Graduation Car Parade Celebration

To recognize and celebrate our amazing Class of 2020, NCHS will have a Senior Car Parade on June 15th at 11:00am. Seniors have been invited to drive through town with their families in celebration of their graduation. Please follow this link for details of the parade route as announced. Thanks to the generous donations from our Junior class, Seniors will be provided with a car decorating gift basket prior to the parade date with all of the trimmings needed to provide lots of cheer and decorate their cars.

We are working on making the parade as festive as possible. Elizabeth Cosco and Leslie Bisesi are chairing the team to decorate along the route. If you are interested in volunteering your time to this effort please see opportunities to help via this link.

Senior Parents!

Celebrate Your Graduate's Success with a Yard Sign!

All proceeds go to the New Canaan Scholarship Foundation.

Click here or visit  www.nchs-sf.org to learn more and to purchase.

Although we are not able to come together for our regularly scheduled Networking Programs please be sure to visit our Networking Program video library to watch our previous meetings.

Class of 2020 Update

Due to the extenuating circumstances, we have canceled the senior prom/post prom. However we are now planning an outdoor Graduation Party for the Class of 2020!! Pending state guidelines and regulations, the celebration will be held on July 27th or August 3rd at the Woodway Beach Club.

If your student is not able to attend AND/OR we are not able to have an outdoor party at the end of July/early August, we will deliver a ‘graduation gift bag’ to each graduate.

The Senior Parade will take place on June 15th ( click here for more details). The PFA will be distributing car decorating kits a few days prior to the parade to each senior to help them make their family car special. Please be on the lookout! A Graduation Ceremony is still scheduled for July 31st, either live or virtually, depending on state and local guidelines. Please save that date.

As we wait to see how things unfold in the coming months, there are two things you can do now for your senior:

1) WE NEED PICTURES OF YOUR SENIOR!! Mike Mottelese has volunteered to do a senior video that is typically shown at the post prom party. This year it will be really special and we want to make sure that every senior is represented. Please email 2-3 photos of your senior:

PLEASE send ASAP to nchs20seniorvideo@gmail.com

2) BUY A SIGN to celebrate your senior and support the NCSF (New Canaan Scholarship Foundation). Signs on our lawns will be a great display of our unity and pride all while supporting the NCSF. Signs will be delivered. Click here to purchase.

Thank you so much for your support and patience. The PFA and Prom Committee are committed to celebrating the Class of 2020!

Questions or concerns? Email Jennifer Richardson or Malia Frame.

Each year the junior class supports the seniors' graduation festivities. Instead of donating refreshments for graduation, we are asking junior families for cash donations to support the parade. Your donations will go toward a "car decorating gift basket" to provide lots of cheer along the parade route. The gift baskets will be delivered to each senior a few days before the parade and will contain streamers, car markers, noise makers and a poster for them to show their NCHS pride on what was supposed to be their Graduation Day.

Thank you to all who have already generously donated. If you have not yet donated please consider supporting this important event by clicking here.

If you have any questions please contact Elizabeth Cosco or Leslie Bisesi.

GRADE 12 (CLASS OF 2020)

All seniors must complete the Senior Exit Survey in Naviance.

This form constitutes a student obligation. No caps and gowns will be issued to those seniors who have not completed this survey. If your son/daughter has not yet completed this short survey, please have him/her log onto naviance student. 

Follow the instructions and click on Senior Exit Survey and complete. If students have forgotten their passwords or have questions, please have them email their School Counselor or Mrs. Granite, the Registrar.

GRADE 11 (CLASS OF 2021)

STANDARDIZED TESTING - students can register for SAT Reasoning Test, SAT Subject Tests and ACT online at www.collegeboard.org and www.actstudent.org. If you are planning to test during the fall, it is important to register early in order to select the nearest test center. An asterisk denotes NCHS as a test site but please check back for updates in relation to COVID-19 restrictions which may impact the number of students allowed to test in any one location. Students in the Class of 2021 who have yet to take an SAT or an ACT will be given priority if they register during a designated early window.

Test dates are as follows

July 18 ACT

August 29 SAT*

September 12 ACT*

September 26 SAT

October 3 SAT*

October 24 ACT

November 7 SAT*

December 5 SAT

December 12 ACT*

GRADE 10 (CLASS OF 2022)

The PSAT will be offered at New Canaan High School on Saturday, October 17th. Registration will be online through Total Registration but will not be available until September. More information will be in the September Ramogram and in a mailing to juniors this summer from the School Counselors. The counselors recommend that all juniors take this test even if they have taken it as sophomores.

