Board of Education (BOE) members listened to a presentation on Newtown Public Schools’ academic performance data and an overview of the district’s 2026-27 Instructional Goals at its Tuesday, October 6, meeting.

Assistant Superintendent of Schools Frank Purcaro delivered the presentation on the district’s spring assessment data, released for the fall time.

Purcaro said they talked about these numbers a little bit at the BOE’s special meeting on July 8, which doubled as the group’s summer retreat.

Purcaro noted the district only had preliminary numbers when he presented data in July. There have been a few minor adjustments between the summer and fall release, such as a one-point difference in certain categories, he added.

“But now that the full data has been released and it’s official by the state, we held our first district data team last week so that we can bring schools into the mix as to what we’re seeing at the district level, [and] what we’re seeing at different grade levels,” Purcaro explained.

This would then give the data team the information it needs to go further and do school-based and classroom-based analysis to find out where the district’s strengths are and where there is room for improvement.

Since Purcaro previously shared these numbers with the BOE, he weaved in a few slides from his work with the data team. These slides featured activities that encouraged the data team to “take things one step further” and really dig into the class and student results.

One activity had the entire group convene to brainstorm two to three areas for improvement, along with the action steps and “data commitments” they would take to address those needs. Developing these into actionable commitments to monitor and revisit later in the year, Purcaro said, helps them determine if what they are doing has an impact on student learning.

District Assessment Results

The first section covered Newtown Public Schools assessment data from three major State exams: Smarter Balanced Assessments, the Next Generation Science Standards Assessment (NGSS), and the SAT.

According to the report, 70% of students met or exceeded proficiency in the Smarter Balanced English/Language Arts (ELA) exam (ranking fourth regionally in 2025); 73% met or exceeded proficiency in the Smarter Balanced Math exam (ranking third regionally last year).

Purcaro said the district generally returned to pre-pandemic performance levels for the NGSS exam, which is administered to students in grades five, eight, and eleven.

For the 2025-26 school year, 66% of fifth graders, 67% of eighth graders, and 71% of eleventh graders met or exceeded the target. Purcaro noted grade eleven’s performance in 2025-26 was 17% higher than it was in 2024-25.

He continued by saying the district ranked second regionally for the grade eleven Digital SAT ELA and Math exams.

Purcaro also shared that the district’s chronic absenteeism rate decreased from 10.3% in 2021-22 to 7.3% in 2025-26. A chronically absent student is defined as someone who has been absent for 18 or more days of the school year, according to Purcaro.

He specifically noted that Newtown High School’s (NHS) chronic absenteeism rate went from 10.7% in 2024-25 to 6.6% in 2025-26 — the lowest percentage in the last five years. Purcaro pointed out this was the same year NHS introduced the dean of students position.

2026-27 Instructional Goals

Superintendent of Schools Anne Uberti then presented an overview on the Year Two implementation framework for Newtown Public Schools’ 2025-28 Instructional Strategic Plan, which mostly covered curriculum and instruction along with family and community relations.

This was a continuation of the BOE’s previous meeting on September 15, when Uberti presented the Year Two update of the district’s 2025-28 Operational Strategic Goals.

The plan is divided into five goals: 1) Curriculum and Instruction, 2) Facilities and Security, 3) Business and Finance, 4) Human Resources (HR) and Hiring, and 5) Family and Community Relations.

As Uberti said at that meeting, she primarily oversees the district’s operational goals while Purcaro primarily oversees its curriculum and instruction areas.

At the BOE’s upcoming meetings, building leaders and department leaders of instruction, pupil services, and teaching and learning will share more details about their work and specific areas, according to Uberti.

She noted there have been many key changes and adjustments for the 2026-27 school year. Some of these include consistent K-12 multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) protocols, supported EduClimber training, and the development of a formal MTSS framework at NHS, along with the establishment of a District Digital Device Committee to develop K-12 screentime and Chromebook guidelines.

Many components have been carried over from the previous year, however. Uberti said this includes feedback training and evaluation plan revisions, the continued implementation of the Harmful Language Protocol, the development of school-based climate plans tied to survey feedback, and the Portrait of a Graduate work at the middle school and high school, with integration into the learning walk model of K-6.

Goal Breakdown

Uberti said goal one focuses on curriculum and instruction, which allows the district to cultivate a dynamic learning environment that consistently improves instruction, nurtures student creativity and innovation, and increases student engagement and academic achievement.

She continued by saying the work is organized around three strategies: rigorous and engaging curriculum instruction for every student, a consistent process for using data to make instructional decisions, and sustained, relevant professional learning for all staff.

Under the first strategy, Uberti said the revised Portrait of a Newtown Graduate (PONG) was rolled out at NHS last year. The program will complete that rollout this year.

Students will experience the remaining four characteristics in each of their classes and store 14 reflections, representing all seven characteristics, in their Google Sites portfolios. PONG will also continue being integrated into the Senior Capstone Project.

This will only be one step in implementing PONG district-wide. Uberti said this will be done by introducing seventh and eighth graders to at least three PONG characteristics, and having eighth graders create Google Sites e-portfolios and store at least two PONG reflections.

Another component of the first strategy, Uberti said, is the integration of technology to enhance teaching, learning, and assessment, including the integration of AI throughout the district.

This would involve expanding the district AI team to include more teachers from a variety of content areas and schools throughout the district, providing professional learning to teachers and staff on the use of AI in classroom instruction, and exploring student-facing AI platforms, choosing between two to three options for potential use by NHS students, according to Uberti.

For the second strategy, Uberti said they would implement a system of district and building-based data teams in addition to implementing strategies to reduce the number of students considered chronically absent.

This would be done by standardizing a district-wide K-8 MTSS operational manual, along with formalizing an MTSS framework for NHS.

The final strategy would see the district provide staff with a comprehensive professional learning plan that focuses on increasing rigor and student engagement, according to Uberti. She said this would be done by expanding professional, inquiry-based instructional strategies to include teachers in grades three through nine and offering advanced training to the math specialists and high school math department chair on inquiry-based instructional strategies.

For family and community relations, Uberti said they would implement the new Connecticut School Climate Policy throughout the district.

This would involve school climate coordinators collaborating to develop and implement a continuum of strategies to prevent, identify, and respond to harmful language and challenging behavior.

Uberti said that each coordinator, using annual school climate survey results, would develop and update school climate goals every year and share them with the school community.

Beyond work to implement the new climate policy, Uberti said they will continue the growth and development of the district’s English-language learner (ELL) program, promote inclusivity to foster a welcoming and supportive culture across all schools, and strengthen connections and communication among district leadership, schools, and the broader community.

Uberti hoped everyone could see a throughline spanning all of the district’s work.

“The Year Two actions reflect what we did last year, our progress, and what our new priorities are,” Uberti said. “And again, when our school and department leaders come, you’re going to see these priorities translated into what they’re doing more specifically at their schools.”

At the end of the current academic year, Uberti said, the district’s progress will again be assessed, which will help shape their work for the following year and further their cycle of continuous improvement.

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Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.