With the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it can be easy to forget just how much happens in the span of a year. 2025 was no different, as students across Newtown Public Schools district embraced change in classes, camps, and other fun events all throughout the year.

However, they were not alone. Adults, from teachers and principals to Town officials and firefighters, were ready to support students and pave the way for another exciting, eventful year.

Board Of Education

The 2025-26 education budget passed 2,432 to 1,838 during referendum on April 22, with the budget totaling $91,744,644.

On June 10, the Board of Education (BOE) unanimously approved a one-year renewal to Newtown Public Schools’ contract with Chartwells for food services. The contract renewal has been effective since July 1 of this year, and will remain effective until June 20, 2026.

In another unanimous vote on July 8, BOE members hired Jenna Connors as the new principal of Middle Gate Elementary School. This comes after the previous Middle Gate Principal, Christopher Geissler, submitted his resignation to the district earlier this spring.

Connors took on the role of Middle Gate’s interim principal on March 8 of this year, and served in the position until being voted in as the school’s new principal.

BOE members unanimously voted to increase the district’s lunch prices by 15 cents across the board on August 12.

This resulted in the following price changes: $3.10 to $3.25 at the elementary schools, $3.35 to $3.50 at the intermediate and the middle school, and $3.60 to $3.75 at the high school. Middle school and high school breakfast went from $2.45 to $2.60.

Sandy Hook School Foundation (SHSF) presented a weapons detection system as a gift for Newtown High School earlier this summer. The system, called CEIA OpenGate, is a metal detector used by airports, federal agencies, and the Secret Service.

SHSF was looking to sunset its foundation. In order to do so, it had to expend its remaining funds in a way that was consistent with its mission.

The BOE accepted the gift in a 5-2 vote on July 8, contingent on the Board receiving input from the public and Superintendent of Schools Anne Uberti presenting more information about it on October 7.

Several months later on October 7, the BOE approved the implementation of a weapons detection system at NHS in a narrow 4-3 vote.

The BOE welcomed new members Melissa Beylouni and Don Ramsey, along with reelected members Doria Linnetz and Shannon Tomai, on December 2.

As four BOE terms were set to end on December 1, the aforementioned new and returning members ran for those positions in this year’s municipal election. With only four people running, they filled the four available openings.

Reunions & Graduations

Newtown High School’s Class of 1975 celebrated their 50-year reunion with a special four-day celebration over Labor Day weekend, where classmates could reconnect, make new memories, and “party like it’s 1975.”

The festivities kicked off with an informal gathering and casual meetup at Aquila’s Nest Vineyards on August 29.

The following morning saw around 65 graduates return to NHS for a tour of their alma mater. NHS administrative assistant Brittany Accettella, joined by NHS senior Nicole Tabor, led the graduates throughout the building.

While the NHS Class of 1975 enjoyed seeing all the new additions to the school, nothing resonated with them as much as seeing their old chorus room and courtyard.

Later that same night, the graduates enjoyed their main reunion event — a dinner at local restaurant Marygold’s on Main. The culminating event of the four-day reunion extravaganza was the NHS Class of 1975 marching in the Newtown Labor Day Parade on September 1.

The graduates marched down Main Street, Glover Avenue, and Queen Street, shaking blue and gold pom poms as they sung the NHS Fight Song.

Alumni were not the only ones who celebrated a milestone this year, as the NHS Class of 2025 graduated in a commencement ceremony on June 12.

Over 300 seniors took to the field of their school’s Blue & Gold Stadium, where friends and family packed the bleachers and lawn chairs around the area.

Parents and guardians held bouquets of flowers, jingled cowbells, or waved custom cutouts of their graduate’s face on a stick to celebrate the special occasion.

The seniors experienced every classic graduation highlight: walking out to “Pomp and Circumstance,” hearing speeches from their peers, teachers, and principals, and receiving their diplomas.

Of course, there was one last thing for them to do — move their tassels from the right to the left, and toss their caps high into the air.

As their loved ones took the field to celebrate, the NHS Class of 2025 smiled, laughed, and gave each other big hugs, celebrating their first moments as high school graduates.

