Residents Kristen Bonacci, Aaron Carlson, and Casey Ragan are behind an effort to launch a Newtown Education Foundation to support the local learning environment.

The Newtown Education Foundation’s mission is to “enrich the learning experience for our students by promoting innovation and creativity through collaboration with the community,” according to a press release.

As the co-founders, Ms Bonacci, Mr Carlson, and Ms Regan announced the foundation on Wednesday, August 26.

Ms Bonacci said she thinks Newtown is the perfect town for an education foundation.

For Ms Bonacci the effort to start the foundation began with a promise made on June 24 to the Board of Education. During a special meeting that night the school board decided unanimously to not close a school for the 2016-17 school year and to continue a discussion on the best use of district facilities. Leaders of a Hawley Elementary School PTA-led campaign called, at the time, SOS (Save Our Schools), promised following the board’s decision to focus on supporting education. The SOS campaign was launched in response to a facility and enrollment study recommending Hawley be closed due to declining enrollment.

The Hawley PTA’s SOS campaign, which now stands for Support Our Schools, will continue its work to support the school budget and other education endeavors, according to Mr Carlson, but, he said, the Newtown Education Foundation will be its own organization, working to garner support from the community to keep education as a priority in town.

Other education foundations have been established in the state, and Ms Ragan, a computer teacher for kindergarten through third grade students in Bethel, was inspired by the Bethel Education Foundation.

“I know it has worked,” said Ms Regan, explaining the Bethel Education Foundation has supported a number of programs and made new technology available for students in Bethel through grants and other endeavors.

According to the foundation’s release, it will work in partnership with the Newtown Public Schools and Superintendent of Schools Joseph V. Erardi, Jr.

“I am very excited about the future of the Newtown Education Foundation as it parallels the mission of the Newtown public schools to ‘inspire each student to excel’ while partnering with the community,” said Dr Erardi in the release.

Mr Carlson said on Wednesday the three co-founders, who are all members of Hawley’s PTA, came together to launch the new foundation during a time when there is a focus on declining enrollment in Newtown’s schools.

“A group of us made a commitment to support solutions going forward,” said Mr Carlson.

Work is underway for the Newtown Education Foundation to receive 501(c)(3) status, according to Mr Carlson. The foundation is expecting to file as a nonprofit, tax-qualified corporation organized to promote and support innovative education programs for the benefit of students in the Newtown Public School system.

After a first meeting to organize the Newtown Education Foundation and its board members, Mr Carlson said community members can expect public meetings to be held with opportunities to participate and get involved.

“And we welcome all community members to be involved in the process,” said Mr Carlson.

Mr Carlson also said he expects the Newtown Education Foundation to evolve based on the community input.

“And I think it is good… because [Ms Bonacci] has the school connections and relationships, [Ms Ragan] has the educational background as a teacher in Bethel, and I have the leadership experience from the nonprofit leadership perspective,” said Mr Carlson.

Ms Ragan said the foundation will focus on bringing the school system solutions and support without adding further burden to taxpayers. The focus, Ms Ragan said, should be on new innovative ideas to spark creativity beyond the education budget and on getting the community involved. Community groups, Ms Ragan said, can work with the Newtown Education Foundation to offer partnerships and programs or to raise funds.

“I hope we are as successful as every other town I have talked to,” said Ms Bonacci, expressing her excitement to see “how it turns out.”

Creating an education foundation, Ms Bonacci said, is something that should have been done “a long time ago.”

“I think it will take off and it is going to be successful,” said Ms Bonacci, adding that the next important step is to name board members.