Another Smooth Start To The Year

By Laurie Borst

It was a foggy morning as the buses started to roll, snaking through town from Hi Barlow Road to Scenic View Drive, Pond View Drive to Great Quarter Road. Newtown Schools opened their doors August 28 for another year of the “Three Rs,” plus history, science, art, music, and sports.

Transportation Director Tony DiLonardo reported another smooth launch. Around town, the schools’ offices were buzzing with the usual activity, not the chaos one might expect on the first day of school.

Reed Intermediate School Assistant Principal Tony Salvatore met the buses as they arrived, greeting students and taking photographs. A number of teachers waited with signs for fifth graders, helping direct them as they ventured into new surroundings.

At the middle school, school nurse Barbara Reilly was bustling about cataloging medications and filing emergency forms.

Central Office Administrators were out and about checking on the schools. Business Director Ron Bienkowski chatted with Middle Gate Principal Judy Liestman as she oversaw the arrivals in front of the school.

At the high school, guidance department secretary Lynn Korotash said that office was at its usual level of hustle and bustle with students needing to make scheduling changes and corrections. “There’s always activity in guidance,” she added.

At the end of the day, a lot of very tired looking students searched for the right bus number parked along the curbs. From kindergarteners beginning their wondrous journey to seniors anxiously awaiting college acceptance letters, students, teachers, and staff have 181 days to go.