NHS Greenery Offers Different Learning Experience
By Laurie Borst
The Newtown High School Greenery was buzzing with activity the morning of May 25. The greenho...
By Laurie Borst
On the morning of May 25, fourth and fifth graders at St. Rose School learned about Scott Joplin and ragtime through the Meet the Musician progr...
Yoga & Ayurveda
Program At
Yoga Center
WOODBURY — A free program, “Yoga and Ayurveda: Ancient, Complementary Sciences of Rejuvenation,...
Newtown EMS Shines At Awards Ceremony
By Nancy K. Crevier
The 2006 Awards Ceremony and Banquet for EMS was held Wednesday evening, May 17, at Stony Hill Inn in ...
Programs For Young Adults
*Seeking Summer Reading Volunteers: Sign up to participate in this year’s summer reading program as a young adult vol...
Hawleyville Church Plan Undergoes Environmental Review
By Andrew Gorosko
Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) members are pursuing answers to a variety of environme...
An End, And Also A Beginning
Leslie Hudson-Tolles may be calling her one-day exhibition at Koenig FrameWorks “A Farewell,” but the speci...
The dispatchers at Town Hall South report the following fire calls:
Thursday, May 25: 8:05 am, alarm, 12 Berkshire Road, Sandy Hook and Hook & Ladder respon...
So Many Decisions, So Little Time—
Eenie, Meenie, Minie, Mo — The Challenge Of Choice
By Nancy K. Crevier
Shopping has become akin to th...
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!