Home Care In Sherman, CT

Transect Data | Water Data

Green Pond is a 30-acre waterbody located in Sherman, CT. It is a private pond with a maximum depth of approximately 35 feet.

CAES IAPP performed its first survey of Green Pond in August 2022. Eighteen aquatic plant species were found, including two invasive species. Invasive Eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum) was found frequently around the lake and has been actively managed since 2014 using diver-harvesting and benthic blankets. Minor naiad (Najas minor) was the other invasive species found in the lake. It was found by the beach in the north end and in a few locations along the western side of the pond. Minor naiad is an annual plant that regrows each year from the previous year’s seed. Thus, it is not normally noticeable until early to mid-summer when it grows in patches in the shallows. It often is most abundant in and around beaches. CAES IAPP is not aware of any control practices be performed on this plant in Connecticut apparently because it is not a nuisance. If management in beach areas is desired, it can easily be removed with a rake.

Vegetation occurred frequently throughout the lake within 150 feet of the shoreline at depths to 10 feet due to above average transparency (Secchi = 16.4 feet). The mostly commonly found species were native pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata), large-leaf pondweed (Potamogeton amplifolius), eelgrass (Vallisneria americana), and invasive Eurasian watermilfoil. White water lily (Nymphaea odorata) and yellow water lily (Nuphar variegata) were also common. The primary nuisance species were Eurasian watermilfoil and large-leaf pondweed which occurred on 47% and 37% of the transect points respectively. These plants often reached the surface, at sparse to moderate densities that would be a nuisance to swimmers. Fisherman might prefer these locations as they are a habitat for bass, pickerel, and other species. Many trees have fallen into the lake that also offer fish habitat.

Aquatic plant management is currently being accomplished by the installation of numerous benthic blankets. Many of these appear to have been installed in a year prior to our survey. This has allowed sediment to gather on the barrier and vegetative growth to begin. CAES IAPP has demonstrated the barriers can be installed and removed in as little a month for season long control. We suggest that the barriers be placed in one spot for no more than one season. An herbicide application using a new product called ProcellaCOR® is being considered. The product has been shown to be extremely effective at giving multiyear control of watermilfoil while leaving many native species such as large-leaf pondweed relatively unscathed. Whether this approach is feasible for Green Pond will be dependent on CT DEEP/Town review, stakeholder acceptance, and affordability. Pondweeds, particularly large-leaf pondweed, might fill the void left by the removal of Eurasian watermilfoil and become a greater nuisance.

SHERMAN — School officials have developed a plan to renovate the outdated Sherman School that would reduce the square footage of the building by about 30 percent.

The proposed square footage of about 59,000 is the most efficient size to maintain a pre-K-8 school, school officials said. A prior $47 million plan to upgrade and reduce the building from about 85,000 square feet to about 68,000 square feet was voted down in October 2023.

The 86-year-old building is in such poor shape that local officials have weighed whether to close it as enrollment declines. There is no plan to close Sherman School entirely, officials said.

“The request that we all got from the town was to sharpen our pencils. This plan reflects that sharpening,” said Board of Education member Tim Laughlin at a recent meeting. “It is essentially the smallest, most efficient building plan that you can have to accommodate the current educational program for students in pre-K-8 that’s reflected not only in the building plan, but frankly, also in the budget the superintendent proposed.”

The Board of Education doesn’t have a cost estimate yet of the new plan, Laughlin said, adding it would likely be cheaper than the previous plan.

"We do understand school construction prices have become more stable in recent weeks, based on other projects' bidding results,” he said. “It would be fair to assume that a reduction in size and scope would have a corresponding reduction in project cost and associated impact to taxpayers.”

Sherman First Selectman Don Lowe told Hearst Connecticut Media on Thursday he looks forward “to examining the situation at the school and to working to make The Sherman School whole again in a way that’s acceptable to the Sherman taxpayers.”

At the Feb. 7 meeting, the Board of Education unanimously voted to send the revised space plan to the school building committee, which meets Tuesday. At the joint meeting, which will be held with the Board of Education and the Board of Selectmen who also acts as Sherman’s Board of Finance, next steps will be discussed.

Reconfiguring classrooms, bathrooms

There are about 250 students in grades pre-K-8 in The Sherman School this year and about 130 high school students who attend school in neighboring communities, according to figures presented at the meeting.

