Bridgeport Snags Star Elm City Principal

The principal credited with helping to turn around Lincoln-Bassett School has been hired away by Bridgeport.

Janet Brown-Clayton, who has served as principal at the Newhallville school since 2014, was noticeably absent on the first day of school Monday. Vice Principal Jenny Clarino and other staff took on the task of welcoming back students and their parents. And it looks like they’ll be shouldering those duties until Brown-Clayton’s replacement is found.

Brown-Clayton this week was appointed the assistant superintendent for instructional leadership for K‑12 by the Bridgeport Board of Education. She admitted Wednesday that this is a bittersweet step to take in her career. But it’s a necessary step, she said.

“It’s hard for me to be a proponent of education and the stretching of our children and the enlarging of their territories and not do the same,” she said. ​“But I was born and raised in New Haven and I absolutely love my school, my teachers, and the community.”

Under Brown-Clayton’s leadership and that of her team Lincoln-Bassett — which was widely believed to be floundering and one of the district’s poorest-performing schools when she took over — has won statewide recognition for its gains on state standardized test scores. The school was number two in the state among high-needs students for growth in math. With the help of community organizations like ConnCAT, it has also pioneered a pre-school through after-school schedule aimed at helping working parents keep their kids safe and engaged all day.

The assistant superintendent appointment comes at a time when Brown-Clayton is enrolled in the University of Connecticut Educational Leadership program, where she is working on her certification to become a superintendent. She called being in the program and getting the offer for the Bridgeport position ​“a cataclysmic clash of opportunity.

“I couldn’t turn down learning and leading as I did at Lincoln Bassett,” she said.

Brown-Clayton said she is most proud of the teacher talent retention rate at Lincoln-Bassett, which is high. She also is proud that the suspension rates are low and the parental involvement rates are high.

“Our teachers are phenomenal,” she said. ​“We have double digit increases in our [Smart Balanced Assessments]. And the parents are demonstrating that they see Lincoln-Bassett as a viable part of the community. Lincoln-Bassett is on a really good trajectory and I expect that this growth will continue.

“We have a staff that is second to none,” she added. ​“They are invested in the work and they love our students, and that is all you can ask for as a school leader.”

Brown-Clayton pointed out Wednesday that she still catches herself saying ​“we” when she refers to Lincoln-Bassett. It’s her baby she said.

“I want the same thing any parent wants for a child who is being allowed to fly,” she said. ​“That you take the lessons we’ve learned, you practice what has worked and we continue to keep our children as the focus of everything we do, which is cyclical for Lincoln-Bassett’s success.”

In her new role as assistant superintendent of instructional leadership for K‑12 in Bridgeport, she will be responsible for 12 schools and principals, 16 assistant principals, and 8,107 students. She called it ​“home work” she said because New Haven and Bridgeport are not so different.

“I’m excited about it,” she said. ​“I’m looking forward to building relationships and building a climate and culture of trust that impact students positively.

“I’ve been blessed enough to have this type of experience at many points throughout my career, including at Lincoln-Bassett,” she added.

New Haven Public Schools Superintendent Reginald Mayo had nothing but praise for Brown-Clayton.

“Janet exemplifies what it is to be a leader in public education within an urban setting,” Mayo said in a statement released by his office. ​“She has led by example through her work ethic and diligence and has inspired others to follow her lead, giving it their all for the children of their school. Her experience and leadership skills will serve her well as she ascends to a top leadership position in the largest school district in Connecticut.

“As a New Havener and homegrown leader Janet also serves as a real life role model for our students and she models the qualities and traits that we want to see exemplified across the District,” Mayo added in his statement. ​“She believes in the students of her school and that helped them gain the confidence to believe in themselves and to follow her daily message of living the Basset motto: ​‘Where eagles soar and failure is not an option.’ While it is a great loss to our District we wish Janet well on her professional journey and we thank her for building such a strong program and team of professionals at Lincoln Basset who will carry on her work. Basset had a wonderful start of the school year and we expect to have a new building leader in place very soon after consultation and approval by the Board of Education.”

Brown-Clayton said that she was fortunate enough to count Mayo as one of her teachers — he taught her when she was 12 — and it means a lot to make him proud.

“The work he has done with me has paid off,” she said.

New Haven Public Schools Chief Operating Officer Will Clark said that the transition and replacement process is currently in the works at Lincoln-Bassett. He noted that the team currently in place, which was put together by Brown-Clayton, is a good one and capable of handling the start of the school year.

“Through her leadership and efforts, Ms. Brown-Clayton assembled a team of educational professionals and partners who were laser focused on supporting the growth of each and every student,” he said in a statement. ​“Those coordinated efforts produced significant academic gains as well as increased attendance, improved behavior, and health as well as community and parent support. Ms. Brown-Clayton has set a standard and built a strong foundation upon which sustained growth and student gains can be realized for years to come.”

Brown-Clayton a New Haven native, grew up on Ashmun Street in Dixwell’s old Elm Haven public housing. She started out in New Haven public schools as a kindergartener in 1961. She attended Winchester and Augusta Lewis Troup schools before heading to an all-girls private school, Day Prospect, which merged with Hopkins School while she was there. Brown-Clayton graduated from Hopkins, the elite Westville private school, in 1972.

Brown-Clayton would go on to attend Lincoln University, a historically black university in Pennsylvania. She received her administrators’ certificate from Southern Connecticut State University.

Her teaching career in New Haven began with a substitute position at Roberto Clemente School. She spent 10 years teaching at Sheridan Middle School, then headed to work in Hamden. She spent five years as an assistant principal at Hamden Middle School and five as principal of Dunbar Hill School. After spending five years as a principal in Georgia, Brown-Clayton returned to the Elm City in 2012.

During the 2012 – 13 school year, Brown-Clayton became an assistant principal at Lincoln-Bassett, where she worked under longtime Principal Ramona Gattison. Brown-Clayton moved to Brennan/Rogers School, the city’s first and most successful turnaround school, before assuming command of Lincoln-Bassett.