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Dennis Serfilippi |
Nov 8, 2019 2:26 pm
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David Sepulveda Photo
Dennis Serfilippi and Adam Marchand after the polls closed Tuesday.
Dennis Serfilippi ran for alder Tuesday as an independent in Ward 25 against incumbent Adam Marchand, who won the election. Serfilippi wrote the following article.
Driving home from Edgewood School on Election Night I realized there was unfinished business. I needed to find a way to express my gratitude and more importantly share my experiences of the day just passed.
Latina/Latino students account for more than 47 percent of the total student population of the New Haven Public Schools — currently the largest segment of the district’s student body. Yet, this same community is underrepresented, significantly, at all levels of the District’s staff.
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Josiah Brown |
Nov 5, 2019 9:30 am
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Josiah Brown, a volunteer member of the board of the Literacy Coalition of Greater New Haven, sent this account of an event in which the Coalition was involved.
David Braze, Nicole Landi, Joanne R. White, and Waltrina Kirkland-Mullins
The October event had been previewed, along with other literacy news, in an earlier Independent story—and preceded by one night the annual spelling bee to benefit New Haven Reads, a key Coalition participant. (As Lucy Gellman’s coverage of the Oct. 25 spelling bee noted, “While New Haven Reads tutors 550 kids a week, an all-time high of 234 more remain on the waitlist” — so additional volunteer tutors are needed!)
The importance of this work was underscored days later by the release of the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores. On average nationally, both 4th-graders and 8th-graders saw declines in reading proficiency since 2017. In Connecticut, 4th-graders’ reading skills showed a slight decrease — while average gaps among various groups remained troubling. In a Connecticut Mirror account, Ajit Gopalkrishnan of the State Department of Education was quoted saying that though he doesn’t regard it as an “excuse … we are working on improving language acquisition for our English learners, who are a substantially bigger proportion of our population than even five years ago.”
(The NAEP’s “proficiency” standard is stiffer than that of virtually every state’s interpretation of “proficient.” According to the NAEP website, “… reaching the NAEP Proficient level is not necessarily the same as reaching a state’s standard for proficient performance at a given grade level.”)
It’s that spooky time of year again and this Friday (Oct. 25) from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. all New Haven children and families are invited to LEAP’s annual Halloween Festival. There will be pumpkin painting, games galore and the LEAP haunted house.
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Paula Walker |
Oct 7, 2019 12:29 pm
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Contributed photo
Paula Walker (pictured) of Fair Haven Heights recently went out on her own to launch an insurance agency focused on Medicare after working for a brokerage that offered Medicare Plans across the country. She wrote the following article about why.
Why I decided to leave my job to start my own business?
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Larry L. Bingaman |
Oct 7, 2019 7:49 am
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Lake Whitney dam, in early stages of restoration.
The president of New Haven’s water utility sent in the following article to mark the organization’s 170th anniversary year:
Grounded in the belief that the people of Greater New Haven needed access to a safe and reliable water supply for our community to grow, the Connecticut General Assembly passed a resolution in 1849 approving the incorporation of the New Haven Water Company, the predecessor to the Regional Water Authority (RWA), beginning the history of New Haven’s public water utility. As we celebrate our 170th Anniversary, the RWA is proud to carry on the tradition of excellence that founded our company and recommit ourselves to another 170 years making life better for people by delivering water for life.
Democratic Registrar of Voters Shannel Evans at a pre-election site visit to the polls at Clemente School.
Editor’s note: The Registrar of Voters Office undertook a months-long effort in advance of the Sept. 10 primary to improve its elections operation. Read about that here. On primary day, the office and Head Moderator Kevin Arnold worked closely with the Independent to work out any potential barriers to reporting election results; thanks to that cooperation, we were able to report full results to the public 25 minutes after the polls closed. Below, Democratic Registrar of Voters Shannel Evans offers a written update on how it all went.
