Strategic Planning—

School Board Hears Hawley Presentation

By Eliza Hallabeck

Hawley Elementary School was highlighted during the Board of Education’s meeting on Tuesday, October 6, as a video introduced by Hawley Principal Jo-Ann Peters played for the school board and members of the public present.

The video, as Ms Peters explained, was something she has been thinking of creating for a while, and, knowing she would be presenting Hawley’s reaction to the recently implemented school district strategic plan, was a catalyst to bring together lead teacher Chris Breyan, Debbie Cowden, and Lynn Holcomb to make the video possible.

“We came up with significant areas that we do think really highlight our school,” said Ms Peters.

The 13-minute video began with a history of the school.

“The Hawley School has a long history and tradition of service with the original building being constructed in 1921,” Ms Peters said on the video. “The original funding was from our namesake, Mary Hawley, and at that time it served as the high school in Newtown. It was the first public building in Newtown to have central heat instead of wood stoves.”

Now the school serves more than 420 students in kindergarten through fourth grade, according to the video.

Highlighted on the video were morning meetings, when students great each other by name in their respective classrooms, engage in an activity, like a song, and practice academic skills. Other areas highlighted on the video was Hawley’s buddy program, where students are paired with another person in the building as a buddy, the One School One Read program, which has the entire school read the same book for one month, and the school’s yearly art show overseen by art teacher Vicki Sheskin.

Marybeth Periera, PTA president at Hawley, also spoke on the building.

“When parents feel they are an integral part of their school and their child’s educational upbringing, then they do not hesitate to step up,” said Ms Periera, “and of course that trickles from the top down with our fearless leader JoAnne Peters.”

The video also showed teachers working together to create lessons to address the needs of all learners in a specific classroom.

After showing the video, Ms Peters shared some of the school’s challenges. She pointed out the need for a new heating and ventilating system, procuring extra land to create more parking and potentially a cafeteria for the school, and the need for more handicap accessibility.

Ms Peters said the portion of the school built in 1921 is not accessible to students with disabilities.

The school district’s strategic plan is Hawley’s focus, according to Ms Peters, who also said communication is integral to improving instruction.

The video may become available to the public on the school’s website in the future, according to Ms Peters.