The Board of Education routinely includes a celebration of excellence in its meeting agendas. A number of student and educator accomplishments were highlighted in 2019.

The celebrations included honoring Newtown High School student artists in March, celebrating NHS students who had recently earned the Connecticut Seal of Biliteracy at the Board of Education’s April 4 meeting, recognizing the work of Newtown High School students who completed Senior Capstone projects in early May, and awarding the district’s 2018-19 Profiles in Professionalism awards to recipients at its May 21 meeting.

The 2018-19 Profiles in Professionalism honorees were Sandy Hook School Elementary School executive secretary Erin Ardino, Middle Gate School Elementary School parent volunteer Robert Barricelli, district board certified behavior analyst Lauren Connor, Hawley Elementary School Lead Teacher Jenna Connors, Reed Intermediate School teacher Petrice DiVanno, Middle Gate library/media specialist Suzanne Hurley, Head O’ Meadow Elementary School counselor School Lisa Kilcourse, Reed head custodian Mark Pirozzoli, Newtown High School Career Counselor Peg Ragaini, Hawley behavioral interventionist Betsy Rickert, Newtown Middle School library/media specialist Andrew San Angelo, NHS teacher Kathy Swift, and NHS secretary Carol Villodas.

With June came even more accomplishments to honor. At the Board of Education’s last meeting before the 2018-19 school year came to a close, it celebrated students and teachers.

“This evening, we are really excited that you are all here,” Superintendent of Schools Dr Lorrie Rodrigue said as the evening meeting began. The meeting room at Newtown Municipal Center was nearly full of school district staff, students, family members, and community members for the occasion. “We have some really special recognitions, so it is really a great evening,” she added.

The evening went on to celebrate retiring district educators and staff, the Weller in Excellence in Teaching Award submissions, and two students from NHS, Simone Paradis and Matthew Dubois, and two students from NMS, Kirtana Kunzweiler and Joseph Crosby, who were selected for the year’s Connecticut Association of Board of Education (CABE) Student Leadership Awards.

NHS’s top demi-decile students of the 2019 graduating class were also honored at the June 4 meeting, with Bryan Ingwersen and Hailey Pankow being recognized as the class’s valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively.

Newtown’s then newly named 2019-20 Teacher of the Year Kim Lowell and 2019-20 Paraeducator of the Year Pamela Jackson were honored at the board’s meeting on June 18.

The celebration of excellence at the October 15 meeting recognized Middle Gate Elementary School and NMS for exemplary veterans’ programming. The two schools were selected for the Remembering Our Heroes — Teaching About Veterans program, which is an educational recognition available to all of Connecticut’s K-12 schools. In 2019, there were a total of six schools selected for the honor.

And finally, for November the celebrations went national: The Newtown Marching Band & Color Guard was honored at the Board of Education’s meeting on November 19 for earning bronze at the USBands National Open Class Championships on November 9 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.