Superintendent of Schools Joseph V. Erardi, Jr, welcomed roughly 40 people to Newtown High School’s Lecture Hall on September 16 by explaining that more events like the night’s community forum will be scheduled monthly to discuss different topics.

Wednesday’s discussion focused on “Parent Partnership: Influence, Inspire, and Ignite Teaching and Learning.”

Dr Erardi also announced two upcoming events in October: an October 14 Board of Education Candidates Forum, which will be hosted by the local PTAs; and an October 28 community forum to discuss school transitions and student discipline and safety.

The superintendent asked participants at Wednesday’s forum to work in groups to answer, “What prevents Newtown public schools from having the absolute best community partnership in the country?”

Dr Erardi said he believes an integral part of the district’s success is what he calls “moving the dial forward.”

“In order to move that dial, there needs to be buy-in from the community, from all sectors, from parents, from business, from clergy, from support staff.” said Dr Erardi. “It doesn’t happen in isolation. It just doesn’t.”

The focus of the night, Dr Erardi said, was to build a bridge to “get the students in a better way.”

“This is not about dollars and funding and finance. This is about heart and willingness,” Dr Erardi said.

Attendees were asked to break into groups to discuss ideas and solutions to building community partnerships.

When the groups reported back to the whole forum, people shared a desire to have a better understanding of what is happening at each of the schools; an understanding and explanation of consistency between classrooms, particularly at Reed Intermediate School; a better understanding of transitions between grades; maintaining four elementary schools in the district; keeping class sizes small; a focus on bullying; fighting the feeling of isolation at different schools; building better communication between schools; getting more people to vote; bringing in more volunteers, including senior citizens; and addressing questions about Common Core State Standards.

Suggestions shared by the groups included hosting smaller meetings to foster parent involvement; engaging district fathers more; and building more leadership roles for students.

Foundation Volunteers Sought

Hawley PTA President Kristen Bonacci was also asked to speak at the community forum, to discuss the endeavor to create a Newtown Education Foundation (NEF). Ms Bonacci co-founded the foundation with fellow Hawley PTA members Aaron Carlson and Casey Ragan.

“NEF cannot succeed without community support,” said Ms Bonacci. “I’m looking to all of you individuals in this room here tonight and I am asking for you to get involved.”

Getting involved could mean volunteering at events, offering a special service the foundation, or joining the NEF board, according to Ms Bonacci.

“We need your help so that the Newtown Education Foundation can take education to the next level in Newtown,” Ms Bonacci said.

Community forum attendees were asked to sign up to get involved with NEF before leaving the forum.

While Ms Bonacci said the NEF is still “just a vision,” the group has had positive feedback so far.

“We look to take our work to the next level now and form the official organization,” said Ms Bonacci. “NEF will be an nonprofit organization with a mission to bring creative educational opportunities to the children of Newtown.”

Ms Bonacci said NEF will sponsor “really cool things for our kids,” like new technology, innovations for classrooms, and professional development for educators. Grant programs for teachers are also being looked into.

“These offerings will go above and beyond the educational budget in Newtown,” said Ms Bonacci, “and I think that is one of the most important things. We will be set aside from the Board of Education.”

NEF, according to Ms Bonacci, is looking for experts in leadership, fundraising, grant writing, social media, accounting, legal, and public relations.