July 27, 2013

Bolinsky: State Approves $100,000 for Security Upgrades to Newtown School

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HARTFORD – State Representatives Mitch Bolinsky (R-106), DebraLee Hovey (R-112) and Dan Carter (R-2) today applauded the state’s Bond Commission for approving $100,000 in grants for upgrades to school security at the Newtown Children’s Adventure Center.

“This is a great day for more than the Children’s Adventure Center. This grant is also a strong statement about Connecticut’s and the Office of Early Childhood’s commitment to our state’s most valuable natural resource, our children”, said Rep Mitch Bolinsky, of Newtown.

Bolinsky added “During this year’s Sandy Hook Task Force process, I was very vocal about our responsibility to include more than just K-12 public schools in new school safety initiatives and about the need to invest in preschools and private schools to ensure that ALL of our precious children are able to develop and blossom in nurturing, safe environments that also provide critical peace of mind to parents, many of whom I’m sure will as grateful for the coming security enhancements as the CAC’s Chairman, Mae Schmidle, who worked so hard on the grant application.”

“I am pleased this grant is being provided to upgrade security features at the Newtown Children’s Adventure Center,” Rep. Hovey said. “Making sure our children can continue to learn in a safe school environment is of paramount importance and this money will go a long way to ensuring that.”

“Helping youngsters learn and grow in a secure environment is vitally important to our community, and I’m pleased this funding will help make our kids safer,” Rep. Carter said. “The hardworking staff and students at the Children’s Adventure Center are very deserving of these great improvements.”

The Office of Early Childhood grants-in-aid financed today are for various capital improvements and facility repairs at state-funded early childhood facilities including the Newtown Children’s Adventure Center. The Newtown Children’s Adventure Center will use the money to install a comprehensive school alarm, silent alarm buttons and to further secure doors & windows, according to the DECD.

The Children’s Adventure Center was established in Newtown in 1969 by a group of concerned community leaders as a non-profit organization to provide early childhood education for local families. The Center is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors elected annually and is accredited by The National Association for the Education for Young Children (NAEYC) – a national organization whose goal is to raise the quality of Pre-school Education through a stringent accreditation process.