Parent Group Forms Around N.I.C.E

(Submitted by Po Murray)

The N.I.C.E. Parent and Community Organization (NICE PCO) has been established to assist the rapidly expanding Newtown International Center for Education (N.I.C.E) program in the Newtown School district.

The NICE PCO has three main objectives: 

• to inform with a three way communication between the district, parents and the community
• to involve and engage the community
• to integrate and cross collaborate within and outside of the community

The NICE PCO will help to support and celebrate all international programs currently associated with Newtown Schools: Newtown Host Families; The Student Ambassador Program; professional development experiences for Newtown educators; program development in international communities; educational benefits of real world experiences; international perspectives; the importance of language acquisition; global literacy; technology literacy; new families to the NICE PCO. 

The organization will grow the base of enthusiastic international minded parents and community members to provide a unified voice, support school wide and community events through direct or indirect participation, provide scholarships to expand participation to more students/teachers, and encourage outside community members to share their expertise.  The organization will also identify or make available real world professional development opportunities for teachers; facilitate the depth and breadth of programs to all schools by assisting in the creation or implementation of opportunities, and expand corporate and university partnerships to provide career opportunities for our students and NICE members. 

A board has been established to move this organization forward with Desiree Galassi assuming the role of the President, Po Murray as Vice President, Cindy Lapp as the Treasurer, Carol Wakeman as the Community Outreach Chairperson, Ian McIntyre as the Database Manager, and Evelyn Hufziger as the Website Coordinator. 

“The NICE program is a unique program that is not offered elsewhere in the State of Connecticut.  We are on the cutting edge of global education and I am very excited to help build this organization that will assist the NICE program” said Galassi.

“The NICE program is highly successful due to the tireless and dedicated efforts of the numerous administrators, teachers and students.  The program is expected to expand with more partnerships in other Asian countries and Europe and with more involvement at the elementary schools, Reed Intermediate School and the Newtown Middle School.  It is time for parents and community members to assist” said Murray.

“We are very excited to welcome the Chinese Delegation this Friday.  We hope the public will join us for some of the community activities planned for the week” said Lapp.  The NICE PCO invites everyone to attend the Chinese New Year Celebration performance this Saturday night, February 4th at 6:30PM in the auditorium.  This event is sponsored by Connecticut Chinese Association, the Newtown International Center for Education, HuaXia Chinese School, Danbury Chinese Alliance Church, and the WCSU Student & Scholar Association.  There is a minimal charge of $3.  There is also a Potluck dinner planned for Wednesday, February 9th at 4:30PM in the NHS Cafetorium for the families of Newtown High School, Newtown Middle School and the Reed Intermediate School. 

The NICE PCO will use multiple methods to inform the public.  “We are looking forward to reaching out to the numerous community groups to spread the word about this organization“saidWakeman

The NICE PCO is expected to build a website within the next few weeks but meanwhile there is an abundance of information regarding the NICE program on the Newtown School District website. 

Ian McIntyre encourages anyone interested in joining or helping the organization to contact him via e-mail at IMCINTYRE@alinabal.com .