Alexandra Estrella, Superintendent of Norwalk Public Schools, greets the new students to SONO School
For the first time in 40 years, South Norwalk has a school of its own, and Carver’s After the Bell program is there to support its students before and after school.
The school is temporarily operating at the vacated former Columbus Magnet School site until the new school is constructed nearby. South Norwalk School (SONO) currently has two pre-k and two kindergarten classes.
The new school, once built, will be a 682-seat pre-K through fifth-grade elementary school in South Norwalk.
SONO is intended to foster a greater sense of community and accessibility for students and parents. Once the new school is constructed NPS will allow the community to give the school a permanent official name.
South Norwalk did not have a neighborhood school for over 40 years, a result of desegregation efforts in the city during the 1970s. The rationale was to integrate the NPS school system by busing minority children from South Norwalk to mostly white schools throughout the city and beyond. As Norwalk grew increasingly diverse, the integration rationale no longer made sense. The city finally delivered on a long-promised goal by committing to establish this new community-based school.