The Board of Education (BOE) listened to presentations covering the strategic goals of Newtown Public Schools’ elementary and intermediate schools at its Tuesday, October 20, meeting. The meeting was held in Reed Intermediate School's library.

These presentations continue the Board's practice of listening to district-wide goal setting work around the start of the school year. Superintendent of Schools Anne Uberti presented Newtown Public Schools’ operational strategic goals at the BOE's September 15 meeting, while Assistant Superintendent of Schools Frank Purcaro presented the district's academic performance data and instructional goals at the BOE's October 6 meeting.

Head O’Meadow Elementary School Principal Tim Napolitano, Hawley Elementary School Principal Chris Moretti, Middle Gate Elementary School Principal Jenna Connors, and Sandy Hook Elementary School Principal Dr Kathy Gombos worked together for their presentation, which covered the elementary schools’ strategic instructional goals for the 2026-27 school year. Following that, Reed Intermediate Principal Leslie Ford delivered a presentation on the 2026-27 strategic instructional goals of the intermediate school.

Uberti said this let school administrators explain how the district's overarching goals are going to "live in their school plans," while also giving BOE members an opportunity to ask questions.

Elementary Strategic Goals

Napolitano kicked off the presentation with goal one: how the elementary schools will cultivate a dynamic learning environment that consistently improves instruction, nurtures student creativity and innovation, and increases student engagement and academic achievement.

Their first strategy is to ensure every student experiences rigorous and engaging curriculum and instruction.

"We want every child to have opportunities to think deeply, collaborate with others, solve problems, be creative, and experience meaningful academic growth," Napolitano said. "We recognize this work takes ongoing reflection, collaboration, and a commitment to our continuous improvement."

He continued by saying their first action is to re-introduce the Portrait of a Newtown Graduate (PONG) to certified staff and bring its characteristics and attributes up more intentionally in conversations.

PONG articulates the knowledge, skills, and dispositions every student should demonstrate upon graduation, according to the district's website. It also guides the district's strategic decisions relating to curriculum, professional learning, resource allocation, and policy development.

Napolitano called using PONG eye-opening, and hopes to give teachers opportunities to reflect on how these attributes are incorporated into their instruction moving forward. He added that all certified staff will use the framework’s characteristics and attributes at staff meetings and that learning walks will take place and identify evidence of these practices in their classrooms.

Another goal, Napolitano said, is to strengthen teacher practice, effective feedback, and reflection.

"We know that improving student learning requires us to continually collect and improve our own structural practices, so to support this, we're working with teachers to outline comprehensive, high-quality goals that are focused, measurable, and connected to professional growth," Napolitano said.

He added that they are in their second year of implementing the Newtown Evaluation Plan, and they will continue to provide training opportunities for discussion. This way, teachers can understand the feedback reflection process and can use it to strengthen their practice.

Another of their strategic actions is to effectively integrate technology to enhance teaching and/or assessment, including the integration of AI. One of their key performance indicators, Napolitano said, is for all certified staff to identify at least one routine task or tool that could benefit their workflow. He added that they will have a representative on the District Digital Device Committee tasked with setting guidelines and recommendations for screen use and device distribution.

"Completing these steps is important, but the larger goal is to ensure our students experience strong instruction, meaningful opportunities to collaborate and solve problems, and engaging learning experiences that support their academic growth," Napolitano said. "We want every student to be challenged, supported, and prepared."

Moretti spoke next, and said that the elementary schools will develop and implement a consistent and uniform process for analyzing and using data to make instructional decisions. He noted that this starts at the district level; as such, they will utilize information gathered as a result of district and building-based data team meetings to address identified student needs.

Three times a year, Moretti said, the principals, language arts consultants, and math specialists from all four elementary schools meet with Uberti, Purcaro, and Director of Teaching and Learning Kara DiBartolo to review this data. From there, he said they create a set of actionable strategies to address areas in need of improvement.

"The plans we make could be anything from different resources, different strategies, different ways to group kids ... [and] we take that information back to our individual buildings," Moretti explained.

He added that they will also set annual goals for increases in student achievement in mathematics, along with providing targeted instruction and intervention for students who are falling behind.

Elementary Goals Continued

Connors took the floor next and said the elementary schools will provide sustained and ongoing professional learning opportunities to all staff that are timely, engaging, relevant, and in line with district priorities.

