New Haven Independent

A bunch of animal friends uncommon to these parts will join the caravan.

That requires some extra care on the part of the movers — in this case, the Board of Education.

The Board of Ed is planning 15 separate school moves this summer. Few will travel wet or have the ph in their water checked before and after, as will the fish, frogs, snakes, spiders, and other creatures, in some 35 tanks at the Vincent Mauro Magnet School on Orchard Street, which is closing this summer.

Last month the Board of Ed approved an appropriation of $353,000 for the various moves, including $1,270 for specialized move services for the Mauro creatures to the new Sheridan on Fountain Street, which is being renamed the Mauro/Sheridan Technology, Communications, and Science School.

Enter “Slither & Swim”

The mover is the Slither & Swim Pets company in West Haven, a longtime servicer of Mauro’s and the BOE’s creatures, which support, as at Mauro, the science curriculum of the school system.

As the school year winds down and the move is imminent, Mauro fourth-graders such as Brianna Chockey (left) and Namandje Wali shared some of their thoughts and concerns on the welfare of their animals.

Take Pipsqueak, for example. The diamond back turtle, whom the kids described as big, active, and independent, will be transported, like all the aquatic creatures, in a tank filled only with half its water.

“The other half,” said Bess Marra, a longtime parent volunteer who eventually was hired to care for Mauro’s animals and tanks, “will be transported separately to the new school.”

Namandje said she worries that when the water is taken out, there might be some mislabeling. “I wouldn’t want half the turtle water to go with half the bullfrog’s water.”

And with so many animals, including a big tarantula named Rosie (visible in the tank behind Justin Bryant, left, and Steven Marra), anoles, millipedes, cockroaches and what have you, Miranda Noad said, “The movers should be careful not to leave any of them behind. We don’t’ want to go to the new school and on the first day we look and find that something’s missing.”

Science teacher Donna Schlank reassured the kids that Slither and Swim knew exactly what they were doing.

The West Haven-based company is also brought in when animals are not eating, or when a tank needs some repair. Marra said that when their yellow lizard injured itself, Slither and Swim came in, took the lizard and nursed it back to health.

Although many of the other schools in the system of course have tanks of animals, Schlank said she thought few supported the teaching of the biological sciences with quite as many tanks as Mauro.

“It began,” Schlank said, “with Fred the tortoise [proudly pictured]. He was the first. Some eight years ago he elicited so much interest and excitement from the kids, that the tanks just kept coming.

“Anything that keeps the kids excited and learning,” she said, “is supported by our principal, Denise Coles-Cross.”

1 Quick Turtle

Fred in fact won a recent turtle race in the lobby of the school, beating out Pipsqueak and two others, covering about two feet of the lobby in record time. Nobody, when asked by a reporter, could quite remember what the record time was, but no matter.

Fred, the eminence grise of the animals, will of course also be moving to the new Mauro/Sheridan.

Another star of the Mauro lobby soon to be packing his bags is Wally, the 5 year-old bearded dragon lizard from Australia. Schlank says that the kids learn that all the animals have personalities, even the fish, frogs, and lizards. Wally is a TV personality, having been on shows representing the school in the past; he’s apparently, uh, expert at sound bites. Wally’s not traveling like a celebrity, but like the other animals.

What has all this living in close quarters to animals done for the caretakers’ aspirations? Of the seven fourth-graders present, four raised their hands to indicate that they want careers in science: one vet, one zoologist, a third aspires to be marine underwater diver, and a fourth the discoverer of new animals.

The remaining three kids will settle for fashion design, being an athlete, and, in Steven Marra’s case, a drill sergeant. That did not please his mother standing nearby.

The move is scheduled for July. During the summer either Marra or others will be retained to feed the animals until they reacquaint themselves with the students in the fall. Although the digs will be new, the diet for the animals will continue to be the same old, same old: mostly crickets and lettuce, occasionally dried fish and, for the snakes, frozen mice.