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.
That’s according to a press release that Common Ground High School sent out on Wednesday.
Common Ground, which was founded 25 years ago and operates out of a school in West Rock park, received a $20,000 grant as part of the award. Two other Community Engagement Award recipients received $10,000 grants each.
Building Hope’s website introduces the three winners with the message: “Engaging families in the work and serving family needs supports each student’s success. Bringing in resources from outside the school family and sharing the gifts and resources of the school with the neighborhood for the benefit of the whole community are other hallmarks of our three winners.”
In a press release, Common Ground Executive Director Monica Maccera Flippu wrote that the award is “for the families, who work with us to help their kids grow into their full potential. It’s for the students and alumni, who take an active role in improving our city through our Green Jobs Corps or their community-oriented senior projects. It’s for the teachers and environmental educators, who support our young people in finding their voice and taking charge of their education. It’s for our countless community partners, who are an integral part of our curriculum and mission. It’s for our founders, who turned an illegal dumping ground on an abandoned lot into an urban farm and a beautiful place of refuge for our entire city.”
Flippu is also quoted as saying in that press release that the award recognizes Common Ground for being more than just a school. “Common Ground was begun by teachers and neighbors in New Haven who wanted to help children and adults in New Haven connect to nature in their own city,” Fippu said. “We’re continuing to try to live into their vision: by welcoming children and families to our campus, and by working with other public schools across New Haven to help their students and teachers get outside. I first found Common Ground as a mom – my kids grew up here – and feel lucky that I still get to call this place home.”