District Intended Outcome: That we maintain the high performance of students meeting and exceeding district standards/expectations, increase performance of students performing below district standards/expectations, and reduce the predictable performance gap between groups of students performing at or above standards/expectations and groups of students performing below standards/expectations.
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Our Educators and Students are Doing Amazing Things!
Convocation is a Success!
Thank you to all of our dedicated Newington Public Schools staff for joining us for this year's Convocation on Wednesday. It was great to welcome you all back for the 2025-2026 school year! Please enjoy a few highlight photos below.
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Maite Aguirre, grade 3 teacher at Ruth Chaffee, was announced as the recipient of the Wendy Crouse Equity Award for the 25-26 school year. She was nominated by grade 3 teammate, Bryan Rozanski, who described Maite as "someone who approaches her job with the mindset that every student can achieve at the highest level, and does not use "ability" as a crutch or excuse as to why a student cannot meet a goal or successfully complete a rigorous assignment. Miss Aguirre treats students fairly, with respect, and places high yet attainable expectations on students."
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Service Awards - 25 Years
Michelle Burba, Kathryn Crabtree, Holly Davies, Steven DeBiase, Eileen Francolino, Brian Hartley, Jeffrey Helming, Jill Hinton, Christopher Klatt, Jodi Klimas, Tara Morriss, Elizabeth Norwell, Jamie Rodriguez, Paul Salonia, Janick Sauve-Lorenzo, Robert Tipton, Christine Veilleux, and Richard Vida
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Service Awards - 15 Years
Melissa Bornas, Nathan Emerson, Susan Fenton, Kristen Freeman, Amy Freiman-Mills, Mercy Hetherington, Rebecca Moran, Andrea Obert-Hahn, Marisa Portera-Stark, Tracy Qualls, Michael Urbanski, Megan Wieczerzak, and Kristen Wild
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Service Awards - 5 Years
Lucilene Annino, Jaime Brennan, Sasha-Kay Bygrave, Carrie Carroll, Erika Edmiston, Tiffany Franceschi, Arnaldo Jimenez, Callie Lawrence, Diana Masulli, Jennifer Meister, Arne Montana, Mike Morgan, Ramon Nunez, Erika Perez, Hector Rodriguez, Raul Rodriguez, Lauren Rondinone, Stephanie Shaw, Randolph Singh, Victoria Sperrazza, Kersten Sunderland, Jamie Throwe, Michael Robert Tyler, Daniel Villegas, and Janet Vita
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John Paterson Summer Classroom Playdate
Andrea Obert-Hahn, second grade teacher at John Paterson, shared that a few of her students reached out this summer saying that they missed their class and her. Andrea decided to have a Room 6 Playdate at the end of July! She shared that she didn’t expect so many students at this point in the summer, plus some siblings, and it was so great to be back together again!
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Congratulations to our Newington Public Schools Teacher of the Year, Antwanette Serrano, on being selected as a semifinalist for the Connecticut Teacher of the Year! She will now enter the second stage of the selection process! She is pictured at Convocation along with Board Vice Chair Jessica Weaver, Para of thee Year Geri Andre-Majors, Board Chair Amy Perrotti and Dr. B.
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Bus Garage Electrical Box Gets an Upgrade
Melissa Gajda, art teacher at Elizabeth Green and Ruth Chaffee, painted this electrical box during the summer as a gift to Dean Barnes, the bus drivers, and Newington! Sandra Pereira, tutor at Elizabeth Green, and her daughter briefly helped with it as well!
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I enjoyed visiting 5 out of 7 schools during our first 2 days of school. I will visit Paterson and Wallace on Tuesday. Thanks to everyone's hard work, we are off to a great start.
Pictured below are Reynolds K students lining up for the first day, Jonas Roberts and the grade 3 AR team explaining cafeteria expectations, and NHS STUCO students with Dr. B!
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Linked here is the Everyday Hero nomination form for this school year.
Thank you for considering nominating someone who has made a positive impact on NPS.
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Coming Attractions
September 1, 2025 - Labor Day - Schools/Offices Closed
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Equity
Alicia Guildner, second grade teacher at Elizabeth Green, was selected by 96.5 TIC FM for a spot in their “clear your list” campaign for teachers. Her interview can be found here on their Instagram page. 96.5 TIC FM interviewed Alicia with a focus on a co-taught room and items for play based learning, which create more inclusive learning opportunities for our students. |
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Celebrations and Condolences |
Celebrations:
Audra Veach, NHS school nurse, was married to her husband Joseph on July 26, 2025. She is now Audra Rappoccio.
Sherry Valenti, secretary at NHS, became a grandmother on August 12, 2025. Ariella Rose weighed 7 lbs 15 oz.
Jodi Collin, ESS clinician at John Wallace, gave birth to a son, Collin Robert Goodson on August 26, 2025 at 4:53 a.m. He is 8 lbs, 2.3 oz. and 20.47 inches.
Kelsey Rich, special education teacher at NHS, welcomed a second daughter, Claire, on June 17, 2025.
Zach Bennett, custodian at NHS, welcomed (and delivered himself) a daughter on August 27, 2025. Her name is Keina Fortuneé Bennett and weighed 7 lbs, 13 oz.
Condolences: none reported
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Be Well and enjoy the long Labor Day weekend!
Dr. B
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