The Board of Education (BOE) listened to presentations outlining strategic goals for the district’s four elementary schools, as well as Reed Intermediate School, on Tuesday, October 21.

BOE member John Vouros, who shared the chair report on behalf of BOE Chair Alison Plante, said these presentations continue their annual district-wide goal setting work. He noted how study after study shows that school districts that engage in strategic planning and set specific, measurable goals “consistently see sustained positive impacts in student achievement.”

“Obviously, that is our ultimate goal, and this is our most important work,” Vouros added.

This comes after Superintendent of Schools Anne Uberti presented an overview of Newtown Public Schools’ Strategic Plan for the next three years at the previous BOE meeting on October 7.

The Strategic Plan aims to prepare students to thrive post-graduation, create engaging and challenging learning opportunities tailored to students’ needs, and more. It was created in collaboration with district leadership, including Uberti, Assistant Superintendent Frank Purcaro, local principals, and district department leaders.

The presentation by the elementary school and intermediate school personnel on October 21 is the next step in sharing this Strategic Plan with the community.

Hawley Elementary School Principal Chris Moretti, Head O’Meadow Principal Timothy Napolitano, Sandy Hook Elementary School Principal Kathy Gombos, and Middle Gate Elementary School Principal Jenna Connors worked together for their presentation.

The presentation covered the elementary schools’ instructional goals for the 2025-26 school year. Each principal took turns sharing different sections with the plan, along with strategic actions and action steps on how to achieve their instructional goals at the elementary level.

Elementary Strategic Goals

Napolitano went first. He said the district’s elementary team worked together over the summer to make clear, actionable plans that align with the district’s vision for student growth, engagement, and achievement.

“Our work emphasizes high-quality instruction and feedback, database decision making, targeted professional learning, positive school climate, inclusive communication, and strong family partnerships,” Napolitano explained.

For his section, Napolitano talked about how elementary schools will ensure their students receive rigorous and engaging curriculum and instruction.

He said one of their key actions to improve instructional practices is the full implementation of the revised Newtown Educator and Administrator Evaluation and Support Plan. This plan was developed over the past year by the district’s Professional Development and Evaluation Committee, which consisted of staff from all education levels.

Napolitano said it will be used for all aspects of evaluation this year, and that administrators are being trained in effective feedback and observation using the district’s single point rubric.

Moretti spoke next, covering how the elementary schools will develop and implement a consistent process for analyzing and using data to make instructional decisions.

At the elementary level, Moretti said data manifests in end-of-unit assessments, district assessments, and a state test. He continued by saying that, while data can tell them how students performed, they have over the years “focused on using data to show us what students need to adjust our instruction practices.”

Moretti said each school has a data team, which consists of a principal, language arts consultant, and math specialist. They all come together and meet with Uberti, Purcaro, and Director of Teaching and Learning Kara DiBartolo to assess their data and create actionable strategies for their buildings.

“This could take the form of locating resources that might be helpful for staff, or extra time with our math specialist or language arts consultant,” Moretti explained.

Elementary Goals Continued

Connors highlighted how they will provide sustained, ongoing professional development opportunities for staff that are timely and relevant. Their first goal under this strategy is to create a comprehensive professional learning plan that increases both rigor and student engagement in the classroom.

This year, Connors said much of their focus is on inquiry-based instruction, particularly through a “Building Thinking Classroom” framework in mathematics.

This is divided into two components. One is to have K-4 math specialists engage in professional learning to deepen their confidence and understanding of inquiry-based instruction, while the other is to have math/science specialists lead professional development for classroom teachers on building student independence.

Teachers will have many ways to participate, from book clubs and lesson studies to modeling and coaching cycles.

“We are really pleased with the number of teachers who already want to participate based on last year’s work,” Connors said.

Gombos discussed their goal of creating school climates that cultivate strong reciprocal partnerships with families, positive staff collaboration, and a sense of belonging for all students.

“This has been work we’ve really focused on for quite a few years now, and we’ve really done so much of it together, which has been so nice,” Gombos explained.

She continued by saying that the elementary schools are committed to creating climates where risk is encouraged, kindness is valued, and collaboration is essential — “a place where everybody feels they belong.”

To that end, Gombos said they are setting climate improvement goals. This is something the schools have done every year, but Gombos said this year is more formal since they are creating plans with climate specialists, who are the schools’ assistant principals.

Gombos said schools will analyze their climate data and define areas of focus by school for the year, while the climate leaders develop a continuum of behavior expectations.

She added that all staff will be given restorative practices training, which focuses on responding in a restorative and developmentally responsive approach, as well as creating, understanding, and repairing relationships whenever possible.

Gombos noted how they are working to engage parents in partnering with the schools on some of their more “challenging behaviors.”

“We don’t want people to feel alienated or not listened to,” Gombos continued. “Sometimes it’s hard when you have a child who is having a difficult time in school … and together, generally, we can get kids right where they need to be.”

Reed Goals, Federation Of Teachers Contract

Immediately following the presentation by the elementary schools’ personnel, Reed Intermediate Principal Matt Correia delivered strategic plans dedicated to intermediate staff, students, and families.

Correia was able to work and speak with his elementary colleagues prior to the presentation, so he said he “[won’t] try to repeat a lot of what they said.”

“What you will see is that this is in alignment with their goals as well, but it does add some differences that are special and unique to Reed,” Correia explained.

In order to ensure Reed students have engaging curriculum and instruction, Correia said he and Reed Intermediate Assistant Principal Carla Tischio need to be the leaders of that goal.

What was particularly unique about developing this year’s strategic plan, Correia said, is hearing direct feedback from staff at Reed’s goal setting meetings. Staff have been able to come directly to Correia with their goal, to which Correia was able to direct that back to the children.

“And I was able to ask, how is this going to support you in supporting your children? And I think that’s what’s really important, that [staff] … have to see how it’s going to professionally grow them, but also how it touches back on the children,” Correia said.

To that end, Correia said he and Tischio are very interested in feedback, and to see how they can leverage that feedback to support staff’s direct needs individually.

Correia said they started a data team at Reed to complement the data team at the district level. The goal of this team, he said, is to better understand the practices that support student engagement and performance.

Correia also talked about chronic absenteeism, which is defined by the US Department of Education as students missing ten percent or more of school. He said there is some chronic absenteeism at Reed, but that they “never looked at” or “considered it.”

Correia believes it is really important to identify who those students are and determine if they are typical students or those with special needs or are in the school’s English-language learner (ELL) population.

“Now’s the time to really start looking at that and hopefully influence that so that it doesn’t carry into middle school and become worse,” Correia said.

He said they added an attendance subcategory to their biweekly multi-tiered system of support meetings. This way, when kids hit that ten percent mark, they can intervene.

The BOE approved the ratified contract between it and Newtown Federation of Teachers, covering the period of July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2029 through a unanimous vote.

Plante said this proposed contract represents months of work from both sides. She publicly thanked Doria Linnetz for being the BOE’s representative for this negotiation, along with Steve Goodridge from the Board of Finance and Jordana Bloom from the Legislative Council for being the representatives from their respective boards.

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