The dispatchers at the Newtown Emergency Communications Center at Town Hall South at 3 Main Street report the following fire calls and the responders:Thursday, ...
When Newtown resident Roger Connor, Jr, returned from service in the US Navy in 2002, he wanted to find a way to give back to the community; and when resident T...
The third Annual National Gun Violence Awareness Day will be marked on Friday, June 2.
Newtown Action Alliance (NAA) is partnering with the Brady Campai...
Country music artist Tat Holler and his band performed a free concert on the evening of Sunday, May 21, on the stage at Sandy Hook Green, 5 Glen Road.
Also on t...
The two-time South-West Conference champion girls' golf team from Newtown High School was dethroned - barely - by Joel Barlow of Redding, at Brownson Country Cl...
A performance by Joni Mitchell Jazz Tribute to have taken place June 16 at Edmond Town Hall has been postponed.
"Tickets already sold will be honored," said Les...
NOTE (Thursday, June 1, 2017; 11:50 am): This story has been updated to reflect the proper title held by Maureen Crick Owen.
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Some say that the lo...
Janet Sherman Porteous, 87, of Shelton, beloved wife of the late Trumbull Police Chief Norman W. Porteous, died May 3 at Wesley Heights. Born in Trumbull on Aug...
The public is invited to a free Bike & Fire Safety Seminar, to be hosted by Extreme Fitness Martial Arts, on Sunday, June 17, from 2 to 4 pm.
The event will cov...
On May 22, Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, announced a new initiative to "train and encourage" high school and college-ag...
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!