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Set 30 point
Withington Auction Features ‘Dick’s 100 Choices’ Collection
Set 24 pt head
Sale At Within...
2c of blue nude.jpg and 2c recline nude.jpg (shared caption across 4col)
In early 1907, an accident in Matisse’s studio spurred the creation of two ...
Cut e-mailed 8-2
2col Breath of Fire
Mark Davis, “Breath of Fire,” brass and aluminum with steel wires and acrylic colors.
FOR 8-10 KINE...
August 6, 1982
The Town of Newtown faces hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of renovations for two municipal buildings and the six school system struct...
Theater Review   Ackbourn’s First Smash, Back At Its American Birthplace
By Julie Stern
WESTPORT — Alan Ayckbourn has been called the ...
Council Candidate Breaks Ranks
But Still Gets IPN Endorsement
By John Voket
A local committee aspiring to become an official minor political party has dropped ...
Stained Glass Gives Retirement A Rosier Hue
By Kendra Bobowick
A sunlit house can take on a pastel hue tinted with pale green, soft blue, buttercup yellow, or ...
John Wlasuk, 14, of Newtown (pictured left) won a gold medal in the shot put and javelin during Nutmeg Games competition at Danbury High School last week. Wlasu...
Share Newtown’s history with Newtown old-timers and newcomers alike by passing on photos of interest to The Newtown Bee. The Bee welcomes submission...
The Housing Market:
What They Aren’t Telling You
To the Editor:
The problem is far bigger than the analyst would have you believe. Unless something...
Newtown schools have degraded over the 3+ decades I've lived here as the concentrated social experiment curricula driven by the state and small but loud groups. Yet we continue to dig into our pockets while we witness the downward spiral.
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!