It is difficult to determine when it happened, when Newtown shed its brown-hued winter coat for the verdant vestments it now wears. Sure, we have been cataloging the warning signs in passing, like the buds on spindly tree branches taking their first hopeful look out into the world. But when was the actual change? We don’t know. We woke up one day, and as we drove out into our lives we realized our town was green and new again.

Such an affront to our consciousness reminds us how quickly the world around us can change without much notice: winter has been winding down slowly over the past few months, but we only noticed its exit in a leafy, fragrant, sudden rush.

It seems like all good endings need to take place over a period of time. They need to develop, build up, and stretch out. There needs to be some drama.

And so it is with the 1999-2000 school year. At about this time every year, we begin to see the signs that the end of school is right around a month-long corner. This week at the high school, for seniors, the countdown to graduation officially began with Thursday’s awards night and Friday’s prom. Over the coming weeks, seniors will sit whatever final exams they must take, rehearse for their commencement ceremonies, and bond as a class in Newport, Rhode Island. Then, the big day, when it all comes to an end, summer begins, and college lurks in the near future.

During the next month, high school seniors will not be alone. Freshmen, sophomores, and juniors will worry about exams, plan small class parties, and prepare for end-of-the-year concerts. Such musical and artistic performances have already taken place at the middle school, and eighth graders sit in anticipation of their Moving Up ceremony. Field days at the various elementary schools in town will begin to pop up, starting with this Saturday’s Jolly Green Giant Fair at Sandy Hook School.

In lives that are punctuated with telephone rings, business meetings, and vacation plans, it is so easy for us not to savor the signs of change. The warning signs of a waning scholastic season will be around us now for the next month. We hope students and their families attend as many end-of-the-year events as possible. We hope pictures are taken, scrapbooks are filled, and celebratory dinners are planned.

The seeming suddenness with which our surrounding green world announced itself recently should teach us the importance of savoring the small signs of change, like the ones that occur in our children every day. As they turn their backs on one school year, they look out at new universities, buildings, and grade levels of another, with the hope of a new bud on a springtime tree.