Since taking over the 75-seat restaurant in the summer of 2007, Mr Tambascio and his head chef, Miah Bahar, have gradually introduced new offerings, opening up ...
SCAN Issues A Call For Artists
The Society of Creative Arts of Newtown (SCAN) invites area artists to submit original work to its Annual Spring Juried Art Show....
A Taste of Wine, Dinner Will Benefit Planned Dog Park
Residents are invited to enjoy wine, dinner, and a chance to bid on handmade jewelry on Saturday, April 17...
Speak Up For Education
To the Editor:
Over the past few months, I have listened to board members, other elected officials, and town employees talk about the sch...
This award is presented to a coach whose team participated in the Sal Tinari Biddy Basketball Tournament and is selected by the referees for exhibiting outsta...
640 Patriot Road,
Southbury
Jennifer and Christopher Hoedl of Southbury purchased a home at 640 Patriot Road in Southbury from Nancy and John Faccone...
Friday, April 2
GOOD FRIDAY
Easter Flower Sale, 9 am–6 pm, Sandy Hook Fire & Rescue main station, 18-20 Riverside Road, potted seasonal flowers...
Waldorf School Slates Annual Auction
Housatonic Valley Waldorf School will hold its 6th Annual Auction Friday, April 9, at 6:30 pm, at the Center for New Media ...
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!