NFPS Update

This is certainly a busy and exciting time of the year in our schools from winter concerts to special events. On behalf of the central office annex leadership team (Ken, Carrie, Alyce & Julie), we wish you a healthy and restful winter break during this holiday season.

We recently received wonderful news from the Connecticut State Department of Education that Meeting House Hill School has been named a School of Distinction. Congratulations MHHS staff and students! Please scroll down for information regarding this designation and for other news items, photos, and videos, including:

• 2023-24 Budget Process,
• School Calendar Information,
• School of Distinction,
• Winter Concerts,
• Art Awards,
• Teaching and Learning Updates,
• And more!

Upon our return in January, the Board of Education will hold several meetings to discuss the superintendent's proposed 2023-24 operating and capital budgets. All budget documents and presentations will be made accessible through the NFPS website as they become available. On the district website, you will find the budget calendar and budget assumptions that guide the development of the FY 24 budget. Please note below key Board of Education meeting dates and workshops during the month of January. These meetings will be held in person in the Community Room at the Senior Center and are open to the public.

• January 19, 6:30 p.m. - Superintendent's Proposed Budget Presentation
• January 24, 7:00 p.m. - Cons/MHHS, NFMS, NFHS, & Athletics
• January 25, 7:00 p.m. - Instructional Program, District Wide, Central Leadership, & Technology
• January 31, 7:00 p.m. - Facilities, Special Education, & Pupil Services

Warm Regards,

Ken

Kenneth G. Craw, Ed. D.

Superintendent

The New Year's Day holiday is being observed on Monday, January 2, 2023; therefore, New Fairfield District schools and offices are closed on January 2, 2023. Attached is the 2022-23 revised calendar that was approved by the BOE at the December 15, 2022 meeting.

We are proud and excited to share that Meeting House Hill School was recently named a School of Distinction by the Connecticut State Department of Education, for the school's Next Generation Accountability Index. This distinction was earned for being a school that demonstrated an especially high growth rate in TWO areas! MHHS is receiving this distinction for high growth in ELA growth for all students and for ELA growth for high needs students! To earn this distinction, schools must have a growth score that is in the top 10% of all schools in the state, have no outlier achievement gaps and have participation rates in state testing, all at or above 95%.

To provide some context, MHHS is one of only 53 schools to receive distinction for ELA growth for all students and one of only 45 schools to receive distinction for ELA growth for high needs students out of almost 1000 schools!

To learn more about the Connecticut Next Generation Accountability System, visit Connecticut’s interactive data portal, EdSight.

The performing arts are alive and well in New Fairfield! Audiences were recently treated to outstanding performances from by high school and middle school musicians.

Pictured below are our:

HS Chamber Singers,

HS Wind Ensemble,

MS Percussion,

MS Chorus.

NFHS Art teacher Rosanne Main's students participated in the Richter Art Association 43rd annual juried art competition and exhibition.

Pictured in the two photos below:

Remy Dannucci - 1st place winner in the High School Art category

NFHS student artwork accepted for exhibition in Richter Art Association 43rd annual juried art show. Richter participants L to R: Grace DeMarco, Alexis Holly, Shannon Zondervan, Remy Dannucci, Helen Seda.

At Meeting House Hill School, Miss MacDonald's class teams up with Mr. Giuliano in STEAM to learn about animals and their adaptations. Also, they spend time engineering objects for the 3D printer while learning how to code and help teach their peers!

Grade two students are working on adding and subtracting two-digit numbers using a variety of strategies. Students show their thinking in different ways and discuss their thinking with peers. This process helps build flexible problem solving pathways that support fluency. Through this discourse, students are able to explain their thinking and talk through different answers they encounter or different approaches they used. When students are given opportunities to reflect on their work, they gain a deeper understanding of how to problem solve, leading to increased confidence in mathematics.

Take a moment to watch how literacy interventionists integrate key literacy skills into small grouop instruction.

On December 9th, Consolidated and Meeting House students participated in their first monthly buddy classroom activity. Students started their day by meeting their buddy classroom classmates. They participated in a morning meeting and other get-to-know-you activities. Then, students worked with their buddy to create holiday cards to be delivered to children at Connecticut Children's Medical Center who are unable to go home for the holidays. Teachers talked to the students about purposeful acts of kindness and doing things for others. Buddy classrooms will continue to work together throughout the year at least once a month around a common theme. In January, buddy classrooms will meet to do an activity around the theme of It's Cool to be Kind!

In Michelle Brown's classroom, kindergarten students collaborate with their fifth grade buddies.

Sixth graders are working on a lab called Forces in Motion. Students are working on balloon rockets, testing three independent variables - amount of air, mass of rocket, type of string, and measuring how far balloon rockets traveled.

In November and December, MHHS students received a classroom lesson on Kindness and Compassion. Students learned that practicing kindness and showing compassion makes the world a happier place for everyone. Practicing and demonstrating acts of kindness and compassion boost feelings of confidence, being in control, happiness, and optimism. This in turn may encourage others to repeat the good deeds they have experienced themselves which creates interconnectedness and a more positive community! This is why we asked our 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders to participate in the Boomerang Kindness Challenge. Students were tasked to complete random acts of kindness for classmates. We wanted to show students how kindness spreads into the community as well. Therefore, we teamed up with the local Starbucks who provided us with coffee sleeves. This week, students will decorate them with kind words and phrases. Over the winter break, anyone who purchases a beverage will be inspired by one of these sleeves!

This is a friendly reminder that paid meals will resume on Tuesday, January 3, 2023. Please click the link to find information on how to add money to your child’s account as well as meal prices and Free/Reduced application information. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns. Paid Meals Information

Wood 3 class - Adirondack chair