2 East Haven Based Schools Earns 'Schools of Excellence' Grant

EAST HAVEN, CT — The State Department of Education announced recently the winners of the Schools of Excellence grant, which helps top-performing schools share strategies for boosting student performance and replicating those practices throughout Connecticut.

East Haven Academy and Dominick H. Ferrara School were both singled out by the state Department of Education and East Haven Academy receives a $24,936 grant and Ferrara School receives $25,000.

The Schools of Excellence Best Practice grants were awarded to 15 schools across the state that have
achieved and/or sustained high performance on state assessments. They will serve as Spotlight Schools
and help lead efforts to replicate their award-winning programs. To sign up for East Haven breaking news alerts and more, click here.

“With this grant, we want to shine a light on the best practices for improving student performance and
make them available to other schools and districts in the state,” said Commissioner of Education Dianna
R. Wentzell said in a statement. “These schools have earned recognition by excelling at high levels of performance. By taking their best ideas and putting them into practice, we will strengthen our efforts to turn around underperforming schools.”

The grant required applicants to describe a practice that the school seeks to share, grow, and replicate in
the areas of implementing the Connecticut Core Standards, effective educator evaluation and
development, student support systems, or approaches to improve and maintain positive culture and
climate.

Schools were asked to summarize the results achieved by the practice—the impact on students, staff
and/or families—and explain how to share this strategy with other schools through videos, webinars,
toolkits, professional development, site visits, and other methods.

Grants up to $25,000 were awarded. Eligible schools had to be Title I schools identified as Schools of
Distinction or Title I schools in which high needs students outperformed the State High Needs Index in
English language arts, math, or science.