The last morning of November was cold, gray and dreary, but light and warmth radiated from the sparkling, modern building that is the New Canaan Community Nursery School. Over the past summer, the school was renovated, expanded and has  gone "green."  Located on Old Norwalk Road at the entrance to Kiwanis Park, NCCNS, has been an integral part of the community since 1947.

Pamela Turner, the school's director for the past two years, told About Town, "We're delighted with the addition of 680 square feet of space. It helps us function better.  My office was in a kitchen!"

The aging building's systems were not functioning efficiently and the school had no hallways. It took years of "tireless" fundraising by the school's families to raise the several hundred thousand dollars needed to modernize the facilities.

The New Canaan Community Foundation supplied a generous grant for the school's HVAC system, and the Young Women's League of New Canaan also was noted for its contribution.

"The "green" aspect of the renovation was really one of the side effects of working with Maryann Thompson Architects in Cambridge Massachusetts, noteworthy for their educational architecture, and who also designed The Children's School, in Stamford," said Pamela Turner.  

"We started working with the New Canaan Community Nursery School in 2008," Marie Adams, project manager at Maryann Thompson Architects, said. "Their existing building lacked the administrative spaces that help the school function smoothly, and was badly in need of an update--in terms of appearance, new code requirements, and environmental sustainability."

She continued, "Our intent was to create a stronger sense of connection to the surrounding park landscape, through the use of large windows and a wide overhang which creates a covered outdoor play space for the children.  The school shares our commitment to sustainable design, with water conserving fixtures, natural and low VOC materials, increased day lighting, higher efficiency mechanical systems, and a rain barrel for rain water harvesting."

The children are learning about water conservation by harvesting rainwater in a newly installed rain barrel, an earth-friendly feature of the architect's and RMS Construction's innovative renovation and addition.   Rain from the roof flows directly into the barrel, where it is stored for use in watering plants and flowers.

Sunan Jones is president of the school's board, a former educator and director of admissions. She has a four-year-old daughter who attends the school. 

"The reason I love this school is lot of schools say they see the individual in every child, but NCCNS actually does it," Jones said.  "The school has received letters from the kindergartens in town thanking them for preparing the children so well."

Pamela Turner told About Town, "Our program enables children to take ownership of their world. With changes week to week, we create active rather than passive learners with a passion for knowledge. We do the project approach which allows children to direct their curriculum. Teaching them to be active learners is a gift that will last a lifetime."

The sixty-two students who range in age from two-and-a-half to five-and-a-half are learning about environmental responsibility. The students recently completed a school-wide recycling project by collecting garbage (wearing gloves of course) in neighboring Kiwanis Park.  They use recyclable materials to create animal sculptures in art classes.

NCCNS's teachers are using these green efforts to start conversations with students about conservation, recycling and healthy eating habits. 

New Canaan's Healthfare keeps the school well-stocked with healthy snack choices, including organic cheddar bunnies, whole grain pretzels, apples and bananas. The students drink organic apple juice and water.

Who would the expect that the oldest pre-school in New Canaan would be the first to point their kids straight into the environmentally cutting edge future!

(Editor's Note; This story has been updated. Sunan Jones was an admissions director, not a school counselor. The NCCF contributed to the HVAC system, not the security system. The animal art project was created using new recyclable materials, not items collected in Kiwanis Park.)