The Newtown Parks and Recreation Department's Youth Football Camp will be offered, for athletes in grades 2-8, June 19-23, at Newtown High School's Blue & Gold ...
Senator Richard Blumenthal and actress Melissa Joan Hart were among several speakers who addressed a crowd of people clad in orange in front of Edmond Town Hall...
Richard Lee Ainsworth, 80, of Sandy Hook died peacefully on June 3, after a long and hard-fought battle with Alzheimer's disease just short of his 81st birthday...
To the Editor:newtownmeetinghouse.com, or call 203- 270-8293 for information.
The Board of Trustees of the Heritage Preservation Trust of Newtown, Inc - which a...
To the Editor:Sen Hwang represents Newtown, Easton, Fairfield, Weston, and Westport.
Last month in Washington, DC, I took part in the commemoration of the 25th...
The Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) will host a public information meeting at Western Connecticut State University, Student Center, Room 201, o...
To the Editor:
On behalf of Friends of Newtown Seniors (FONS) and the Newtown Chamber of Commerce, I want to thank all of the amazing Newtown organizations list...
Amil W. Muzzio, Sr, 91, formerly of Norwalk, died peacefully in his sleep at his Village of Brookfield residence on May 2. Mr Muzzio was born and raised in Stam...
A cluster of small deer stood still at the edge of the lawn: Mary Morrison, Hannah Neeb, Micah Loutensock, Ellie Raedy, and Gwen Tait dressed in brown leotards ...
To the Editor:
Efficiency and collaboration - many do not equate that with town agencies.
There are many things that are not seen by the public. Many jobs are d...
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!