Schools

We don’t just cover the Board of Education and issues affecting New Canaan Public Schools parents, including testing mandates and teacher evaluations, new hires in the district and programs in our schools—we also celebrate students and teacher achievements and spotlight outstanding work at all levels.

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Recent Articles

‘I Do Not Understand’: Citing Coach’s Drug Arrest, Resident Seeks Info from Board of Ed on Allowing Police K-9 Dog in NCHS

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Citing the recent arrest of a New Canaan High School coach after authorities found him to be in possession of 20 bags of heroin, a prominent resident on Monday night urged district officials to rethink their policy on K-9 sweeps at the Farm Road building. Chris Hussey told members of the Board of Education at their regular meeting (see video above at 2:30) that she learned about one year ago that in order for the New Canaan Police Department’s K-9 dog to come to the school, “they had to give the school notification.”

“I said I didn’t understand that,” Hussey said at the school board meeting, held in the Wagner Room at NCHS. “The idea, i would think, is surprise. He [Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi] was going to speak to the chief and get back to me. We never got together. Continue Reading →

Filed under: News, Public Safety, Schools, Apollo the K-9 dog, Board of Education, Chris Hussey, Dionna Carlson, Dr. Bryan Luizzi

Superintendent Calls for ‘Review of Every Coach in Our Program’ Following Revelation That Arrested Man’s Coaching Permit Had Expired

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The New Canaan High School basketball assistant coach whose employment with the district ended following his arrest last weekend on multiple drug charges had been working for New Canaan Public Schools even though his state coaching certification had expired, Connecticut Department of Education records show. Jose Amor’s five-year interscholastic/intramural coach permit had been issued Nov. 20, 2012, according to the state’s database, and expired Nov. 19, 2017. The NCHS boys varsity basketball season opened Dec. Continue Reading →

Filed under: News, Public Safety, Schools, Sports, Dr. Bryan Luizzi, Jose Amor

Athletic Director: NCHS Assistant Basketball Coach Arrested Over Weekend Is No Longer Employed by District

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New Canaan High School officials on Monday said an assistant basketball coach arrested over the weekend is no longer employed by the district. According to NCHS Athletic Director Jay Egan, the coach—Jose Amor, of Stamford—had “passed the mandatory background check necessary for employment in the New Canaan Public Schools.”

“The New Canaan Public Schools has an extensive background check for all employees and will continue to use this system for all future hires,” Egan said in an email addressed to the ‘New Canaan Public Schools Community.’ According to The Advocate, Stamford police found Amor to be in possession of 20 bags of heroin and charged with possession of narcotics, possession of narcotics with intent to sell, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. Formerly a basketball coach at Westhill High School, Amor also had been arrested in 2016 following accusations that he had tipped off one of his players there that he was a suspect in a shooting, leading to a misdemeanor charge of interfering with police. Amor’s criminal record in that matter was erased one year ago after he completed a short “accelerated rehabilitation” program, though Google search returns related to the incident remain high. Continue Reading →

Filed under: News, Public Safety, Schools, Sports, Jay Egan, Jose Amor

‘A College Level, Even a Professional Level’: High Praise for TV Broadcasting Class from Students in Unique NCHS Program

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Kaitlyn Mulcahy describes her younger self as that kid who “was always the one that wanted to get in front of the camera.”

During family vacations or in dramatic retellings of stories about their dog, the New Canaan High School junior recalled, she’d hop in front of her parents’ handheld camcorder. So as a freshman at NCHS, when Mulcahy saw that “Introduction to TV Broadcasting” was offered as a single-semester elective, she signed up. “I knew that after the ‘TV 1’ class, that I would want to continue throughout my four years,” Mulcahy said on a recent afternoon from outside the broadcasting studio for NCTV 78, where she helps deliver weather reports (see the 8:30 mark here) for a highly touted weekly news program. “I was inspired by some of the anchors who were on at that time, and I really felt a connection between them and the leadership opportunities that they had, and I just knew it was something I wanted to continue with.”

A collaborative effort from students in grades 10, 11 and 12 in various levels of Advanced TV Broadcasting, the live NCHS news program—known as “The Morning Announcements” and broadcast each Friday (watch the most recent installment above)—sees those in the class produce original programming, from scratch, for the town’s educational cable channel. Using state-of-the-art equipment and working as a team, students like Mulcahy who start on the TV Broadcasting track as freshmen and stay with it all four years say the experience offers unique skill-building, real-world experience, camaraderie and some hard-earned recognition among classmates. Continue Reading →

Filed under: News, Schools, Christian Parrott, Kaitlyn Mulcahy, Luca Triant, Roman Cebulski, Sean Manzella

South School Rebounds with Near-Perfect Score on Health Inspection

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After failing its most recent health inspection, the food services staff at South School earned a near-perfect score following an unannounced visit from a town sanitarian this month. The school during an unannounced May 2, 2017 inspection had been cited by the New Canaan Health Department for a major violation—the first such problem found there through dozens of inspections in more than five years. Specifically, a health inspector found that a 2-door Hobart cooler was at 63.7 degrees—far higher than required, according to records obtained by NewCanaanite.com. In surprise inspections, municipal health officials note any violation on a form that categorizes and grades each of them from one to four, with four being the most serious. A total of 100 points are possible, and each violation is deducted from that score. Continue Reading →

Filed under: News, Schools, health inspections, South School