Education in Norwalk, Connecticut

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There are an assortment of public, private, and parochial schools in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Contents

[edit] Post-secondary education

There are three post-secondary schools within the city of Norwalk:

In addition, there are other post-secondary schools in nearby towns.

The Norwalk Hospital runs an internship program associated with the Yale School of Medicine and a nursing program associated with Norwalk Community College.[3]

[edit] Norwalk public schools

Norwalk, Connecticut
Public School District
Budget $133 million (2005-06)
Established 1678[4]
Grades K-12
Superintendent Dr. Salvatore Corda
Students 11000
Athletic Conference FCIAC
Location Southwestern Connecticut,
Fairfield County
United States
Website http://www.norwalkpublicschools.org/

Norwalk was granted a town charter by the Connecticut General Court in 1651. Later, on May 29th 1678 town records mention the establishment of the community supported teaching activities with a passage that reads:

At a town meeting... voted and agreed to hier a scole master to teach all the children in ye town to lerne to Rede and write; and that Mr. Cornish shall be hierd for that service and the townsmen are to hier him upon as reasonable terms as they can.

The school that was established in the 1670s was located near the Ludlow Square area of East Norwalk (that is, near the former Roger Ludlow Junior High School).[4]

Recent Norwalk public school graduates have gone on to attend such prestigious universities as Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Emory, Georgetown, Harvard, MIT, New York University, and Wesleyan. The current superintendent of Norwalk Public Schools is Dr. Salvatore Corda.

In the 2005-06 fiscal year, the school system spent $26.7 million on special education services, nearly 20 percent of the total school budget.[5]

The State Education Department announced on January 28, 2008 that Norwalk was one of twelve districts in the state that it would help to close student achievement gaps.[6]

[edit] High schools

There are three high schools in the Norwalk public school district, for grades 9-12:

In 2006 the state of Connecticut reported that Norwalk's 653 graduates represented a 95.7% graduation rate.[7]

[edit] Middle schools

There are four middle schools in the Norwalk public school district, for grades 6-8:

[edit] Ponus Ridge Middle School

In the 2005-06 school year 42.3 percent of the school's 640 students qualified for free or reduced-price lunches. A total of 40.3 percent of students come from homes where the primary language is not English. The primary language for many students is Spanish, but students also come from homes where Chinese or Haitian Creole are spoken. The school building was constructed in the late 1950s. On May 14, 2007, several state legislators toured the school in an attempt by Fairfield County lawmakers to educate them about the need for more state education funding in the richest county in the state.[5]

[edit] Roton Middle School

In the 2002-03 school year 27.5 percent of the school's 517 students qualified for free or reduced-price lunches. A total of 34.2 percent of students come from homes where the primary language is not English. The school building was constructed in 1966.[8]

[edit] Elementary schools

There are twelve elementary schools in the Norwalk public school district, for grades K-5:

  • Brookside
  • Columbus (magnet school)
  • Cranbury
  • Fox Run
  • Jefferson
  • Kendall
  • Marvin
  • Naramake
  • Rowayton
  • Silvermine
  • Tracey
  • Wolfpit

[edit] Radon levels in 2007-2008

State-mandated radon tests in early 2007 found rooms in five elementary schools with levels above the "federal action limit" of 4 picocuries per liter for the colorless, odorless gas. (The gas naturally occurs in Fairfield County and comes up from the ground from the decay of radium. It is the second leading cause of lung cancer, after smoking.) The 700 tests, conducted every five years by state law, found actionable levels of radon in Rowayton, Naramake, Cranbury and Wolfpit elementary schools as well as Richard C. Briggs High School. Mitigation work, including air-suction devices, was done on just over a dozen rooms at the various schools, then a follow-up test was done which found one Wolfpit classroom located farthest away from the air-suction devices still had 5.1 picocuries per liter, so an additional device was installed in early March 2008.[9]

[edit] No Child Left Behind Act in Norwalk

In 2006, all high schools, three of the city's middle schools and nine of its elementary schools, along with a "community school" were cited as falling behind in standards for the federal "No Child Left Behind" Act. Three elementary schools had not met the standards (which rise year by year) for two years in a row, so students in those schools are offered the choice to go to a Norwalk public school that hasn't been designated as needing improvement. "Whole school" problems are school-wide, "subgroup" problems reflect groups such as white, black, Hispanic, Asian and American-Indian children; English language learners; students with disabilities; and economically disadvantaged students.[10]

