May 2015

In This IssueDistrict and School News .......2-3

Recognition and Honors .........4-5

Events and Updates.................6-8

Executive Director’s Report A MONTHLY UPDATE BY THE CAPITOL REGION EDUCATION COUNCIL

Executive Director’s MessageBruce E. Douglas, Ph.D.

Facebook: Capitol Region Education Council (CREC) Twitter: @CRECEducation

Attachment LL A MONTHLY UPDATE BY THE CAPITOL REGION EDUCATION COUNCIL

For too long, the issue of self-deception has been the realm of deep-thinking theologians, philosophers, academics, and scholars working on the central questions of the human sciences. Professional managers, leaders, and others are generally unaware of this significant dilemma. Self-deception is so pervasive that it touches every aspect of our lives. “Touches” is perhaps too gentle a word to describe its influence. Self-deception actually determines one’s experiences. And, the extent to which it influences and determines the outcomes of organizational behavior is profound.

The scriptures speak of “the ability to believe one’s own lies” as a significant human failure and the primary cause of dysfunction in an individual’s life and among those they lead or influence. The biological imperative to be relevant often leads to self-deception, especially in our modern society where relevance is difficult to attain. Self-deception blinds the true cause of our behavior, it restrains our solutions, it corrupts the truth about ourselves and our view of others, and it inhibits our ability to make wise decisions absent of the egocentric agenda. The extent to which we are self-deceptive obstructs genuine goodness, humility, and virtue without witness, and it undermines leadership, organizational growth, and social institutions.

Portions taken from “Leadership and Self-Deception” by The Arbinger Institute

WINDSOR — Pending approval from the town council, the Windsor Board of Education expects to be up and running in September with an expanded preschool program.The board, by a 5-4 vote, recently approved moving forward with a plan to create four additional preschool classes of 15 students each to go along with an existing program of four classes now at Oliver Ellsworth School.The new program would be housed in the Roger Wolcott School building, if the council approves giving the building back to the school district.“I’m hopeful,” schools Superintendent Craig Cooke said of council support. “There does seem to be a majority support.”Cooke is planning to make a presentation to the council in the near future about the benefits of expanding

early-childhood education and the costs.Earlier this month, Windsor schools were among several chosen by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s office to receive state money to expand early-childhood education. The school system was awarded $3.3 million over the next 10 years, including $300,000 a year for operational costs and a $300,000 grant for capital improvements. The district also will be eligible for more capital improvements from a $10 million pool created by the state, Cooke said.Cooke also has said he expects the operating grant from the state to cover most of the district’s expenses related to expanding the program.But time is a factor because the Wolcott school needs work, including new carpet and tile, plumbing fixtures set up for a preschool-age population, playground equipment, roof repairs and overall

classroom upgrades.The district also needs to be prepared in the event the town council decides do something else with the building.“The town needs to make a decision,” Cooke said. “If we don’t have the building we’d have to look at other long-term solutions.”Cooke said the district also needs to expand its recruiting efforts beyond the program at Oliver Ellsworth quickly to fill the 60 new openings it would have.He said he is confident that the expanded program, which requires that 60 percent of the families participating make $75,000 a year or less and also gives preference to English language learning students, will fill up.Source—The Hartford Courant article by Steven Goode on March 25, 2015

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District and School NewsWindsor Board of Education Readies for Expanded Preschool Program

Hartford Neighborhood Now First in Line for Federal AidWashington – Hartford has won out over dozens of other communities trying to achieve “Promise Zone” status, a designation that will bring an impoverished city neighborhood priority access to federal resources, the White House announced Tuesday.The Promise Zone program was initiated last year by President Obama as a way to leverage private investment in the hopes of curbing crime and raising living standards.The North Hartford Promise Zone encompasses a little more than three square miles and includes the Clay Arsenal, Northeast and Upper Albany neighborhoods.The Department of Housing and Urban Development said the North Hartford Promise Zone community “has alarmingly

high rates of unemployment, violent crime, and food insecurity.”HUD said nearly half of the neighborhood’s 24,000 residents live below the federal poverty level with a per-capita income of about $12,099. Only about 38 percent of residents have a high school degree.“In addition, the area is marked with several blighted commercial and industrial sites,” HUD said.The North Hartford Promise Zone is one of eight such communities given that status by the Obama administration, a list that also included neighborhoods in Camden, N.J.; Indianapolis, Ind.; and St. Louis, Mo.The communities were selected from among 123 applicants from all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. It is the second round of Promise

Zone designations. Five others were announced last year.“A zip code should never limit the hopes that folks have for themselves or for their children,” said HUD Secretary Julian Castro.Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said he had worked with Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra since 2013 to win Promise Zone status for the Hartford neighborhood. He said his latest pitch to the HUD secretary came in an April 15 op-ed in the Hartford Courant.Source—The Connecticut Mirror article by Ana Radelat published on April 28, 2015

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT – May 2015 3

AVON — A new schedule that gives students more opportunities to pursue internships along with a revised curriculum are expected to be in place at Avon High School next fall.

