News

District To Roll Out ‘Phone-Free’ Policy at Saxe Middle School

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Saxe Middle School soon will see students locking electronic devices—including cell phones, smartwatches and tablets—kept in a locking pouch system throughout the day as part of an updated policy on the electronics’ use, district officials say. The “Phone-Free Schools” initiative at Saxe is expected to launch around mid-September, once the pouches are in hand, according to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi. “We’re looking at some of the implementation as a design thinking challenge,” he said during a special Board of Education meeting, held Aug. 26 in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School and via videoconference. “How do you create a system that best enables students to lock and unlock their pouches as they’re coming and going during the day?” Luizzi continued.

News

School Security Update: SROs at Elementary Schools, Doors, Pedestrian Safety

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Each of New Canaan’s three elementary schools will have a dedicated police officer on campus when the academic year starts this week, the superintendent of schools said Monday night. In addition to expanding the number of School Resource Officers or “SROs” from two (New Canaan High School and Saxe Middle School) to five, the district is upgrading its radios, security of school building doors and pedestrian safety at NCHS, Dr. Bryan Luizzi said during a special Board of Education meeting. New Canaan Police Officers Ron Bentley (East School), Nicole Vartuli (South) and Shane Gibson (West) will join Officers Jeff Deak (NCHS) and Matt Blank (Saxe) to fill out the SRO roster, Luizzi said during the meeting, held at NCHS and via videoconference. “It’s really a great team,” he said. “They will work very well with our campus monitors—they’ll work great with our staff, with our principals.

Dr. Bryan Luizzi

‘Words Cannot Describe How Grateful We Are’: Hawk’s Court Opens at Saxe

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Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi has a plaque in his office, he told a crowd of about 40 people gathered outside Saxe Middle School on Monday afternoon. “It says, ‘You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,’ ” Luizzi told Saxe students, parents, staff and faculty moments before formally cutting the ribbon at the new “Hawk’s Court,” a gift of the Parent Teacher Council. 

“And when this first came together, it definitely was a bit of a moonshot,” he continued, addressing Saxe PTC Co-Presidents Jess Huetter and Jessica Knowles on a warm, sunny day. “But to your credit, you had the courage to take it, to go for it and to work with us, with the town, with everybody to put this together. And really, it’s another example of how the quality of the idea on behalf of the children is the single most important factor that we use in our decision-making.”

The ribbon-cutting, attended by Luizzi, Huetter and Knowles as well as Saxe Middle School Principal David Gusitsch, the Saxe Hawks mascot and students Alex Knowles and William Huetter, marked the culmination of a $170,000 fundraising effort and summer court installation overseen by town and district officials. It was followed by a students vs.

Dr. Bryan Luizzi

‘I Can’t Wait To See What the Students Do’: Officials Cut Ribbon on ‘The Dome’ at NCHS

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District officials started talking about renovating “The Dome”—the planetarium at New Canaan High School—back in 2016, according to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi. They had a couple of false starts, including a key retirement and then COVID-19, but once they were clear of the pandemic, “we really committed to doing this, because we really feel strongly that we have this opportunity to create something special for our kids and for the community.”

“We’ve been looking forward to this day for years,” Luizzi told NewCanaanite.com as a crowd gathered outside The Dome for a formal ribbon-cutting on Tuesday afternoon. 

The ceremonial ribbon-cutting came as Luizzi led sessions inside the new space, introducing town and district officials, as well as donors and members of the diligent and hugely successful Dome Committee through demonstrations. Sitting in comfortable new seats that recline for a better view, those in attendance were led by Luizzi through not just interactive space exploration software but also videos showcasing The Dome’s immersive high-definition capabilities. 

“To be able to welcome in so many of the people that helped make this happen, that stuck with us through the years as we were building momentum and building the vision—it was all about getting it right, and having a vision that went beyond what a planetarium could do, to really the ‘immersive theater’ idea, and doing it in a way that asks people to think bigger than the small screen,” he said. “To do it together and collectively. So bringing everybody together to celebrate the opening is another way that we show what we believe, which is community.

Board of Education

Board of Ed Divided on Best Calendar for 2025-26 School Year

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District officials are trying to figure out the most sensible way to build more wiggle room into the proposed 2025-26 school year schedule. As a proposed calendar now before the Board of Education has it, that school year would start on a Thursday in August and end on a Thursday the following June, meaning the final week of school could absorb just one snow day before threatening to push the academic year into the following week. However, the district by its own policy doesn’t push the school year beyond the third full week of June. “So there’s different things that are conspiring against us here for that start date,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi said during the Board’s regular meeting, held Dec. 4 in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School. 

The ‘25-’26 school year is already an anomaly in that several months will see a reduction in the number of school days just because of how the holidays fall.