Camps, Community Events

Just because it was summer break doesn’t mean kids stopped learning.

Newtown Continuing Education’s SMART (Summer Music and Art) Camp let students exiting kindergarten to sixth grade explore subjects they otherwise might not be able to, such as dance, culinary, papier-mâché, watercolors, and more.

Their hard work culminated in a student showcase on July 25, where campers in every class showed off their creativity. Art students had wall fixtures and tables decorated with their watercolor pieces, junk journals, clay sculptures, and papier-mâché. Culinary students had a slideshow of all the tasty treats they made. The dance students performed a dance number to “Break This Down” from Descendants 3.

Affinity Esports continued its mission to develop happier and healthier gaming experiences for people of all ages with fun camps throughout the year. Earlier this spring saw several kids join its Spring Break Gamer’s Retreat from April 14-18, where children could play fun games like Minecraft and Mario Kart while also developing healthy gaming habits.

Later that summer, students could enjoy a wide variety of specialized camps at Affinity. One of these was the Minecraft Builders Camp from August 11-15, where campers received different building prompts every day that challenged their creativity.

All-Star Transportation and EverWonder Children’s Museum teamed up for a special bus-themed event on August 15. Children and adults alike could stop in at EverWonder to make a bus out of craft sticks or even go inside a bus for the very first time.

Into The New School Year

Newtown Public Schools elementary students made waves this year with the district’s new comprehensive recycling and composting program.

The program teaches students how to properly recycle and compost food and drinks. Each elementary school cafeteria has recycling stations, where several bins are lined up with different labels for trash, compost, liquids, and recyclables. These food scraps are then transported to Newtown Transfer Station.

The district picked Sandy Hook Elementary to pilot the program in fall of 2024 and incorporated it into the other elementary schools midway through the 2024-25 school year, with the goal of eventually taking it district-wide.

By May 1, the four elementary schools’ waste was reduced by 21,096 pounds in food scraps and recycling, and 320 total cubic yards.

Newtown Middle School students celebrated Pi Day on March 14 quite literally: by throwing pies at the school’s teachers and staff.

Students had the opportunity to purchase tickets and be in a drawing to be pie tossers, while NMS Principal Jim Ross, NMS Assistant Principal Brian Walsh, and several teachers volunteered to have pies tossed at them.

The crowd whooped and hollered while the pie tossers each took their turn, trying to get the perfect shot while standing on the marked spot on the ground.

Staff were covered up in protective coveralls, goggles, shower caps, and booties to protect themselves since they had parent-teacher conferences later that same afternoon.

Head O’Meadow Elementary School went all out when it came to celebrating International Dot Day on September 15. The global celebration is inspired by the children’s book The Dot, written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds, which encourages students to discover their inner artist and leave a mark on the world.

Students either read or talked about the important lesson of the book in the days leading up to International Dot Day. In art, younger students made their own unique “dot masterpieces” on paper plates, while older students made abstract dot designs out of lines, shapes, and colors inspired by music.

By the time International Dot Day rolled around, students came in wearing dotted shirts, jackets, and pants for the special occasion.

Hawley Elementary School students beautified their school by planting around 300 daffodil bulbs outside on October 15-16. This is a part of a long-term beautification effort by the Hawley community to enhance the physical appearance of their school.

Teachers across every grade pulled their students out of class and led them outside to the area between the school and Newtown Smile Dentistry. Each student then got their own daffodil bulb to plant in the dirt alongside the fence separating the two buildings. When spring arrives in March of next year, the daffodils will be in full bloom.

Botsford Fire Rescue returned to Middle Gate Elementary School to educate students about fire safety on October 16. Middle Gate is one of several schools the fire company visits throughout the year to teach kids about the importance of fire safety and how they can keep themselves and their loved ones safe.

Students practiced opening a window, crawling on the floor to avoid smoke, and testing their door to check for heat. They also learned the importance of having a working smoke alarm and a fire escape plan that includes everybody in their house.

Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.