Education

Tossing Caps — And Gowns — For St Rose 8th Grade Graduation

Published: May 18, 2020 12:00 PM

Being an 8th grader at St Rose School is a major milestone for students, many who start in Preschool and Kindergarten. There are many special events that take place leading up to and including graduation.

The 8th grade Class of 2020 is missing out on many live events, but the spirit of the school community is strong.

On Saturday, May 16, Mrs Valerie Petrillo, the 8th Grade Homeroom teacher, traveled to all 24 of her students’ homes to deliver their caps and gowns (from a safe distance) in preparation for graduation which is slated for June 6. Details on that event are still being planned at this time.

St Rose eighth grade student Sarah Kirkman catches her cap and gown package, tossed by her homeroom teacher, Valerie Petrillo. —photos courtesy Laura Moulder

Thomas Phelan fetches his cap and gown package from its landing spot by his house, May 16.

Talia Ondy stays a safe distance back as her cap and gown package is handed off by teacher Valerie Petrillo, in advance of a June 6 “graduation” now being planned.

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I have seen Mr. Pisani repeatedly assert in the pages of the Bee that Newtown schools are "testing at a failing 64.9%". I'd be curious if he could elaborate on this statistic, as I have been unable to verify it independently. Which test exactly is our school system failing? How do our schools compare to other towns? How does our score compare to historical measures? It's very hard to draw conclusions from a single data point, so here are a few more data points to think about for context: Newtown is consistently ranked among the top 20 school districts in CT by the US News and World Report and Niche, which consider a range of performance metrics in their rankings; on average, Newtown students perform similar to, if not better than, students in neighboring school districts on standardized math and reading tests; the only data point on the CT Department of Education District Report Card where Newtown "fails" -- that is, falls behind the state average -- is access to art instruction. I'm glad the council member has acknowledged in this letter what taxpayers in high-performing (and high-spending) school districts like Darien, New Canaan, and Westport already know: "School funding does impact student achievement." Please keep that in mind when you vote this week!

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Tossing Caps — And Gowns — For St Rose 8th Grade Graduation

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