Julie Tschorn To Charles Alexander Seabury
Mr and Mrs Robert Tschorn of Newtown announce the engagement of their daughter, Julie Beth, to Dr Charles Alexan...
 Wine Store Helps Stop MS
The World of Wine & Spirits of Newtown will be participating in the annual National Multiple Sclerosis walk-a-thon to be held on Apri...
Hospital Offers Free Makeovers
WATERBURY — Women who have mammograms at Waterbury Hospital’s Be Well Center at the Brass Mill Center mal...
Late Registrations Being Accepted
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The Fleet Newtown Tennis Open, the season-opening tennis tournament of the Newtown Tennis Association, is accepti...
RIDGEFIELD – The Summer Horsmanship Program will be offered by Stepping Stone Farm in Ridgefield for the 27th season.
Following two hours of instruc...
UConn Offers Pharmacy Program
STAMFORD — Extended and Continuing Education at the University of Connecticut will offer a pharmacy technician certifi...
Pressure Point Therapy Workshop
DANBURY — A free pressure point therapy workshop will be held by Physicians Health and Injury Center on Tuesday, A...
Women’s Forum Dinner Series
DANBURY — The Women’s Forum dinner series will meet at on Tuesday, April 18, at the Danbury Hilt...
Janice O’Brien To Kristopher Citrin
Christine and Gregory O’Brien of Germany, formerly of Newtown, announce the engagement of their daug...
Criminal Charges
Police report Leigh C. Brandes, 42, of Greenwich, forcibly entered a house on Dayton Street on March 31, damaging a door in the process, and be...
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!