WORKING PAPERS

In order to obtain WORKING PAPERS, a student must email a promise of employment letter from the planned employer stating the hours of the job, wage information and a description of the job, in addition to a copy of the student’s birth certificate if the student does NOT attend NCHS, to Mrs. Carroll in the College and Career Center ( Susan.carroll@ncps-k12.org). Working Papers are needed for most employment in the State of Connecticut by students under the age of 18.

Congratulations to our Art Students!

The following students have had work accepted in the Bruce Museum's iCreate High School Art Show which will be on virtual display from June 27th - August 2nd:

Charlie Gardner – Romanian Stray

Berkley Matthews - Nantucket

Skye Curren – Trilogy

Annie Gong – Passenger Seat in Car

Marina Forni – Siamese Cat on the Window Sill

Claire Batchelor – Three Buildings – Façade Digital

2020 Vision

NCHS's 33rd Annual Virtual Senior Art Show

May 11th - June 30th

Virtual Opening Monday, May 11th

May 11th marked a very special moment for a group of New Canaan High School seniors. It was the opening of “2020 Vision” the Thirty-third Annual Senior Art Show-Virtual. The Exhibit is being presented as a video on the New Canaan High School website and is open to the public. The exhibit celebrates the creative accomplishments of our senior art students and consists of seventeen one-person retrospectives in a variety of media including drawing, painting, photography, digital media and film. The students coordinating the exhibit are Audrey Bloom, Charlotte Gardner and Andrew Jameson.

The Senior Art Show allows students to generate a one-person exhibit that is entirely their own creation. NCHS’s senior show is unique in that it challenges any senior to present his or her work as a one-person “retrospective” of art that can be drawn from any creative work the student has created throughout their high school years. The organization of this exhibit is meant to draw attention to each student’s individual portfolio and distinctive artistic style, creating their personal “voice”. The challenge of evaluating and choosing one’s own work is exciting and demanding to the artistically talented students. Many of our seniors are planning to continue their artistic development on the college level next year. The students are responsible for planning and organizing the event with the advice given from their art teachers, Jeanne McDonagh, Jennifer Sinski and Kimanne Core. The student responsibilities include creating a title and logo for the exhibit, planning the virtual video, generating publicity, and selecting their work for the show. Kiera Finnerty and Emma Uzgiris created the logo design and Andrew Jameson created the “2020 Vision" show video. The senior exhibit will also give three seniors an opportunity to have their work purchased for the NCHS Fritz Eager Foundation for Art Education - Art Collection. The purchased works of art will then be on permanent display throughout the high school and the NCPS district offices. This art collection began in 1969 in the memory of New Canaan High School art student Fritz (Frederick) Eager. The Fritz Eager selection committee is comprised of 2 high school administrators and 8 professional artists.

The following students' work will be presented in One Person Exhibits in New Canaan High School’s 33rd Annual Senior Art Show-Virtual Exhibit, 2020 Vision:

Claire Batchelor, Brooke Barber, Audrey Bloom, Jane Charlton, Josh Cohn, Skye Curren, Devin Findlay, Kiera Finnerty, Charlotte Gardner, Emily Gelchie, Andrew Jameson, Mary Joyce, Jeronimo Reyes, Caroline Tuffy, Emma Uzgiris, Dustin Valenti, Pablo Villa.

The art show can be viewed through June 30th and is open to the public via the NCHS website or by clicking here.

NCHS Athletics and the All Sports Booster Club will be hosting two events in early June to honor our senior athletes. The first event is a senior night for all spring athletes that will take place on June 3rd and 4th. Spring senior athletes will be able to wear their home game jerseys for a final time and have their picture taken on Dunning Field with their parents. If you have not signed up for a time slot, please do so here.

Our second senior recognition event will take place on June 9th. We are asking all senior athletes to drive by the front of Dunning Stadium so we can present them with a New Canaan plaque and a send-off from our coaching staff. Congratulations to all our senior athletes!

We will be sending out information about our summer youth camps shortly. We will also know more about high school pre-season camps and the fall athletic season by June 20th. We will pass along any updates as soon as we have the information. We are looking forward to returning to school in September and watching our student-athletes compete.

