Diabetic Group To Meet
DANBURY — The Danbury Area Diabetic Association will meet at 7:30 pm on February 21 at the Pope John Paul nursing home, 33 Li...
WATERBURY — The rousing live musical celebration of Mark Twain’s great American classic, Tom Sawyer, will be presented by Young Peopleâ&...
With the possibility of the town purchasing Fairfield Hills looming in the future, what would you like to see the property used for?
Amy Holcomb: â...
Chemistry Students Explore the ‘Elements’ of Writing
By Jeff White
“I like to do a lot of everything in my class,â€	...
Sandy Hook Students
Explore The World
Amid hand-made flags and tables brimming with culinary delicacies, Sandy Hook third-graders basked in their diverse backgr...
Seminar On Creating Health
BROOKFIELD — Prevention Plus Seminars health education series will present “Creating Health with Motivation a...
District Will Be Flexible With 5/6 School
By Jeff White
With the reality of a town-owned Fairfield Hills quickly taking shape and the site’s advisor...
Consensus Sought –
Two Visions Evolve From Fairfield Hills Panel
By Steve Bigham
Later this month, the Fairfield Hills Advisory Committee will go b...
Cristi Ann Adams To Thomas J. Dropka
Kenneth and Amelia Adams of Sandy Hook announce the engagement of their daughter, Cristi Ann Adams, to Thomas Joseph Dropka...
Unfortunately as voter turnout continues to decline the chances of it increasing also decline. The LC and BOF already know that the budget will be approved by virtue of the low turnout so why try to make smart decisions? The so-called referendum is essentially just a rubber stamp. They will continue to increase the budget by 2-5% every year because it's low enough to not cause a pushback under the cover of "inflation" and "maintaining the schools." Sending the budget to vote with 9% turnout is meaningless and a waste of resources on April 23rd.
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!