Waterbury Public Schools

Lt. Governor Wyman to speak at Connecticut Junior Republic graduation June 27

LITCHFIELD — On Monday, June 27, The Honorable Nancy Wyman, Lieutenant Governor of the State of Connecticut, will give the commencement address at the Connecticut Junior Republic’s Cable Academic and Vocational Education Center’s Achievement and Graduation Ceremony. The event will begin at 11 a.m. and approximately 150 CJR students, family, friends and staff members are anticipated to attend. High school diplomas will be awarded to 14 students from CJR’s day education and residential programs. In addition, 12 students will receive their 8th grade diplomas. Numerous achievement awards will be made to students for other accomplishments in the classroom and school community. The ceremony will be followed by refreshments in CJR’s Sweetman Auditorium. Founded in 1904, the Connecticut Junior Republic (CJR) provides care, treatment, education and family support for at-risk, special needs and troubled young people so they can become productive and fulfilled members of their homes, schools and communities. Today, the organization’s combined programs serve approximately 1,000 boys and girls annually in ten locations throughout Connecticut.

CJR also provides residential care for boys at its group homes in East Hartford and Winchester and short-term, residential crisis intervention for girls at its Center for Assessment, Respite and Enrichment (CARE) in Waterbury. A broad spectrum of prevention, early intervention, family support, and intensive home-based services, and aftercare, are provided for boys and girls through CJR’s offices in Danbury, East Hartford, Meriden, New Britain, Torrington and Waterbury (two sites).

LITCHFIELD — On Monday, June 27, The Honorable Nancy Wyman, Lieutenant Governor of the State of Connecticut, will give the commencement address at the Connecticut Junior Republic’s Cable Academic and Vocational Education Center’s Achievement and Graduation Ceremony. The event will begin at 11 a.m. and approximately 150 CJR students, family, friends and staff members are anticipated to attend. High school diplomas will be awarded to 14 students from CJR’s day education and residential programs. In addition, 12 students will receive their 8th grade diplomas. Numerous achievement awards will be made to students for other accomplishments in the classroom and school community. The ceremony will be followed by refreshments in CJR’s Sweetman Auditorium. Founded in 1904, the Connecticut Junior Republic (CJR) provides care, treatment, education and family support for at-risk, special needs and troubled young people so they can become productive and fulfilled members of their homes, schools and communities. Today, the organization’s combined programs serve approximately 1,000 boys and girls annually in ten locations throughout Connecticut. The Junior Republic conducts a residential program for court-referred young men on its Litchfield campus. Special, vocational and alternative education programs are provided for boys from communities throughout Connecticut in this location through CJR’s Cable Academic and Vocational Education Center. Transition and related services are also provided. CJR also provides residential care for boys at its group homes in East Hartford and Winchester and short-term, residential crisis intervention for girls at its Center for Assessment, Respite and Enrichment (CARE) in Waterbury. A broad spectrum of prevention, early intervention, family support, and intensive home-based services, and aftercare, are provided for boys and girls through CJR’s offices in Danbury, East Hartford, Meriden, New Britain, Torrington and Waterbury (two sites). A private charitable organization, the Connecticut Junior Republic is accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA) and the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). CJR is supported by gifts from individuals, businesses and organizations, and through service contracts funded by the Court Support Services Division (CSSD) of the Connecticut Judicial Branch, the Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF), the Connecticut Department of Social Services (DSS), and by Connecticut’s public schools. For further information, please contact Hedy Barton, Director of Development and Public Relations 567-9423, extension 252; or by email: hbarton@cjryouth.org .

Charter Schools, Magnet Schools, Vouchers, and Factory Model Public

Has been the talk of the town in the DC education community over the past couple of days. Many people are blaming charter schools for the closing of these schools and it most certainly has something to do with it. I think I have a unique perspective, considering I've taught both in the regular public schools (in Waterbury, Connecticut, an urban district) and in a charter school. WEDJ is a charter school run by a small group of educators whose sole purpose in creating the school was to create and maintain an environment condusive to children's learning. Thus, the school is set up for learning. As a teacher, I have the flexibility to teach. There is no union but that doesn't seem to matter in this case because the teachers and administration are all on the same page. This allows for an environment that is far superior to the public schools I have worked in. In Waterbury there always seemed to be so much bureaucratic sludge to wade through to get anything done, that nothing ever did end up actually getting done. In addition, the union in Waterbury was a joke. By the time I ended up leaving Waterbury, the union had lost all real power in collective bargaining. The state over sight board, which was put in charge of fixing the city's finances, had decided that the city's financial woes were the fault of the city's teachers. So they forced 300 of them into retirement, put us on a wage freeze, increased class sizes and a whole slew of other things which are blatantly anti-educational. I found that the union in Waterbury could do nothing more than guarantee I got a prep period once a week. The buildings were falling apart and the mold levels reached potentially dangerous proportions. Teacher morale was low and the administration there often did very little to remedy the situation. Frankly, their morale was just as low. This, in my belief, translated to lower morale in the students as well which impeded on their ability to learn. I decided that when you have politicians, who have no idea what it takes to education children, running the schools you are bound to have an environment that isn't condusive to student learning. Needless to say, my experiences in the regular public schools were less than satisfactory. There was another option in the Waterbury Public Schools: magnet schools. The magnet schools in Waterbury were powerhouses of learning. They had unbelievable facilities and an experienced faculty with high morale.

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