NC Rams Face Masks are still available on our website. A portion of sales will go to the New Canaan Community Foundation Covid-19 Response Fund.

Please stay safe this summer!

Jay Egan

Athletics Director

May 14th, 2020 Board of Education Meeting

Calendar Revisions

Move to approve revisions to the 2019-2020 calendar as described, establishing Tuesday, June 16th as the last day of school, Friday, June 12th as the final day of distance learning, and with school closed on Friday, May 22nd, Monday, June 1st, and Monday, June 8th.

New Special BOE Committee (1st read)

Move to approve, for a first reading, the charter for a special BOE committee, "Reopen NCPS."

For BOE meeting minutes click here.

May 18th, 2020 Board of Education Meeting

District Update

Seniors are working on an independent study for their senior experience and after getting feedback from students, the BOE is trying to have some type of “real life experience” vs. a virtual experience for graduation. All or most summer school programs are anticipated to be virtual, and use of the buildings over the summer for any purpose is questionable given the need to prepare for the fall.

For BOE meeting minutes click here.

Upcoming BOE meetings : June 1st and 15th at 7:00pm, Virtual. Public comment is available during allotted times.

Gratitude to so many volunteers in our parent community who have shared their time and energies all year and continue to give of their time and talents despite our distance learning status and a challenging environment.

Thank you to Patricia Mee and Kristin Reed for organizing logistics and refreshments for the PFA general meetings this year.

Thank you to our Ramogram editors Michaela Nelson and Julie Reeves for their impressive and timely attention to detail reviewing each monthly newsletter.

Thank you to Leslie Bisesi for acknowledging our staff during Teacher Appreciation Week with cheerful notes and lottery tickets for all waiting in their staff mailboxes.

Thank you to Post Prom Chairs Jen Richardson, and Malia Frame along with support from Heather Budnick for a lot of contingency planning around Post Prom with hopes of a beach party this summer. Stay tuned!!!

Thank you to Elizabeth Cosco, Kim Hall, Leslie Bisesi, and Heather Budnick for great ideas and energy around planning a graduation celebration/parade for 2020 graduates.

Thank you to Lori Koschnitzke for her time organizing and scheduling so many volunteers to assist in the library.

Thank you to Pam Norton who managed a team to support our NCHS front office.

Lastly, thank you to this year’s PFA Executive Board for many hours of meetings, phone calls, Zooms, communication and programming. Gratitude to the outgoing members Clare Caione (Gifts and Grants), Heather Budnick (Education) and Ann Whittaker (Co-President) for serving on the Exec Board for the past couple of years.

And warm sentiments of appreciation to our incoming Exec Board, Jody O’Donnell and Courtney Langford (Co-Presidents), Sue Morse (Communications), Jen Tchir (Treasurer), Kim Hall (Asst. Treasurer) Patricia Mee (Gifts and Grants) Caryn Kelly (Education), Suzanne Harrison (Secretary) for giving many hours of their time and showing commitment to our school through leadership and volunteerism during this uncertain time.

In partnership with New Canaan Library:

Parents, Time to Talk About Loss: Let's Find Strength and Hope Together

Thursday, June 4th, 1:00pm - 2:00pm

Zoom Videoconference

Chelsea McGee, LCSW and Julianne Green, LMSW from Family Centers' Center for HOPE

Click here to register.

In partnership with New Canaan Library:

For Parents: Creating Balance Emotionally and Socially During Re-Entry

Thursday, June 11th, 1:00pm - 2:00pm

Zoom Videoconference

As we slowly re-enter after quarantine, learn how to create balance within your family, community and the emotions that come with it. Presented by Dr. Chris Bogart, Executive Director of the Sasco River Center.

Click here to register.

Covid Hope

In an effort to capture and save the many wonderful stories of acts of kindness, leadership and dedication in New Canaan during Covid, we have created a community sponsored website to host and archive these acts of heroism. Just visit www.covidhope.com to submit your stories, pictures and videos. You can also join the CovidHope Facebook Group and follow CovidHope on Instagram where will be sharing our CovidHeroes. Please feel free to email kimbhall@icloud.com with any questions.

SLOBs are Stepping Up with a partnership with New Canaan Moms …

SLOBs will be partnering with New Canaan Moms during the month of June to offer a “Father’s Day Car Wash.” All proceeds will go toward a new NCHS Scholarship honoring a student for outstanding community service.