Louise Soltisiak, 81, of Mesa, Ariz., and Monroe, died December 31 at the Masonicare in Newtown. She was born in Bridgeport and was a longtime area resident.
He...
Dominick A. Salvatore, former Newtown resident, died December 27, in Palm Coast, Fla., surrounded by loved ones.
His loving wife of 48 years, Jean "Beans" (Bird...
Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 308 and others gathered at the Newtown Municipal Center on Monday, December 19, to name and honor student win...
Superintendent of Schools Joseph V. Erardi, Jr, shared with the Board of Education what he said is a responsible budget that allows the district to both maintai...
On Thursday, January 12, Edmond Town Hall Theatre will host two special screenings of 1953), a matinee at 1 pm and an evening show at 7 pm. The matinee will be ...
After having worked 24 years at the police department, the Police Commission has promoted Aaron Bahamonde, 45, from the position of administrative sergeant to t...
Now is the time of silence and reflection. The hustle of the holidays is behind us and we are able to observe the world that has been spinning past while we bus...
The organizers of The Sandy Hook 5K announce the fifth annual race to honor the memories of the lives lost and support those impacted by 12/14. The race will ta...
Ford vs Signs
Police report that at about 11:19 am on December 24, while roadways were wet, motorist Adrian Ajdinoski, 17, of Newtown, who was driving a 19...
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!