by | Feb 2, 2023 4:10 pm | Comments (1)
Paul Bass Photo
Schandra Madha on the hot seat at Common Ground.
One of New Haven’s coolest places was also one of its hottest Thursday morning.
Continue reading ‘Word On Springside: Hot Pile, Cooler Planet’
by | Jan 24, 2023 4:11 pm | Comments (1)
Thomas Breen File Photo
Elm City Montessori’s Blake Street campus.
The Board of Education signed off on extending Elm City Montessori’s charter, bringing the Blake Street local charter school one big step closer to winning another three-to-five-year renewal.
Continue reading ‘Ed Board Greenlights Montessori Charter Renewal’
by | Jan 20, 2023 5:24 pm | Comments (3)
Maya McFadden Photo
Elm City Montessori's GSA students and staff, with local artist Kwadwo Adae, at a recent Friday meetup.
Contributed photo
Finishing up Elm City Montessori's new GSA-backed school mural.
Gender-neutral bathrooms. Thoughtful and caring educators. A Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) for middle schoolers. And a school mission statement that loudly and proudly supports LGBTQ students.
Those were just a handful of ideas that came to mind for the members of Elm City Montessori’s GSA when asked to dream up their ideal school.
by | Jan 5, 2023 1:22 pm | Comments (5)
Thirty-eight families so far have chosen to move their students out of a West Rock magnet school and to another city public school that has more teachers on staff.
Continue reading ‘38 Students Transfer Due To Teacher Vacancies’
by | Dec 23, 2022 11:01 am | Comments (10)
Maya McFadden photo
Honda Smith at the Shack: Banking on trust and community.
Honda Smith made a promise to herself and to her West Hills neighbors that, after retiring from three decades of working for the city, she would find a way to keep serving her neighborhood.
As a reborn westside community center thrives under her watch and neighbors keep busy and fed, that promise has been well kept.
by | Dec 20, 2022 9:31 am | Comments (1)
An urban farming and ecology-centered local charter school has grown its outdoor classrooms on the far west side of town thanks to a team of environmental educators funded by a two-year, $100,000 federal grant.
by | Dec 14, 2022 5:21 pm | Comments (6)
Maya McFadden photos
Sarah Wall, Catherine Thigpen, Honda Smith, Rev. D’Hati T. Burgess, Richard Furlow, Carolyn Kinder, and Jalmar De Dios at The Shack.
EastCoastin's Sal Fusco drops off Winter Wonderland toy donation.
Three community-boosting miracles — including an oversized check from a power company and a truck full of toys from a bike life group — showed up at The Shack to help the West Rock community center get in the holiday spirit.
Continue reading ‘Christmas Comes Early At The Shack With $, Toy, & Food Donations’
by | Nov 28, 2022 3:11 pm | Comments (8)
Maya McFadden photos
Sabrina Gibbs with daughters Xora and Nova.
Alder Smith greets Stetson Librarian Diane Brown.
Sabrina Gibbs and her two daughters Xora and Nova got a slice of their new neighborhood — and a slice or two of pumpkin pie — at a reborn West Hills community center’s inaugural “Our Table” Thanksgiving dinner.
Continue reading ‘Shack Sets "Our Table" For Thanksgiving Feast’
by | Nov 28, 2022 8:56 am | Comments (9)
Allan Appel photo
Aubrey Bido and Aaliyah Jones trying to calm speeders.
“We have to worry so much about the cars going fast, we can’t learn how to spell!”
The remark by Common Ground High School freshman Aubrey Bido and her classmate Aaliyah Jones was jokey about the misspelled word on Bido’s sign,“Yeild” for “Yield,” but the occasion was anything but.
In fact, the message — and the West Rock safe streets sign-making workshop it sprang from — pointed to a matter of life and potential vehicular death.
Continue reading ‘Common Ground Plants Signs For Safer Streets’
by | Nov 21, 2022 6:17 pm | Comments (33)
Thomas Breen file photo
Board of Ed member Darnell Goldson: "First, one of our schools was shut down due to a lack of proper maintenance of the HVAC system, now our seventh and eighth grade classes are being dismantled. What's next?"
A shortage of teachers at Brennan-Rogers School has led the city’s public school district to recommend that families transfer 7th and 8th graders out of the West Rock magnet school and to another New Haven public school that has more educators on staff.
Continue reading ‘Teacher Vacancies Spark Student Transfers’
by | Nov 11, 2022 2:14 pm | Comments (6)
Maya McFadden Photos
Philadelphia and New Haven moms walk together along the Valley St. memorial.
Philly's Johndell Gredic sketching a vision for a similar garden in her home city.
A group of moms from Philadelphia walked a brick pathway lined with the names of hundreds of New Haven victims of gun violence — to take solace in the tranquil Valley Street garden, and to find inspiration in how to build a similar memorial in their own home city.
Continue reading ‘Philly Moms Find Brotherly Love By West Rock’
by | Oct 28, 2022 3:17 pm | Comments (9)
Paul Bass Photo
Before he moves on from his city job next week, Martin Torresquintero is hustling to finish one last bridge to connect New Haveners to an overlooked nature wonderland.
by | Oct 13, 2022 3:40 pm | Comments (5)
Maya McFadden file photo
2021 graduation ceremony at Common Ground School.
