Construction

at The Rectory

School nears 

completion

POMFRET — New construction on The Rectory School campus on Route 44 in Pomfret is on schedule for completion at year’s end. When teachers and students return from their holiday break, they will move into the newly created academic spaces. 

The Hale Elementary School Wing will occupy the lower level with the Smith Learning Center on the second floor. The new homes for Rectory’s elementary school (kindergarten through fourth grade) and Rectory’s signature Individualized Instruction Program (IIP) have been designed to create an environment that is at once academic and nurturing. The unique needs of each program will be served in their new areas. 

Also new will be a reconfigured entrance that will centralize and expedite the morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up for Rectory’s 104 day students.

The opening of the Smith Learning Center marks the first time that Rectory’s Individualized Instruction Program (IIP) will have its own dedicated area. The Smith Learning Center, which is adjacent to the middle school classrooms for easy access for students, will serve as the hub for the collaborative efforts of students’ teachers and tutors.

The 17 tutoring rooms open into a common area that features individual work spaces, a small group study lounge, and comfortable seating for reading and conversation. In addition to these spaces, there are computer stations offering assistive technology to support learning. A resource room and a new office for Director of Learning Services, Scott Greene, are key additions to the new facility. Individualized instruction, a notable feature of the school since its founding in 1920, provides academic support for both remediation and enrichment.

Facing the campus at grade, the Hale Elementary School Wing has been designed to be open and flexible. The space can be configured for full classes and small groups. The ground-level space, accessed by a hallway filled with natural light, contains three elementary school classrooms with dividing partitions. Closer inspection reveals that this is no traditional layout. Nooks for quiet reading, window seats, and hallways are also learning spaces. Director of the Elementary School, Maria Carpenter, anticipates that creative teachers and students will adapt theses spaces for small-group instruction, observation, writing, and discussion. 

Even the entry lobby with its movable seating is intended to double as program space during the school day. 

Large windows and flexible spaces are features of this area, specifically designed for students ranging from kindergarten through fourth grade. It has been designed to support and facilitate a project-based curriculum, incorporating nature and the environment as fully as possible.

Carpenter and Greene readily acknowledge the collaboration with architect Kevin Tubridy of New England Design. “He listened to what we wanted and helped turn our visions into a set of architectural drawings that completely satisfied our image of the perfect space,” Carpenter said. Tubridy, a 1960 alumnus of The Rectory School and a current trustee, also developed Rectory’s Master Plan.  

This construction is funded through the ongoing Master Plan capital campaign; Phase I raised $5,469,602 from more than 120 donors and encompassed five separate projects:

1. Renovations to Grosvenor House, including the new Admissions entrance (completed April 2013); 

2. New construction of a new faculty duplex with one three-bedroom home and one four-bedroom home (completed August 2014);

3. Renovations to the Father Bigelow Memorial Dormitory, including a new three-bedroom faculty apartment (completed September 2014); 

4. New construction of The Seaward Family Student Pavilion and the Wang Family Amphitheater (completed May 2015);

5. New Construction of the academic addition housing the Hale Elementary School Wing and the Smith Learning Center (anticipated completion December 2016).

Naming gifts for the new academic addition were received from the Hale Family: Betty, Laurence, Jane, Helen ’16, Newell ’19, and Peter ‘21 (Hale Elementary School Wing) and June and Henry Smith ‘76 (Smith Learning Center). “The school received extraordinary support at the leadership level from our community,” observed Headmaster Fred Williams. “This generosity assures that The Rectory School, now approaching its centennial, will continue to meet the needs of the students it serves.”

 

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Riding

Six-year-old Jasmine on Skippy with her mother Nikole Ruddy on the Fall foliage Ride sponsored by the Pomfret Horse and Trail Association. Photos by Jim Abbott.

 

 

Riders raise money

POMFRET — On a bright October day, 113 riders from three states enjoyed local trails at the Fall Foliage Ride sponsored by the Pomfret Horse and Trail Association.  It was the largest participation in the ride’s eight-year history.  