Both of those initiatives have been in the works for the past year and the board of education was given an overview of what is in the works when it met Tuesday. High school Principal Christopher Tranberg told the board he plans on implementing the schedule in the fall.

The board does not have to act on the schedule but will have to do so for the curriculum updates that are planned. At the meeting, Assistant Superintendent Donna Nestler-Rusack and other staff gave a presentation on the curriculum and said they will ask the board to vote on it in May.

Tranberg said the revised schedule will give students more time to participate in an internship program started this year in which students work with companies and other organizations outside of school. The schedule also makes it easier for students to take college-level courses and for Avon Middle School students to take classes at the high school, Tranberg said.

The internship program was started this year and 13 students are participating this semester. Tranberg said that number will jump to 80 in the fall.

“That kind of growth is scary but it’s also exciting,” Tranberg said. “This schedule will offer students a lot and let them focus on life after high school while they are still at Avon High School.”

Nester-Rusack said revisions to the math and language arts curriculums for the high school have been in the works for the past two years. Earlier this winter the

board also approved a sweeping overhaul to the curriculum for students in the elementary school and the middle school.

Staff who have worked on the changes to the curriculum said it lays out in greater detail what students are supposed to learn. Nestler-Rusack said the revisions also move students away from rote memorization and put more focus on problem solving along with work that

shows students how the skills they learn are used in the real world. The curriculum also pushes students to work independently, she said.

Students will also be introduced to some subjects earlier, including algebra and physics.Source—The Hartford Courant article by Ken Byron published on April 23, 2015

Changes to Curriculum and Schedule Set for Avon High School

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GE and Plainville High School Partner in Job-shadowing ProgramTwenty-one Plainville High School students recently visited GE’s Industrial Solutions business in Plainville for a tour of the site’s 17,000-square-foot New Product Introduction Accelerator Lab. The lab includes a team room, high-tech machine shop with 3D printing capabilities, product teardown area and a pilot-run production area. The GE tour was designed to complement PHS’s “Shadowing for Success,” program, which aims to bring 11th and 12th grade students together with business professionals to explore occupations.

Source—The Hartford Business Journal article on April 20, 2015

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The CREC Public Safety Academy has earned the state Department of Public Health’s HEARTSafe Workplace designation, making the school the eighth workplace in Connecticut to reach this milestone. The HEARTSafe Program is meant to encourage communities and workplaces to improve survival odds for those who go into cardiac arrest and for those who have heart attacks. “The more awareness we bring to our students, staff, and community about the safety measures needed in case of an emergency makes our school and community a safer and better place to be,” said CREC Public Safety Academy Principal Jeff Larson. “We are so excited to be a part of the HEARTSafe Program.”The CREC Public Safety Academy’s designation is good for three years. Cory LaChance, the school’s magnet theme resource teacher, coordinated the application process, clearly identifying areas where the school tries to educate its community about heart health and emergency procedures. To prepare for emergencies, the CREC Public Safety Academy has a safety and security committee, and it is charged with maintaining a multi-hazard emergency response plan. This plan includes guidelines for dealing with medical emergencies, and school staff members are trained annually on all emergency procedures. At the CREC Public Safety Academy, CPR trainings are frequently offered to both staff and students, and many members of the school community are certified in CPR. Students are offered CPR certification as part of the school’s emergency medical technician and emergency medical responder courses and as part of an after-school program. To specifically help those with heart

emergencies, automatic external defibrillators, which are inspected often by specially-trained students, are easily accessible, and one defibrillator is strategically placed near the school’s gymnasium. “The Public Safety Academy has demonstrated its commitment toward ensuring that its employees and visitors receive the early lifesaving response proven to increase the chances of survival for heart attack victims,” said Michele Connelly, HEARTSafe coordinator for the state

Department of Public Health. In addition to being prepared for a cardiac emergency, the CREC Public Safety Academy promotes overall health and fitness in several ways. The school often holds events, such as an annual September 11 Memorial Run, to promote cardiovascular health and awareness. The school participates in the Hartford Marathon Foundation’s FitKids in School program and offers weekly fitness activities as part of its advisory program.

CREC Public Safety Academy Earns HEARTSafe Workplace Designation

Recognition and Honors

CREC photo: The CREC Public Safety Academy is now designated a HEARTSafe workplace.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT – May 2015 5

Three teachers at the CREC Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts High School have been accepted into the National Artist Teacher Fellowship Program run by the Center for Arts Education.

