Newtown
Support Groups
Friday, September 5Â Â Â Â Â
AA, Newtown United Methodist Church, 92 Church Hill Road, 8 pm, beginners meeting, open discussion.
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Tom Chapin To Perform Fundraiser For Playhouse
RIDGEFIELD — What better way to lead off The Ridgefield Playhouse for Movies and Performing Arts Chil...
Westport Country Playhouse Announces Plans For 2004 Off-Site Season
WESTPORT — While the Westport Country Playhouse undergoes a major renovation nex...
Blue Mass To Honor Emergency Services
TRUMBULL — The second annual diocesan “Blue Mass” honoring Catholic police, fire, and ...
School Bd Takes Up Issue Of Drug Abuse
By Larissa Lytwyn
Reflecting the local resurgence of interest in drug awareness and prevention, the school board address...
Time Change For Opera Gala
DANBURY — A gala concert event by and for the benefit of Danbury Opera will take place on Saturday, September 6, at 4 pm....
School Bus Schedule
Off To A Rough Start
By Larissa Lytwyn
Several factors, including the shift from a four- to three-tier busing system, the recent Blackout of...
Dear Tempting: Young puppies under one-year-old require double the nutrients of older dogs. They also have higher protein, fat, vitamin and water requiremen...
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!