Proceeds from the ride support local trails and open space through donations to the Wyndham Land Trust, the Abington 4 H Camp, The Last Green Valley, and the Audubon Society.  “Pomfret has become a destination riding area,” Jackson said.  “Pomfret Horse and Trail sponsors two rides every year, and Tyrone Farm offers many more, including the Pomfret Hunter Pace which drew over 200 riders this fall in the pouring rain. People love riding here because of the beautiful country.”  

The trail covered 11 miles of fields, woods, and dirt roads thanks to the generosity of many Pomfret landowners.  A short loop of 6 miles was also available.

“We are so grateful to the landowners who give us access for this ride,” said Sue Jackson, ride secretary.  “The landowners preserve the scenic nature of Pomfret, and the footing on their trails provides some of the best riding in the area.”

Horse trailers, horses, and riders of all ages filled a large green field surrounded by orange and red foliage on a large tract of land in the northeastern part of Pomfret.  It was a family-friendly day with participants ranging from 6 years old to 73.  The youngest rider, 6-year-old Jasmine, was a fourth-generation rider. Her great grandfather served in the last mounted unit of the Calvary in WWII.  She rode her pinto pony Skippy on a lead line from her mother’s horse.

Riders commented that it was a fun, stress free, well-organized event.  Patty McElligott, from Millbury, Mass., thanked the landowners “who shared their piece of paradise with us.  It could not have been any better and the obviously hard work put in by all of the organizers and sponsors is sincerely appreciated.”

Megan Ellis, from Salem, said, “Everything was wonderful.  The parking was great, even for a newbie trailer driver.”

The trails were well marked, and the length of the ride was just right, said other riders. 

 

 

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Banner Carrying

Members of Troop 21, of Putnam, get ready to carry the banner in front of Parade Marshall Dr. Louise Berry’s car at the Holiday Dazzle Light Parade. Left to right: Troop 21 Senior Patrol Leader Richard L. LaBonte Jr., Scout James Lazarou, Scoutmaster Peter A. Lombardo and Scout Damien-Michael Jacques. Photo by John D. Ryan.

 

 

 

 

PUTNAM —  Most people are busy around Thanksgiving time. Troop 21 is no exception. Soon after their turkey was fully digested Nov. 27, several members of the Putnam Boy Scout troop carried the banner in front of Parade Marshall Dr. Louise Berry’s car, during the 15th annual Holiday Dazzle Light Parade.

Berry was the superintendent of schools in Brooklyn from 1983 until her recent retirement. The lifelong educator said she was happy to be escorted by Troop 21.

“I’ve seen so many great young people,” she said, moments before the parade began. “These young men compare very favorably. I’m so glad they’re here tonight.”

Carrying the banner in the parade was the follow-up to Troop 21’s latest service project, when the Scouts helped to serve turkey dinners to 44 clients of Putnam’s John Dempsey Center, when they volunteered at the Albert J. Breault VFW Post 1523 on Providence Street the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Troop 21 has waited tables at the annual event for more than 15 years. 

Dempsey Center Thanksgiving Dinner Chairman Charles L. Mahoney, of Putnam, looks forward to seeing Troop 21 every year. “We need the Scouts there to help us,” Mahoney said. “They’re a godsend. They make it much easier for the VFW to serve our guests and perform our community service.”

Chartered to St. Mary Church of the Visitation in Putnam, Troop 21 Scoutmaster Peter A. Lombardo, of Putnam, said the parade and the dinner was part of the troop’s busy schedule. It all started with an August fishing trip, followed by a hike up Mt. Monadnock in New Hampshire and a recent, hands-on science and technology program for Scouts, held at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London. 

 

New Missals

Recently, at the beginning of the new liturgical year, Rev. Cosmas Archibong, right, the Roman Catholic chaplain at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Hospital in W. Haven, accepts a donation of new missals from Assembly 114 Fourth Degree Knight of Columbus David J. Meunier, of Killingly. The Right Rev. Monsignor Jean C. Mathieu Fourth Degree Assembly 114, based in Putnam, donated the three dozen books to the hospital’s chapel. Photo by John D. Ryan.