This program provides art teachers from public arts high schools and Title 1 middle and high schools funding for artistic development. It is the only national competition for expert artist instructors in the nation, and it allows teachers to pursue their own creative work, interact with other professional artists, and stay current with new practices.

Through the program, teachers will be expected to design a fellowship program that enhance their understanding of current techniques, activity, and thinking in their area of expertise. Each year, $5,500 grants are given to 20 teachers throughout the country. These grants are paired with $1,500 complementary grants given to the teachers’ schools to support post-fellowship activities.

This year’s award recipients from the CREC Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts are Missy Bermeister and Joni Weisfeld, of the school’s theater department, and Daniel Salazar of the music department. Several teachers from the school have been accepted into the program in years past.

CREC Arts Academy Teachers Receive Fellowships

CREC Arts Academy Junior Wins Poetry Scholarship

CREC photo: Jossary Padilla, a junior at the CREC Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts won this year’s Wallace Stevens Poetry Scholarship from the Friends & Enemies of Wallace Stevens. This is the fifth consecutive year that a CREC Arts Academy student has won the award.

CREC Museum Academy Wins National Award

CREC photo: On behalf of her school, CREC Museum Academy Principal Shandra Brown receives the Presidents Magnet School Merit Award of Excellence from Magnet Schools of America. It is one of the organization’s highest honors.

CREC photos: Three CREC Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts’ teachers have been accepted into a prestigious fellowship program: (from left to right) Daniel Salazar, Joni Weisfeld, and Missy Bermeister.

A new writing center at CREC Two Rivers Magnet Middle School will allow students to improve their writing through peer-to-peer tutoring.The center, which is located in a corner of the school’s library, will be staffed by students under the supervision of teachers Ruth Macijauskas and David Jones. It will be open throughout each school day except for when standardized tests are administered, and the center will be open to all students and teachers as needed. “The Two Rivers writing center demonstrates CREC Magnet Schools’ vision of teacher leadership and student-led learning,” said Sarah Fitzsimmons, CREC’s director of English language arts. “This project demonstrates two of CREC’s essential skills—communication and collaboration.”

The center opened April 6 after a dozen CREC students completed five months of intensive training, which taught them how to view the peer-to-peer tutoring as an interactive session—a conversation. The training was provided by three

undergraduate students who are experienced tutors at the UConn Writing Center, and they met with the students weekly to discuss writing skills, the benefits of drafts and revisions, and tutoring strategies. “We were trying to build a middle school version of what we do at the university,” said Tom Deans, the UConn Writing Center’s director. CREC Two Rivers Magnet Middle School is not the first school in the state to work with the UConn Writing Center, but it is the first CREC school to do so. The center began offering outreach in Hartford in 2005, extending its reach to other schools in

2007. It partners with one school each year, and to date, the center has helped eight middle schools and high schools launch successful peer tutoring centers.

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Events and Updates

Two Rivers Middle Opens New Writing Center

CREC Sees Increase in Staffing RequestsThis year, CREC’s Technical Assistance and Brokering Services received more requests than in past years for staffing positions.Last year, it received 108 requests. This year, it has already received 150. With case managers assigned to each contract, the division places highly-qualified professionals in both short- and long-term staffing assignments in school districts, private facilities, and state agencies throughout Connecticut. It specializes in finding personnel for positions that are difficult to fill, such as speech and language pathologist positions.For more information, contact Janet Scialdone at 860-509-3681, or jscialdone@crec.org.

CREC photo: CREC Two Rivers Magnet Middle School students work on an assignment in the school’s writing center.

Aersospace and Engineering Freshmen Meet Senator Blumenthal in D.C.

CREC photo: U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal meets with CREC Academy of Aerospace and Engineering High School freshmen at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT – May 2015 7

Open Choice Holds First-Ever Youth Empowerment Summit During April BreakDuring April school vacation, the Hartford Region Open Choice Program held a Youth Empowerment Summit for students in the Open Choice Program.

Through a series of activities and field trips, the summit taught Hartford residents who participate in the Open Choice Program about leadership and helped them to understand the term social capital and how it relates to them. Students also learned the importance of networking.

“Over the years, we have taken pride in connecting our communities through education and youth development,” said Debra Borrero, CREC’s director of school choice programs. “This was our first Youth Empowerment Summit, which provided Hartford residents participating in the Open Choice Program with the opportunity to engage in activities that stimulated their curiosity and permitted them to express their thoughts and creativity during their spring break. I am proud that the YES experience allowed these scholars to grow, gain confidence, establish friendships and prepare for college and careers. These individuals will lead our diverse communities of tomorrow.”

