magnet schools and schools with special curriculums

Elementary magnet schools

Four of  the 12 elementary schools, and one of the 5 middle schools in Stamford, are so called magnet schools. Each magnet school focuses on a certain theme (science, reading,...). Admission to magnet schools is based on policy 5117.2. The zoned magnet schools primarily serve the students in their district ("attendance zone"), whereas the district-wide magnet schools do not have an assigned attendance area. Students from other districts are admitted via a "controlled" lottery process. Some magnet schools show much higher test scores than their peers, and therefore have many more applicants than free spots. After a policy change in November 2006 (magnet school policy 5117.2), the purpose of the magnet schools changed from providing educational choice to the following: "..to assist in managing enrollment and racial balance through educational choice...".  As a consequence, if your child is a minority student in a school with a shortage of minority students, he or she will be denied access to a magnet school, just the same way a "majority" student will be if he or she happens to live in a district with a shortage of majority students. This letter by Judith Singer clarifies what policy 5117.2 boils down to.

Westover Magnet School

The obvious no-brainer is Westover magnet school, since it ranks first every way you look at it. The principal (who is supposed to retire around 2009) runs a tight ship and through a combination of measures such as:

• grouping students by ability, pushing the teachers to work harder, and a tough curriculum

Because of that, Westover produces academic achievement on par with the surrounding wealthier school districts. But alas, unless you live in the Westover district, the chances of getting into Westover as a majority student are slim, since mostly minority students are admitted in order to achieve the board's goal of "racial" balance (see policy 5117.2 and this letter). If you also happen to live in a school district that has a shortage of majority students (Hart/Stark/Rogers/KT Murphy), you have a snowball's chance in hell of getting your child admitted. Your kid may also be denied admission if he or she is a minority student, and is applying from a district with a shortage of minority students (Newfield/Northeast/Roxbury).

It was implied that after redistricting in 2009 the above mentioned admittance procedure won't be necessary anymore. The BOE promised Stamford parents, if the schools are balanced, everybody should have an equal chance getting into a magnet school. No more skewed lottery! To read more about redistricting click here.

Rogers International School - environmental interdistrict magnet school

The one elementary school that actually showed in the last couple of years great improvements despite a huge 70% minority population was Rogers Magnet School. It is hard to pinpoint what the reason for their success is. Part of it is the IB program, starting to group out in kindergarten for math, reading, and writing. And a dedicated administration, and staff that supports all students, even the high performing ones. Another part is, that contrary to assurances from superintendent Starr, Rogers is more costly if you look at teacher salary per student than any other school in Stamford. It has the highest teacher salary/student allocation with $14,200 compared to Newfield, ranked last, with $10,100 for the 2008/2009 school year. It also seems to be successful in getting outside grants and fund raising.

In 2009 the SPS district opened a new Environmental Interdistrict Magnet School, the only K-8th grade public school in Stamford, in the Cove area. They also decided that for financial reasons one of the 12 existing elementary schools needed to close. After a long "debate" and some heavy lobbying and arm twisting by mayor Dan Malloy they voted to close the International School at Rogers Magnet. The outcome was, that most of the student body of Rogers moved into the new school. On the positive side, the students of Rogers got a brand new, state of the art school. On the other hand, the promised new magnet school is already full with out of district students and former Roger students. In order to get State funding as an interdistrict magnet school a minimum of 25% of the student population must come from other cities. Unfortunately, we couldn't find any numbers that showed how many of the former Rogers student transferred, how many had to leave in order to make room for out of district students, and what percentage of out of district students currently attend Rogers. But anecdotal evidence suggests that it is very hard to get into Rogers if you do not live in the preferred district established during the redistricting process.

Please see more about Stamford Elementary Schools here.

Scofield magnet Middle School

There are 5 middle schools in Stamford. Only Scofield is a magnet school and enrolls students from the other 4 middle schools through a lottery process. As with the magnet elementary schools the magnet middle school lottery is not a "true" lottery either but tries to achieve diversity in accordance with the BOE guidelines. The process, like the elementary lottery, usually happens in early spring (around the beginning of March).

Rippowam Middle School

Rippowam  is not a magnet school but has a new IB (International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme). This is a program that originated in Switzerland and is highly competitive. In order to participate schools need to follow the IB rules and standards.

There are a limited number of spots that are, as far as we know, allocated via a combination of lottery and CMT scores. If you are interested you should contact the school before your child starts 6th grade and find out what the requirements are.

Academy of Information Technology and Engineering (AITE)

A public, interdistrict magnet school that is attracting students not only from Stamford but also from the surrounding towns and communities. It is fairly new and opened in 2007. The building is great but the 2008 SAT scores are worse than Stamford High or Westhill.. Applications are via a lottery. The school is heavily technology oriented.

J.M. Wright Technical High School

Enrollment at Wright Tech has dropped continually over the last years and on July 29, 2009 due to state budget cuts Wright suspended operations for a two year duration. Wright Tech was a state run technical high school. Some of its students moved back to their district high school and some (about 20) chose to attend Abbott Tech in Danbury.

Charter Schools

Both charter schools are run by the Domus Foundation in partnership with the Stamford Public Schools, and the city of Stamford.

Trailblazers Academy Charter Middle School

Stamford's first charter school founded in 1999. About 150 students in grades 6-8th who have been unsuccessful in a traditional school attend Trailblazers. For the 2006/2007 school year, the student body was approximately 70% Black, 28% Latino, and 2% White. Admission is through a lottery held the end of May at Trailblazers Academy.

Trailblazers was originally located within Rippowam Middle School and later shared space within J.M. Wright Technical High School. Starting in the fall of 2009 Trailblazers moved into the old Rogers building after Rogers vacated it and relocated into the new interdistrict magnet school building.

Stamford Academy

Stamford's second charter school founded in 2004 for students in grades 9-12 who have dropped out of the traditional high school or struggled in a traditional school environment. Of 135 students approximately 60% are Black, 30% are Latino, and 10 are White. Enrollment is by lottery.

 

Gifted and Talented Program: the program that never happened again

The gifted and talented program called "Extraordinary Learners Program" was cut in 2003/04 after nearly 10% of 2nd and 20% of 5th graders participated. Board members said it failed to serve the truly gifted students because the selection process became watered down, and some students were staying in the program because of parental pressure.  So in early 2007 a new gifted and talented program was proposed. We have some kids who are very, very high achievers, and we want to make sure we have the right instructional environment for them," Superintendent Joshua Starr said. "It's a distinct educational need that a certain segment, albeit a small one, has." The district will hire four teachers trained in gifted and talented instruction. The program would cost $575,000 next year and be geared towards 3rd and 4th graders.  Albeit it never happened. As far as I know, is was cut out of the budget and there is no program in place as of now, to help the kids that are truly gifted and challenge them at an appropriate level.

In 2008 a  9 week long Math/Science Enrichment program was offered for students in grades 5 and 8. Students had to score in the 95th percentile and above on the 2007 CMT  in math. Students would meet one day per week for two hours at Turn of River Middle School.