News

NCHS Graduation Survival Guide: Tips for Students and Parents

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With NCHS graduation just a few days away (5 p.m. on Thursday June 18 at Dunning Field) there are many parents, family members, and graduates buzzing with questions about graduation. The New Canaanite took some time to think of some tips for this year’s graduates, as well as some for their parents. Parent Tips: Answers to all of the questions parents want to know. Where should I park? Parking on the high school property will be limited.

Around Town

Waveny Summer Concert Series To Start Wednesday

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The summer season of music has begun, with the Waveny Summer Concert Series kicking off Wednesday. Hosted by the New Canaan Recreation Department, the series will run every Wednesday throughout the summer from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. on the lawn behind the Waveny house. The Recreation Department encourages New Canaan families to bring a chair or blanket, a picnic supper, and enjoy the music at all of the free concerts throughout the summer. The summer lineup features Kenn Morr, Cool Shoes, Gunsmoke, Airborne, The Bookends, Doug Allen, T&T Dreamin’, Billy and the Showmen, Otis and the Hurricanes, Jon Saxon, and Fairfield Counts Band. “Some of the groups we’ve had we’ve had for several years,” Recreation Director Steve Benko told New Canaanite.

Business

I Scream, You Scream: A Guide to New Canaan’s Ice Cream (And Yogurt!)

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With sunshine filling the sky, pools opening, and less than a week until NCHS graduation, it is clear that summer is finally here. Although every New Canaanite spends their summer differently, the best way to cool off on a hot summer day is to grab an ice cream or frozen yogurt. The New Canaanite took a tour around town to all of the shops around town to see which place is the best for each type of occasion. Baskin Robbins—The Classic

103 Main St. If you are looking for 31 flavors of classic ice cream, B&R is the way to go.

News

New Canaan Country School Holds Closing Ceremonies for 47 Graduating Ninth-Graders

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On a picture-perfect Wednesday morning, 47 ninth-grade graduates walked across a stage at New Canaan Country School to receive their diplomas during the 1916-founded private school’s annual closing exercises. Peter O’Neill, Interim Head of School at NCCS, told the students, relatives and friends gathered for the Frogtown Road school’s annual ceremony that “there are so many superlatives [he] could put out there [to describe the class of 2015], but let it just be said that [he] considers them [his] rock stars.”

Two students of the class of 2015, Ian Murphy of Wilton and Avery York of Norwalk, addressed the class with a class salutation and reflection, respectively. Murphy, who has been attending the school since kindergarten, is an athlete of the soccer field, a cross country runner and member of the school’s Leadership Council and Discipline Committee. “It’s truly an honor to be up here right now and to be part of such an amazing class and of course we all couldn’t be up here without the help and guidance of our teachers, parents, grandparents, and anyone else deserving recognition,” Murphy said in his speech. “We thank you dearly for all you have done.

News

Reunited: Center Schoolers Joanne LaVista and Marie Pinchbeck Back Together at First Presbyterian Nursery School

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In 1980, Marie Pinchbeck was teaching kindergarten while Joanne LaVista was teaching sixth grade down the hall at Center School. LaVista recalls her and Pinchbeck’s classrooms being close to each other and creating a partnership with the “veteran teacher” at the elementary school when she joined the Center School community in 1980, right out of college at the age of 22. “Our classrooms were right near each other and right away we just started being good friends,” LaVista said. “What we set up was that my sixth graders would go to her kindergarten room once a week and read the library books and she would say, ‘I can never get through everyone’s library books. The kids feel bad when they have to turn their book in and they hadn’t read it in school.’ So we had this great partnership going and my sixth graders loved it.