With Students Back,

NHS Expansion Still Going Smooth

By Eliza Hallabeck

With the Newtown High School expansion project continuing in the back portion of the campus, both Principal Charles Dumais and Arthur Lindley, project manager for the Morganti Group, the firm overseeing construction for the project, agree; everything is moving along smoothly.

Separation between the students, who started the new school year September 2, and workers on the construction project has been working well, according to Mr Lindley.

“Everything is going quite smoothly,” he said.

Mr Dumais said a fire drill held Tuesday, September 8, was announced ahead of time for project workers to take note and observe the students’ response. While most fire drills are not announced in advance, Mr Dumais said this was done as practice with the expansion in process. Another fire drill will occur within the next couple of weeks, he said, and it will not be announced in advance.

In response to the fire drill Mr Lindley said, “It was as if we weren’t here, which is exactly how it is supposed to go.”

The expansion project, which broke ground in May, is on schedule, Mr Lindley said. He said some individual projects are ahead of schedule, some are a bit behind, but it works out in the end.

“We are pretty happy with where we are right now,” Mr Lindley said.

Mr Lindley also said the town has been helpful in cooperating with the project.

Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson agreed, and added the cooperation has been remarkable.

“I’m really impressed with the work and the collaboration that has been happening,” Dr Robinson said.