Board of Selectmen

Saxe Playing Fields To Be Surveyed for Artificial Turf Installation

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Faced with a need for more playing time, officials this week approved a contract to kickstart a look into installing turf fields at Saxe Middle School. The Board of Selectmen at its regular meeting Wednesday—its last as currently composed—voted 3-0 in favor of a contract with New Canaan-based RKW Land Surveying to survey the grass fields at Saxe. First Selectman Kevin Moynihan and Selectmen Kathleen Corbet and Nick Williams voted in favor of the $13,900 contract. The cost will be borne by the New Canaan Athletic Foundation. A recommendation to study the Saxe fields “for the potential to install turf fields” emerged because “some of the fields at Saxe are a little bit too wet for a gym class to go out, given the fact that the grass we’re not able to play on as much as we would like,” according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann.

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12 NCHS Student-Athletes Sign Letters of Intent To Play Sports in College 

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Twelve New Canaan High School seniors on Wednesday signed commitment or “likely” letters to play sports in college starting next year. 

NCHS Athletic Director Jay Egan said during the school’s annual ceremony for the student-athletes that “it’s important for you to realize what you’ve accomplished and the people who have helped you—your parents, your coaches, anybody else who has supported you.”

“And most importantly, the things that you have sacrificed in order to get where you are,” Egan said as the ceremony got underway in the Wagner Room at NCHS. “So I think today is the day for that type of reflection. I’d also like to add, from New Canaan High School Athletics, for those of you that played multiple sports and if you haven’t played multiple sports, we really appreciate all that you have given to New Canaan High School Athletics. It really makes our program what it is, that you’re selfless in giving your time and effort.”

Friends and family attended the ceremony, where the student-athletes posed for photos and received a pen to mark the day. 

We asked the student-athletes why they chose their future schools, and put their responses next to photos where provided. Please note that two seniors, Kathryn Norton (Dartmouth, lacrosse) and Devon Russell (Boston College, lacrosse) had photos taken early so they could board the bus with the NCHS Girls Soccer team, which advanced in the state playoffs.

News

Global Citizenship: 50 NCHS Students Participate in ‘Model UN Club’

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New Canaan High School’s Model UN Club promotes a non-U.S.-centric worldview where participating students debate nuanced issues that show them a different perspective and help them become “global citizens,” according to one of the team’s leaders. A central question facing Model UN members is not just “How can I become a good U.S. citizen?” but “How can I become a good global citizen?” according to NCHS senior Melissa Rizzo, who joined Model UN as a fifth-grader at the Zurich International School and continued in New Canaan when she arrived at Saxe Middle School as an eighth grader. A secretary general on the team overseeing three Model UN captions and its executive board, Rizzo said she and others on the team “are exposed to a diverse range of global issues and cultures.” “

“Particularly in The Hague, sitting adjacent to 150 students who are from all over the world, you truly see the different cultures and how it comes into play in debate and how it is important to have an entity such as the UN that addresses issues—global issues—in a way that is individual and productive for each nation,” she told members of the Board of Education during their regular meeting Monday, held in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School. 

The comments came prior to the school board voting unanimously to approve an overnight field trip for the NCHS Model UN program. Rizzo in delivering her presentation was joined at the podium by faculty advisor Paul Phillips. Model UN is a program that helps develop research, critical thinking, persuasion, collaboration and public speaking skills, Rizzo said.

Bill Egan

‘The Best Community in the State of Connecticut’: New Canaan Principals Report on First Day of School

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For New Canaan High School Principal Bill Egan, there’s no better day than the first day of school. Newly arrived freshmen and returning students “bring life back into the building,” Egan told members of the Board of Education during their regular meeting Tuesday night. This academic year, NCHS welcomed nearly 1,270 students—including 52 who are new to New Canaan— who brought “ the energy only they could bring,” Egan said during a report on school openings. 

“I want to thank you,” he told the Board during the meeting, held in the Wagner Room at NCHS. “It truly is an honor and privilege to be a New Canaan High School principal. There is no better job in the world than being a high school principal.

Board of Education

Selectman Williams Pushes To Fill Open Board of Ed Seat

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Selectman Nick Williams on Tuesday pushed to have New Canaan resident Matt Campbell appointed to fill a vacancy on the Board of Education. The school board has had an open seat since former Chair Dan Bennett, a Republican, resigned in April. 

In a decision that drew criticism from some Democrats on the Board of Ed, Republicans on the school board subsequently decided to forgo filling the open seat, saying it could interfere with the party’s July Caucus. Under Section 7-4 of the Town Charter, the Board of Ed can fill a vacancy prior to the next municipal election, where a successor is elected to fill the balance of the term (Bennett’s four-year term expires in 2025). “If the Board of Education fails to fill any vacancy which occurs on the Board within 90 days after the vacancy occurs, the Board of Selectmen may fill such vacancy until the next biennial municipal election,” according to the Charter. Williams during the Board of Selectmen’s Sept.