According to enrollment projections from the school, in the 2024-25 school year, there’ll be about 240 students in pre-K-8 and about 140 high school students. Over the next 10 years, however, enrollment in grades pre-K-8 is anticipated to increase by 60 students, with about 100 students in grades 9-12.

Under the new plan, pre-k through fourth grade would be upstairs, while fifth through eighth grade would be downstairs. Fifth graders are upstairs with the younger kids at the existing school.

“Because the fifth graders would be part of the middle school, they wouldn’t need independent classrooms,” said Board of Education Chair Matt Vogt, who is also on the school’s building committee. “In the middle schools, the rooms are multi-use — more like a college campus where teachers move between rooms rather than having dedicated classrooms.”

Additionally, the plan calls for pre-K students having bathrooms in their own classroom.

Other changes would include eliminating gym locker rooms, reducing storage and office space, and reducing and combining educational technology and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) instruction spaces.

“Essentially, everything would be condensed. Really, the thought process was 'What is the minimum size of each program space that can support the student enrollment?'” Laughlin said.

Exploring other options

While the Board of Education has not endorsed any plan other than a modified space program for a local pre-K-8 school, members are analyzing what the costs associated with a pre-K-5 only model are from an operational, tuition, and transportation perspective, Laughlin said.

Toward that end, board members discussed what's involved in sending Sherman’s middle school students to neighboring districts.

Students in the Sherman school district now choose between attending high schools in New Fairfield, New Milford and Region 12, which has students from Bridgewater, Roxbury and Washington. If The Sherman School decides to eliminate its middle school and send children to neighboring schools, there would be no more choice.

“The logistics wouldn’t make any sense. So if you were to do it, one town would take all of our students from sixth grade to 12th grade,” Vogt said.

Sherman school officials will be working on the full analysis of cost comparisons in the coming weeks.

"We remain committed to conducting a thoughtful and deliberate analysis to determine if any alternates are viable based on tuition cost information provided by potential receiving districts," Vogt said.

Laughlin said program needs from a building perspective for a pre-K-5 school compared to those needed for a pre-K-8 school are slightly different as fewer classrooms would be required.

"However, any potential reduction in square feet would be relatively small in order to still maintain required programming for students in grades pre-K-5," he said.

He added based on preliminary information and considering all factors, it doesn't seem that a pre-K-5 only model would result in significant operational cost savings, if any at all.

SHERMAN — Town resident Joanna Wozniak-Brown faced education board members last week with strong emotion in her voice.

She referenced repairs needed at the Sherman school and said she hopes the district can develop the best plan "to make the school as safe as we possibly can," she said, as her voice broke.

Additionally, a sixth-grader called into the meeting virtually and also became emotional, saying, "I really do not want to see the school go. I'm very good friends with a lot of people in the school."

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Many other impassioned voices were heard at the April 5 meeting, which was held in response to recent conversations the school might have to close due to up to $50 million in repairs needed.

The Sherman School, which has about 270 students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, is the only school in the town, and if it were to close, Sherman would be the only town in the state without a school, according to a state Department of Education spokesperson.

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At the 90-minute meeting which had about 90 people in attendance both in person or watching virtually, school administration explored several options for students and also discussed costs involved to repair the school.

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After the meeting, Sherman Schools Superintendent Pat Cosentino said "none of the town leaders or the administration are in favor of closing the Sherman School or tuitioning out our students but we understand our responsibility to do our due diligence to cost out all of the options."

To 'reassure' the community

Aside from over half a dozen parents who spoke in favor of saving the school at the meeting, Sherman education board chairman Matt Vogt said the board received a handful of emails against closing the school.

He added the board didn't get any letters supporting redistricting students, which could involve sending students to Region 12, which serves students from Roxbury, Bridgewater and Washington.

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Vogt said he wants to "reassure" the community that town officials don't want to redistrict.

"There's concern that this has to do with fear mongering but I'll say for myself, personally, I am in no way, shape or form in support of anything like regionalization or changing the school structure as it is," he said.

"That would not change, even if the money was there to save quite a bit of it out of our budget," he added.

Board members, however, are still crunching the numbers to examine all the costs involved with redistricting. Once those costs are solidified, they'll be presented at a future education board meeting.

