Dear Miller Driscoll School Families: 

Get ready! The Scholastic Book Fair is coming our way. Choosing their own books empowers and inspires our students on their journey to becoming lifelong readers. As always every purchase at the book fair benefits our school. 

Here’s what you need to know about the big event...

(Read more from the attached letter from Principal Coon here.)

 

Together for Teens: Expert Insights into Challenges our Kids Face Today

Tuesday, October 22 @ 7 PM

Riverbrook Regional YMCA

Are you curious about what’s really on the minds of our teens? Come find out at Together for Teens: Insights into Challenges our Kids Face today on Tuesday, October 22 at 7 pm at the Riverbrook Regional YMCA. 

This insightful event featuring a panel discussion and audience question and answer period features, EJ DiNunzio, Youth to Youth & WHS Varsity Football Coach, Dr. Rebecca LePage, Pediatrician, Cassandra Lucien, Kids In Crisis and Chandra Ring, Wilton Youth Council and WHS JV Field Hockey Coach. 

These panelists each have a unique perspective to offer.  They’ll explore the challenges teens face, share what they wish parents understood, and provide strategies for better supporting our youth.  Registrants will have the opportunity to submit questions in advance so we can be sure we address parents' most pressing concerns. 

Following the panel, connect with local service providers at our resource fair, where you can find valuable tools and support for your family. Register in advance and submit questions to the panelists at https://www.zeffy.com/ticketing/553b8526-544f-4c51-8d16-1fae6774eaab.

This program is brought to you by Wilton Youth Council and Riverbrook Regional YMCA.

Miller-Driscoll Upcoming Schedule Reminders 

Tomorrow! Early Release/Shortened Day on Friday Oct. 11th 

NO School on Monday Oct. 14th & Tuesday Oct. 15th 

Friday, Oct 11th School hours are 9:00 AM - 1:15 PM

• THE KITCHEN IS CLOSED on shortened days, which means NO LUNCH or MILK is SERVED so please send students in with a hearty snack. Please be sure it is a NUT-FREE snack if your child is in a nut-free classroom. 
  
  

• Any changes to student plans must be entered into School Dismissal Manager by 10:30am SHARP on shortened days (check with afterschool programs for their schedules).   School Dismissal Manager - CLICK HERE
  
  

• K-2 students getting picked up with PreK siblings should be picked up at the ORANGE pickup location so that it defaults to the younger student.  Please change School Dismissal Manager to the correct color, if necessary.  
  
  

• Pre-K and Kindergarten students MUST be met at the bus stop by a parent/guardian or emergency contact. If there is no one to meet your student, he or she will be brought back to Miller-Driscoll's Main Office. (Please note, discretion is used by the bus drivers when dropping off students in grades 1 and 2. For example, if someone is usually outside to meet the bus and they do not see anyone waiting on a shortened day, the bus driver may bring the student back to school if they feel that it is an unsafe situation even if they are a student in 1st or 2nd grade).

• 1:10 pm - ALL students getting picked up will be called to the pickup lines.  
  
  

• 1:15 pm - Bus Dismissal Begins
  
  

And there is no school on:

• Monday October 14 - Columbus/Indigenous Peoples Day, schools and district closed 

• Tuesday October 15 - Professional Learning day, no students

Sincerely,

Kathy Coon, Principal

Janean Carley, Assistant Principal

Bernadette Hess, Assistant Principal

Miller-Driscoll Upcoming Schedule Reminders 

Shortened days on Wednesday Oct. 2nd & Friday Oct. 11th 

NO School on Thursday Oct. 3rd, Monday Oct. 14th & Tuesday Oct. 15th 

For our shortened days, Oct 2 and Oct 11: School hours 9:00 AM - 1:15 PM

• THE KITCHEN IS CLOSED on shortened days, which means NO LUNCH or MILK is SERVED so please send students in with a hearty snack. Please be sure it is a NUT-FREE snack if your child is in a nut-free classroom. 
  
