by | Jun 22, 2012 3:36 pm | Comments (0)
Two days after the city announced a groundbreaking new deal to let the teachers union run High School in the Community as a “turnaround,” the state offered a gesture of support for the effort.
by | Jun 22, 2012 8:07 am | Comments (15)
Fifth-grader Ashley Harris bids her teacher farewell.
Kaitlyn Shorrock gave a teary hug to a student — and prepped her kids to adjust to yet another new science teacher — as a turnaround school’s “best” teacher packed her bags after two years on the job.
by | Jun 20, 2012 5:02 pm | Comments (12)
Melissa Bailey Photo
Departing math teacher Rob Orciuch didn’t want to “beg for my job” or be “blamed” for low test scores.
Bio teacher Stephen Zepecki is staying because of HSC’s “cohesive” staff.
New Haven’s turning one of its low-performing schools over to the teachers union in an experiment that shatters traditional definitions of American school reform.
by | Jun 4, 2012 8:11 am | Comments (4)
Melissa Bailey Photo
Hillhouse “peer leader” Aloysia Jean is heading to Georgetown.
Cheers arose for a new effort to get high school seniors into college — cheers, though as of yet no hard data to prove it’s working.
Continue reading ‘A Year Later, College-Going “Culture” Takes Root’
by | May 30, 2012 12:00 pm | Comments (8)
Nicolás Medina Mora Pérez Photo
Mayor tells Linehan: “Transparency, transparency …”
After hearing New Haven parents’ complaints about suburban students closing up spots in city magnet schools, Ed Linehan came back with some facts and some arguments to offer a rosier picture of cross-border education.
Continue reading ‘Linehan: Suburban Parents Don’t Game Pre-K’
by | May 25, 2012 6:52 am | Comments (3)
Left to right: Stefan Pryor, Maria Campos Harlow, and Christopher Korenowsky
On May 16, the Literacy Coalition of Greater New Haven convened a breakfast forum at the Wilson Branch of the New Haven Free Public Library in the city’s Hill neighborhood. The theme was “Literacy Partnerships, K‑12 and Beyond: Paths to the Workplace and Parent Involvement.”
by | May 24, 2012 3:00 pm | Comments (1)
Melissa Bailey Photo
“Is Ganesh an elephant or a man?” Jason Schneider asked his 7th graders.
As they delved into discussion, a new teacher at a turnaround school heard “music” in their words — and a sign that his own year is turning around.
by | May 24, 2012 2:36 pm | Comments (6)
Melissa Bailey Photo
Michael Robbins, a senior advisor in the U.S. Department of Education (right), talks to parent organizer Parris Lee.
One year after Wexler/Grant hired a new hand to bring in after-school theater and in-school therapists, the White House Thursday held up the school — and the city’s BOOST! program — as a national model.
by | May 24, 2012 12:58 pm | Comments (2)
After striking out three times on President Obama’s signature competitive education grants, “we’ve finally got one we may hit.”
Continue reading
‘City Schools Will Seek
$15-$25M "Race" Jackpot’
by | May 15, 2012 5:07 pm | Comments (14)
Nicolás Medina Mora Pérez Photo
Mayo speaks with a grandparent after Monday night’s meeting.
Move meetings to a central location with better parking. Make the boardroom’s layout less intimidating. Jettison Robert’s Rules of Order. Schedule “public participation on matters of general concern” before the long superintendent’s report.
Continue reading ‘School Board Ponders How To Involve Public’
by | May 8, 2012 8:44 am | Comments (2)
It looks like Gov. Dannel P. Malloy will get a state school reform bill passed this year after all — though not as sweeping a plan as he’d hoped.
by | May 7, 2012 11:14 am | Comments (6)
Melissa Bailey Photo
“Mr. LeSane, Bill needs you!” the assistant principal called out across the cafeteria.
