A snow day comes to the Star Lab school in Newtown

Although the event started with math facts for the kids at Star Lab, next was a trip down a snow slide by Lee's Ice.

Alison Rini, the founder and head of the private school in Newtown, said students had known about the "snow day" on Feb. 16 since October, and that their "ticket to ride" would be their math facts.

Students chose between sheets with counting, addition, subtraction, multiplication or division facts, before heading down the slide.

The Sarasota Police Department participated as well, with its Community Relations Unit bringing its recently established mobile Sarasota Learning Center, as well as Kona Ice. 

The event allowed families in the area to visit the school, which focuses on a unique learning model that places kids at the level that aligns with their abilities. 

"If a kid is ahead, they can just move right along," Rini said. "They don't have to wait for their grade level classmates ... We put them exactly where they need to start learning, and then we move them up from there."

This year, the school served 20 students in kindergarten through third grade, and during the 2026-2027 school year it will serve 50 students from kindergarten through fifth grade, at two Newtown campuses. 

Other aspects of the school's learning approach include occupational therapy as well as recess every hour, offerings that are only provided for kids with special needs at most schools, but from which Rini says all kids can benefit.

"Elementary school seems easy for an adult, but for a kid, it's actually pretty challenging, and so it's nice every 45 minutes to get to go outside, play with their peers, chill out, and reset their brain for the next challenge," she said.