  

• Any changes to student plans must be entered into School Dismissal Manager by 10:30am SHARP on shortened days (check with any afterschool programs for their schedule on shortened days).   School Dismissal Manager - CLICK HERE
  
  

• K-2 students getting picked up with PreK siblings should be picked up at the ORANGE pickup location so that it defaults to the younger student.  Please change School Dismissal Manager to the correct color, if necessary.  
  
  

• Pre-K and Kindergarten students MUST be met at the bus stop by a parent/guardian or emergency contact. If there is no one to meet your student, he or she will be brought back to Miller-Driscoll's Main Office. (Please note, discretion is used by the bus drivers when dropping off students in grades 1 and 2. For example, if someone is usually outside to meet the bus and they do not see anyone waiting on a shortened day, the bus driver may bring the student back to school if they feel that it is an unsafe situation even if they are a student in 1st or 2nd grade).

• 1:10 pm - ALL students getting picked up will be called to the pickup lines.  
  
  

• 1:15 pm - Bus Dismissal Begins
  
  

And there is NO SCHOOL on:

Thursday October 3  (HOLIDAY)

Monday October 14 (HOLIDAY)

Tuesday October 15 (Professional development day)

Sincerely,

Kathy Coon, Principal

Janean Carley, Assistant Principal

Bernadette Hess, Assistant Principal

Memo to Families 

from the Miller-Driscoll Administrative Team 

September 2024

Celebrations

Congratulations on an AMAZING first few weeks of school for all our students.   The kids and teachers rocked it!  

Thanks to those of you who completed the Family Engagement Questionnaire.  We can’t wait to review this information and make plans for ways you can support our learning in the classroom.  If you haven’t completed yours, please do so.  The teachers are working to get to at least 80% participation.

Nuts and Bolts

Arrival and Dismissal Reminders

• Your child’s dismissal plan MUST be indicated in SDM.  If your child is absent, please note that in this system we account for every child during our dismissal process.

• Please be patient with the buses…we have a thorough process across the elementary schools to be sure students are where they need to be.  The drivers are learning who their riders are and the process is getting more efficient.  

• The designated drop-off/pick-up area for the family always defaults to the youngest child

• Place the card with your child’s last name on your passenger-side visor.  Please make sure they are visible.  This helps to speed up the process.

• Drop-off goes from 8:45 to 9:00 am and pick-up begins at 3:30.

• Please help us by arriving at the times listed so traffic does not back up onto the streets.

• We work diligently at dismissal to ensure all students get home safely.  We do not direct traffic, so we rely on all of you to follow traffic rules and act in a courteous and kind manner.  Thank you for that.

Open Houses

September 12th: Preschool and Kindergarten - 6:00 - 7:15

September 18th: First and Second Grade - 6:00 - 7:15

Emergency Operations and Safety Procedures  

Please review this letter for information on our procedures.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

We continue to enhance our opportunities for students by creating an environment that fosters community and a sense of belonging.  You will learn more at Open House, but in the meantime, we wanted to share the read-alouds for September that will be shared K-2

Community and Identity

K: I Like Myself and Our Class is a Family

1st: Suki’s Kimono and My School Community

2nd: Pink! and My Community Long Ago

Hispanic Heritage Month

K: Mango, Abuela and Me

1st: Alma and How She Got Her Name

2nd: Dreamers

Upcoming Dates:

September 11th - Early Release Day - Dismissal at 1:15 

September 12th - Open House - Preschool and Kindergarten

September 18th - Open House - Grades 1 and 2

October 2nd- Early Release Day- Dismissal at 1:15

October 3rd - Rosh Hashanah - No School

October 11th - Early Release Day - Dismissal at 1:15

October 14th and 15th - No School for Students

Wednesday, September 11th is a shortened school day 
for professional development 

School hours 9:00 AM - 1:15 PM

• THE KITCHEN IS CLOSED on shortened days, which means NO LUNCH or MILK is SERVED so please send students in with a hearty snack. 
  
  

• Any changes to student plans must be entered into School Dismissal Manager by 10:30am SHARP on shortened days.   School Dismissal Manager - CLICK HERE
  
  

• K-2 students getting picked up with PreK siblings should be picked up at the ORANGE pickup location so that it defaults to the younger student.  Please change School Dismissal Manager to the correct color, if necessary.  
  
