With an autumn sun sinking low, hauntings began before dark Wednesday afternoon, October 31. Stretching shadows covered front lawns on Main Street where residen...
Clarence Ernest Canfield, 90, beloved husband of the late Esther Kuziak Canfield, died peacefully October 30, at the River Glen Health Care Center in Southbury,...
John Paloian, Sr, 82, of Bristol, Tenn., died October 31, after a long illness. He was born in Boston, Mass., September 30, 1936. Following the death of his par...
Martin A. Ohradan, 85, of Easton, loving husband of Mary Rescsanski Ohradan, died October 29. He was born in his home in Easton, April 22, 1933, and was the son...
Members of the Newtown Senior Center dressed in costume for the group’s annual Halloween Bingo Party on October 31.
Some came as witches with pointy black hats ...
To the Editor:
I’m a Democrat that can’t wait to vote for Bob Stefanowski, suggesting in the absolute strongest of terms that fellow Democrats (that this letter...
Newtown High School's girls' soccer team will take on Pomperaug of Southbury in the South-West Conference championship game, at neutral site New Milford High, T...
Mike Lestik, 89, of Southbury, died October 5. He was a former Newtown resident.
His wife of 68 years, Barbara; three children, Barbara, Michael, and David; six...
BETHEL— Sandy Hook resident and Lt Governor candidate Monte Frank will be at the Stony Hill Fire Department, 69 Stony Hill Road, at 5 pm, Thursday, November 1, ...
The time for the football game between Newtown High School and host Brookfield, set for Friday, November 2, has been changed.
Originally scheduled for a 7 pm ki...
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!