Frontier, Union 38 schools see campus changes across the board

SOUTH DEERFIELD — With its long-awaited parking lot revamp finally past the finish line, “Frontier is paving its way to a new school year,” in the words of Darius Modestow, superintendent of the Frontier Regional and Union 38 school districts.

“The long-overdue pothole-ridden lot has a complete makeover,” he wrote in an email.

According to the superintendent, the project has been on the administration’s to-do list since the school district’s 2018 Capital Improvement Plan. In the meantime, the parking lot saw “patchwork” solutions like repaved sections, but over time, growing potholes and drainage issues pushed the issue into the fiscal year 2026 Frontier Regional School District budget, Modestow said, leading to a $850,000 revamp.

Modestow compared repaving the parking lot to replacing car tires.

“You need them, but you don’t like spending money on them,” Modestow said, adding that he is happy the makeover is done and families will have a safer, smoother ride into school.

Inside the building, Modestow said Frontier teachers will continue responding to the evolution of artificial intelligence (AI).

Instead of banning the technology, the school enacted guidelines for the use of AI in the classroom for teachers to reference and established a committee that will regularly revisit the guidelines. According to Modestow, although the district’s approach to AI that is detailed in the guidelines isn’t new, it explicitly outlines the expectations for the first time.

Overall, the guidelines draw the line at AI thinking and doing the work for the student, as Modestow described. For example, using AI for feedback on style, tone and structure is allowed when appropriate if students “[maintain] an authentic voice,” along with brainstorming and problem-solving “without replacing individual
thinking or meaningful collaboration with others.”

The guidelines also emphasize the importance of transparency when students and teachers use AI.

“Our administrative team has been AI-forward in the sense that you can’t ignore that students are accessing it on their phones, and we need to incorporate how to use it ethically and responsibly, and when is it appropriate and when is it not appropriate,” the superintendent continued. “Those need to be honest conversations that are happening with students at all levels.”

With a similar goal, a new committee made up of Frontier Student Council members and a few teachers will meet this year to evaluate the school’s cellphone standards and discuss any necessary changes. According to Modestow, the school created the committee to get ahead of a state bill that would enact a bell-to-bell ban on cellphones at school, which is currently being reviewed by a conference committee to reconcile differences in the versions that were passed by the House and Senate.

“We want to talk with students [about what] they think should happen and have them be part of their own governance rather than it just being top-down,” Modestow explained, “or else we’re going to be chasing the hidden cellphones.”

As far as new faces at Frontier, Mariah Lapiroff has started as the new director of curriculum instruction at the secondary level after Sarah Mitchell retired in June.

“Mariah has hit the ground running, helping organize the district’s fall professional development program and working with staff as they prepare for the new school year,” Modestow said in an email.

Former Student Services Assistant and Deerfield native Tim Capuano is back in the building as the school resource officer, replacing Deerfield Police Sgt. Brian Ravish.

“It’s been the best 12 years,” Ravish, who is retiring, said as he and Capuano greeted students on the first day of school. “The kids rescued me.”

“I’ve got some big boots to fill,” added Capuano. “It’s surreal to be back in the school in this new role.”

Elementary schools

With a new playground, gardens and orchard, elementary school students will have more opportunities to take their learning outside this year.

Deerfield Elementary School was abuzz on Aug. 25 for the grand opening of the new playground. According to Modestow, the changes “[represent] a significant investment in outdoor play and accessibility.” Along with a new Pour-in-Place rubber surface for the entire playground space, replacing the sections of wood chips, kids can now climb on a new spider web-like rope structure and sit on a new wheelchair-accessible swing.

Community Preservation Act funds from Deerfield covered $200,000 of the approximately $386,650 project.

“It’s exciting to see all the kids playing together,” said Deerfield Elementary School Principal Tina Gemme as she helped kids push the new swing. “It’s more welcoming.”

“It’s been a great community space for years and it will continue for years, and be more accessible,” said Deerfield Elementary School Committee Vice Chair Annie Curtis, tearing up as she watched children explore the new playground.

Beyond being a fun spot for recess, former Deerfield Elementary School student Abby Farrell, now an eighth grader at Frontier, described the playground as “a great place for people to come together.”

Abby’s mother and grandmother pictured Abby’s late great-grandfather, who faced multiple sclerosis (MS), rolling his wheelchair up to the new swing.

“It’s intergenerational,” said Abby’s grandmother Brenda Pichler.

At Conway Grammar School, all eight classes will tend to their own gardens this year after a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant kickstarted the installation of three new gardens at the school. A new outdoor education space is also in the works.

Conway Grammar School Principal Kristen Gordon described learning in nature as a priority of the school that students enjoy.

“Even reading a book feels different when you’re outside,” Gordon said.

At Whately Elementary School, students will tend to the new garden, an exciting addition, Principal Krissy Kirton said.

In the spring, community members planted around 35 fruit trees outside Sunderland Elementary School for the new community orchard.

“The trees are growing!” Sunderland Elementary School Principal Benjamin Barshefsky said, adding that he envisions students picking the fruit off the trees when they bloom and tasting the fresh produce in their lunches in the cafeteria.

This year, the school is launching “Every Day Counts at Sunderland,” a new attendance initiative. By working with families, the initiative aims to break down barriers students face for attending school every day, like limited resources outside of school, anxiety and family schedules, Barshefsky said. The initiative also includes creating new clubs and adding activities like outdoor adventures or dance to the Out of School Time Program.

“We are a small enough school where we can be nimble and make plans with families all in an effort to support their kids,” Barshefsky said. “When students are excited about what is happening between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., that in itself helps to improve attendance.”

Across the four elementary schools, teachers will focus on improving student writing, an ongoing initiative since 2023, when teachers voiced concerns with the curriculum, such as a lack of clear instruction for writing, time for students to write and opportunities for students to write about “personally meaningful experiences,” according to Lara Ramsey, direction of education at the elementary level.

Starting this year, instead of teaching writing lessons in two separate periods, students will participate in 120 minutes of reading, writing, speaking and listening activities every day. The elementary school students will also complete three-minute writing samples three times each year for teachers to track progress, and third, fourth and fifth graders will pilot a new program exploring a specific element of language or grammar each day.

In Sunderland, a fourth grade class will fill out “writer’s notebooks” for the first time this year. At Deerfield Elementary School, a librarian, art teacher and fifth grade teacher together crafted an interdisciplinary biography project integrating portraiture, digital literacy and writing. In Conway, students will use writing checklists that teachers fine-tuned in the spring when sharing their writing with peers.

“Our district approach is to be grounded in research,” Ramsey said, “and fueled by teacher inspiration and collaboration.”