Alexa Calo, a kindergarten teacher at Middle Gate Elementary School, reflected on being recognized as Newtown's 2026 Teacher of the Year, all while setting her sights on the new school year ahead.

She was officially recognized at Newtown Public Schools' convocation ceremony in late August, an annual event for district staff to come together, reconnect, and celebrate the start of the school year.

Calo was one of many Newtown Public Schools staff members recognized that night.

16 people were honored for beginning their 25th year in Newtown, including: Donna Albano, teacher at Hawley Elementary School; Gina Anderson, teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School; Lara Brown, teacher at Reed Intermediate School; Kristen Delgado, teacher at Head O'Meadow Elementary School; Jennifer Dellasala, teacher at Newtown High School (NHS); Suzanne D'Eramo, director of Human Resources, Central Office; Michelle Failla, teacher at Reed; and Jenny Grustas, school counselor at Reed.

Also: Kelly Marcoux, teacher at Newtown Middle School (NMS); Karen Martin, paraprofessional at NMS; Dina Mastroni, teacher at Reed; Chrissie Pierce, teacher at Head O'Meadow; Mark Pirozzoli, maintenance facilities; Michelle Steeves, teacher at NMS; Amy Taylor, teacher at Head O'Meadow; and Tammy Zukowski, teacher at NHS.

Susan Burbank, of Newtown Middle School was honored as 2026 Paraeducator of the Year.

Calo learned of her recognition in a special way: she was surprised with the news while working towards the end of the 2025-26 school year.

The honor, she said, came as a surprise. Calo never thought she would earn Teacher of Year, as she became a mom during her teaching career.

"I felt like my time had kind of passed," Calo explained. "I felt like, when I was a younger teacher, I was there from the beginning of the day until the end of the day, and I had more time to do fun and exciting things, to do 'dress up like a character day,' and all that."

She said that, last year, it felt like she was doing so much and so little at the same time because of everything going on with her kids.

In order to receive Teacher of the Year, educators are nominated by colleagues and can then decide to apply for the honor, according to Calo.

So when Calo saw an e-mail about Teacher of the Year, she thought it was just a reminder to nominate someone before the deadline. Calo almost did not open it because she was sitting at home with her family, but when she clicked into the e-mail and read her name, she was totally shocked.

She said she was nominated by her classroom paraprofessional Lauren Nash, along with Middle Gate second grade teacher Caitlin Jones.

Calo, one of 18 nominees across the district considered for Teacher of the Year, then went through an interview process. She filled out a Google form with several questions, after which she was asked to do a virtual interview with former Teachers of the Year and staff representing all of the schools.

For the virtual interview, Calo made a slideshow about some of the activities she has done in her classroom, along with some of the people she works with.

"So that was a really nice opportunity to show how we all work together and some of the things I've done throughout the year," Calo said. "That's when I talked about my little leader project, teaching my kids about the importance of leadership, overcoming challenges, and showing flexibility."

Then, a few days after the virtual interview, district staff came into Calo's classroom to surprise her with the news while she was teaching. She learned she received Teacher of the Year at the same time as her kindergartners.

"I just completely couldn't believe it," Calo said. "It was really wonderful ... you never go into teaching thinking you'll earn something like that."

What Calo loves most, she said, is hearing from former students and families.

"Parents will say, 'Oh my gosh, my kid learned this from you,' or there'll be former students who come back and are so excited to say hi. That's really what you do it for; the surprise on kids' faces when they learn how to read or make a new friend," Calo said.

Several of her colleagues even threw her a surprise party over the summer to celebrate.

During her speech at the convocation, Calo noted that she talks to her class about being "little leaders" — how not only is it important for little leaders to initiate, but also to rely on and support others.

To that end, one of the main things Calo talked about in her speech is that she never would have been able to get this award without her family, her kindergarten team, Nash, and Middle Gate as a whole.

Calo even had a slideshow presentation, where she gushed about the other people in her life. She had a slide about Nash, one about her family, another about her kindergarten team, and one about Middle Gate.

"I had everyone's picture's up because it's really a win for Middle Gate. It's such a group effort where, every day, you're relying on someone; you're asking someone a question, or someone's giving you a resource. Even just people making you laugh and getting you to Friday," Calo explained. "I wanted the district to know that I didn't think of this as an individual award, I thought of it as an award for my whole school."

Her mom, dad, grandmother, brother, husband, and children even came to support her at the convocation.

The Joy Of Teaching

The 2026-27 school year marks Calo's 12th year teaching. She has "bounced back and forth" between teaching kindergarten, third grade, and fourth grade over the years, but has taught kindergarten the longest.

Calo said she has an undergraduate degree in teaching and a master's degree in remedial reading and language arts, adding that she has a passion for teaching reading, especially to early learners.

This enthusiasm for teaching others does not come from nowhere. Many people in her family, including her mom, aunts, and grandmother, were all teachers.

"So I definitely admired teachers growing up and saw a lot of teachers growing up. I would go into my mom's classroom all the time. I would even line up my stuffed animals outside and read to them and teach them," Calo said. " My 3-year-old does it now too, and it's very sweet to watch her."

Calo said she can see her daughter "getting the language" from her teachers and that she loves them very much.

"Watching her emulate them just reminds me how amazing her teachers are to her and how important teachers are in influencing the things that kids think about themselves, the things kids say to others. It's just really cool to watch," Calo explained.

Calo continued by saying that she hopes to inspire her students to be compassionate and considerate to themselves and others, hence her little leaders project. She said she realized how 5 and 6-year-olds will sometimes say, "I don't know how to read," "I can't do that," or "My mom forgot my folder at home."

"And then I'll tell them, 'How about you remember your folder? I'll tell you how to do it.' Letting them know that, even though they're the littlest ones in our school, they can take on whatever they want to, they can make themselves happy and proud by pouring into others and supporting others," Calo said.

She continued by saying she does not want students to do kind deeds for points or rewards. Instead, she wants to show students that helping others makes them more confident, that making someone else smile leads them to pass on that kindness to another person.

"Just giving them that leadership role in knowing that they can make their own choices, their own decisions, and whatever positive decisions they make is just gonna continue to have more people making positive decisions. So that's something I really like to focus on with them," Calo said.

She noted that, growing up, her grandmother always told her to "be a leader, not a follower." Calo said that always stuck with her, and so she tries to impart the same lesson to her students.

Last October, Calo helped organize a toy drive between Middle Gate's four kindergarten classes. For four weeks, kindergartners were encouraged to donate items such as stuffed animals, crayons, coloring books, and dolls for Danbury Hospital’s pediatric unit.

However, she said these acts of kindness go beyond events like the toy drive. Calo talks to them about little moments, how to be friendly by saying "thank you" to their bus driver, or how to be helpful at home by setting the table for their family.

"We talk about all these different ways that we can do these things in and outside of school," Calo said. "I really just want my students to love school, and I want them to be confident. In kindergarten, that's what's going to set them off on the right foot at school."

Nevertheless, Calo stressed at the convocation that she does not see herself as any more deserving than any of the other teachers.

"I talked about all the staff, like our front office is so supportive, and the custodians are in here every day keeping our learning spaces safe and class, and my teammates who I constantly ask questions to, and our administration that's trying to do what's right for our kids," Calo said. "It's a group effort."

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