Hours after finishing his graveyard prison shift, Floyd LeSane was on the daytime schoolyard shift. He walked over to where a 3rd-grader was circling the tables, refusing to sit down.
Continue reading ‘Prison Guard’s Help Needed Back At School’
by | May 2, 2012 12:06 pm | Comments (4)
Melissa Bailey Photo
Aspiring principal Jenny Clarino.
Team leader Marcus Walton.
The problem: middle-schoolers are hanging out in the halls, coming late to class. The solution: “empowering from the sidelines.”
Continue reading ‘Future Principal Tackles Hallway Hangouts’
by | Apr 26, 2012 11:57 am | Comments (13)
Melissa Bailey File Photo
Festa hopes her third son can join his brothers at Hooker.
As the number of families seeking coveted spots at Hooker School again hits an overflow, parents are lining up for another high-stakes sweepstakes.
Continue reading ‘Parents Face 2nd Lottery For Hooker Seats’
by | Apr 24, 2012 8:02 am | Comments (6)
Melissa Bailey Photo
Gibson-Brehon: “Where is the transparency?”
After parents objected they were kept in the dark about a “disappointing” plan to move Hyde magnet school to Hillhouse High, schools Superintendent Reggie Mayo agreed to reconsider.
by | Apr 17, 2012 7:39 am | Comments (16)
Melissa Bailey Photo
Jameyah Carmichael fueled up for math class with apple juice and Frosted Mini-Wheats.
In the first month of a new experiment inside a Dixwell school, the number of kids eating breakfast shot up by 75 percent — a swift change that officials hope will help students learn math and read books.
by | Apr 13, 2012 8:44 am | Comments (2)
Arts leaders who fear that testing is squeezing out creative learning may find some hope in an after-school program in the Hill — and the reaction of one 4th-grader who refused to leave the classroom.
by | Apr 10, 2012 12:02 pm | Comments (0)
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As it looks to fill up to six vacancies for principals next fall, New Haven is turning to a new “pipeline” of homegrown leaders like Tara Cass and Jamie Baker.
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‘"Future Leaders" Groomed
For Open Principal Jobs’
by | Apr 6, 2012 10:14 am | Comments (2)
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Kids at Brennan/Rogers, the city’s first in-house turnaround school.
As a notification deadline passed, New Haven’s teachers union president professed relief that the city would apparently create no new “turnaround” schools next year.
Not so fast, the mayor said: The deadline won’t stop him from continuing a key component of school reform.
by | Mar 29, 2012 11:01 am | Comments (11)
Melissa Bailey Photo
As it tries to concoct a recipe for turning around a low-performing school, Wexler/Grant has a secret ingredient: tutors like Esther Hyun from Yale. Lots of them.
by | Mar 28, 2012 7:49 am | Comments (29)
Melissa Bailey Photo
Melissa Jones got two kids into Beecher Museum School.
Some parents cried for joy. Others shed tears of sorrow as they crammed a hearing room for the most competitive lottery in the history of New Haven magnet schools.
by | Mar 27, 2012 12:21 pm | Comments (1)
More kids like Emily Colon and Zaneta Langley may be taking up boxing, as the school district announced early results of its Boost! program — and plans for expansion next year.
by | Mar 23, 2012 8:06 am | Comments (16)
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Returning to New Haven to pitch school reform, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy extended and received an olive branch from a teachers union — though neither side budged on core disagreements coming to a head in Hartford.
by | Mar 14, 2012 7:56 am | Comments (40)
Sisters Diane and Gerry Prince joined ConnCANners backing SB 24.
Angry teachers drowned out both the governor and charter proponents Tuesday night at Wilbur Cross High School, where they gathered to blast proposed state education reform plans.
by | Mar 13, 2012 12:13 pm | Comments (9)
Melissa Bailey Photo
He sees an attack on tenure. She sees the potential for money to support New Haven reforms.
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‘On Eve Of Malloy Visit,
2 Takes On His Reforms’