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Vogt said the costs involved with redistricting are not just ones that can be calculated into the district's budget, such as busing costs.

"It also has to do with the cost to the town in terms of home values ... but also ... our experience, the makeup of our town, who's in it, what the town has to offer them," he told Hearst Connecticut Media.

"A budget advantage or a cost advantage to taxpayers has to be pretty significant to offset a lot of those things. And frankly, it's just not there," he added.

The repair process

School administration is looking into different repair options and it's too early right now, Vogt said, to know exact costs for each one.

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"It has to do with the total square footage of the building itself as a direct impact on the cost," he said. "What we're doing now is putting together a few different layouts essentially of the building."

The district is working with architects Antinozzi Associates PC in Bridgeport on possible options, which range from "bare bones" to fixing everything that's needed, he said.

All work needed at the school is "intertwined," he said. "That's why we end up with this large full-scale project at the end of every conversation because no matter how hard you try, there's no really efficient way to do it by just selecting a few things to do at once."

Alternative options

Aside from redistricting to Region 12, alternatives for students were addressed at the meeting including regionalization or a process called "tuitioning out," which is what the district does with its high schoolers.

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Vogt said Sherman could make the school from kindergarten to fifth grade. Students in grades 6 to 12 would be tuitioned out to Shepaug Valley School in Washington.

Vogt said, however, there are concerns with that option.

"There's a state statute that allows us to tuition out our high schoolers. There is no state statute specifically for middle school students," he said. "If we were to try to do something like that, it would be unprecedented. (It's) not necessarily impossible but there's certainly a question brought up by the Board of Ed counsel as to whether or not it's even legal to do just that."

A spokesman for the state Board of Education could not be reached for comment on Friday.

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Another option is regionalization, which involves a legal agreement contracted in partnership with another town, to share resources. It involves a very long, legal process, town approval by the state Board of Education and can take many years to accomplish.

Next steps

By the end of April, cost estimations for the main three or four idea plans for repairing the school will be available to the public, Vogt said.

The school's building committee and other town officials will then can weigh the pros and cons of each option and then get feedback from the community.

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Ultimately, the option that is selected would go to a referendum.

Lakeside beaches in Brookfield, New Fairfield and Sherman are closed as a precaution due to heavy rainfall and bacteria levels caused by this past weekend's storms.

Widespread flooding has been reported across Connecticut as a result of strong storms and heavy rainfall. Up to 9 inches of rain fell on parts of northwestern Connecticut, resulting in evacuations and damages to roads.

Four of the 17 lakes and ponds the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection tests for bacteria are closed. This includes Cockaonset State Forest in Chester, Wadsworth Fall State Park in Middletown, Wharton Brook State Park in Wallingford and Indian Well State Park in Shelton. Indian Well State Park is closed due to flooding, according to the DEEP website.

Linda Lull, director of New Fairfield Parks & Recreation, said the town beach will be closed for the next couple of days due to bacteria levels in the water. She said the town is being advised by its health department, who will inform the town as to when the beaches can be opened.

“We’re hoping by the weekend things will be resolved,” Lull said.

Brookfield Parks & Recreation reported swimming at Brookfield Town Beach is prohibited, per the town health department’s protocol.

“Due to the 3" of rainfall in the last 24 hours, the waterfront will be closed until further notice,” Brookfield Parks & Recreation stated Monday on its Facebook page. “The swimming area is currently closed due to results received from routine water quality test results. A repeat test has been performed and the length of closure will be determined once new results are available.”

The park also closed on Fourth of July due to rainfall. Parks and Recreation Director Laura Murphy said at the time that the town's policy is to close the park for 24 hours if there is over 1 inch of rain due to the risk of bacteria levels for e.coli.

Sherman First Selectman Don Lowe said the town beach was closed Monday and Tuesday but not because of high bacteria levels.

"We closed them yesterday and today for silt from run-off from Saw Mill Brook in the high water and excessive rain," Lowe said on Tuesday. "I don’t know tomorrow’s status yet."

New Milford Parks & Recreation reported that the beach at Lynn Deming Park was closed Monday due to the rainfall but is now open to patrons. Danbury Parks & Recreation Director Nick Kaplanis said “everything has been good” at Candlewood Town Park with the exception of a delay in opening due to the rainfall.

