‘Helping families well into the future’

WINSTED — A surprise retirement parade was held recently to celebrate Ruthann Horvay’s retirement from the Winchester Public School System, with parents and children turning out in force.

Residents met at Batcheller School at 3 p.m. May 23 and drove to Horvay’s home. Children wrote messages on child-shaped cutouts, which were placed on her lawn.

“By the end of the parade, her lawn was full of ‘kids’ she’s helped over the years,” said her daughter Bridgit Espinoza. “People in the community are huge fans of hers. She’s helped countless parents, teachers and kids over her 30-plus-year career and has charted a course for Winsted’s approach to family support that will continue helping families well into the future.”

As she prepared to retire, Horvay wrote a statement about her years in Winsted.

“My passion for supporting parents has been the foundation of my personal and professional career for more than 30 years,” she wrote. “Raising four children has provided me with invaluable experience along with my drive to learn more to help me be a better parent. My professional goal has always been to help parents enjoy their children and alleviate their concerns about behavior and development.

“I started as a part-time parent educator with the award-winning international Parents as Teachers Program, which soon provided me with the opportunity to be a PAT National Trainer for more than 20 years. When presented with the opportunity to bring this program to my hometown of Winsted, I couldn’t resist. In 1996 I became the first director of the Winsted Family Resource Center, which included the Parents as Teachers program for families with children prenatal to kindergarten entry.

“This position also afforded me many opportunities to better service families. Providing high school seniors with a parenting course, becoming a Conscious Discipline trained professional, providing parents with several parent leadership training opportunities and receiving training in a variety of developmental screenings are just a few,” Horvay said. “I’ve been trained by renown child development specialists such as pediatrician, T. Berry Brazelton, Alice Honig (Syracuse University), Sally Province (Gesell Institute at Yale), Stanley Greenspan (George Washington University), Becky Bailey (Conscious Discipline), Lois Davis (St. Joseph University) and many others.”

Horvay graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1972 with a bachelor’s degree in child development & family relations, and in 2006 from St. Joseph College with a master’s in early childhood special education.

Horvay has been the director of the Winsted Family Resource Center since 1996, as well as the Winchester Public Schools’ grant liaison for its school readiness program from 1999 to the present. She was the coordinator of the Cradle to Classroom program with the town’s Early Care & Education Council from 2000-09. Horvay was an adjunct faculty member for the Early Childhood program from 2006-07, and is a consultant to EdAdvance’s Head Start prenatal to five program.

Horvay was a 1992 Teacher of the Year nominee, Canton Public Schools; received the 2001 Program Excellence Award CT Association of Physical Education, Parenting Awareness Course Health, Recreation & Dance; the 2006 Celebration of Excellence Award Winchester Board of Education; the 2018 Celebration of Excellence Award Winchester Board of Education; and earned the 2019 Blue Ribbon Parents As Teachers program status National Parents as Teachers Inc. She was the 2007 Honorary Parade Marshal, “Honoring Families” Winchester Laurel Commission.

“I live with my husband of 46 years in Winsted,” Horvay said. “Our four children are now successful adults living in Connecticut and California. We have five grandchildren ranging in age between 2 and 20 years old who continue to add so much joy to our lives. Although retirement is soon approaching, my passion for this work will never retire.”