It's a big day in New Britain today where kids are going back for the first day of school. Unlike last year, this year has a more normal feel and a lot less uncertainty, but there are some changes in the district.
Much of the changes have to do with what the students will be wearing. This year, New Britain schools are reverting back to its pre-pandemic uniform.
Back in July, the Board of Education voted to reinstate the uniforms. This was after parents and guardians were invited to weigh in with their thoughts. The school system said the majority of parents were in favor of reinstating the school uniform policy.
So what exactly will the uniforms look like? For grades K through 8, it will be a solid white, navy blue, red or yellow collared polo top and khaki, navy blue or black dress slacks, skirts, dress shorts or skort bottoms.
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The district said the previous school attire policy included school-specific color choices that may have made it more difficult for families who change schools throughout the year or pass on clothes to others. They also said that they believe this eliminates some distraction and is a solution for some social disparities.
There has been a lot of effort to get students prepared for classes.Earlier this month, there was a backpack drive put together by the Training Motivational Center. Through partnerships and sponsors, they were able to stuff supplies into and distribute hundreds of backpacks to area students.
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"Basically we saw a need. So there’s other backpack drives out there. So we decided we wanted to do something a little bit different," said TMC President Torrence Conaway.
"It takes a village. People should just get together with us and partner in next year, it’s gonna be 10 years next year, this year is nothing. Next year, we are going to do it way bigger," added TMC Vice President Timothy Conaway.
This was the ninth year they've done this and the organizers said they plan to do it again next year, but bigger and better.