JWMS Weekly Family Newsletter #8

10/12/26  Indigenous Peoples' Day

10/14/26  School Bus Driver's Day

10/14/26  8th Grade Field Trip (Storrs/Tantaquidgeon Museum)

10/14/26  BOE Meeting

10/15/26  8th Grade Field Trip (Storrs/Tantaquidgeon Museum)

10/23/26  Hats For Hope

10/26-29/26 Gr.5 Historical Society Trips (By Classes)

10/26/26 Student of Month Reception

10/28/26 BOE Meeting

Please note an important update to our drop-off procedure for Friday Dodgeball:

Please refer to the map below for details on the new entrance and traffic pattern.

Thank you for your cooperation in keeping our morning arrival safe and efficient!

As you may know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. On Friday, October 16, our Student Council will be having a Spirit Day: Dress in Your Best PINK! to support Breast Cancer awareness.

On Friday, October 23, our schools will come together for Hats for Hope, a district-wide fundraiser supporting pediatric cancer patients and their families across Connecticut. Students and staff are invited to make a donation ($1 or more) and wear their favorite hat to school as a fun and meaningful way to show support, spread hope, and remind those facing difficult health journeys that they are not alone. Each school will have its own QR code for donations, allowing every school to make an impact while coming together as one district. We hope students, staff, and families will join us in showing what our school community can do when we come together. Let’s fill our schools with hats, hope, and the strength of our Newington family!

If you are still interested in picking up your items or know someone who is still interested in getting their items please do so by Oct. 30th.  After Oct 30th all items will be discarded.  If you have any questions please email jwoffice@npsct.org.

We are pleased to announce the hiring of Nicole Buckley as our new School Psychologist.  Mrs. Buckley is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Nationally Certified School Psychologist with 18 years of experience in the mental health field and 13 years of experience supporting students, families, and school communities across public education settings.  We are excited for your children to meet her in the next coming weeks.

All visitors are required to use our service window to take care of a good deal of school business items (dropping of and picking up forms, lunches, dismissals, etc.) We are also asking you please limit early dismissals or late arrivals for essential reasons only.

Due to our own dismissal procedures, we are unable to dismiss your child between 2:30 and 2:55. Please pick up your child prior to 2:30 if they have an afternoon appointment.

For early dismissal, students will be dismissed from the building and will be escorted out to the vestibule.

Any visitors that need to enter our building will be required to provide identification, undergo background check through our visitor management system, and wear a visitor's badge during their visit. Thank you in advance for your cooperation with our security protocols.

The drop off location for students is at the John Wallace/John Paterson loop as in the past. We have staff out on duty in these areas to assist students as they exit your vehicles.

Students should not be dropped off prior to 7:45 am. Our staff begin their outdoor bus duty at 7:45 am.

Please do not drop your child off anywhere on Halleran Drive especially at the curb areas as this will cause serious safety hazards with oncoming traffic. Please use the designated drop-off area only.

Wallace parking lots are unavailable for student drop-offs/pick-ups due to the fact that these areas are reserved for our buses and staff vehicles.

We wanted to take this time to announce that Newington Public Schools has a School Based Health Center! The school-based health center is located at the high school but is available to all students in the district! The School Based Health Center is run by a non-profit organization, Integrated Health Services. The school-based health center is staffed with an Advanced Practicing Registered Nurse and a Licensed Social Worker during the school day. The APRN and Social Worker are available for your child to have better access to healthcare services. All services are available regardless of income or health care coverage. No child will be denied access to care because of an inability to pay or lack of insurance. We do submit to Husky/Medicaid, which covers 100%.

The APRN provides medical services such as sick visits, routine physical exams, sports physicals and vaccine administration. Sick visits include assessment, diagnosis, and prescribing (if necessary) of strep throat, flu, covid, RSV, ear infections, seasonal allergies, urinary tract infections, and respiratory illnesses to name just a few. The school-based health center is a licensed outpatient clinic that can provide the same services or similar to a physician's office. The goal of our services is to keep your child in school! By having these medical services available in the district, it allows a child to miss less school for medical appointments since the school-based health center is reserved only for Newington Students, this service does not replace your child's primary care pediatrician however we are here to assist in times of need. 

www.integratedhealthservices.org/registration-forms 

Newington Public Schools uses ParentSquare for district and school communication, primarily with email, text and app notifications. ParentSquare automatically generates an account for each parent, using their preferred email address and phone number on file with your student’s school. We encourage parents to access their accounts so they can download the mobile app and update their preferences on when and how they are notified.

In addition to routine information, the notification system will also be used to notify you when your child is marked absent from school. Emergency broadcasts will be sent to the primary phone number and all guardian contact numbers. For more information, visit www.bit.ly/NPSparentsquare.

Dear parents and guardians, 

Please complete the NPS Yearly Update Form by submitting one form for each child you have attending Newington Public Schools.

