Mr and Mrs Shaun Clark
Brook Dion McKee, daughter of Kathleen McKee of Newtown, and Lewis and Ginger McKee of Newtown, and Shaun Charles Clark, son of Gail...
Free Practice PSAT
Ready for the PSAT?
The PSAT is a student’s first experience with college entrance exams, and the best way to prepare for the act...
Director Celebrates 25 Years At
The C.H. Booth Library
By Nancy K. Crevier
As festivities get underway for the C.H. Booth Library’s 75th anniversar...
Poster Winner Promoting Prevention
Council’s Family Dinner Night
The Newtown Prevention Council is joining forces with The National Center on Addic...
Too Many Accomplishments
For One Poster
To the Editor:
The bus highlighting Herb Rosenthal and Joe Bojnowski’s accomplishments at the Labor Day Para...
Campus
Notes
Cadet Patrick Keating, son of Daniel and Elizabeth Keating, has been named to the Dean’s List for the spring semester at the US Mi...
Evading Responsibility
On the afternoon of August 30, police received a report from a witness that a motor vehicle accident had occurred in the commercial ...
Newtown Support Groups
Friday, September 7Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
AA, Newtown United Methodist Church, 92 Church Hill Road, 8 pm, beginners meeting, open discussio...
BETHEL – The 2007 4H Nutmeg Benefit Horse Show will be held Sunday, September 16, at the Cooperative Extension System grounds on Stony Hill Road in ...
Awareness Fundraiser Planned—
After Myositis Deals Three Strikes,
Newtown Child Fighting Back Again
By John Voket
As the freshness of a new school ...
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!