Newtown Public Schools Athletic Director Matt Memoli shared a presentation on fall sports with the Board of Education at its meeting on October 18.

It was one of three presentations during the meeting, and the school board also heard and approved its monthly financial report.

“We’re really in the swing of it,” said Memoli near the start of his presentation.

He shared a breakdown of how many students play each fall sport, which ranges from nine students who play golf to 88 students who play football. Overall there are 430 student athletes, 38 coaches, 12 sports, and 23 teams.

Many of Newtown’s teams are at the top of the conference, Memoli shared.

When sharing current initiatives, Memoli’s presentation highlighted professional development for coaches along with resources for student athletes and parents, and seminars from guest presenters, including Newtown Prevention Council, a registered dietician, and athletic mental training.

Memoli said he teaches a Fall Sports Captains Council that meets every two weeks before school. It focuses on developing leadership qualities for the district’s team captains.

Other presentation highlights included a new Athletic Department Technology Club and a Freshman “Futures” Academy to build student leadership qualities early.

The presentation shared that Newtown High School earned the 2021 Fred Belsamo Sportsmanship Award, which is awarded to four schools statewide for outstanding athletic departments, and was a Michaels Cup Winner for 2021, which is awarded to 15 schools statewide for having leaders in sportsmanship and community service.

And in the fall this school year, sports teams have participated in a range of community service projects, such as fundraising for local causes, volunteering at local events, working with Families United in Newtown (FUN), and Memoli shared that many student athletes coach youth teams.

Memoli later highlighted the district’s Unified Sports programs in the presentation. At NHS the Unified Soccer team is practicing two days a week. And at Newtown Middle School, Unified Soccer has its largest turnout yet with 20 student athletes participating.

“It’s a hit down at the middle school,” Memoli said.

A slide in the presentation about NMS’s Unified Soccer program reads in part, “The students are having a blast making social connections while playing soccer. This program is giving so many opportunities for our athletes and partners to engage in extracurricular activities.”

At NMS the Girls and Boys Cross Country program has more than 75 athletes, and Memoli said that is also the district’s largest participation since the program began.

Near the end of his presentation he thanked Assistant to the Athletic Director Debi Modzelewski for all she does, thanked NHS Principal Dr Kimberly Longobucco for supporting the district’s athletes, and thanked the Board of Education for its ongoing support.

“It’s a special place here,” said Memoli.

The next presentation the school board heard was from Newtown Public Schools Director of Teaching and Learning Kara DiBartolo, who shared an overview of the district’s Learning Walks process. Learning Walks are when DiBartolo and school administrators visit classrooms, according to the presentation.

During the visits there is a focus on both student and teacher actions, and protocols are followed to assess the visits. The school-year goal is to visit 300 classrooms. As of October 18, DiBartolo said 47 classroom visits had been completed.

The Learning Walks process was a district effort that was put on hold during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and was restarted this school year, according to the presentation.

Later in the meeting, Assistant Superintendent of Schools Anne Uberti presented Newtown’s Multi- Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), formerly referred to as Scientific Researched-Based Interventions (SRBI). Uberti shared while the name is changing it will still have the same requirements as SRBI, and she said it is important to have a consistent implementation of supports across all of Newtown’s schools.

Uberti’s presentation offered a look at how evaluating responses to interventions work and expectations of the district’s building administrators.

The assistant superintendent explained consistent implementation is important for gathering screening data.

“If we don’t have good screening data, we may not find the right kids or the kids who need interventions,” said Uberti.

Also during the meeting, the school board unanimously approved its financial report for the month of September, as presented by Director of Business & Finance Tanja Vadas.

The approved financial report reads in part, “... it is still early in the year and our account analysis has not yet begun; therefore, the majority of our major objects have been projected as fully expensed. Our salary accounts, out-of-district tuition, and transportation are currently showing positive balances and this is for a variety of reasons ... Currently all accounts appear to be in good standing, and we will continue to update our forecast and projections as more data becomes available.”

Education Editor Eliza Van can be reached at eliza@thebee.com.