Head O’ Meadow Elementary School students had the opportunity to shop for presents for loved ones and raise money for three charities on November 29 and 30, thanks to the school’s annual PTA-run Holiday Giving Shop.
A new Ben’s Bells mural has been completed at St Rose of Lima School. The mural, made up of predominantly green tiles, with the words “Be kind,” now adorns a wall in the school’s interior front entrance.
Every Tuesday during the school year, members of the Newtown High School Peer Leadership club meet and plan different activities around interests or passions of club members. Recent projects have spread the club’s support locally and further away.
Hawley Elementary School began its annual Kindness Month celebrations with a visit by Westport author Karlin Gray on December 3, and throughout the month, the school will focus on learning about kindness and completing kind acts.
Newtown Police Department K-9 Officer Felicia Figol, Officer Matt Hayes, and K-9 Aris visited Fraser Woods Montessori School on December 4 to share some of Aris’s abilities during two school assemblies.
The Board of Education discussed the idea of creating a new policy for class sizes at its meeting on December 4. Board of Education Vice Chair and Policy Committee Chair Rebekah Harriman-Stites introduced the idea, explaining that while there have been general guidelines, the district has not had a set policy on class size.
A Fraser Woods Montessori School mother has created an online app to help inspire girls to be clever, creative, and inquisitive. Empowered Girl offers tools and interactive features to help girls understand self-care.
Air conditioning projects for Hawley Elementary School’s multipurpose room and Newtown Middle School’s cafeteria were approved, along with a lightning protection system project for Sandy Hook Elementary School, by the Board of Education at its meeting on December 4.
A review of education stories published throughout the year proved 2018 may have been the kindest year to date in Newtown Public Schools.
Near the start of the year, Newtown High School senior Elle Sa...
UPDATE: NEF's Annual Evening of Comedy has been postponed to Friday, March 1. || The Newtown Education Foundation Honor an Educator program is live in time for the holiday season, according to the foundation. The foundation has also announced its next Annual Evening of Comedy fundraiser is slated to be held January 19.
Appreciated the opportunity to hear from both candidates as we were present for the College Dems forum but only heard from Brandon Moore. It was an opportunity to see who can unseat the Republican incumbent and there is no doubt that Brandon Moore should be the Democratic candidate. One concerned parent posed a question about discrimination unaddressed by the school district and interestingly enough, Michelle Ku, who proudly speaks of her Board membership years, said little, while Brandon Moore passionately addressed the issue along with his experience as an Apache Helicopter Commander. This family is supporting Brandon Moore. We need change and someone who is not afraid to disagree, especially about the rising costs of living in Newtown.
I am glad to see First Selectman Bruce Walczak engaging the electorate. Mark your calendars, folks — apparently, communication from Town Hall is possible after all.
But where was Bruce two days ago, when Connecticut State Police requested assistance from Newtown Police after two individuals fled on foot from an I-84 crash? As a manhunt went through town, police were stationed at our schools, and many residents checked their car doors, deadbolted their houses, and armed themselves (Thank you James from Port Conway).
That sounds like exactly the kind of situation where residents would expect timely communication from town leadership. Parents, neighbors, and residents in the affected area should not have to piece together information after the fact while police are actively searching the community.
The issue is not whether our police did their job. They did. The issue is whether Town Hall is doing its job when it comes to keeping residents informed during real-time public safety situations.
If the First Selectman can write to residents about the importance of showing up for the budget, he should also show up when residents are looking for clear, timely information during an active police incident. This kind of communication was promised during the campaign.
Unfortunately, Bruce Walczzzzak is starting to look like just another politician: campaign on change, criticize the last guy, ask taxpayers for more staff, and then tell residents the job still cannot be done.
528 more feet of broadsheet paper ... we have passed the dump ... as for the details, it is worth pointing out that Merrimack's coal plant shifted to two (2) 4 oil generators. I wonder if this is why crude oil production hit record highs in July...
Where was our CodeRED?
For over 4 years Newtown has a CodeRED system. The town tells residents it exists for emergencies and points to things like missing persons, wildfires, and criminal activity as the kinds of incidents it is meant to address. Yet we had no CodeRED for Kateri Doty, no CodeRED for the brush fires, and no CodeRED for yesterday’s manhunt with police and tracking dogs moving through our backyards.
That is not one oversight. That is a pattern.
Under sleepy Bruce Walczak, the town has an emergency notification system that never seems to get used when actual emergencies happen.
Whether or not Bruce physically sends the alert himself is beside the point. If the system is not being used, if residents are left hearing about dangerous situations from Facebook and the neighbors’ kids instead of from their own government, then that failure belongs to him.
Newtown residents should not have to guess when there is a public safety issue unfolding around them. If Bruce Walcz"zzz"ak cannot make sure an emergency alert system is used for emergencies, then what exactly is he doing?
So your counterpoint is that The Bee prints the same number of pages regardless of how much content appears in it. If that is true, then I stand corrected. I actually doubt that is the case.
