May 7, 2014
Rep. Henry Genga praised Gov. Dannel Malloy's announcement Wednesday that Robert J. O'Brien STEM Academy's application to join the Commissioner's Network, a state-led initiative to help turn around low-performing schools in Connecticut, has been approved.
"There is nothing more important to East Hartford residents than the education we provide to our children. The success of our state and quality of life for Connecticut's residents begins and ends with our educational system. I am very happy that the STEM Academy's application was received so well and I thank Governor Malloy for his consistent support of education," Genga said.
"By joining the Commissioner's Network, these schools will receive the additional resources they need to support teachers in their efforts to improve student success and graduate high-achievers," Governor Malloy said. "Earlier today, we learned that for the first time in Connecticut history, we've made substantial progress in narrowing the achievement gap between black and white students – proof that this model works. I commend the state Board of Education on the action to expand the Network to include an additional five schools."
Along with the STEM Academy in East Hartford, four other schools were chosen for the Commissioner's Network: John C. Clark School in Hartford; Lincoln-Bassett School in New Haven; Luis Muñoz Marin School in Bridgeport; and Uncas Elementary School in Norwich.
Acceptance into the Commissioner's Network authorizes intensive interventions and enables the supports needed to dramatically improve student achievement through bold, research-based reforms. It qualifies schools for additional flexibility, autonomy, and resources, such as grants and other funding, in exchange for greater accountability. The Commissioner of Education selects schools to participate in the network for three to five years.
"The Turnaround Committees in each of these communities have succeeded in developing plans for boosting academic achievement, strengthening professional development, and improving the culture and climate in their schools," Commissioner of Education Stefan Pryor said. "We are pleased to welcome these schools into the Commissioner's Network, and we look forward to the progress they will make in the coming academic years. There are thousands of students struggling to succeed in these schools right now. The plans approved today establish paths to higher performance for these schools and students."
Among the highlights of the five turnaround plans the schools submitted are new administrative leadership, partnerships with community organizations, reorganization and reconfiguration of school schedules, extended days and year for teachers, and new models for teaching and learning.
Robert J. O'Brien STEM Academy is a low-performing school that has made progress in student achievement in mathematics and reading over the past few years. With the Commissioner's Network, O'Brien aims to accelerate its progress and achieve much greater growth. O'Brien's turnaround plan includes the expansion of the successful STEM—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics— model to additional grade levels over the next three years.