BoE Budgetary Maneuvering

By Avice Meehan The Board of Education addressed routine—and not so routine—matters at the March 31 meeting, including a resolution to request an additional $58,000 for the current year budget to resolve the fact that the town ran afoul of the state’s minimum budget requirement. The request will ultimately come before voters at the annual […]

Botelle Beat

Power Goals and WIN Time Personalize Learning at Botelle By Lauren Valentino One of Botelle School’s SOAR expectations is to Achieve Your Goals. We believe that when students know their goals—what they are learning, why and what success looks like—they are more engaged and motivated. They are partners in the learning process and own their […]

Moana Sails into Norfolk

An intrepid group of students drawn from Norfolk and Colebrook are busy rehearsing for this year’s school musical “Moana Jr.” at Botelle Elementary School. Organized by the Botelle PTO, performances will be held in the Hall of Flags on Friday, May 1, at 5:30 p.m. and Saturday, May 2, at 2 p.m. Based on the […]

Baffling Budget Move Needed

By Avice Meehan Norfolk voters will likely see an unusual item on the agenda for this year’s annual town meeting in May: A request to appropriate $58,366 for Botelle Elementary School for the current fiscal year. The action will ensure that Norfolk remains in compliance with a nearly 40-year-old state statute that sets out minimum […]

Regional Budget Vote Is May 4

The referendum on the Northwestern Regional School District No. 7 budget has been set for May 4 in Norfolk, Colebrook, Barkhamsted and New Hartford. If approved, the district budget would be $25.25 million for the 2026-27 school year, an increase of 1.74 percent over the current year. Norfolk’s assessment, based on the town’s anticipated enrollment, […]

Envisioning Botelle’s Future

The Board of Education and Superintendent Kevin Case will hold a series of community conversations beginning April 1 to help inform the future of elementary education in Norfolk. Additional conversations will be held on April 22 and May 20. All are from 7 to 9 p.m. at Botelle School. The project grew out of discussion […]

BOTELLE BEAT

Building Our School Budget By Kevin D. Case, Superintendent of Schools Each year, Norfolk trusts us with two of its most valuable resources: its children and its tax dollars. Developing the annual school budget is one of the most important responsibilities we have as a school district. I would like to let you know how […]

Proposed Botelle Budget to See Modest Increase

By Avice Meehan The Board of Education will hold a special meeting on Thursday, March 4, to vote on a proposed $2.658 million budget for the next fiscal year. It would represent an increase of 4.47 percent or $113,665 over the budget for the current year. Superintendent Kevin Case presented the spending plan on Feb. […]

How Botelle (Carefully) Uses AI for Learning

By Avice Meehan For more than three decades, children visited the fictional town of Frog Creek, Penn., home to two children named Jack and Annie. With the help of a magic tree house, the pair are whisked away to distant places where they have adventures, solve problems and, perhaps, learn a thing or two. Like […]

Botelle Fine Tunes at Mid-Year

By Avice Meehan The Board of Education received a mid-year snapshot of student performance and growth from Botelle Principal Lauren Valentino at its Feb. 24 meeting as part of a packed agenda that also included reports on completion of elevator repairs and praise for the “Blizzard of Fun” program during Weekend in Norfolk. Staff and […]