News

‘The Security Measures in Place Work’: Superintendent Addresses Unusual Incident at New Canaan High School

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Addressing concerns following an incident this week where a 22-year-old man on New Canaan High School’s campus attempted to enter the school’s cafeteria through an exterior door, the district’s superintendent offered reassurance to parents and the wider community about the facility’s security. New Canaan Police on Monday arrested a New Jersey man who inexplicably approached the building at an exterior door to the cafeteria around noon and then, when confronted, falsely claimed that he was a 17-year-old transfer to NCHS. Asked about the incident, Dr. Bryan Luizzi said that New Canaan Public Schools “makes the safety of its students a priority at all times.”

“All doors at New Canaan High School are locked,” Luizzi told NewCanaanite.com. “The main entrance doors are monitored by the district’s campus monitors, as are all front doors in all the district’s schools. Visitors need to show identification, sign in and sign out, and are given a name badge to wear during their visit.

Around Town

Two-Hour Delayed Opening for Public Schools after Sleet-and-Snow Hit New Canaan; Town under Wind Advisory

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Citing “icy road conditions” following a mix of snow-and-sleet that hit New Canaan through much of Sunday, district officials delayed public school openings by two hours Monday. New Canaan Public Schools will open under the following schedule, according to a bulletin posted on the district’s website:

NCHS – 9:30 a.m.
Saxe Grades 7/8 – 9:30 a.m.
Saxe Grades 5/6 – 10:20 a.m.
South – 10:15 a.m.
East and West – 11:05 a.m.

The National Weather Service put New Canaan and area towns under a Hazardous Weather Outlook and Wind Advisory through 6 p.m. Monday, as gusts are expected to hit 50 mph. “Strong winds may blow down limbs, trees and power lines,” the weather service said. “Scattered outages are expected.”

As of 5:30 a.m., New Canaan had no reported power outages, according to Eversource, though neighboring Wilton had 59 and Ridgefield 88. The weather service also warned that near-freezing temperatures overnight would create “black ice” hazards on the roads—deteriorating conditions that New Canaan Police Chief Leon Krolikowski said should make local motorists extra careful.

Around Town

New Canaan Gets Six Inches of Snow Monday; Grace Farms Closed Tuesday [UPDATE]

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Update 8:40 p.m.

Grace Farms will be closed on Tuesday due to expected poor weather conditions. Update 12:40 p.m.

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory for New Canaan on Monday, and is calling for up to six inches of snow. The weather service also is expecting a smaller amount of snow on Tuesday and Wednesday. Original Post

With adverse weather conditions expected throughout the day, New Canaan Public Schools will be on an early dismissal schedule Monday, Feb. 8. The last day of school remains Wednesday, June 15, following a snow day last Friday.

News

New Canaan High School Principal Dr. Bryan Luizzi Named Interim Superintendent

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Less than two months after designating itself as a search committee to find a successor to New Canaan Public Schools’ retiring superintendent, the Board of Education on Tuesday said high school Principal Dr. Bryan Luizzi has been appointed to the position on an interim basis. The Brookfield resident has worked at New Canaan High School principal since 2011. In a press release, school board Chairman Hazel Hobbs said Luizzi will build on what current Superintendent Dr. Mary Kolek and the school district have created. “We are excited to have an interim superintendent who can lead our high-performing school district in the continuous pursuit of excellence,” Hobbs said. “Dr. Luizzi is an experienced leader with the skills and passion required to lead the district.”

Luizzi said in the release that he was “honored” to be given the opportunity and said he would collaborate with the “school board, community, administrators, and staff to ensure a productive and successful school year.”

“I am very grateful for this opportunity, and I look forward to the great work that the New Canaan Public Schools will continue to accomplish going forward,” Luizzi said.

News

School Board Bridles at State-Mandated ‘Regional Uniform Calendar’

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Bucking a state-mandated “regional uniform school calendar” that doesn’t mesh with what New Canaanites long have practiced in terms of start and end dates to the school year, or vacations, the Board of Education is postponing the adoption of an academic calendar for 2014-15. Part of the reason for that is to see what happens with a bill now under review in Hartford that would delay implementation of the “Uniform Regional School Calendar” until 2106-17. Originally developed as a cost-saving measure for more sparsely populated regions in Connecticut, the notion of a uniform school calendar became law in a mammoth budget bill that passed last year (it’s 500 pages long, the section that deals with this can be found on page 423.) No member of the New Canaan delegation to the Connecticut General Assembly voted in favor of it. Part of the law requires “a uniform start date” and “not more than three uniform school vacation periods during each school year, not more than two of which shall be a one week school vacation period and one of which shall be during the summer.”

New Canaanites long have had a week during Christmas, then February and finally, April. Here’s what New Canaan’s academic calendar would look like if the town is left to its own devices for 2015-16 (this is a draft developed by the public schools largely as a basis of comparison), for example, versus this, a sample of what the regional School Calendar could be.