Despite the challenges, there have been useful learning gains made during the pandemic
Despite the hardships of pandemic learning, there have been bright spots and even many learning gains. While the potential for learning loss is very real, simply comparing students' scores this year to previous years doesn’t tell the whole story and ignores the difficult but also rich life experiences students have had over the past 15 months.
For years, educators have been saying we can do more than measure progress by testing alone. Here are some of the gains we have seen in our students: Increased Communication Skills; Students Taking Ownership of their Own Learning; Resilience and Learning Outside of School; and Time Management.
One of the greatest gains has also been teachers learning to do asynchronous assignments with their students and then providing support to them as they need it. Teachers can be guides rather than only explaining subjects to their students.
Educators and their students are learning to utilize technology that can increase learning and access. For instance, ebook reading has surged during the pandemic.
Pandemic restrictions are easing and parents, educators, and students are hopeful that next year’s school year will be free of COVID-era restrictions. Still, many stakeholders are eager to utilize what worked well from this time.
While some students have struggled in the hybrid or remote setting scene much of the past year, others have thrived with increased flexibility.
Mo's Summer Run begins Wednesday, July 7th!
Mo’s Summer Run is a community-based youth-driven basketball program. This year, the program will operate Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, from Wednesday, July 7th, to Friday, August 13th.
6 pm to 7 pm is for elementary school-aged children, 7 pm to 8 pm is for middle school-aged youth, and 8 pm to 10 pm is for high school-aged youth. Each Friday is alumni night with a DJ!
We will be using both the newly refurbished Richard Whitcomb Gymnasium and the outdoor courts at the Carver Community Center at 7 Academy Street.
Mo’s Summer Run began in 2009. Players who honed their skills at Carver and then went on to high school, collegiate, and, in some cases, professional careers, show up on Friday nights to flaunt their talents on the court in epic games.
Mo’s Summer run has been documented by The Hour here and here (among other stories).
The goal is to give youth a safe environment during the summer evening hours where they can learn the basics of basketball as well as learn teamwork and leadership skills.
Mo’s Summer Run also serves to help keep youth off the streets and engaged in positive and rewarding activities. This program touches upon but is not be limited to the importance of education, hard work, conflict resolution, and healthy living habits through recreational enrichment.
The open gym borrows its name from Maurice “Mo” Tomlin, a beloved Brien McMahon basketball player and coach and Carver Center athletic director who died suddenly at age 42 in 2015. Tremain Gilmore, a friend and colleague of Tomlin’s sought to immortalize his friend at Carver and changed the name of the program after Tomlin’s passing.
…After drills on Mondays and Wednesdays, until 10 p.m., high school players own the court. But on Fridays, those same stars of high school squads from Norwalk and nearby cities like Stamford and Bridgeport must prove their worth.
“I tell the high school guys they can play, but it all depends on your level,” said Gilmore, or Gil, as he is known at Carver.
“It’s the older guys’ night to get more out of their run. The younger guys have to work their way up,” said Evan Kelley, 25, a Carver alum who played four years of college ball at Sacred Heart University and has played professionally overseas.
The style of play at Carver on Friday is scrappy. In the absence of a referee, players call their own fouls and dispute among themselves out-of-bounds calls and travels. Younger players thrown into the mix too soon could have their weaknesses easily exposed by the older, stronger, more savvy veterans.
Most players who have worked their way into the Friday night circuit recall coming as kids and battling against bigger, better guys. It’s something of a rite of passage at Carver.
“I used to come every day when I was younger. All the older Carver kids were better,” said Saikwon Williams, a senior forward at Brien McMahon and one of only a handful of high school players on the court that night. “But then I got better and stronger.”
Williams, now 6 feet 5 inches tall, looks not at all out of place in the pickup games. The 17-year-old has become a force on the Carver court, but he remembers well looking up to players like Gardener and Kelley.
“I think it made me want to be better,” Williams said from the baseline, where, waiting for his next turn to play, he dribbled a ball and, when the action moved to the far side of the court, snuck back on to get in a shot or two.
Because the open gyms attract players from various high schools from across much of Fairfield County, there is sometimes competitive tension. Current and former rivals often face off in the sweaty gymnasium.
“Some people take certain games more personal than others,” said Gardener, who, with Kelley, was conserving energy for a Saturday tournament in Stamford and remained on the sideline for the duration of the run.
But, Gilmore is quick to point out that in nine years, the open gym has gone off without incident and the competition remains friendly. For many, such as Singleton-Bates, the open gyms are like a reunion, where she sees people with whom she grew up with and went to high school. For others, the Carver’s atmosphere has a healing effect.
“Some people see it as therapy,” said Gilmore, works as Caver’s teen center manager and a security guard at Norwalk High School.
Ocean Woods, 20, said he comes primarily for fun, but also to play against the city’s top players.