“We haven’t had any problems with the water levels and/or bacteria count,” Kaplanis said.

This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Arts & Entertainment

Mark your calendars for upcoming events at the Sherman Playhouse.

Nancy Sasso Janis, Patch Mayor

News Release

SHERMAN, CONN. - Saturday January 27th will see the introduction of the newest offering from the Sherman Players – THE COLD LEMONADE READING SERIES, hosted by MORGANA KATE WATSON!

For playwrights and screenwriters, cold reads are an essential stage in the development of new works. For actors they can also be the theatrical equivalent of a gym workout! However, the opportunities for cold reading sessions are rarely afforded to writers outside of cities such New York and Los Angeles so the Sherman Players are thrilled to be able to bring the brand-new COLD LEMONADE READING SERIES to our community.

Writers and actors are invited to come along to our inaugural session on Saturday January 27th at the Sherman Playhouse, where the works of up to 5 local writers, selected in advance by host Morgana, will have 10-minute extracts read by a team of actors. There’ll then be an opportunity for discussion of the pieces with the authors. Spots are still available for writers to submit their pieces to Morgana for consideration.

Actors – if you want to flex your thespian muscles just turn up at 7pm on the night. Morgana will have scripts and will cast the lineup for each reading from who is present. Simple as that! And while casting can’t be guaranteed for this session (roles aren’t unlimited, after all), don’t worry there will be more sessions for you to strut your stuff. In the meantime, sit back, relax, and enjoy a great night of theater!

The readings will commence at 8 pm.

If you’d just like to come along to enjoy the readings and support your local writers and actors, the Players would love to see you there.There’s no fixed amount for attending, though you’re encouraged to make a small donation at the door to help cover costs.To register your interest and find out more about this and future sessions just email Morgana at [email protected].

Steve Stott, President of the Sherman Players says, “We think this is a great opportunity to support our local writers and actors – and who knows, maybe we’ll be playing our part in discovering the next big Broadway hit or Oscar winning screenplay!”

Then on Sunday 28th and Monday 29th January The Sherman Players will be holding auditions for their Spring Production HABEAS CORPUS

Written by Alan BennettDirected by Dan FriedmanProduced by Jessica Durdock Moreno

Auditions:Sunday January 28th 2024 - 3.00 - 5.00 pmMonday January 29th 2024 - 6 - 8.30pm

At The Sherman Playhouse, 5 Route 39 N, Sherman CT, 06784 (located between the firehouse and Mallory Town Hall)

Appointments are not necessary. Come to the Green Room at the rear of the Playhouse to sign in.Sides for cold reading will be provided at the audition.

Performance Dates:Friday, April 5th - Saturday, April 27th

Available Roles:We are looking for 5 women and 6 men.Ages specified are guidelines.The Sherman Players do not discriminate – Actors of all races, ethnicities and gender identifications are encouraged to audition.

Arthur Wicksteed (50s), a lecherous General PractitionerMuriel Wicksteed (40s-50s), his assertive wifeDennis Wicksteed (20s) their son, a wimpish hypochondriac frustrated by his lack of a girlfriendConstance Wicksteed (40s-50s) the doctor's sister, a scrawny spinsterMrs Swabb (any age) a cleaning ladyCanon Throbbing (any age) a celibate anxious to abandon his vowsLady Rumpers (40s and up) a returning aristocratic expatriate who cares only for her daughter's welfareFelicity Rumpers (20s) her daughter who elicits lust from those who meet herMr Shanks (any age) a sales representativeSir Percy Shorter (50s and up) a leading light in the medical profession, once Muriel's paramour and Wicksteed's nemesisMr Purdue (any age) a sick man

Synopsis:The antics at the Wicksteed home are a satirical merry-go-round. Family, friends, and the sexual satisfaction of the "corpus" (body) are the ruling passions in this farcical comedy of ill-manners. Through a dance of mistaken identities and carnal encounters, one motto holds fast: "He whose lust lasts, lasts longest."

First performed in 1973 starring Alec Guinness, Alan Bennett’s hilarious play takes the traditional British farce of prior years to the extreme. – It’s all the trousers-down, door-slamming, mistaken identity, not-so-subtle innuendo you might expect, presented with a knowing nod and a wink from master satirist, Bennett.

For further information please contact the director, Dan Friedman at [email protected]