  

• Pre-K and Kindergarten students MUST be met at the bus stop by a parent/guardian or emergency contact. If there is no one to meet your student, he or she will be brought back to Miller-Driscoll's Main Office. (Please note, discretion is used by the bus drivers when dropping off students in grades 1 and 2. For example, if someone is usually outside to meet the bus and they do not see anyone waiting on a shortened day, the bus driver may bring the student back to school if they feel that it is an unsafe situation even if they are a student in 1st or 2nd grade).

• 1:10 pm - ALL students getting picked up will be called to the pickup lines.  
  
  

• 1:15 pm - Bus Dismissal Begins
  
  

Sincerely,

Kathy Coon, Principal

Janean Carley, Assistant Principal

Abby Cass, Assistant Principal

Bernadette Hess, Assistant Principal

	WILTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS 395 Danbury Road Wilton, Connecticut 06897

Dear Wilton Community,

We wanted to provide you with an update on the status of Fujitani Field.

Thank you to Fire Chief Jim Blanchfield and his crew who were out early this week hosing down the track and to Doug Katz and his crew at P&R who were cleaning out the drainage systems surrounding the field! 

Shaw Sports Turf began work on the field this week and are currently extracting all of the infill from the affected areas of the turf. These are the same contractors who were on-site in Fall 2021 and are familiar with our facility.

The new infill has already been ordered and is on its way to WHS. As soon as the cleanup is completed, the process of re-adding infill and grooming the field will begin. While we are hopeful for a swift resolution, we also recognize that unexpected factors, including weather, could affect the timeline. At this stage, it is too early to provide an exact date for when Fujitani Field will be ready, but we are committed to keeping you informed as more information becomes available.

We will continue to adjust football and field hockey schedules as necessary and will share any changes in time or location for games with you as soon as they are confirmed.

Thank you for your continued support, and as always, Go Blue-White!

Sincerely, 

Kevin Smith                                                     Bobby Rushton

Superintendent of Schools                            Athletic Director

Dear MD families,

There have been some traffic congestion issues during dismissal, which begins at 3:30 daily.  Therefore, we suggest the following:

-Please be sure you have indicated the correct dismissal plan for your child in School Dismissal Manager as this allows us to have students in the correct location for an efficient dismissal (all K students use the purple loop, but for 1st and 2nd grade it depends on teacher)

-Please do not arrive too early as traffic tends to back up onto Belden Hill and Wolfpit Road

-Note that the purple loop does not fully open until about 3:20pm when the fields are cleared of children. When the gate opens, please drive all the way around the loop to the school purple entrance doors

-We encourage everyone to utilize the bus transportation that is provided by the district

-Carpool if pick-up is necessary

Thank you,

MD Admin Team

Susanna Estes, WHS Arts teacher and designer of the previous FAPA website, has been working with one of our parents, Sarah Beach, to update the FAPA website. The FAPA Instructional Leaders (Sue Brandt, Michael Gordon, Malcolm Karlan, and Susan LaBarbera) are extremely grateful to Sarah for volunteering her professional services and working with us to create a site that is more engaging for visitors, more aligned with the design of the District site, and more connected.

Visitors to the site will experience all aspects of the Wilton FAPA and the WHS Theater programs. It is designed to help everyone understand the full K-12 continuum of Wilton FAPA.

The FAPA site is a portal to view students engaged in the various stages of creating, performing, responding, and making connections through artistic expression. The FAPA site showcases students being socially-sensitive active citizens, balanced & healthy human beings, contemporary multiliterate scholars, self-navigating expert learners, courageous ethical thinkers, and creative entrepreneurial designers.

The FAPA calendar, which can be customized, will keep visitors informed of the many events and ceremonies that highlight students' passions for the Arts. Site visitors can view awards received by students, galleries displaying students' artistic work, in addition to past art shows, music performances, and theater productions.

With a social media connection to keep visitors updated in near real-time, the FAPA site is the place to go for information related to important dates, staff members, programs in each building, opportunities, forms, and FAQs.  The FAPA site is another step in our journey to be more inclusive than ever before. 

Visit us at fapawilton.com and tag us on social media @fapa_wilton