First Day of School Adventures Across Norwalk Public Schools for the 2022-2023 School Year

Warm, sunny skies greeted Norwalk Public Schools’ students and staff on their first day of the 2022-2023 school year. 

Superintendent Alexandra Estrella and her team were up early to greet our dedicated bus drivers, welcome students back to school, and celebrate the opening of Concord Magnet School at their new location and the opening of the South Norwalk Neighborhood School.

6:15 a.m. – School Bus Depot

Superintendent Alexandra Estrella and her team started the day bright and early, saying good morning to all the bus drivers as they prepared to pick up students across the city for their first day of school.

More than 60 buses leave from the lot on Wilson Road starting around 6 a.m. each morning Each driver performs an 8 to 12-minute pre-trip safety check before hitting the road.

7:15 a.m. – Norwalk High School & P-TECH Norwalk

About an hour later, some of those buses arrived at Norwalk High School and P-TECH Norwalk to drop off the high school students. Estrella first joined new P-TECH principal Victor Black as he welcomed his new students walking off the buses along Strawberry Hill Avenue.

Around the front of the school, the Central Office team found another new principal, Dr. Lynne Moore, who ascended to the highest leadership position at Norwalk High School this year. She previously was serving as an assistant principal in the school. 

Moore and Estrella walked the halls, greeting students at the start of the day and playing a game of “Guess which one is the superintendent, and which is the principal.” Dr. Sandra Kase, executive director of leadership development, and Dr. Thomas McBryde, deputy superintendent of excellence, equity and inclusion, jumped in to play too.

8:50 a.m. – Concord Magnet School (Ribbon Cutting #1!)

At Concord, it was time to celebrate! Principal Medard Thomas gathered with all of his students outside their new home on the Ponus Ridge School campus, playing music as everyone made their way inside.

Thomas thanked Estrella and Mayor Harry Rilling for making the CMS community’s dream come true with a new school building. He also thanked Ponus Ridge Middle School principal Dr. Damon Lewis and assistant principal Evan Byron for such a warm welcome to their shared campus.

Concord Magnet School students then joined their principal, the superintendent and the mayor to commemorate the opening of their new school home with a celebratory ribbon cutting.

10 a.m. – South Norwalk Neighborhood School (Ribbon Cutting #2!)

We finished the morning at the district’s newest school, the South Norwalk Neighborhood School. The South Norwalk community has waited over 40 years for a neighborhood school of its own and on Wednesday, Norwalk Public Schools and the city made it happen.

“And the community at large,” Estrella emphasized, “because they have been the biggest advocates for us to have a school for us here in South Norwalk.”

New principal Dr. Alycia Rhinehart welcomed her new pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students earlier in the day. The school will host two pre-K and two kindergarten classes this year. They will be the first classes to come through the new school and will welcome in a new grade level each year until the school reaches its capacity.

“This has been such an exciting endeavor to see this building unfold in a way that will support the youngest learners in the city of Norwalk,” Rhinehart said outside the front door of the school, surrounded by Estrella, Mayor Rilling, State Sen. Bob Duff and members of the Norwalk Common Council and the Norwalk Board of Education.

She continued, “Our nation promises a free and appropriate education to all children and because of the vision that Dr. Estrella has, we’re starting it from the earliest stage possible to offer high-quality, equitable, excellent education to our youngest learners in the city of Norwalk.”

Board member Sherelle Harris has been one of those “biggest advocates” that Estrella mentioned. The South Norwalk resident saw the need for a neighborhood school as far back as 1998 when she was serving as a children’s librarian.

“This has been a long time coming,” Harris said. “I can’t add to what anyone else has said but what I want to say is, ‘Right people, right time.’ Can everybody repeat with me? ‘Right people, right time.’”

The end of a great first day at Norwalk Public Schools

We hope your child had a great first day of school and continues to have fun learning, making new friends, and having a wonderful and successful school year.