SPOTLIGHT
on New Milford Schools
Dear New Milford Public Schools Families, Faculty & Staff,
The month of May brings us both delightful weather and a flurry of activities at each school in the district. In the past week alone, we have held send-off ceremonies, dances, art shows, touch-a-truck events, field days, and numerous events for our graduating high school seniors. We celebrate students' accomplishments, honor their potential, and plan ahead for the upcoming months. As busy as we are, these are joyful times with another year of school completed and summer days upon us. As I complete my fifteenth month in our district, I can point to the progress that we are making at each school. We strive each day for our district ideals of focus, heart, collaboration, and creativity in all that we do, for the betterment of our school community. I wish everyone an enjoyable summer with moments of relaxation and fun. Thank you to our families, students, faculty, and staff members for all of their contributions to our district this year. I am fortunate to serve the district and community alongside all of you.
Janet P. Parlato, Ed.D.
Superintendent of New Milford Public Schools
EIC Celebrates Earth Day
SMS Celebrates Diversity
On Tuesday, May 21, 2024, SMS held a multicultural day to recognize World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development. This school-wide activity was sponsored by the SMS School Climate Committee. On this day, students participated in an activity designed to allow them to explore their heritage during either Social Studies or Humanities. Students made posters about the countries that their family is from and the posters were hung in the cafeteria. We look forward to continuing to celebrate the different cultures, languages, and backgrounds in our school community!
6th Graders Camp Awosting Trip
Sixth graders spent time at Camp Awosting in Morris, Connecticut. During their time at the camp, students participated in a variety of team building and adventure activities. Students had the opportunity to scale a climbing wall, glide through the trees on a zipline, and rappel back to the ground. Additionally, students had the chance to complete ropes courses, testing their driving skills on go karts, and participate in team building activities such as the tug of war.
It's Concert Season
It is concert season, Sarah Noble has 8 performing groups and each of these groups each participate in both day and evening concerts. Additionally this year our teachers have collaborated with the middle school and we have had two concerts there as well, where our 5th grade students joined the performing groups at SMS for an evening concert!
As the school year winds down, we are grateful for:
- Our awesome, "normal" school year, filled with field trips, assemblies, events and group activities!
- Our new staff members who acclimated quickly and contributed so much to the culture and learning environment of our school.
- Our retirees who made a BIG DIFFERENCE in the lives of all the little learners who have passed through NES.
- Our stellar Second Graders who will surely excel at SNIS and beyond!
- Our incredible staff - from food service, to custodial, to teachers, para's, office and administration - working together as a team makes for a fantastic professional environment which creates the life/work balance we all seek.
- Our pledge to adhere to the standards we've outlined for ourselves and our students: Cooperate, Act Responsibly, Respect, Encourage, and Safety every day.
Our Mini-K experiences are complete! This was an opportunity for fully registered Kindergartners to come to NES for a parent meeting and student activities to help them become acclimated for school in the fall. The children had fun in a classroom, rode a school bus, and left with a goodie bag filled with items to help them get ready for school in the fall.
High Tech High Touch paid us several visits toward the end of April and into May. Students from every grade learned important science concepts through interactive hands-on experiments, and demonstrations!
The May C.A.R.E.S. Assembly, lead by the Second Graders, was hit!
This past month our students enjoyed multiple field trips and supplemental learning opportunities organized by the grade level teachers and financially sponsored via grant money from the PTO.
Our Kindergartners learned about life cycles. They watched as caterpillars transformed into butterflies and were captivated during a special assembly at NES from the Animal Embassy.
The First Graders were privy to the Animal Embassy, as well as a field trip to visit The Pratt Center for a day of interactive outdoor learning and fun. They also made a trip to WCSU for a special showing of James and the Giant Peach.
The Second Graders went to the Ridgefield Playhouse for Ada Twist, The Scientist. They also traveled to the "new" New Milford Public Library to learn a bit about library science with Mrs. Ford, and to Sarah Noble School to acclimate for next year. Each second grade class enjoyed a visit from Diane Swanson of The Pratt Center to learn about Soil Science. The end of May marks the "Second Grade Send-off," a yearly event sponsored by the PTO.
Congratulations to Mrs. Sara Filogomo, the recipient of the NES "Teacher of the Year" award. Sara pours her heart and soul into helping her students be successful learners and we are so proud of her involvement and dedication at our school.
May 21st was STEAM Night at NES, where we celebrated STEM and ART together. Students enjoyed various stations involving fun STEM activities as well as their personally chosen artwork on display in the school hallways.
Field Day, coordinated by our PE Teacher, Mrs. Merrill was held on June 4th.
We hope our families and all of our fellow district partners in education have a safe and enjoyable summer vacation!
Countdown to Summer
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April showers bring May flowers, that’s for certain, especially at Hill and Plain! The countdown to the end of the year is on and we sure have been celebrating…
Our PTO, Mrs. Bollard, our art teacher, and the STEAM committee hosted an ice cream social, art night, plant sale, and STEAM family night all rolled into one. 🐶🍨
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Welcoming the incoming kindergarteners for 2024- 2025 a.k.a. class of 2037 was one of the highlights of May! Our Mini-K experiences allow our staff to interact with the children while Mrs. Calabrese gave the families an overview of what to expect as part of Hill and Plain School’s community.
Our 2nd graders visited SNIS to learn about their transition as they are soon-to-be 3rd graders!
Shout out to Ms. Stratman and our HPS students for being named one of the top 25 schools in Connecticut to fundraise for the Kids Heart Challenge!
Connecticut Scholar Athletes Awards
Congratulations to Anna and Brandon, scholar-athletes for NMHS for the Class of 2024! We are so proud of their dedication and efforts in the classroom and on their teams! Being named a scholar-athlete is one of the most prestigious honors in our state for high school seniors!
While the school year may be winding down, our May menu has been jam-packed with some new menu items, some all-time favorites, and festive food days! One of these fun food days being the Great Smoothie Slurp. This consists of a delicious strawberry smoothie that will be offered along with a whole grain soft pretzel at both the Elementary schools as well as Sarah Noble! Both the Middle and High School served the Chicken Dipping Sandwich which is a new menu item as of this school year that has quickly become a favorite! At the beginning of the month all five schools offered roasted sweet potatoes from Oxen Hill Farm in Suffield, CT and in June we’re looking forward to serving local radishes with our tossed salad.
