP to ensure that the course has sufficient enrollment to run.

This Wednesday is the RHS College Fair! RHS Musical opens on Friday; recommended for ages 10+. Please check your school calendar for school-specific events and ways to get involved.

RHS Seniors have learned about the following important dates in their Advisory. Senior families, please remind your students! Find more information on the RHS Counseling page.

1. Internship Application for interning at a non-RPS location is due by 3/27

2. Local Scholarship Questionnaire due by 3/23

Please check your school calendar for early dismissal and school events.

Please help RPS go green by checking your students' e-Backpack weekly for important information.

Starting this week, Ridgefield Transition Program 18-22 year-old students, as well as a handful of RHS students, will explore careers through Virtual Reality. CT's Bureau of Rehabilitation Level Up Program offers these VR workshops. Students choose from a list of careers and complete 5-10-minute experiential learning opportunities to complete tasks in the careers of their choosing. The students in the photo above chose to try being a truck driver and mechanic.

In February, 49 of RHS's top math students took the American Mathematics Competition tests. RHS top scorers on the AMC 12 were Jacob Barrett, Sebastian Utomo, and Jayin Palicha. RHS top finishers in the AMC10 were Anqi Chen, Richard Zhuang, and Madhav Bahadur. Anqi Chen (photo right) was among the top 5% of finishers in the country, qualifying for the American Invitational Exam and scoring in the top 250 students in the nation. Anqi has advanced to the USA Junior Mathematics Olympiad, which takes place later this month. Congratulations!

When the pizzas came out of the RHS ovens yesterday, it was a moment of triumph for Christine Krompinger's RHS Unified Baking students. Last Friday, the students went shopping for the ingredients at Stop & Shop with Martha DeSantis and Mike Cerniglia, valiantly resisting the urge to put a few snacks into the carts and sticking to the list. On Tuesday, they made the dough, overcoming the challenges of following a recipe and kneading the sticky dough. Some like the yeasty smell and others don't. They made their own sauce, cleaning up as they went.

During the short class yesterday, they shaped and baked the pies, enjoying the fruits of their teamwork. Some pizzas featured pepperoni, some basil, some both. One student made hot oil similar to a topping she has enjoyed at Colony Pizza. All the pizzas looked and smelled delicious. This is the second year that RHS has offered Unified Baking, which fosters inclusion and learning while also developing important life skills such as food prep, resilience, cleanup, and collaboration.

Over the last few weeks, Ridgefield High School’s Science Research students went head-to-head with the area's top schools at the Connecticut STEM Fair. Competing against peers from across the region, our students defended their research before a panel of expert judges. Congratulations to all the students who participated, especially Sara Hill, Emerson Smith, and Aubrey Stefura, who came in first place in their respective categories. And congratulations to Leighton Accinelli, Stella Accinelli, Eva Figlar, Anahit Abernathy, Stella Yi, Rashi Ghorpade, and Alivia Steneken, who won awards for their exceptional research.

Also in Science Research news, a special congratulations to Eva Figlar, who was selected from students across the state to present at this year's Connecticut High School Science and Humanities Symposium at UCONN's Medical Campus last Saturday. Eva's research, titled "The Effect of Polyphenols and Ascorbic Acid on Iron Absorption in Zophobas Morio," was one of about 30 projects selected from the entire state to present. Congratulations, Eva!

Photo caption, left to right, Stella Yi, Sara Hill, Leighton Accinelli, biology teacher and advisor Steven Anderson, Emerson Smith, and Aubrey Stefura

The RHS Debate Team competed in their final regular-season tournament in Stamford last Saturday. The pairing of Isla Aske and Nidhi Bharadwaj went undefeated and placed fourth in the novice division out of 46 teams, earning a spot in the State Championship later this month.

Big congratulations to the Ridgefield High School DECA Team for an outstanding performance at the Connecticut State Career Development Conference (SCDC)!! Team advisor Tricia Andrews announced that 14 students qualified for the International Career Development Conference (ICDC) in Atlanta, GA, this spring. Best of luck as they represent Ridgefield on the national stage!

The Ridgefield A team finished the year as the 4th-best team in the state, out of 65 teams. The students had the opportunity to compete around the state in real courtrooms, taking on the roles of prosecution and defense attorneys and their witnesses. In the case of The State of Connecticut v. Nic/Niki VanSteenberg,. the defendant was accused of manslaughter in the 2nd degree for recklessly giving oxycodone to his colleague who died of an overdose. Ridgefield had 2 teams competing. The B team was eliminated in the regional round, but the A team defeated Xavier, Cheshire, Hamden, Wilton, Fairfield Ludlowe, and.received mixed ballots against Avon High School. The team includes: Aiden Aframe, Lucas Alexander, Arthur Brown, Max Fixler, Harper Gibbons, Taylor Hunt, Claire Kim, Will Knispel, Cobie Mischenko, Ravi Natarajan, Natalie Shartouni, Julia Salomone, and Sherry Wu.

RPS is excited to celebrate teammates Kathryn Purdue and Suchetha Rao for winning the Connecticut History Bowl! This qualifies the team for the National History Bowl in Orlando, Florida, in May, as well as the international competition in 2027. The girls competed with tremendous focus and determination, winning every round, which demonstrates the hard work, discipline, and passion the students brought to this competition. Their success reflects their dedication and teamwork, as well as the encouragement they received from their teachers along the way. Congratulations, Suchetha and Kathryn!

