Board of Education

‘Kind and Supportive of Others’ Success’: Board of Ed Remembers Toby Woods

By |

The Board of Education on Monday night remembered 2023 New Canaan High School graduate Toby Woods, who died Feb. 21. Board of Ed Chair Hugo Alves led the elected body in a moment of silence at the start of its regular meeting. “I’d like to take a moment to reflect on the tragic loss of one of our former students, Toby Woods,” Alves said during the meeting, held in the Wagner Room at NCHS. “This loss has deeply impacted us all and our thoughts and prayers are with Toby’s family and friends during this incredibly difficult time,” Alves continued.

Board of Education

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

By |

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.

Board of Education

Board of Ed Elects Hugo Alves as Chair [UPDATED]

By |

The Board of Education on Monday night voted 6-3 in favor of Hugo Alves as the elected body’s new chair. Elected to two-year terms in 2021 and 2023, Alves is a member of the school board’s Resources Committee. In the wider community, the Republican—a financial planner, by profession—volunteers on the New Canaan Museum & Historical Society’s Board of Governors. In nominating Alves during the Board of Ed’s regular meeting, member Julie Toal said, “I love working with Hugo and I’ve sat across from him for two years now.” 

“And I love watching him from across the room, holding court with the administration and the other Board members,” Toal said during the meeting, held in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School. “And I think Hugo has earned everybody’s trust and formed solid relationships with all of us sitting up here at this table.

Board of Education

Two-Year Board of Ed Candidates Debate Enrollment, Priorities, Classroom Topics

By |

The major priorities for the school district are preparing for an expected enrollment boom, safety and “continually looking forward to ensure that our curriculum is gradually changing, so that we are keeping pace with changing society,” according to one candidate for a two-year term on the Board of Education. Democrat Josh Kaye said during a League of Women Voters of New Canaan debate that aired Monday night that when he was in school he “didn’t learn how to use a slide rule, even though that had been important for my parents.”

“Because the world changed,” Kaye said. “The world didn’t stop changing in 2000. So we need to look forward. We need to be thinking actively about the skills and abilities our kids need to graduate so that they can be prepared to thrive.”

Responding to the same question about his concrete goals on the Board of Ed, Kaye’s opponent in the Nov.

Board of Education

Podcast: Board of Ed Candidate Hugo Alves

By |

This week on 0684-Radi0, our free podcast (subscribe here in the iTunes Store), we talk to Board of Education candidate Hugo Alves. The Republican is one of eight total candidates seeking a seat on the school board Nov. 7. He’s in a contested two-person race for a two-year Board of Ed term. Alves was elected to the school board in 2021.