To access the form, log into the PowerSchool website with your parent account, (do not log in with your child’s student account), click Forms in the left menu, then [NPS]Yearly Update Form. You must submit this form even if you have no changes. You can also complete this form in the Powerschool app on a mobile device by clicking More in the bottom right corner then Forms, then [NPS]Yearly Update Form.

If you cannot log into your account, please use the forgot password link on the login screen.

If you do not have a parent account, please contact the office of your child’s school to request the parent account creation letter. 

Sincerely,

Newington Public Schools

You may have noticed an exciting update to your 7th grader’s Encore schedule this year! A new 26-day course, Math Investigations: Thinking Like a Mathematician, has taken the place of Library/Media.

As Dr. Brummett shared in a message to families on February 18, 2026 regarding our middle school math program (The Algebra Success Pathway), this class was originally introduced as "Bridge to Algebra." We updated the name to Math Investigations: Thinking Like a Mathematician to better reflect what this unique experience is all about.

Rather than focusing on speed or memorization, this course invites students to explore rich mathematical ideas through hands-on problem-solving, teamwork, and creative thinking. Here is how this course benefits every student:

Throughout these 26 days, students will make predictions, test ideas, learn from productive struggle, and build confidence tackling unfamiliar problems. Mistakes are celebrated as part of the learning process.

Our goal is simple: to help every student leave this course with deeper conceptual understanding, greater confidence, and a new appreciation for what it truly means to think like a mathematician.

Hi Wallace families! A few quick updates from our PAC:

Become a PAC Member! Help shape the experiences and events that make Wallace a great community for our kids. We have open leadership opportunities this year — Co-President and Secretary — and we're also looking ahead for someone to step into the Treasurer role. Whether you want to lead or just lend a hand, we'd love to have you. Sign up here: https://forms.gle/eRnZTL5YMqu9gZDn9

Follow our new Facebook page! Our old page is deprecated, so please follow us at the new one: https://www.facebook.com/people/John-Wallace-PAC/61593698624689/

Thanks for your support!

Many of our after school clubs are now up and running. We have been running club information and sign-up information on JWTV in the mornings. Announcements run during homeroom each morning.

Please click the button below for a list of our current club offerings and meeting dates. This document can also be found on our website on the right hand menu under Clubs & Activities. Please reach out to the respective club advisor with any questions. We hope to add new clubs throughout the school year!

Clubs run from 2:55-3:55 p.m. Late buses run Monday through Thursday (with the exception of early release days). A reminder that late buses do not offer the same stops as our regular late runs. Please see below for a list of NPS late bus runs. 

We are beginning to have many of our grade 5 students stay after school for our clubs. Grade 5 parents, please help us out by reminding your child if they are staying after school to please check with you first to ensure you are aware they are staying after school.

Thank you in advance!

Beginning September 08, we will begin providing our "Late Bus" for students. The Late Bus can be utilized by students who ride a bus who need to stay after school with a staff or office sponsored activity. After school clubs and intramural sports information will be coming out in a few weeks.

Late Bus runs are more limited than the normal routes. Late Bus runs posted on our transportation website. Please scroll down to the two JW Runs to see the routes. Please review the published bus stops on the NPS website to determine which is the closest stop to your residence in advance.

All students who ride the late bus are required to have a bus pass signed by a staff member and their stop listed from the predetermined stops, not their home address.

We will also have a list of Late Bus routes posted in our main office.

Registration is now open for the Fall SCORE program!  Please click the link for details.

We have a great online resource for both students and families. Teachers in grades 6-8 post the daily/weekly homework in the Grade Level Homework Planners each day. Students and families can access the planners by going to our school website jw.npsct.org and clicking on "For Students".

The planner is the first item on the drop down menu. The planner is also shared with students in each grade level via Google Classroom.

The planner is a great resource for parents and families to keep tabs on assignments and to use for planning for nightly homework completion.

Grade 5 teachers have their own homework sites/pages they share with families. Please reach out to your child's teacher at any time if you have any questions about homework.

Important message for any middle school students interested in attending Newington High School Football games.

Any middle school student must be accompanied by an adult in order to purchase a ticket and enter the facility for any future Newington Football game. Midde school students who are not with a parent, will be required to leave the premises. As a reminder, there are no backpacks allowed in the facility and there is a no re-entry policy. We greatly appreciate the support of all of our fans who come to watch the games and support the student athletes who spend many hours preparing for the events and look forward to your continued support.

We are looking forward to a wonderful school year! We will, of course, inform you of all important updates, if, and when, they happen. We truly appreciate your patience, flexibility, and support.

Should you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me at mtirillo@npsct.org 860-667-5888 X3201 or Mrs. Gamari, Assistant Principal at 860-667-5888 X3204 cgamari@npsct.org.

Sincerely,

Marco Tirillo, JWMS Principal

8:05am to 2:55pm

8:05am to 1:05pm

8:05am to 1:05pm

10:05am to 2:55pm