Below is a list of the 12 charter schools which are currently taking part in our evaluation.  Five new schools which will open in September 1998 are also included.  General contact and background information is included for each school.  Gradually, the data and information on the schools will be updated to reflect developments throughout the evaluation.

Map of Schools

                 1997-98 Connecticut Charter Schools

1. Ancestors Community Charter High School   (Waterbury, CT)
2. The Bridge Academy  (Bridgeport, CT)
3. Common Ground High School   (New Haven, CT)
4. Explorations   (Winsted, CT)
5. Integrated Day Charter School  (Norwich, CT)
6. Interdistrict School for Arts and Communication (New London, CT)
7. Jumoke Academy   (Hartford, CT)
8. Odyssey Community School   (Manchester, CT)
9. Side by Side Community School    (South Norwalk, CT)
10. Sports Sciences Academy  (Hartford, CT)
11. Village Academy (New Haven, CT)

   12.  Amistad Academy
   13.  Breakthrough Charter School  (Hartford, CT)
   14.  Brooklawn Academy   (Bridgeport/Fairfield, CT
   15.  Charter Oak Preparatory Academy  (Newington/Hartford region, CT)
   16.  Highville Charter School  (Hamden/New Haven, CT)
   17.  Trailblazers Academy
 
 

[Top of Page]

Charter School	Location	Projected Student Enrollment	Grade  Level	Contact	Founding Coalition
The Bridge Academy	Bridgeport	Current 175	9-12	Timothy Dutton, Director Bridge Academy 510 Barnum Ave Fifth Floor Bridgeport, CT  06608 P: (203) 336-9999 F: (203) 336-9852 Email: BridgeAcademy@yahoo.com Website: www.bridgeacademy.org	Parents  Teachers  Business Community  Community Org.  Higher Education
The Bridge Academy will be a high school that will provide a college preparatory curriculum designed to overcome the problems found in the inner city. The established goals will be met through the following approaches: parental involvement, a mentor program with professionals from the Bridgeport business community, an introduction to the world outside of Bridgeport that includes the arts, and small enrollment that allows a fostering of a sense of community and self-respect in the school's students. The educational program is designed in three stages with transition predicated on specific criteria.

[Top of Page]

Charter School	Location	Projected Student Enrollment	Grade  Level	Contact	Founding Coalition
Common Ground High School	New Haven	Current 100	9-12	Joan Gillette, Coordinator Common Ground High School 358 Springside Avenue New Haven, CT 06515 P: (203) 389-0823 F: (203) 389-7458 Email:  johnc@nhep.com Website: http://www.ctcharterschools.org/newhaven-cghs.html	Teachers  Community Org.  Higher Education  Others
Common Ground High School is shaped by an ecological framework derived from the basic premise of ecology: all living things and non-living things are connected and interdependent. This framework guides the interdisciplinary curriculum. The school will utilize a farm in the city as the ideal context for studying connections in the community, traditional academic disciplines, and the natural environment that sustains them. Common Ground will include an extended day, will be team taught, and will have interdisciplinary courses. It will also stress accountability and performance.

[Top of Page]

Charter School	Location	Projected Student Enrollment	Grade Level	Contact	Founding Coalition
Explorations	Winsted	60	9-11	Gail Srebnik,  Executive Director Explorations 286 Main Street Winsted, CT 06098 P: (860) 738-9070 F: (860) 738-9092 Email: g_srebnik@hotmail.com	Teachers
The mission of the Explorations charter school is to cultivate a positive attitude towards life-long learning in an experiential, non-traditional educational setting.  Students will participate in experiential educational activities such as career exploration, adventure education, video technology, magazine production, in addition to their individual course work.  Emphasis will be on supportive experiential activities, tutoring and counseling will be provided regularly and students will be encouraged to participate in a partnership to earn tuition  free community college credit while attending the high school.  Students must be present 90% of the time and passing 80% of their course loads to participate.  EXPLORATIONS adheres to its strict attendance, admissions and academic contracts.

[Top of Page]

Charter School	Location	Projected Student Enrollment	Grade  Level	Contact	Founding Coalition
Integrated Day Charter School	Norwich	Current 262	K-8	Joan Heffernan, Principal Integrated Day Charter School 68 Thermos Avenue Norwich, CT 06360 P: (860) 892-1900 F: (860) 892-1902 Email:  joanh@idcs.pvt.k12.ct.us Web Site: http://www.idcs.org	Parents  Teachers  Higher Education
The Integrated Day program is an alternative program which adheres to a developmental approach.  The teaching methods used differ dramatically from the conventional classroom.  The underlying philosophy of the program recognizes that to be actively involved and truly engaged, a learner must have input into both the content of the learning as well as the process by which the knowledge is acquired.  Specific areas of concentration:  individual research, parental involvement, social curriculum, multi-age grouping, personal goal-setting and assessment, sense of community, and an extended schedule.

