Kind acts keep piling up for Hawley Elementary School’s third graders, and all of their efforts culminated on December 12, when the entire third grade gathered pajamas and books to donate to the Women’s Center of Greater Danbury for children.
The Board of Education heard a report on special education practices and procedures from consultants at its meeting on December 18: The report recommends further district-level reviews.
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 voters spoke, loud and clear that they support our schools and municipal services. The majority vote was a mandate to keep delivering well rated education services and keep it" Nicer in Newtown."
Thank you LeReine, for speaking out about this. The list of public servants who are unfairly targeted for abuse just for doing their jobs has been growing. It is a testament to the power of propaganda that otherwise good and well-meaning people can get so emotional as to act out in this way.
While I respect the outcome of the referendum, I’m disappointed by the way this budget was presented and passed. A 6.72% tax increase and a mill rate jump to 28.78 may have been framed as “just a few dollars a day,” but for many families in town — especially those already stretched thin — those “few dollars” add up quickly.
It’s frustrating to see large increases minimized in this way, and I worry that next year we’ll hear, “It’s only a little more than last year,” as if that justifies an ongoing trend of rising taxes. This year’s combined municipal and education budgets total over $141 million — that’s a significant sum.
All of the referendums deserve to be pasted. We have a history of deferring needed maintenance and then paying more years later. These are required to keep our town owned building and roads in working condition.
