Superintendent outlines student gains, growth areas in year-end review

Superintendent Dr. Bremer presented a year-end review to the Newington Board of Education on May 28, 2025 that summarized academic results, demographic shifts and district initiatives from the past school year.

Bremer highlighted district assessment and program data and said the district is changing demographically: “We are nearly 50% white and 50% non white here in Newington,” she told the board. She described efforts to calibrate instruction through learning walks and instructional rounds, and she said district teams used a mix of classroom observations, principal feedback and data analysis to guide professional development.

On assessments, Bremer said Newington students posted stronger-than-expected gains on the SAT. She told the board that College Board projections estimated a reading-and-writing increase of 21.2 points for the year but students actually gained 28 points — “plus 6.8 more than what the College Board predicted,” she said. Math growth was closer to expectations, she added.

Early college experience (ECE) participation rose: Bremer said ECE course offerings increased from 17 to 22, and the district expects students to attempt roughly 1,400–1,500 college credits this year. She told the board the program has drawn state attention and that participation by Black, Latino and biracial students each increased by a percentage point.

The district also reported gains in bilingual credentials: the Seal of Biliteracy cohort grew from six students in the program’s first year to substantially higher counts in later years, Bremer said, and she described a range of languages represented — Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Polish and Ukrainian among them.

Bremer reported demographic changes and multilingual learner (ML) caseloads: ML enrollment was “hovering right around 9 and a half percent,” she said. She noted that ML counts change during the year and that the district monitors progress on the language-proficiency tests used to exit students from services.

Other highlights included expansion of prekindergarten offerings (from about 60 students in 2019–20 to a projected 220 for next year) and the opening of a school-based health center at the high school with services paid by grant funds or by parental insurance. Bremer also said the district secured roughly $3 million in anticipated grant revenue and that the Wallace renovation project was on track and coming in under budget.

Bremer closed by reminding the board that her written evaluation is subject to freedom-of-information rules; she said the board would meet in executive session at a later date to discuss the superintendent’s evaluation and that any contract vote would be required in open session before July 1.

Board members asked clarifying questions about benchmarks and growth measures and praised staff for improving practices tied to culturally responsive teaching and instructional rounds.