HONORING EXCELLENCE

Danbury’s Alternative Center for Excellence renames building, street after founder Joe Pepin

Joe Pepin attended the Thanksgiving feast he started at the Alternative Center for Excellence every year, even after his retirement as a beloved teacher and founding principal at the school.

This year, staff, students and other community members kicked off the Thanksgiving event on Tuesday morning with a ceremo

ny to rename the school building and the street it’s located on after the late educator.

The City Council approved measures earlier this year to rename the building the Joseph W. Pepin Memorial Building and to change Roberts Avenue in Danbury to Joe Pepin Way.

The dedication honors a man who spearheaded the effort to create an alternative high school in Danbury in the 1970s. In addition to serving simultaneously as principal, he was a teacher there from the school’s

opening in 1977 to his retirement in 1997.

Pepin, who died at age 85 on Jan. 14, was named Teacher of the Year in 1996 and was well known for his dedication to his students.

One of the initiatives he created was the annual

Thanksgiving meal, where students serve the community. He attended every year, even after he retired.

“It’s fun to see the teachers you previously taught with, and it’s fun to see the new students,” Pepin said at the event in 2010. “It brings

back memories. There are a lot of great stories coming out of here. I’m amazed at how many people stop and talk to me. They say, ‘You’re the guy who started this school.’ I’m very proud of this school and what’s going on here.”

H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media The Alternative Center for Excellence dedicated its building Tuesday as the Joseph W. Pepin Memorial Building and changed the name of Roberts Avenue to Joe Pepin Way. Pepin, the school’s founding principal, died in January at age 85.

The Alternative Center for Excellence dedicated its building as the Joseph W. Pepin Memorial Building and changed the name of Roberts Avenue to Joe Pepin Way.

Hearst Connecticut Media file photo Joe Pepin, Alternative Center for Excellence’s founding principal, died in January at 85.

H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media Barbara Lanza speaks about her father, Joseph Pepin, at the dedication of the Alternative Center for Excellence building as the Joseph W. Pepin Memorial Building on Tuesday.

H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media Senior Genesis Aybar, center, was dishing out potatoes at the annual ACE Thanksgiving Feast, Tuesday morning. The feast followed the dedication of the Alternative Center for Excellence building as the Joseph W. Pepin Memorial Building.