Thomas MacMillan Photo
When a Stamford-based charter school group takes over a troubled city school in the fall, students will get not just a new set of rules, but a new home.
Domus, a social services agency that runs two charter schools in Stamford, is set to take over New Haven’s Urban Youth Middle School in the fall as part of the city’s school reform drive. Domus is planning a host of changes, including uniforms and a longer school day — click here and here to learn more.
From the start, Domus officials were unenthused about the building they were set to inherit (pictured), a dilapidated concrete bunker at 580 Dixwell Ave. The school, built in 1968, is dark inside and has few windows. As Mayor John DeStefano’s carried out a massive, $1.5 billion school rebuilding initiative, Urban Youth was one of the few not to be rebuilt.
Domus director Mike Duggan said when he first saw the building, his reaction was, “You’re kidding me, right?”
Since Domus was tapped in March to take over Urban Youth, it has been negotiating with the school system on a new domus (Latin for “home”) for the kids.
The search is now over: The district has found a new home for the school, according to Will Clark, the school district’s chief operations officer. He declined to say where it is. He said the district is still finalizing a contract with Domus on the new school, which will be called Domus Middle School.