Branchville Elementary had a record number of students participate in its annual Branchville Writes contest, reports Literacy Coach and organizer Donna Walsh. 104 students opted to participate and wrote about a variety of topics, from Imagine Changing Places With Your Friend for the Day to Write About Your Favorite Aunt or Uncle to Free Choice. Judges award the Heart Piece Award to two students who touched the judges' hearts. Austin Golankiewicz won the Heart Piece K-2; Nora Perry won the 3-5

Grade-level winners

Kindergarten: Avery Aldama

First Grade: June Friedrich

Second Grade: Daniel Rutkowski

Third Grade: Leo Vigliotti

Fourth Grade: Savannah Blue

Fifth Grade: James Korner

The following students earned Honorable Mention: Hugo Hurlo, Anna Leibowitz, Aubrey Arneson, Caitlin Marcarello, Laertes Panagiotidis, Desmond Isenman, Alexis Kaknevicius

The January 23 edition of the RPS Update reported that 18 RPS middle schoolers earned spots in the highly competitive Middle School Western Region Music Festival. RHS Band Director George Beratis and Choral Director Lauren Verney-Fink were chosen to conduct the Western Region Middle School Jazz Band and Concert Choir at the Festival this weekend.

East Ridge music teacher and 6-12 performing arts facilitator Shane Peters shared his admiration for Mr. Beratis and Ms. Verney-Fink in an email. Mr. Peters writes, "Being tapped for this is an honor, to say the least, as Western Region could have picked any other music educators, in or out of Connecticut, to serve in these roles (the orchestra conductor came in from Harvard for this event). The fact that two of the four conductors were from the same school system shows that RPS is doing something right when it comes to supporting music in our schools.

As most of you know, I've known George since I was 18 years old, and Lauren has quickly become a trusted colleague and friend since coming into the district. Even so, knowing them as well as I do, I never get the opportunity to see them teach or conduct, given our conflicting and hectic schedules. I can honestly say, without hyperbole, that I was in awe of what I saw all weekend from them.

Preparedness, pedagogy, student engagement, genuine connection, joy; the list goes on. The concert that they put on was absolutely mind-blowing. I could not have been more proud to know them and call them colleagues. Seeing them on stage, in their element, was an inspiration."

Mr. Beratis, Ms. Verney-Fink, Mr. Peters, and all the RPS music teachers, we see the inspiring work you do every day. Our students are the beneficiaries of this gifted and dedicated group.

RHS senior Johnny Carrozza won the New England Championship in the 144-pound weight class this weekend. The RHS Boys Wrestling Team, which recently won its first Class LL State Championship, took fourth place at the New England Regional Meet. Read about the team's championship win in the February 27 issue of the RPS Update.

In January, more than 300 community members gathered for the first-ever Dancing with the Ridgefield Stars fundraiser. The event brought together local leaders and dancers for an unforgettable evening of performance and philanthropy.

The winning performance came from Tim Cousins of the Boys & Girls Club of Ridgefield, who took home the mirrorball trophy alongside his talented student dancers Ellie Jones and Megan Benedict. Their dynamic routine, choreographed by RHS Dance Team judge Arianna Danzig, captivated the audience and judges alike. The event raised $23,500, helping the team continue their journey to compete on the national stage at the UDA National Dance Team Championship in Orlando in 2026.

This week, the Dance Team presented Mike Flynn with a $2,350 donation to support the Boys & Girls Club, reinforcing the strong partnership between the organizations and their shared commitment to supporting the town of Ridgefield.

The RHS Dance Team extends its gratitude to all of the dancers, sponsors, volunteers, and attendees who made the night such a success. Their generosity and enthusiasm continue to create opportunities for student-athletes to grow, compete, and represent Ridgefield on a national stage. For more information about the RHSl Dance Team, please follow us on Instagram @ridgfielddanceteam.

Last Thursday, the RHS National Honor Society ran its second Blood Drive of the 2025-26 school year. Students 17 years or older and staff rolled up their sleeves for this important effort.

RHS hosted its first Unified Dance last Friday. RHS Student Government, in conjunction with RHS Unified Sports and Friends Club, invited area schools to the RHS student center for a fun evening of games, snacks, friendship, dancing, and inclusion. So fun!

With all the recent weather-related interruptions, Read Across America Week continued this week. Why not!? I spy...two assistant superintendents, a Board of Education member, flashlights and forts, and a Book Tasting. Thank you to Dr. Liz Hannaway, Cory Gillette, and BOE member Angela Rice for sharing some of your favorite books—Down the Road, Smart Cookie, and The Lorax—with Branchville.

Scotland Elementary read Dog Vs. Cats last week and competed in an epic costume battle to see which furry friend, canine or feline, was more popular. We vote Team Paws and Team Claws! You all are adorable.

Opening night for the RHS musical, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, is next Friday, March 20. RHS theater students (staff and booster parents) are among the hardest-working in the District. They are practicing for hours a day to make the Musical great, and our actors are so talented. When the curtain goes up, students onstage get the applause and ovations they deserve. We can't forget the backstage crew, the understudies, staff, and the parents who help with costumes, sets, lighting, curtains, and sustenance. This year, there will be an understudy showcase of select songs and scenes on Monday, March 23. We can't wait! See some of the rehearsal photos below. Don't miss this show and the opportunity to choose the ending. Buy tickets here. Recommended for ages 10+

We would love to hear from you! Families and staff can submit stories, comments, or corrections to RPS Communications. Please follow us on Social Media with links below.