Open House At Chase Collegiate School
WATERBURY — Chase Collegiate School, an independent day school for pre-kindergarten through grade 12, will hol...
*So I missed the big opening of Margaritaville Connecticut last weekend, but that was my plan: Unless I won tickets into the grand opening party on Sunday, I wa...
Pumpkin Patch Train Rides
DANBURY — It’s the Fall harvest season and train enthusiasts of all ages are invited to welcome the cooler wea...
Half Truths And Outright Falsehoods
To the Editor:
I am compelled to respond to Bruce Walczak’s letter (September 26 Letter Hive). Like his IPN cron...
Warrant
After learning that police held a warrant for his arrest, Robert Coffey, 24, of 10 Bari Drive went to the police station on the night of September ...
Vineyard Entertained Guests During Open House
By Kendra Bobowick
Steve Blum, Rich Ryerson and Robert Kopec unraveled melodies as guests arrived at McLaughlin Vi...
Families can show their support for NYFS by signing up for a 20-minute portrait session on either date. Preregistration and prepayment of a $30 session fee is r...
Public Rosary Rally Planned
DANBURY — The Altar Society of St Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church will join rosary groups from across the United Stat...
‘Twilight’
Series Book Discussion Scheduled
C.H. Booth Library young adult librarian Margaret Brown will lead a panel and discussion on...
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!