An urban farming and ecology-centered local charter school has won the first-ever “Impact Community Engagement Award” from the national charter school development firm Building Hope.
Continue reading ‘Common Ground Wins Community Engagement Award’
by | Jul 29, 2022 11:09 am | Comments (1)
Chapel Haven accessible hiking group summits Lake Wintergreen park's western ridge.
Almost 30 members of the Chapel Haven Schleifer Center hit the trails this week through accessible hikes for people with disabilities, enjoying the views and proving that hiking is for all.
by | Jun 28, 2022 4:29 pm | Comments (5)
Jordan Ashby Photo
Peter Markle and Stacy Spell of Project Longevity.
Stacy Spell recognized 13 law-enforcement and community members with awards Tuesday morning for their work in a community program to reduce gang gun violence — then ended up honored himself as he wrapped his own role in the program
Continue reading ‘Stacy Spell Stepping Down From Project Longevity’
by | May 25, 2022 5:32 pm | Comments (4)
Laura Glesby Photo
Neighbors welcome: Clancy Emanuel begins compost demonstration at expanded operation.
A heap of discarded orange peels, eggshells, peanuts, and vegetables of every hue came one step closer to becoming reusable compost — by way of long shovels, animal poop, dead leaves, a group of committed community members, and an influx of federal funding for Common Ground High School’s urban farm.
by | May 17, 2022 8:48 am | Comments (2)
Thomas Breen photo
West Rock/West Hills Alder Honda Smith with Monica Clark, Iva Johnson, and Von Robinson at City Hall on Monday.
A new music studio, a washer and dryer, a pottery kiln, and more programming for west side youth and seniors alike are one big step closer to coming to a reborn Valley Street community center — now that the alders have formally accepted a $550,000 state grant for “The Shack.”
by | Apr 26, 2022 9:53 am | Comments (15)
Disha Patel Photos
Students protesting Monday in support of teachers facing nonrenewals.
After a day of student-led protest, Common Ground High School’s board voted to allow the administration to discontinue contracts of four teachers at the end of the academic year amid a broader discussion of the school’s direction.
Continue reading ‘Staff Changes Spark Common Ground Protest’
by | Jan 5, 2022 2:31 pm | Comments (6)
Mary McFadden Photo
DuBois-Walton (fourth from left) at 2019 groundbreaking for Rockview Phase II.
The Omicron variant kept a majority of maintenance workers off the job this week at New Haven’s housing authority.
That hadn’t happened before since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Even the boss had to work remotely.
That hadn’t happened before, either.
Continue reading ‘DuBois-Walton Navigates Omicron, Regional Housing Challenges’
by | Jan 4, 2022 10:31 am | Comments (5)
Maya McFadden Photos
Smith: “Centers like this is what makes people to become successful.”
The reborn West Hills community center, The Shack, received a $550,000 grant to continue restoring the safe haven.
by | Nov 12, 2021 9:16 am | Comments (33)
Thomas Breen photo
ECMS’ new chicken coop.
495 Blake St., newly bought by Elm City Montessori.
Elm City Montessori purchased its Blake Street school building for over $5.2 million, as the local anti-racist, outdoor-learning-themed charter school puts down roots in the shadow of West Rock.
Continue reading ‘Montessori Buys Blake St. School For $5.2M’
by | Jun 28, 2021 5:46 pm | Comments (16)
Paul Bass / Allan Appel / Thomas Breen photos
Clockwise from top left. Legal aid att’y White: “Good job”; the new Rockview Terrace; tenants Terry & Gatlin: No complaints; tenant Bert Person: Doesn’t mess with politics; Mill River Crossing under construction; tenant Waldron: Give Karen a chance.
Markeshia Ricks photo
Then-public housing chief DuBois-Walton (third from left) at 2018 Mill River Crossing ribbon cutting.
Justin Elicker’s record as mayor isn’t the only government tenure at issue in this year’s mayor’s race. So is the record of his main opponent, Karen DuBois-Walton, in running the city’s public housing authority since the second Bush administration.
by | Jun 22, 2021 6:56 pm | Comments (21)
Ex-Principal Laura Roblee.
A city-hired attorney cited concerns about whether a principal’s dishonesty about her repeated use of the “n word” with subordinates rendered her “fit” to “serve in any capacity” in New Haven’s public schools.
The attorney advised New Haven’s schools administration that they had legal grounds to fire the principal — and advised requiring her to accept a demotion or pay cut.
by | Jun 21, 2021 3:35 pm | Comments (43)
Ex-Principal Roblee: Reading “White Fragility.”
Releasing a previously withheld investigatory report, school officials revealed that the principal of a majority-minority school had used the “n‑word” at least four times on two occasions with staffers, in addition to incidents involving “hysterical shouting” and “slamming on the desk.”
Continue reading ‘“N-Word” Report Released; Principal Apologizes For “Disgusting” Remarks’
by | Jun 19, 2021 9:52 pm | Comments (2)
Maya McFadden Photo
Graduate Nouria Ntite.
Three years ago Nouria Ntite didn’t know any English. She spoke only French.
Continue reading ‘Common Ground’s “Perseverance Class” Crosses The Threshold’