[Top of Page]

Charter School	Location	Projected Student Enrollment	Grade  Level	Contact	Founding Coalition
Interdistrict School for Arts and Communication	New London	Current 95	6-8	Ruth Cole-Chu, Acting Director Interdistrict School for Arts and  Communication 3 Garvin Street New London, CT 06320 P:(860) 447-1003 F:(860) 447-0470 Email:  ISAAC@snet.net Website: http://www.ctcharterschools.org/newlondon.html	Parents  Teachers  Business Community  Community Org.  Higher Ed.
The Interdistrict School for the Arts and Communications (ISAAC) will become a regional center for interdisciplinary learning in grades 6 through 8.  ISAAC’s holistic approach to education will feature an academically rigorous curriculum whose various disciplines will be integrated through the arts and through modern communication skills.  The curriculum will support a learning community that is both multicultural and multilingual, it will be based on a framework of knowledge, skills, attitudes and awareness.  With its small and diverse student body, it will strive to be a model for reduction of racial isolation.

[Top of Page]

Charter School	Location	Projected Student Enrollment	Grade  Level	Contact	Founding Coalition
Jumoke Academy	Hartford	Current 230	K-6	Thelma Dickerson, Director Michael M. Sharpe, General Manager Sherlye Jackson, Assistant Director Jumoke Academy 250 Blue Hills Ave. Hartford, CT 06112 P: (860) 527-0575 F: (860) 525-7758 Email:  JumokeAcademy@aol.com Website: http://www.ctcharterschools.org/hartford-jum.html	Parents  Teachers  Higher Education  Others
The Jumoke Academy’s basic goals are to prepare children to compete in the global marketplace through sound basic education founded on early intervention, parental involvement, and neighborhood and cultural identity.  It will integrate the community, families and university settings.  Among the school’s objectives are: teaching all children a foreign language, encouraging strong parental involvement, mastery of basic skills, and technology and arts literacy.

[Top of Page]

Charter School	Location	Projected Student Enrollment	Grade  Level	Contact	Founding Coalition
Odyssey Community School	Manchester	105	6-8	Mrs. Anna Consoli Executive Director Odyssey Community School 440 Oakland Street Manchester, CT 06040 P: (860) 645-1234 F: (860) 533-0324 Email: aconsoli@odysseyschool.org         webmaster@odysseyschool.org Web Site: www.odysseyschool.org	Teachers  Business Community  Community Org.  Higher Education  Other
Odyssey Community School provides an exemplary education in a community that nurtures the unique mind and heart of each child. Our students are taught to think clearly, learn independently, consume information wisely, communicate effectively in a variety of media, and understand the power of technology in society.  Holding students accountable to high standards of behavior, our families and teachers work together to help them become responsible citizens of strong, compassionate character who know themselves well.  Our graduates will be eager to continue learning and committed to improving the communities in which they live.

[Top of Page]

Charter School	Location	Projected Student Enrollment	Grade  Level	Contact	Founding Coalition
Side by Side Community School	Norwalk	180	PreK-8	Anne Alpert, Director Side by Side Community School 10 Chestnut Street South Norwalk, CT 06854 P: (203) 857-0306 F: (203) 838-2666 Email: aalpert@educator.mci.net	Teachers  Higher Education
The mission of the Side by Side Community School is to create a multiracial learning environment for urban and suburban children and their families that will ensure that every child succeeds and every voice is heard.  The school will address all the factors that impact on achievement.  It will house a Family Center using the 21st Century School model developed by Edward Ziegler at Yale.  As a Professional Development School with Sarah Lawrence College, Side by Side is committed to perfecting the art and craft of teaching.  As a training site for Interns from Sarah Lawrence and other universities, it will serve as a model for child-centered, interactive instruction in a diverse setting.  It will serve also, as a laboratory for the research and practice of multicultural philosophy and curriculum.

[Top of Page]

Charter School	Location	Projected Student Enrollment	Grade  Level	Contact	Founding Coalition
Sports Sciences Academy	Hartford	Current 300	9-12	Karen Finder, Executive Director Sport Sciences Academy 338 Asylum Street  Hartford, CT 06103 P: (860) 722-8009 F: (860) 722-8017 Email:  kfinder@snet.net Website: http://www.ctcharterschools.org/hartford-ssa.html	Parents  Teachers  Business Community  Higher Education  Others
The Sports Sciences Academy is a career focused program offering an interdisciplinary educational program that prepares youth for successful admission into college or immediate transition into the 21st century workplace.  It will exemplify the characteristics of a school-to-career model.  The Academy’s areas of concentration will include:  Sport Communication, Sport Fundraising, Sports Management, Sport Marketing, Manufacturing and Merchandising, Sport Nutrition, Sport Pedagogy and Sport Law.

[Top of Page]

Charter School	Location	Projected Student Enrollment	Grade  Level	Contact	Founding Coalition
Village Academy (CLOSED)	New Haven	90	K-8	Robin Barnes, Founder Village Academy 95 Fitch Street New Haven, CT 06515 P: (203) 387-2064 F: (203) 387-2054 Email:	Others
Village Academy is dedicated to the overall development of children through an instructional program that supports each stage of child development.  A K-8th grade school, its mission is to produce a generation of highly educated Americans who are devoted to promoting democratic values.  The focus of the academic program will be excellence in language arts, mathematics, history and science.

