new Liberty Square office building. The town water department, which built a new facility on West Queen Street in 2002, demolished its former facility located between Mill and High streets in June 2008 and developed the land into a landscaped park, along with a continuation of the sidewalks, iron fences and decorative lamp posts. The old water facility abuts the linear walking trail. The linear trail opened to the public in the summer of 2003. This trail was built over the town's old rail line which had ceased operation several years earlier. Dubbed the Farmington Canal Greenway, when completed it will stretch from New Haven, Connecticut, to Northampton, Massachusetts, following the route of the historical Farmington Canal. The second phase of construction on the trail, which officially opened in 2011, redeveloped the old train line from Plantsville center to the Cheshire town line. The project has brought landscaping, iron benches, and intersections of brick pavers where the trail crosses roads. This is seen as a major link for the further revitalization of downtown Southington and Plantsville. Eventually the trail will connect with the Cheshire-to-New Haven route. Lake Compounce Lake Compounce is partly in Southington, and Bristol. Founded in 1846, it is the oldest amusement park in the US. Schools Southington has eight public elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school. It also has an alternative school for children in grades 8–12 called ALTA. Approximately 6,500 students are enrolled in Southington public schools, making it one of the larger districts in the state of Connecticut. Southington High School has a growing enrollment exceeding 2,200 students, of which 90% of graduates attend post-secondary education. Due to Southington's popularity as a family suburb, the town has undertaken plans to expand all schools to accommodate the growing enrollment. Three elementary schools have been completed, and a new building and second cafeteria has been added to the high school campus. Voters recently approved expansion and renovations to two other elementary schools (with one to be demolished and rebuilt), as well as to the two middle schools. Southington also has two parochial schools; Southington Catholic is pre-kindergarten through eighth and the other, Central Christian Academy is pre-kindergarten through twelfth. Elementary schools Walter A. Derynoski (240 Main St.) Flanders (100 Victoria Dr) William H. Hatton Urbin T. Kelley Zaya A. Oshana (renamed June 2019; formerly Plantsville School) South End William M. Strong Reuben E. Thalberg