Education in Stamford, Connecticut
Education in Stamford, Connecticut takes place in both public and private schools and college and university campuses.
Per the American Community Survey from 2017 to 2021, 89.1% of adults aged 25 and older graduated from high school, and 52.3% have a Bachelor's degree or higher.
Sacred Heart University also hosts a physician assistant studies program located on the Stamford Hospital campus.
[7] The first public schoolhouse was built in Stamford in 1671, and has been described by a local historian as a "crude, unheated wooden structure only ten or twelve feet square".
[8] It was built when settlers tore down their original meeting house, which they had outgrown after three decades, and used some of the timbers to put up a school near the Old Town Hall on Atlantic Square.
[14] The current building of Stamford High School, located on Strawberry Hill Avenue, was completed in 1928.
[18] In 2002, with the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, Connecticut began administering a standardized test in the 2005–2006 school year.
Critics derided the tests' cost to administer,[20] which the state filed a federal lawsuit to try to lessen,[21][22] as well as delays in results.
Districtwide 2007 Connecticut Mastery Test results for Stamford public schools showed improvements in math and writing compared with the 2006 scores, but lagged in reading.
[24] In the summer of 2007 a Stamford Academy student selected by school officials traveled to Benin as a "cultural ambassador" who helped build classrooms and lived with villagers as part of the Bridgeport, Connecticut-based Higher Education and Responsibility through Overseas Exchange program.
[26] In May 2018, Stamford Academy, a charter high school run by non-profit Domus Kids Inc, was put on probation by the state government, due to poor outcomes.
[28] In July 2019, Trailblazers Academy, a charter middle school also run by Domus Kids Inc, announced it would close.
[18] The school cited financial difficulties as its reason for closing, following funding cuts implemented by the Stamford Board of Education.
Sacred Heart University also hosts a physician assistant studies program located on the Stamford Hospital campus.
[38] The other seven school districts in the group are Ansonia, Danbury, Derby, East Hartford, Meriden, Norwalk, Norwich, and West Haven.
[37][39] About 65% of Stamford Public Schools' student body is classified as "high needs" by the state of Connecticut, which means they either have a disability, are an English learner with limited understanding of the language, or are eligible for free or reduced-price meals.
[42] Located on High Ridge Road, Rippowam is the district's largest traditional middle school.
The transfers were part of a large number under a policy by Starr to give administrators more varied experiences.
The windows of the building, which was constructed in 1963, are often made of single panes of glass instead of more modern double- or triple-panes that insulate better.
Students attend classes for 12 Saturdays and learn about African origins, slavery, and civil rights.
The program culminates in an educational trip to West Africa to see the ancestral home of many African Americans.
An Arts and Athletics Center, winner of the Connecticut HOBI award for excellence in new construction, was opened in 2007.
The school, with an enrollment of 178 in the 2004–2005 academic year, adds programs in drama, music, art and dance to a traditional curriculum.
[51] The Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy of Connecticut is a co-educational, nonprofit Modern Orthodox Jewish institution founded in 1955 and serving children in Pre-Kindergarten through Twelfth Grade.
[54] The school's curriculum is a complement of secular and Judaic studies, which include, according to the school's website, "an understanding of Jewish values, a broad knowledge of Jewish history and religious practice, sensitivity to community needs, a strong bond with Israel and an appreciation of their dual heritage as American Jews".
In the past decade (up to 2007), the school has organized and sent more than 200 marchers a year to the annual Israel Day Parade in New York.
