Superintendent's Newsletter

This is my first installment of a monthly newsletter. I look forward to sharing with you some of the district highlights that make our Newtown Public Schools great! I look forward to seeing you out at some of our fabulous events.

Sincerely,

Chris

I had the pleasure to attend Project Adventure lessons at both Reed Intermediate School and Newtown Middle School. Project Adventure uses the concept of ADVENTURE to spark learning for students, educators, and teams. Project Adventure lessons provide students the opportunity to learn teamwork and cooperative learning through games and activities. The Project Adventure curriculum is based on the K-12 Adventure Curriculum for Physical Education (ACPE). The ACPE meets the National Standards for Physical Education and infuses positive risk taking, social and emotional learning, and team building skills into every lesson. Newtown Public Schools currently has programs at Newtown High School, Newtown Middle School and Reed Intermediate School.

On an absolutely beautiful evening, Middle Gate families came together to celebrate the start of a new school year at their PTA sponsored Ice Cream Social. Both Principal Geissler and I helped parents scoop ice cream and offer toppings to the children. It was a great bonding event which allowed adults and children to connect as a school community.

As part of the necessary work needed to ensure that our students reach their fullest potential, the district will begin the process in creating a strategic plan. In essence, strategic planning is the process of setting goals, deciding on actions to achieve those goals, and mobilizing the resources needed to take those actions. A strategic plan describes how goals will be achieved through the use of available resources. Strategic planning requires community support at the school district level, both functionally and legislatively. Newtown Public Schools will use strategic planning to achieve the broad goals of improving student outcomes. This work will also include creating the district’s Portrait of a Graduate. The Portrait of a Graduate serves as a North Star for system transformation. Providing strategic direction for the redesign of the overall educational experience for students, this collective vision reinvigorates and re-engages students, educators, and community stakeholders. In order to do this work, the district has reached out to the Partners for Educational Leadership for support of these projects. This Connecticut based organization partners with districts to improve outcomes for all students through coaching, consulting, and capacity building.

The district has worked with the Newtown Police Department to develop a plan to address traffic patterns at Newtown High School. Through this work, we have created a traffic pattern that would significantly reduce pickup and drop-off wait times. In order to make this happen we would need all drivers, including buses to take a right turn only when leaving campus. Your support in this effort is appreciated.