Food Pantry Accepting Fresh Produce
The FAITH Food Pantry located in the undercroft of St John’s Episcopal Church on Washington Avenue is a little b...
Church Fair Vendors Wanted
Vendor space is still available for the Newtown Congregational Church Fair being planned for Saturday, September 20.
The fair will in...
Loaner State Park Passes Available At Public Libraries
WINDSOR — The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has again made state p...
Senior services for Newtown seniors are available at the Multi-Purpose Building on Riverside Road in Sandy Hook. The Senior Center is under the auspices of The ...
Medicinal Plant Hike
DERBY — A medicinal plant hike led by one of Kellogg Environmental Center’s seasonal employees will take place Sa...
Dial M for Marriage: An Evening of Mozart and Menotti
DANBURY — On Saturday, August 2, at 8 pm, “Dial M for Marriage: An Evening of Moza...
United Girls’ Choir Taking Root Locally
SHELTON — The United Girls’ Choir has announced plans to establish a new chapter in ...
Piper Patience Adolfson
Jodie and Brett Adolfson of Newtown announce the birth of a daughter, Piper Patience Adolfson, born July 14, at Norwalk Hospital.
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Circle Drive, Ridgefield
Al and Christine Meola purchased a home at 32 Circle Drive, Ridgefield, from John and Anita Killea.
Lisa Hintzen of Prudential Con...
State, Local Police Unveil ‘Text A Tip’ Program
The Connecticut State Police and local city Police Chiefs unveiled a 21st Century, cutti...
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!