by | Sep 17, 2013 12:02 pm | Comments (23)
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2012 Promise scholar Julio Badillo.
As New Haven Promise sends a third class of students to Connecticut colleges with scholarships, organizers faced a question: Why exclude kids who head out-of-state for college?
Continue reading ‘Out-Of-State “Promise” Expansion Suggested’
by | Sep 6, 2013 2:38 pm | Comments (18)
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Carolina would assign New Haven the story of three men who overcame obstacles to success.
Fourth of four parts on where mayoral candidates stand on major issues.
The four Democratic mayoral candidates have books ready to assign all of New Haven to read — and some competing ideas about how to improve the schools.
Continue reading ‘Candidates Differ On Paths To School Reform’
by | Sep 5, 2013 8:31 am | Comments (8)
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Mom Maureen Cox (with son Montez): “I like how they discipline the children.”
New Haven has renewed a contract with a charter management organization to keep running a public school in the Hill for another year amid inconclusive test-score results.
by | Aug 28, 2013 3:02 pm | Comments (2)
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James Maciel-Andrews, 10, couldn’t wait for the school year to start Wednesday morning. It was the first day for him — and for his new school building.
by | Aug 27, 2013 8:04 am | Comments (18)
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New science teachers Evan Brown and Gabriel Helland.
New Haven’s public schools have tapped two new “teacher mentors” to help 18 newly hired science teachers, as part of an effort to stop science teachers from leaving the system in droves.
by | Aug 21, 2013 12:33 pm | Comments (19)
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NAATE’s Klemmer discusses teamwork.
With just four days until the national championship, the varsity crew team was falling apart, getting beat by JV.
What should Coach P. do?
Continue reading ‘64 Teachers Dive Into Leadership Boot Camp’
by | Aug 13, 2013 5:05 pm | Comments (7)
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Students like Nilexy Conception are now learning math in a new way that doesn’t fit the CMT.
Third graders’ test scores plummeted. Scores at a turnaround high school went up. That might mean a lot — or, educators suggested, it just as likely might not.
Continue reading ‘Latest Test Scores May Not Add Up To Much’
by | Aug 6, 2013 12:41 am | Comments (27)
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Harries (right) and Johnston.
Just days after taking his new post, Superintendent Garth Harries learned some unwelcome news: The school district has a $3.5 million budget shortfall that needs to be fixed, pronto.
Continue reading ‘Schools Chief Confronts Surprise Budget Hole’
by | Jul 25, 2013 9:30 am | Comments (12)
Principals will have more discretion over how to spend their money under the new administration, Garth Harries pledged as he took over as New Haven’s schools superintendent.
by | Jul 21, 2013 12:30 am | Comments (32)
A Memphis-based “preacher-superintendent” with 30 years’ experience as an educator elicited rolls of laughter, a few “amen“s, and a standing ovation. Then Garth Harries took the mic — and showed New Haven a new side of himself in a tearful, passionate plea for the superintendent’s job.
Continue reading ‘Super Search Becomes “Star Search” For A Day’
by | Jul 16, 2013 1:56 pm | Comments (0)
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Pastor Eldren Morrison hosts a mayoral debate in June.
The Dixwell pastor who seeks to open a new charter school in his neighborhood has withdrawn his proposal, with plans to resubmit it in the fall.
Continue reading ‘Varick Pastor Revises Charter School Application’
by | Jul 15, 2013 3:15 pm | Comments (12)
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The state school board approved New Haven moms’ Montessori proposal Monday, launching Connecticut’s first-ever locally controlled charter school — with unionized teachers, to boot.
by | Jul 8, 2013 3:04 pm | Comments (5)
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Colorblindness is dangerous. Veteran local educators should mix with rookie outsiders. And kids shouldn’t be “bounced around like stocks in a portfolio.”
A New Orleans journalist shared those lessons from a city that inspired New Haven’s school reform drive
by | Jun 28, 2013 3:31 pm | Comments (41)
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Aaliyah Staton started summer school to try to catch up.
A new experiment in ending social promotion ended the year with “shocking” results at High School in the Community: Not a single one of 44 first-time freshmen earned enough credits to move up to sophomore year.
Continue reading ‘Zero Out Of 44 Students Complete Freshman Year’
by | Jun 23, 2013 8:34 pm | Comments (1)
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In a nostalgic final joint appearance in office, Mayor John DeStefano Jr. and Yale President Richard Levin pressed their successors and their audience to look forward — and keep pushing — for reform in New Haven’s public schools.
Continue reading ‘In Town-Gown Farewell, A School Reform Plea’
by | Jun 21, 2013 8:13 am | Comments (8)
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Superintendent Reggie Mayo visits Quinnipiac School last fall.
(Updated) Parents and teachers feel the city’s new K‑2 school is off to a strong start, according the latest school surveys.
by | Jun 14, 2013 9:50 am | Comments (21)
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Seven teachers must reapply for their jobs, and students will no longer take the bus across town for their bridge-building contests and other advanced classes, according to a new plan to “raise the bar” on the school district’s Talented and Gifted program (TAG).
by | Jun 10, 2013 12:09 pm | Comments (4)
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No kids were in school. Just teachers. They sat around a table and asked each other: Why do we even need grades?
by | Jun 7, 2013 7:44 am | Comments (20)
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Harries, Tracey admit setbacks, pitch plan to state board.
HARTFORD — Three years after the state launched a $2.1 million effort to “transform” Wilbur Cross High, nearly half of kids are still chronically absent, and English-language learners lag way behind their peers. Now the city’s making a second try with a new state-backed “turnaround” plan.
Continue reading ‘State OKs 2nd Try At Wilbur Cross “Turnaround”’
by | Jun 6, 2013 8:15 am | Comments (46)
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Vice-Chair Hopkins-Staten: Suspension rates “unacceptable.”
Amistad Academy suspended 20 of its 96 kindergarteners last year, a rate 15 times higher than in traditional New Haven public schools.
Continue reading ‘Charter Suspension Rate Prompts Call To Action’
by | Jun 4, 2013 3:49 pm | Comments (16)
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“Jurors” Amy Zheng and Donald Boone.
When she got kicked out of class a second time for swearing at a teacher, Jayla faced not a principal, but a true jury of her peers: fellow students.
Continue reading ‘Jury Sentences Jayla To Her Own Punishment’
by | May 30, 2013 3:13 pm | Comments (32)
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Crip-turned- scholar Orane Fraser with dad Tyshawn Cummings.
Sixty-four freshmen started the Amistad charter high school four years ago. On Wednesday, 25 of them prepared to get high school diplomas and head to college along with five other new classmates.
by | May 27, 2013 1:00 pm | Comments (15)
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Cicarella: Teachers should not elect their own school leaders.
Nearly a year after their union took over High School in the Community, teachers are discovering they may have less power than before — not more.
Continue reading ‘Teachers Clash With Union Prez Over Turnaround’
by | May 23, 2013 12:54 pm | Comments (23)
New Haven’s mayoral campaign had its first celebrity sighting Thursday, as actor Danny Glover endorsed Henry Fernandez — and warned against school reform that puts too much emphasis on standardized tests.
Continue reading ‘Backing Fernandez, Glover Questions Ed Reform’
by | May 16, 2013 8:00 am | Comments (17)
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Refusing to “pander” to an audience of schoolkids at a mayoral candidates’ debate, Matt Nemerson called for lengthening the school day, raising the bar to qualify for Promise scholarships, and holding back kids until they’re ready to compete with China. He found himself getting into not one debate, but two.
Continue reading ‘Student, Candidate Spar Over Longer School Day’