The following story was contributed by United Way:
United Way of Greater New Haven (UWGNH) broke a record Saturday during its annual New Haven Day of Caring. Hundreds of volunteers teamed up to help hungry families in the area by packaging 37,500 meals – the largest number of meals packed and donated in a single day in the city of New Haven. Every year, 100,000 people struggle with hunger in New Haven County – 30,000 of whom are children.
Carl Porto surrounded by grandson William Porto and Head of School Bob Izzo.
The following was contributed by Hamden Hall:
Longtime Hamden Hall Country Day School Trustee Carl M. Porto Sr. was awarded the prestigious Medal of Distinction at Commencement 2019 – only the third person in the school’s history to receive the decoration.
United Way volunteers and partners came together Friday to make “welcome home baskets” filled with bed sheets, cleaning supplies, and handwritten cards in a day of action to help end youth homelessness.
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Gabriela Soriano, Sofia Soriano and Krishna Patel |
Jun 3, 2019 2:26 pm
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Three Hill Regional Career High School students wrote the following plea to stop the planned transfer of three teachers, as part of a system-wide budget-cutting plan that involves transferring 53 teachers.
It has come to the attention of the Career High School student body that two of our beloved history teachers, James Osborne and Christopher Brennan, and our only music teacher, Scott McCoy, may be leaving our school next year.
New Haven high school students gathered on the Green at Church and Chapel streets Friday afternoon to join fellow students from around the globe to demand action on climate change.
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Kate Cebik, Kirsten Levinsohn and Bradley Fleming |
May 10, 2019 7:16 am
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Kate Cebik Photo
MakeHaven Facilitator Clancy Emanual and Kirsten Levinsohn of New Haven Reads with Victoria Smith of New Haven Read.
A team of 13 dedicated volunteers gathered at MakeHaven with MakeHaven’s woodshop facilitators to build 6 “Help Your Shelves” — free book boxes that will be installed around New Haven.
The following was provided by The Community Foundation For Greater New Haven.
The Quinnipiac River Fund has awarded $138,000 in grants to study the Quinnipiac River and its wildlife, reduce pollution, and increase access and recreational opportunities. Eleven competitive grants were awarded to organizations working in Greater New Haven, according to a press release from the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.
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Mallorie Madden |
Mar 27, 2019 7:28 am
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Contributed Photo
Mallorie Madden, a 2nd-grade teacher at King-Robinson, submitted the following article about her school’s collaboration with another district high school:
It has been students teaching students in New Haven, as Hillhouse High School JROTC cadets have been working with elementary students at King/Robinson Inter-District Magnet School: An International Baccalaureate STEM School.
New Haven residents mingled with Pulitzer-winning journalists, law professors, and local high school students over hors d’oeuvres and chilled Thursday, Feb. 28. The 2019 LEAP Year Event annual fundraiser brought together over 500 community members to support Leadership, Education and Athletics in Partnership (LEAP), a local nonprofit that provides free after-school and summer programs to over 1,200 young people from low-income neighborhoods in New Haven.
The event raised a record $200,000 from sponsorships, event ticket sales, and individual donations to help grow LEAP’s programs and services despite state funding cuts.
This article and these photos (of past events) were submitted by LEAP’s Rachel Kline Brown:
Are you concerned about issues of race in America and want to discuss them with a Pulitzer Prize-winning author? Or would you prefer to discuss solutions to problems in developing countries with a renowned international economist?
Or perhaps you would rather listen to a world-class pianist and composer while eating a delicious meal. All of these are options and many more because it is time for the 24th annual LEAP Year Event!
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Rachel Kline Brown |
Dec 17, 2018 3:24 pm
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Rachel Kline Brown photos
LEAP’s Rebecca Kline Brown sent in this report:
From now through New Year’s Eve, when holiday shoppers check out at Barnes & Noble North Haven, they can buy a book for one of the 1,200 children who attend LEAP’s after-school and summer programs.
Migrants and refugrees at the Mixhuca Stadium in Mexico City.
Mexico City—Three young people. Teenagers. Sitting on the stairs of a stadium, chatting. They could be teenagers chilling on the steps of the New Haven Public Library. Instead, they are young people at the Mixhuca Stadium in Mexico City, traveling on the caravan headed north.
