The Newtown Chamber of Commerce continues to host free monthly networking events open to all local business professionals.
The next event will be held at Sal e ...
Richard J. Cavanaugh, 53, of the Botsford section of Newtown, died June 25 at Danbury Hospital following a long illness.
Richard was predeceased by his father, ...
We are products of our choices. With Paul Rudnick’s I Hate Hamlet, The Town Players of Newtown tackles the question of art over fame and fortune for one young, ...
Tourgoers taking the well-attended 18th Annual House & Garden Tour of historical properties, which was held on Saturday, June 28, had an opportunity to visit te...
Approximately 100 new laws are poised to take effect in the State of Connecticut today. The new collection includes a temporary moratorium on the storage and di...
The radio dispatchers at the Newtown Emergency Communications Center at Town Hall South, 3 Main Street, report the following fire calls and the responders:
...
Getting selected as an All State athlete is a pretty nice achievement. Do it twice and, well, that’s even better. Three times isn’t unheard of but quite impress...
To the Editor:
The Newtown Historical Society would like to express our sincere appreciation to all of the homeowners, committee members, volunteers, sponsors, ...
With the money raised by the sale of 100 trees in the holiday season, the Newtown Middle School and Reed Intermediate School Interact Clubs are set to donate $1...
HARTFORD — The charitable response to the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012, was immediate, worldwide and exceptionally generous. Bu...
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!