School Information

Dear Middle Gate School Community,

I am excited to join Middle Gate School as your Assistant Principal!  As the Supervisor of Elementary and Preschool Special Education for Newtown Schools for the past eight years, I have been able to establish and maintain relationships with families and educators alike to support student learning.  In that role, I collaborated with elementary Principals to implement effective instructional strategies and practices that addressed the diverse needs of students by promoting the use of evidenced based resources and strategies. Through careful analysis of student learning, this work afforded me the privilege of ensuring that students were meaningfully benefiting from their Individual Education Plans.   

In my previous experience as an elementary Nationally Certified School Psychologist, my most rewarding work was to advocate for children, families, and the community, by co- leading and implementing prevention programs, such as Valley Kids Belong, Families and Schools Together, Triple P: Positive Parenting Program, and Primary Mental Health Project.  With a deep commitment to breaking the cycle of inequities, I worked to promote strategies that prevented the school-to-prison pipeline and fostered positive relationships between schools, families, and community stakeholders by addressing student’s social - emotional learning and behavioral health needs.

As an early professional, I supported marginalized women and their children in the greater Waterbury area by identifying and working to break down barriers and create pathways for opportunities by securing essential resources for them and their children with a focus on empowerment and resource accessibility. While in this role, and in collaboration with Area Cooperative Educational Services (ACES), I implemented an early intervention program for preschool aged children. Through meaningful community engagement and trusting relationships, families were able to navigate and access community resources and intervention services.  

My experiences and varied background shape my approach to leadership and decision making in supporting the students, families and educators of the Middle Gate School community.  In my current role as Assistant Principal, I am looking forward to promoting student learning through partnerships with educators, families, and community stakeholders. I am also especially excited to be in a position that affords me the opportunity to develop close relationships with students and have fun again.   

In my free time, I enjoy crocheting cute holiday hats for my thirteen month old son. My husband and I appreciate traveling now more than ever before, as we create long lasting memories that we can cherish together as a family.  

Cheers to the new school year!

Warmly, 

Sonia L. Raquel

Assistant Principal, Middle Gate Elementary 

The Middle Gate District and its one room schoolhouse developed when Newtown adopted a district management system and created a central Board of School Visitors.  The original district had been called Bear Hills and it was formed around 1798.  Shortly after 1803, when the Bridgeport-Newtown Turnpike was opened to traffic along what is today Route #25, the name was changed to Middle Gate, reflecting the presence of the Middle tollgate located on the nearby Monroe-Newtown border.  

It is uncertain where the original schoolhouse for this new Middle Gate district was located.  On the 1854 School District map and the 1867 Beers Atlas map it can be located on the north slope of Route #25’s Tollgate Hill as it begins its rise toward the Monroe border.  It was on the east side of the road, almost directly across from the Botsford Post Office. 

In 1966, Gould Realty Company gifted the schoolhouse to the Newtown Historical Society and it was relocated to the front lawn of the new Middle Gate Elementary School, which was in the process of being built on Cold Spring Road.  

Taken from The Old Middle Gate One Room School House by Daniel Cruson