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First Fruits Of ‘One Less Move’ Referendum Celebrated At Hillcrest Road School

Current and former Board of Education members and Hillcrest Road School children cut the ribbon Sept. 14 at the school’s new wing. Board members left to right are: Board president Ed Potosnak, board vice president Nancy LaCorte, former board members Richard Arline, Eva Nagy and Betty Whalen, and current board member Ardaman Singh.


The first of the major renovation and construction projects funded by the “One Less Move” referendum is officially on-line, and the district held a little party for it on Sept. 14.

Four new 3rd Grade classrooms at Hillcrest Elementary School were officially opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by district officials, current and former Board of Education members, teachers, administrators and students.

The classrooms are used for the math/science and literacy/social studies programs.

“We are so excited, the kids are so excited,” school principal Al Fico said during the ceremony.

The project also included the construction of two new bathrooms in the new wing, and the renovation of two older bathrooms. The total cost for all the work was $2,132,931.80, said schools Superintendent John Ravally.

Annie Walsh is a 3rd Grade literacy teacher who is using one of the new rooms, which she called “a really nice space.”

“We have built-ins, storage space,” she said. “The kids have cubbies, which they didn’t have in our other classroom. The kids are really enjoying the space, it’s really open and nice and bright.”

“The coolest thing about the room is the lights,” Walsh said. “They’re on dimmers, so you can change (the brightness) to 25 percent, 50 percent, 75 percent; you can do AV mode, so when the projector’s on, the lights go off. In our other classroom, we really didn’t have working windows, or blinds, so now the windows open. We also have central air conditioning.”

“Everything’s new,” Fico said. “The district provided us with new desks, new chairs, new tables. The kids are really enjoying them.”

The new wing “came out beautifully,” Ravally said. “The teachers are loving it, I think it’s really going to serve its purpose well.”

“We’re very excited, we’re very proud and we’re very thankful,” school board president Ed Potosnak said. “We’re excited for our new facilities, we’re proud of our students and their achievements and we’re thankful for the townspeople, the citizens of Franklin and leaders of previous boards as well as others, who encouraged the community to approve the referendum.”

Also on hand for the ceremony were several former board members who oversaw the successful 2014 $85 million referendum vote: Eva Nagy, Betty Whalen and Richard Arline.

2017 Hilcrest School New Clasrooms

 

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