Students and staff from Crossett Brook Middle School on Friday morning took part in Walk & Bike to School sponsored by Waterbury Winterfest and Waterbury LEAP.

Brookside Primary School recently was awarded a $3,400 grant by the American Heart Association’s school-based youth programs, Kids Heart Challenge and American Heart Challenge to purchase bikes for its physical education program.

Harwood Union Middle and High School administrators Wednesday morning provided an update to families regarding acts of vandalism and theft at the school by students, done in connection with a recently popular online social media challenge. 

Although the construction bond took up the majority of the Harwood Unified Union School Board’s in-person meeting time this week, a number of updates were shared with details on back-to-school enrollment, staffing, managing COVID-19 risks and cases, and smoothing out the bus schedule. 

It’s official: the Harwood Unified Union School District will hold a special election Nov. 2 on a $59.5 million bond to finance the first major construction project since the district’s six communities merged five years ago. 

For the next several weeks, Harwood Union’s school superintendent will be on leave with several members of the administrative team filling in to cover her responsibilities. 

Asked to weigh in on whether the time is right to undertake major renovations to Harwood Union High School and expand Crossett Brook Middle School, 558 people across the school district weighed in on a survey in the past two weeks.

Although it’s not an election year, local voters may be asked to go to the polls this November to consider what would be the largest bond issue for school construction in the history of the Harwood Union School District.

As schools prepare to open next week, Harwood Union’s superintendent has written to the community about concerns over heightened angry public opinion regarding COVID-19 protocols. She also notes the school district is struggling to fill staff vacancies. 

School starts in the Harwood Unified Union School District Aug. 26 and the district intends to open full-time in person with all students and staff wearing masks to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. 

With the start of school fewer than three weeks away, state officials this week released guidance addressing COVID-19 with the goal for all schools to start fully in-person with everyone wearing masks. 

For Scott Culver, the third try to get onto the school board was the charm. 

In a brief, one-topic special meeting Wednesday evening, the Harwood Unified Union School District Board filled a vacant position representing Duxbury. The board voted 8-1 to appoint Cindy Senning to the seat.

The Harwood Unified Union School District Board has a special meeting scheduled for Wednesday evening to make one of two appointments to fill vacancies representing Duxbury and Waterbury. Two Duxbury residents, Cindy Senning and Patrick Zachary have applied.

In addition to appointing a new member to represent Duxbury next month, the Harwood Union School Board now has a Waterbury vacancy to fill this summer. Waterbury member Michael Frank, who was appointed in 2020 and was elected to a three-year term in March, has resigned. 

From Waterbury High School to Waterbury Elementary School to Thatcher Brook Primary School, the school at 47 Stowe Street will next be known as “Brookside Primary School.” The HUUSD School Board made that decision at its final meeting for this school year where it had a full agenda with multiple significant matters to address. 

Four months after Harwood Boys Hockey Coach Jacob Grout was fired for sending an expletive-laden message to his team, the Harwood school board has decided against having an investigator look into how the incident was handled. 

It’s difficult to find a Harwood Union High School graduate from the past several decades who doesn’t recognize Kathy Cadwell. But just to be sure, when she took the podium at Saturday’s commencement, she started with an introduction: “My name is Kathy Cadwell and I’m graduating from Harwood today.”