Education in Stamford, Connecticut
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Education in Stamford, Connecticut takes place in both public and private schools and college and university campuses.
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[edit] Higher education
Stamford, Connecticut has branches of the University of Connecticut, University of Bridgeport and Sacred Heart University. The University of Connecticut's campus is located in a large modern building in downtown that opened in 1998 after extensive renovations to an abandoned former Bloomingdales store. The other two are located in small office parks in Springdale. All are commuter campuses.
[edit] Stamford public schools
Stamford's public education system is an integrated district with racial balance requirements exceeding those of the state of Connecticut. State standards require that a school's racial makeup be within 25% of the community's racial makeup. Stamford's standard is a more strict 10%. Over the years, schools have become unbalanced. Stamford has three public high schools, Westhill High School, Stamford High School and the Academy of Information Technology and Engineering.
[edit] No Child Left Behind Act in Stamford
Thirteen of the city's 20 public schools made the 2006 list of failing schools, based on Connecticut Mastery Test results, according to the state Department of Education's "No Child Left Behind Act" report (NCLB), five more than in 2005. The NCLB Act sets rising targets for schools, so even though some may have improved since the previous testing, they can be cited if improvement isn't made fast enough, Superintendent of Schools Joshua Starr told The Advocate of Stamford (August 24, 2006), which published a list of the local schools provided by Associated Press:
- Rippowam Middle School — "whole school deficiencies in math and reading"
- K.T. Murphy School — "whole school deficiencies in reading"
- Julia A. Stark School — "whole school deficiencies in reading"
- Newfield School — "subgroup deficiencies in math and reading"
- Rogers School — "subgroup deficiencies in math and reading"
- Roxbury School — "subgroup deficiencies in math and reading"
- Springdale School — "subgroup deficiencies in math and reading"
- Toquam Magnet School — "subgroup deficiencies in math and reading"
- Davenport Ridge School — "subgroup deficiencies in math and reading"
- Stillmeadow School — "subgroup deficiencies in math and reading"
- Hart School — "subgroup deficiencies in math and reading"
- Turn of River School — "subgroup deficiencies in math and reading"
- Scofield Middle School — "subgroup deficiencies in math and reading"
In nearby communities, 11 Norwalk schools were cited, one in Greenwich, one in Wilton, none in New Canaan or Darien.
[edit] District Reference Group H
Stamford is one of the eight public school systems in District Reference Group H, a classification made by the state Department of Education for the purpose of comparison with the achievement levels of similar schools and districts. District reference groups are defined as "districts whose students' families are similar in eduation, income, occupation and need, and that have roughly similar enrollment".[1] The other seven school districts in the group are Ansonia, Danbury, Derby, East Hartford, Meriden, Norwich, Norwalk, and West Haven.[2]
[edit] Elementary schools
- Westover Elementary School, 412 Stillwater Avenue, dedicated its auditorium on September 16, 2006 to former principal Edmund Barbieri, who became principal in 1979 and continued to head the school for 13 years. He died in 2004. Barbieri built up the magnet program at the school, set up the city's first gifted-students program and the state's first full-day Kindergarten, according to a committee of parents, teachers and city officials who supported the dedication.[3]
[edit] Middle schools
[edit] Turn of River Middle School
The school building was constructed in 1963 and has large windows, some of which are floor-to-ceiling, with large, single panes of glass instead of more modern double- or triple-panes that insulate better. The old windows are not shatter resistant, either. A few years before 2007, a student leaning back in his chair accidentally struck a window pane which then shattered. School officials worry that a child might be seriously injured in an accident with the glass windows.[4]
As of early 2007, the school building is the most expensive to run in of the city's public schools because of faulty heating system. In late January 2007 the school was almost shut down when ruptured water pipes left 25 to 30 classrooms without heat on a Sunday and Monday. The pipes had ruptured because an exterior heating system hadn't been stalled properly, according to school officials. The school's fire alarm system also produces a lot of false alarms, even in the wee hours of the morning, according to a school official.[4]
[edit] J.M. Wright Vocational-Technical High School
J.M. Wright Vocational-Technical High School, located just south of Scalzi Park, is a vocational school run by the State of Connecticut.
[edit] Private Education
The city has several private schools, including King and Low-Heywood Thomas School and Trinity Catholic High School.
[edit] Notes
- ^ [1] state "Strategic School Profile 2005-2006" for Wilton High School, accessed March 25, 2007
- ^ [2]Web page titled "Find a Community: By Educational Reference Group (DRG)" at the "Discovery 2007 / An initiative of the William Caspar Graustein Fund" Web site, accessed March 25, 2007
- ^ "Auditorium dedicated to late principal news brief, The Advocate of Stamford, September 15, 2006, page A14
- ^ a b Gosier, Chris, "Middle school to make urgent request for repair funds", news article in The Advocate of Stamford, Connecticut, March 19, 2007, page A7, Stamford edition
[edit] External links
- Stamford Public Schools
- The William Pitt Child Development Center
- Stamford Adult Education
- Stamford page at Great Schools website
[edit] Private schools
- The King and Low-Heywood Thomas School[3]
- The Bi Cultural Day School[4]
[edit] Catholic schools
- Trinity Catholic High School, 926 Newfield Ave., Kevin Burke, president and chief financial officer; Robert D'Aquila, principal
- St. Cecilia Elementary School, PreK-5, 1186 Newfield Ave.; Joann Borchetta , principal
- Sacred Heart School PreK for 3- and 4-year-old children; 1 Schuyler Ave.; Sister Elizabeth Reyes, head teacher
- Holy Spirit School, 403 Scofieldtown Road, Pat Torchen, principal
- Our Lady Star of the Sea School PreK-5; Gail Ryan, principal; From the school Web site: "[T]here is one class per grade. We strive to have 25 students in grades Kindergarten through 5th Grade and 20 children in each of the Pre Kindergarten 3 and Pre Kindergarten 4 programs. We strive to have 190 students enrolled in the school."
- Trinity Catholic Middle School (no Web site found), Grades 6-8, 948 Newfield Ave., the Rev. Cyprian LaPastina, principal
[edit] Colleges and universities
- University of Connecticut, Stamford campus[5]
- Fairfield University[6]
- Norwalk Community College[7]
- Sacred Heart University[8] has a campus in the Springdale neighborhood of Stamford.
- The University of Bridgeport[9] has a campus in the Springdale neighborhood.
