To the Editor:

My wife, children and I moved to Newtown in 2000. We fell in love with our town, our neighbors, and the “feeling” of community. Our home-search, driven by “finding the right schools,” led here. Reputation and a Blue-Ribbon High School sealed the deal.

Twenty-three years and two self-sufficient young adults later, we can’t imagine better outcomes for our kids, in no small part built on Newtown Schools foundations built, and our powerhouse Blue Ribbon High School, where both graduated — ready for academic, personal and professional success.

I think every Newtown parent has similar hopes and expectations. I believe every Newtown child deserves readiness for their next stop in life, to love learning, feel safe, be happy and have a childhood.

I want our Blue Ribbon School back.

To get there, please check out the candidates most committed to excellence: current board members Todd Higgins and Shannon Tomai, and Newtown’s Brennan Coakley.

Todd’s an experienced trial lawyer, local businessman, and father of six, with a remarkable track record of tenacious execution. He gets hard things done, and believes deeply in the transformative power of education to change lives, having climbed out of childhood poverty before earning his law degree at Fordham, first in his class.

Shannon’s another BOE member by appointment. Mother of four Newtown schools’ children, she has strong community connections, has been a Girl Scout Leader and soccer coach. Shannon provides expert legal and strategic counsel to corporate executives and is a skilled negotiator.

Brennan is Newtown-raised, attended Hawley, NMS, and, in 2005, NHS before heading to Penn State on a football scholarship. Today, he’s a successful packaging executive and an up-and-coming young Newtown dad.

Newtown deserves Blue Ribbon excellence. I believe Todd, Shannon, and Brennan are the candidates that’ll deliver it. Please join me!

To learn more, visit newtownboecandidates.com/

Respectfully,

Mitch Bolinsky

Newtown