To do so, their first strategic action is to provide staff with a comprehensive professional learning plan that focuses on increasing student rigor and engagement. Connors said all teachers in grades three and four will participate in implementing the Building Thinking Classrooms framework to develop inquiry-based teaching strategies.

"We want students to be doing the thinking, we want them grappling with problems, collaborating with peers, explaining their reasoning, and developing confidence," Connors said.

She added that they are also creating opportunities for K-2 teachers to start doing this work, although it may look a little different in each building; some are working on book clubs, while others are working with math specialists. Connors said they are also providing professional development for all certified and non-certified staff, guided by the needs of their specific communities. That said, most of them are focusing in the area of building students' independence.

"So the common thread in this strategic action is that we want our professional development to be purposeful and responsive to what our students and staff need," Connors said. "We are investing in the collective capacity of all our staff members because every adult in the building is playing an important role in creating these meaningful learning experiences for children."

Connors also said they will support the continued implementation of district-wide reading and math resources. This year, the elementary schools are implementing the Third Edition of Bridges Math, with Connors adding teachers will have the support they need to use the resource effectively. Their math consultants are continuing to work alongside teachers, and will use professional learning communities (PLCs), classroom observations, and walk-throughs to monitor the implementation, according to Connors.

Gombos finished the elementary schools' presentation by discussing their efforts to enhance school climate and culture through consistent practices. She said they think deeply each year about what is facing their particular school climates and what is facing public education in general. Gombos noted all of their staff have been trained in restorative practices, and that training will continue this year. While restorative practices can be reactive, they are designed to be proactive and teach children how to have conversations on taking accountability, according to Gombos.

"You'll notice in our plan, we've changed the word discipline to student accountability because, at our age, that's really what it is," Gombos explained. "We want to teach children to be accountable for their words and their actions, and restorative practices helps all adults do it."

Since focusing on these practices, Gombos has seen certified and non-certified staff have restorative conversations with the students. Remarks such as, "How would that make you feel?" "What can you do to make it better?" and "Next time, what will you do differently?" have worked wonders, according to Gombos.

She added that all their staff were trained on the harmful language protocol implemented into the district last year. Gombos said they take it seriously at the elementary level and tell students how words matter and to lead with kindness.

"We have addressed lots of tools because I think some of the things we've seen in the upper grades [happen] because we said 'kids will be kids' at the elementary school instead of taking that moment to actually educate children on why you don't comment on socioeconomic status, colored skin, or many other factors that 7-year-olds might not know better [about]," Gombos said.

She noted the harmful language protocol gave them the ability to engage in those restorative practices and take it a step farther.

Intermediate Strategic Goals

Ford began her presentation on Reed's strategic goals by noting she has only been in the building for about six weeks; she officially started as the intermediate school's principal on September 9. A lot of what the elementary principals discussed carries through to Reed, according to Ford.

For curriculum and instruction and student engagement, Ford said building administration will collaborate with and guide educators to design, implement, and monitor rigorous, data-driven professional growth goals. This is in addition to the building administrators providing consistent and actionable feedback to educators through frequent classroom visits.

The great thing about their new plan, Ford said, is that it is more about teacher learning and what they can do.

"The whole goal is we want to refine teacher practices to make for more engaging opportunities for our students," Ford explained.

She added that they will set annual goals for increases in student achievement in reading and mathematics as measured by district and state assessments. They will also use data from district and state assessments, such as i-Ready and Smarter Balanced ELA and Math, to drive decision-making and improving instruction for all students.

Beyond making sure struggling children get the support they need, Ford said they are also using Reed's chronic absenteeism plan to reduce the number of absences for identified students. Absenteeism reports will be reviewed biweekly to identify ongoing concerns regarding student attendance.

"It's very important that, with anyone not coming to school, for us to figure out what we can do to make it a better experience for them here and how to get them in the building," Ford said.

Other strategic actions include a focus on promoting an inclusive school culture of mutual trust, restructuring student support team protocols and focus areas, and continuing to implement the Connecticut School Climate Policy, among others.

Uberti commented that all of the principals mentioned how well they work with each other.

"But they all work with each other so well because all of them care so much about being here, about these schools, about these kids and these families, and that is what unites the whole group from the bottom all the way to the top. So, thank you for everything you do," Uberti told the principals.

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