The Open Choice Program, formerly known as Project Concern, is managed by CREC, and it offers Hartford students the opportunity to attend public schools in suburban towns and suburban students the opportunity to attend public schools in Hartford. These opportunities are at no cost to families, and the goals of the program are to improve academic

achievement; reduce racial, ethnic, and economic isolation; and provide all children with a choice of high-quality educational programs.

During the Youth Empowerment Summit, students attended workshops about diversity and inclusion, about resumes and cover letters, personal finance, and dressing for success. The summit also included college tours of Central Connecticut State University in New Britain and Rutgers University in New Jersey, and there was a community service component.

“It was like a support system,” said Dierra Harris, a senior at Enfield High School, of the Youth Empowerment Summit. “I got to experience what it feels like to not be by myself with the issues of today. There are other people who go through it. It’s not just me. It was empowering!”

Travelers provided the Open Choice Program with an award of $5,000 for the Youth Empowerment Summit. The state Department of Education, restaurant owner Billy Grant, and Hartford Public Library also helped to make the summit possible.

CREC photo: Students tour Rutgers University as part of April’s Youth Empowerment Summit.

CREC Sponsors Rebuilding Together HartfordCREC photos: About 100 CREC staff and students volunteered April 25 to help repair and rebuild houses in the Hartford community. CREC was a sponsor of this year’s National Rebuilding Day with Rebuilding Together Hartford.

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Events and Updates (continued)

Greater Hartford Arts Academy Turns 30The CREC Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts turned 30 this month with a memorable concert and gala. The event was held April 18 at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, and Tony Award-nominated sisters Ann Hampton Callaway and Liz Callaway performed on stage with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and the CREC Academy of the Arts’ student choir.In addition to the performance, the evening included a reception and a meet and greet with the Callaway sisters. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and his wife, Cathy, attended.Proceeds from the event benefited the magnet school’s endowment fund. “My wife and I have been subscribers to the Hartford Symphony Orchestra pop series for many years,” said David Anderson, dean of students at Maria Sanchez Elementary School in Hartford. “Let me tell you that we haven’t seen many shows better than the one we saw on Saturday. The student chorus was simply amazing. Their level of professionalism, both in the way in which they sang and conducted themselves, was incredibly impressive.

Their contribution to the overall show was immense. We don’t ever remember seeing a youth chorus perform on that type of level before. They represented themselves and their school in the very best way possible. I can’t begin to tell you how impressed we were with them.” The CREC Academy of the Arts was founded in 1985, and it is the oldest magnet school in Hartford, laying the groundwork for a system of quality magnet schools throughout the state. Notable graduates include award-winning musician and recording artist

Jimmy Greene, playwright Christopher Shinn, and singer Anita Antoinette, who appeared on “The Voice.” Today, the CREC Academy of the Arts serves more than 700 students from more than 60 Connecticut cities and towns, and it has been consistently recognized for its innovation and excellence in education, receiving a 2014 Outstanding Arts School Award from the Arts Schools Network and earning recognition as the top magnet school in Connecticut by Hartford Magazine for two years in a row.

CREC Public Safety Academy Junior Joins National GuardA CREC Public Safety Academy student was recently sworn in as a member of the Connecticut Army National Guard. At 17, Michael Kier, of Windsor, now holds the rank of private and signed a six-year enlistment. The swearing-in ceremony took place March 24 at Westover Air Reserve Base in Massachusetts, and CREC Public Safety Academy Director Alvin Schwapp, who is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve and a retired Bloomfield police officer, administered the oath of enlistment. Schwapp administered a second oath of enlistment to Kier at the CREC Public Safety Academy to show students and staff the connection between the oath of enlistment and the oath the school

administers to students in the school’s Leadership Corps. “Michael Kier is a positive member of our Public Safety Academy family,” said CREC Public Safety Academy Principal Jeff Larson. “He is a role model for his classmates, and we are excited for his upcoming opportunity with the U.S. Army. Michael provides a unique opportunity for our school as he is doing basic training this summer and his advanced individual training in the summer of 2016. He will be a resource for students because he will be able to talk to other students who are interested in a military career. The experiences he will gain over this summer will be invaluable to students at the Public Safety Academy.”Kier, a junior at the CREC Public Safety

Academy, is participating in a split training program that requires high school students to attend basic training during the summer and return home for the start of their senior year of high school. After graduating high school, soldiers complete their skills training and are usually home to start the fall or spring semester of college.Kier will train at Fort Benning in Georgia. “The CREC Public Safety Academy has helped me with my decision to join the National Guard, because it has provided me with essential leadership skills and taught me to respect both others and myself,” Kier said. “This helped me realize that I can do anything I put my mind to.”

CREC photo: CREC student performers gather for a group photo at the CREC Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts’ Anniversary concert and gala.