  • Norwalk High School — In the 2006 NCLB report, the school was cited as having "subgroup deficiencies in math
  • Brien McMahon High School — In the 2006 NCLB report, the school was cited as having "subgroup deficiencies in math and reading."
  • Briggs High School — In the 2006 NCLB report, the school was cited as having "whole school deficiencies in math and reading."
  • West Rocks Middle School — In the 2006 NCLB report, the school was cited as having "subgroup deficiencies in math and reading."
  • Roton Middle School — In the 2006 NCLB report, the school was cited as having "whole school deficiencies in math."
  • Ponus Ridge Middle School — In the 2006 NCLB report, the school was cited as having "whole school deficiencies in math."
  • Brookside — For 2006, the school did not meet NCLB criteria two years in a row, so students (within certain parameters) will be offered the choice of going to another school. In the report the school was cited as having "subgroup deficiencies in math and reading."
  • Columbus — In the 2006 NCLB report, the school was cited as having "subgroup deficiencies in math and reading."
  • Cranbury — In the 2006 NCLB report, the school was cited as having "subgroup deficiencies in math and reading."
  • Fox Run — In the 2006 NCLB report, the school was cited as having "subgroup deficiencies in math and reading."
  • Jefferson — In the 2006 NCLB report, the school was cited as having "whole school deficiencies in reading."
  • Kendall — For 2006, the school did not meet NCLB criteria two years in a row, so students (within certain parameters) will be offered the choice of going to another school. In the report the school was cited as having "subgroup deficiencies in math and reading."
  • Marvin — In the 2006 NCLB report, the school was cited as having "whole school deficiencies in math and reading."
  • Naramake — In the 2006 NCLB report, the school was cited as having "subgroup deficiencies in reading."
  • Silvermine — For 2006, the school did not meet NCLB criteria two years in a row, so students (within certain parameters) will be offered the choice of going to another school. In the report the school was cited as having "whole school deficiencies in math and reading."
  • Side by Side Community charter school (not Norwalk public) — In the 2006 NCLB report, the school was cited as having "subgroup deficiencies in math."

[edit] District Reference Group H

Norwalk is one of 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".[11] The other seven school districts in the group are Ansonia, Danbury, Derby, East Hartford, Meriden, Norwich, Stamford, and West Haven.[12]

[edit] Charter school

The Side by Side Community School is a charter school that is located in South Norwalk and serves grades pre-K through 8th. It was started in 1997 soon after Connecticut's charter school law went into effect by a group of public educators. It is a regional school that serves students from Norwalk as well as from surrounding towns.[13]

[edit] Parochial

The All Saints Catholic School, serves grades pre-K through 8th. It is operated by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport which consolidated three previous Norwalk elementary schools (St. Thomas, St. Philips, and St. Mary's) and closed the former Central Catholic High School to open the All Saints in the former Cental Catholic High building on West Rocks Road.

The Congregation Beth El on East Avenue runs the Nitzan preschool as well as the Navasky hebrew school for part time religious insruction of children enrolled full time in other elementary schools.

[edit] Private

Since September of 2004 the Montessori Middle School for grades 5-8 has been in Norwalk and is currently at 24 Lois Street (off of Westport Avenue). It is associated with The Montessori School for elementary grades in nearby Wilton.[14]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Gibbs College to close Northeast campuses. Retrieved on 2008-05-06.
  2. ^ University of Phoenix - Campus Locations. Retrieved on 2009-05-06.
  3. ^ Norwalk Hospital. Hospital History. Retrieved on 2008-05-22.
  4. ^ a b Beard, Patten (September 1954). "Norwalk's Old Schoolhouse". Connecticut Circle Magazine. 
  5. ^ a b Chamoff, Lisa, "Legislators tour Norwalk school: City would like larger slice of state funds", news article in The Advocate of Stamford, Connecticut, May 15, 2007, pp 1, A4
  6. ^ State Education Department Working with 12 Districts to Close Achievement Gap. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
  7. ^ Connecticut State Department of Education. Connecticut Public School Graduates. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
  8. ^ Connecticut State Department of Education. Roton Middle School Norwalk School District STRATEGIC SCHOOL PROFILE 2002-03. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
  9. ^ Chamoff, Lisa, "Radon levels reduced at 5 schools: But Wolfpit Elementary faces more tests", The Advocate of Stamford, Connecticut, Norwalk edition, p A11, A13, March 18, 2007
  10. ^ "3 schools must offer parents a choice," article by Matt Breslow in The Advocate of Stamford, Norwalk Edition, August 24, 2006, accessed same day
  11. ^ Connecticut State Department of Education. STRATEGIC SCHOOL PROFILE 2006-07 Norwalk School District. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
  12. ^ [1]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
  13. ^ Side by Side Community School - School History. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
  14. ^ About Us, The Montessori School, Wilton, CT 06897. Retrieved on 2008-05-20.

[edit] External links