Four fourth graders from Westport’s Workshop (gifted) Program have advanced to the state finals of the National Invention Convention competition. They moved up following the weekend’s Eastern Connecticut Regionals in East Hartford. The state competition will take place Saturday, April 28 at UConn in Storrs. The winners will advance to the national competition at The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan in June. Pictured (l-r) are Olivia Cohn and Isabel Jo of Coleytown Elementary, Chloe Gordon of Long Lots Elementary, and Penelope Eisenberg of Greens Farms Elementary.Their teachers are Cari Pfeiffer of Greens Farms, Jen Ackerman of Long Lots, and Eileen Carroll of Coleytown. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

Staples High School has announced that 18 students have been honored with the distinction of graduating with high honors from the Staples High School class of 2018.  A student will be designated with “high honors” if his/her academic grade point average falls in the top 4 percent of the graduating class. Pictured: (back row, l-r)  Jacob Didner, Marshall Heiser, Neal Soni, Nicholas Attkiss, and Max Popken; (2nd from the back row): Juliana Beal, Lauren Thomson, Jackson Delgado, Gary Perelberg, and Carlie Darefsky; (3rd from back row): Katrherine Flug, Sudhanshu Mathur, Paige Anderson, and Seohyun Hong; (front row): Juliana Hopper, Jessica Xu, and Sarah Acselrod. Missing from picture is Isabelle Grosgoteat. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

By James Lomuscio

After more than two hours of debate and public input for and against, Westport’s Board of Education tonight voted 5 to 2 to approve the concept of having an armed school resource officer (SRO) in its schools. Their number will be determined later.

Westport Police Chief Foti Koskinas addresses the Board of Education tonight in support of adding school resource officers to Westport schools. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Photo from Board of Education Television

Board member Vik Muktavaram and Mark Mathias were the dissenters. They said they were opposed to having guns in schools on an ongoing basis.

The proposal had been made by Schools Superintendent Colleen Palmer in the fall, well before the recent student threatening incident at Staples High School.

She said that the Westport school system was the only one in its district resource group (DIRG) not to have an SRO.

Westport Schools Superintendent Colleen Palmer said schools will be on a one-hour delay in opening.

A youngster gets home early today on Westport’s Old Road as Westport schools dismissed three hours early because of the weather. Although snow fell off and on during the morning, streets were generally clear into early afternoon before predicted heavier snow later in the day. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Westport Schools Superintendent Colleen Palmer said Westport Public Schools will have a three-hour early dismissal today.

Elementary parent-teacher conferences will be rescheduled, and elementary conference dismissal times shift to a. snow dismissal schedule.