Newtown High School Blog

Chef George Malavasic, visiting from Johnson & Wales University, presented a lesson on Healthy Whipped Desserts to Chef Steve O Shana’s Baking and Pastry class. Mr. O Shana’s students enjoyed the hands-on process, but not as much as the tasting process. Chef Malavasic also presented information about courses, degree programs, and scholarship opportunities at Johnson & Wales.

Designer/Contractor Gary Doski, Principal of 3d Homes Design Services, Inc. in Newtown, has been presenting a series of 5 lectures to Mr. Daly’s Architectural Design 2 students, in the use of the Chief Architect architectural CAD software. Read the rest of this entry »

Newtown High School Science teacher Timothy Dejulio supplements the material presented and developed in the classroom with additional audiovisual materials that students can access from his web page or directly from iTunes (search for dejulio). Read the rest of this entry »

With the number of students per counselor quickly approaching 300 each, we are always looking for ways to work smarter. Smarter this year looks like Guidance Class! With the publication of Connecticut’s Comprehensive School Counseling Curriculum this past January, the NHS Guidance Department developed and implemented a semester’s worth of classes for freshmen. The class met once per rotation, opposite a science lab and in lieu of a study hall. It was a fabulous method of Read the rest of this entry »

On December 3, 2008, a team of twenty area Superintendents, led by Harvard University Professor Richard Elmore, will be visiting Newtown High School to provide feedback for us on a self-identified “problem of practice.”  We have asked the team to help us to assess “To what extent are students engaged in their learning as opposed to engaged in the lesson?” Through the collective efforts of the faculty, we have identified Read the rest of this entry »

Last October David Kimball and Lauren Cerulo wrote a successful application for a grant from the State of Connecticut to fund a computer-assisted writing project at NHS. Participating teachers have received training, the lab has been set up, and a pilot group of six classes rotates through it. Students use MyAccess software to gain immediate, detailed feedback on their writing. MyAccess also provides teachers with data about students’ strengths and weaknesses. Teachers will gather information throughout the year to evaluate the overall impact of the program on student writing.