 

[Top of Page]

Charter School	Location	Projected Student Enrollment	Grade  Level	Contact	Founding Coalition
Breakthrough Charter School	Hartford	Current 180	PreK-6	Norma Neumann-Johnson, Director Breakthrough Charter School 121 Cornwall Street Hartford, CT 06112 P: (860) 722-6816 F:(860) 722-6817 Email: bcsneujohn@netscape.net Website: http://www.ctcharterschools.org/hartford-bre.html	Parents  Teachers  Business Community  Higher Education  Other
The Breakthrough Charter School is a K-6 charter school where families and teachers work together striving for academic success.  We stress purposeful learning through which students gain knowledge, utilize higher order thinking, and exercise body, mind and value learning.  Parent participation is key to student success.  The BCS is a school that:  turns breakdowns into breakthroughs; has high expectations for students; connects learning to the real world; creates a partnership between parents, teachers, and students; is small and offers a sense of belonging; teaches students through hands-on experiences; and tells students, “You can do it!”

[Top of Page]

Charter School	Location	Projected Student Enrollment	Grade  Level	Contact	Founding Coalition
Brooklawn Academy	Bridgeport/  Fairfield	69	6-8	Cheryl Kerison, Director Brooklawn Academy 108 Biro Street Fairfield, CT  06432  P: (203) 333-7553 F: (203) 333-5852 Email: brooklawnacademy@yahoo.com Website: http://brooklawn.k12.ct.us	Parents  Teachers  Business Community  Higher Education  Others
Brooklawn Academy will serve middle school students from two distinct communities; one urban, one suburban.  Its mission is to foster intellectual and personal development through interaction in a small learning community designed to prepare students to contribute effective and responsible leadership.  The school will provide a model for 21st Century communications with an emphasis on computer literacy, telecommunications, reading, writing, and research.  Brooklawn Academy will apply technology through a student-centered constructivist paradigm.  Within this paradigm greater attention will be given to the acquisition of higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills, basic skills will be learned not in isolation, but in the course of undertaking higher -level “real-world” tasks whose execution requires the integration of a number of such skills, and students will assume a central role as the active architect of his or her own knowledge and skills, rather than passively absorbing information proffered by the teacher.  Activities will involve student-centered inquires and in groups, and will facilitate the acquisition of collaborative skills that are often required within contemporary work environments.

[Top of Page]

Charter School	Location	Projected Student Enrollment	Grade  Level	Contact	Founding Coalition
Charter Oak Preparatory Academy	New Britain	Current 125	6-8	Donna Taglianetti,  Board Chair Charter Oak Preparatory Academy c/o Community Renewal Team 555 Windsor Street Hartford, CT  06120 P:(860)560-5639 F:(860)527-3305 Email:  donnat@crtct.org	Parents  Community Orgs.  Business Community
Charter Oak Preparatory Academy will lay a foundation for rewarding and productive adult lives and will provide at-risk middle school students  the academic and social skills and the strength of character to excel in secondary school.  The school will serve students from Hartford, New Britain, Berlin, Newington, Rocky Hill and Wethersfield, creating an economic and culturally diverse student body.  Students at Charter Oak Prep will attend school in a supportive environment that sets high expectations for academic achievement and integrates skill-based classroom learning with real-world, hands-on experiences through community service projects.  The school will provide the crucial structure, discipline and expectations missing from the lives of many at-risk children.  This will be accomplished through comprehensive, individualized programming, an extended day, week and calendar, a sense of civic responsibility and “community” within the school itself, and an understanding of the obligations of citizenship and friendship.

[Top of Page]

Charter School	Location	Projected Student Enrollment	Grade  Level	Contact	Founding Coalition
Highville Mustard Seed Charter School (state)	Hamden/  New Haven	Current 260	PreK-8	Lyndon Pitter, Executive Director Highville Mustard Seed Charter School  130 Leeder Hill Drive Hamden, CT  06514 P: (203) 287-0528 F: (203) 287-0693 Email:  Highville@aol.com	Parents  Business Community  Community Orgs.  Higher Education  Others
The Highville Mustard Seed Charter School will provide the Newhallville (New Haven) and the Highwood (Hamden) communities with a Pre K-8 school with a global studies curriculum, which will incorporate the arts and foreign language as a means to teach the basic skills as well as the Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS).  The Highville School is developed in partnership with three area colleges and seeks to serve as a Professional Development Model School.  The school will serve as a center for cultural, health, athletic, and educational programs and workshops for the community.

[Top of Page]
 

Charter School	Location	Projected Student Enrollment	Grade  Level	Contact	Founding Coalition
Trailblazers Academy (state)	Stamford	Current 108	6-8	Mark Redmond Trailblazers Academy c/o Domus Foundation P.O. Box 15360 Park Square Station Stamford, CT  06901-0360 T:  (203) 324-4277 F:  (203) 324-2990 Email: Contact information valid through 9/1/99

 

Suggestions for new references or links can be sent to Gary Miron at gary.miron@wmich.edu
Last updated on April 6, 2001