By Avice Meehan

What’s better than starting the first day of school with a new pair of sneakers, new leadership at the Board of Education and a school building that truly sparkles? Norfolk families and the staff at Botelle Elementary School spent the last weeks of August getting ready for the opening bell on Aug. 28.

“I usually purchase a few new outfits and a fresh pair of sneakers for each child,” said Jenna Brown, who has two daughters at Botelle and a son heading to Oliver Wolcott Technical High School in Torrington. “As far as school supplies, Botelle never asks parents to provide any school supplies for their child, which is amazing.”

And the Botelle staff has been hard at work to prepare the school for the 59 incoming students. For a few days at least, the school’s floors will “shine like glass,” thanks to the efforts of custodians Tyler Yelsits and Evan Cooper, who spent the summer giving the school a deep clean.

“They are proving to be a great team,” said Principal Lauren Valentino, who has her own long to-do list that includes setting academic goals for the year, thinking through teacher professional development and preparing for the second year of a new reading curriculum.

This year, Botelle’s entire teaching and paraprofessional staff has returned, along with two fresh faces. They include Cooper, recently hired as the night custodian, and Jodi Marinelli, who will supervise the kitchen. Marinelli, who is employed through EdAdvance, will be familiar to many local residents as the former owner of the Colebrook Store.

The board will itself start the school year with new leadership. Ann DeCerbo, who had served on the board for over a decade and as its chair, stepped down from the board at the end of June. Donna Rubin was named to fill DeCerbo’s term. The board elected Virginia Coleman-Prisco as the new chair at its Aug. 20 meeting. John DeShazo was also elected vice chair.

Coleman-Prisco, who holds a doctorate in education, teaches at Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., and at Northwestern Connecticut Community College in Winsted. She has a sixth grader at Botelle and a 10th grader about to start at the Academy of Aerospace and Engineering, a magnet high school in Windsor.

“This is the most stressful job I have,” Coleman-Prisco said, only half in jest. “I look forward to working with the board. They are dedicated, smart and really do care about children and making sure we serve our community.”

In her first official act after being elected, Coleman-Prisco put forward a motion to approve the all-important matter of Norfolk’s three bus routes. Botelle pickups start at 7:45 a.m., give or take a few minutes, after the run to Northwestern Region 7 School in Winsted. For Jackie and Julianna Brown, whose parents Jenna and Hunter both attended Botelle, that means being ready and out the door to meet Bus No. 72 at 7:58 a.m.

“Making sure the kids get a good night sleep is big for Hunter and me,” said Brown. “It makes for a much smoother morning. Our bedtime routine starts at around 7:30 p.m., and lights are out by 8 p.m. for the girls.”

So long, summer! Spark the Eagle (Botelle’s mascot) was just a little lonely.

Photos by Avice Meehan.
All aboard! Julianna Brown, a third grader at Botelle, and her sister Jackie, a first grader, pause on the stairs of Bus 72 just before 8 a.m. on the first day of school carrying backpacks and water bottles and wearing their brand-new sneakers. Parents Jenna (pictured) and Hunter Brown offered words of encouragement for a case of last-minute nerves.