Nellie Mae Foundation Gives Danbury Schools $250,000 a Year for Training

Three Connecticut cities, Danbury, Norwalk and New Haven, were awarded $250,000 a year to train teachers and administrators, something Danbury educators said is likely to help the city achieve federal school goals.

The Nellie Mae Education Foundation Inc., signed a memorandum of understanding with Danbury for a grant that will train teachers, administrators and other district leaders. It is a one-year grant renewable for up to three years, plus the three cities get another $250,000 once to share.

"It's for teacher training, professional development and administrators," said Anne E. Mead, Administrator for Early Childhood Education and Extended Learning, for the Dabury Board of Education. Mead told the board at its meeting Wednesday night.

Mead, who worked on the proposal that won the grant, said the foundation is interested in helping the school district improve its use of time, to improve the freshman academy at Danbury High School, to expand block scheduling of classes and to remove obstacles that might get in the way of a child's learning.

"They're talking about building a student's portfoilio, on writing student success plans, advisory, and working on teacher support," Mead said.

Mead said the program is paying for a part-time teacher to run it, and Danbury educators are very interested in visiting schools in Norwalk and New Haven to learn what programs they are doing better than Danbury.

"Will this help Danbury High School get off the list of schools in need of improvement," asked Richard Jannelli, board member.

"This is definitely the intent of our work," said Deputy Superintendent William Glass, Ed.D. Glass said he hopes to learn from Norwalk and New Haven. "For us, this is a big win."