Schools

West Woods Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Students who call the 5/6 school home and the people who helped build it joined together to celebrate Wednesday night.

Students, families, faculty and some of the people who made West Woods Upper Elementary School a reality gathered Wednesday night to celebrate the school’s 10th anniversary.

The celebration showcased the work that went into building the school, shepherding the project through failed referendums, from a clearing off Judson Lane to nurturing home to all of Farmington’s fifth and sixth-graders.

Some of the adults were reflective as they remembered the process, the past 10 years and some of the people who made it happen, like the school’s first principal, Roberta Kurlantzick.

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But the students enjoyed the night and the opportunity to perform and bring the public to their world. There were choral, strings and jazz band performances and students rushed importantly through the halls, giggling with their friends.

In the beginning, Principal Alicia Bowman explained, parents and Farmington residents worried about taking the town’s fifth graders out of the elementary schools and placing them with sixth-graders – then part of the middle school.

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But careful consideration and staff expertise have set those fears to rest. 

The building, Bowman said, was designed to foster collaboration among teachers and students while creating smaller spaces for teams so that the students would not feel overwhelmed in the larger school.

Jean Baron, the Board of Education liaison to the West Woods building committee, remembered flying out to visit a 5/6 school, interviewing children about design and the committee’s working to thoughtfully design a school where children would be comfortable. Desks, especially in the office, were placed at student height and the building incorporates nature’s palette – blues, greens and browns – to set kids at ease.

“This was an exciting project and exciting for Farmington,” Baron said.

Several other building committee members – Robin Fuhrman Barrett and Susan Reeve also attended the celebration. While building committee chairman Gerry Haviland did not, Baron said he sent his best.

“He wanted everyone to know how very very proud he was of this project,” Baron said.

Baron attended the ceremony, not just because of her role in the West Woods project, but now also as a parent, since her granddaughter now attends the school.

“I opened this school with my little tile and my granddaughter Kayla has a heart in the mural. It’s very special for me,” she said.

Indeed, the school was opened and its anniversary celebrated with two very special pieces of art. A tile wall on the building’s bottom floor shows the faces and designs of the students and teachers who first called the building home. The building committee also painted tiles for the wall.

And upstairs, art teacher Marie Ringquist led the dedication of a new project – a mural of found objects, all donated by students and faculty – and designed by visiting artist Carol Kaplan, a retired Farmington art teacher. Kaplan took Ringquist’s place at Union School when Ringquist came to teach at West Woods in 2002.

State Rep. Mike Demicco made a proclamation extending the congratulations of the General Assembly, too, during the mural dedication. One of Demicco’s daughters attended the school.

“There’s a big fear that your little kid going to the big school is going to get lost or feel overwhelmed,” he said. “But from day one, they made sure that didn’t happen. They were always working, all the faculty and staff, to ensure the experience they had was a good one.”

Board of Education member Ellen Siuta’s children also went through West Woods. 

“My son was in the first class at West Woods. My first impression was just of what a beautiful recruiting job Roberta Kurlantzick did to fill this school with the finest instructors. I had four boys go through this school with wonderful experiences and teachers,” Siuta said. "I miss it."

A memory board of the West Woods' first 10 years along with a book of photos are on display at the school in the main hallway. 


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