“This is the best competition in Norwalk,” said Woods, a former Norwalk High School basketball player. “Everybody knows that the ballers come to the Carver to ball.”
No after-school programs today at at least six Norwalk schools because of extreme heat
As reported yesterday evening, with temperatures over 90 expected today, there will be a 2-hour early dismissal on Mon. June 7 at 6 schools with limited air conditioning: Nathan Hale, West Rocks, Naramake, Rowayton, Tracey & Wolfpit.
This was the latest news since this morning.
There are early dismissal school closings across the state.
After-school programs & activities at the schools named above are canceled.
Video: Norwalk's STEM Showcase 21!
The Norwalk Public Schools STEM Department is proud to present the STEM21 Showcase! This virtual experience highlights the creativity and innovation of Norwalk's students and teachers. The STEM21 Showcase is a compilation of highlight videos from each school that celebrates and recognizes the academic achievements and design thinking occurring in the areas of STEM education during this past school year.
Summer reaching challenge!
It’s that time of year to encourage our students to participate in CONNECTICUT READS, the 2021 Governor’s Summer Reading Challenge – an annual, statewide program encouraging students to read books during the summer months. This year’s theme is “Tails & Tales.” Each year, the schools with the highest percentage of participating enrollment and the highest number of books read by participating students at the end of the summer are recognized for their accomplishments.
To support summer reading, the Connecticut State Library’s statewide eGo eBook platform is now available through many local public libraries, and provides access to digital resources for all ages. For a list of local public libraries currently offering eGo, visit https://egoct.org/.
Information on the 2021 Summer Reading Challenge
The State Education Commissioner's Summer Math Challenge!
The 2021 Commissioner's Summer Math Challenge stresses the importance of maintaining math skills during the summer. Schools compete based on student population and grade level. The program identifies the schools with the highest percentage of participating enrollment and the highest number of badges earned by participating students. Registration instructions, district reporting forms and all other materials are available online.
Regististration for Grades 1-8 / Registration for Grades 9-12
Summer Math Log (Metametrics and Khan Academy)
Summer Math School Reporting Form - Form must be completed by October 29, 2021.
Message to Parents and Students / Mensaje a padres y estudiantes (Spanish)
Summer Math Flier / Folleto de Summer Math (Spanish)
Connecticut Summer Math Passport
Getting Ready for Summer!
This Sumer is Different!
Here is the Carver website page to register for all our summer programs.
After a tumultuous school year, there has and continues to be substantial disruption to our children’s learning, interpersonal interactions, and social-emotional well-being. Addressing these disruptions requires an educational response, which is already underway, to promote renewal, reduce opportunity gaps, accelerate learning, and advance equity by providing access to supports, resources, and enhanced enrichment experiences available this summer and into the 2021-22 academic year.
That is why Carver is investing in providing and expanding free and affordable access to summer enrichment and wellness opportunities for all students with an emphasis on those who were most impacted by the pandemic, a critical first step toward helping our students thrive in the years to come.
Disruption is a time to innovate, create, partner, and collaborate to redefine education moving forward by combining traditional educational tools with the nontraditional methods we found most successful during the pandemic while being mindful and responsive to the needs of the children we serve. Now more than ever, it is critical to see this as an opportunity to renew these high-impact practices through summer and beyond, and leverage the assets that our partners and donors make possible.
Our initiatives will prioritize engaging, hands-on learning experiences and transformative enrichment opportunities. We will help children re-engage, provide services to address children’s social-emotional and mental health needs and help them get caught up so that they can thrive during the 2021-22 school year and beyond. These enhanced learning and enrichment opportunities are key to recovery and to helping our young people heal from the past, prepare for the future, and flourish along the way.
Carver Summer Transition Programs
The summer transition programs are designed to help incoming 6th and 9th-grade students transition into Norwalk’s four middle and two high schools. Programming includes individualized instruction, parental involvement, small group learning experiences, diverse enrichment activities, free transportation, and full-day activities benefiting working families.
Students learn the basics of navigating their respective new schools. The incoming 9th-graders learn how to read a transcript, understand graduation requirements, earn credits in courses, and look ahead to potential career options. Students use Naviance/Family Connection to develop an individualized Student Success Plan.
Summer Enrichment Programs
These are the most affordable and high-quality programs available to students ages 5 through 13 years old in Norwalk. These program offerings range from (CDC rules permitting) swimming to project-based and hands-on personalized learning to prepare students for the coming school year.
Our summer literacy program, facilitated by certified teachers, uses the myON and Lexia Reading Core 5 software to provide personalized learning. NPS certified teachers also teach math sessions, the two primary programs are TimezAttack and ThinkCentral. TimezAttack is a computer-based math fact game that strongly supports fact fluency. ThinkCentral is the online component of the GO Math Common Core math program used in NPS K-5 classes.
The Need for Quality Summer Programs!
A new, national survey explores the unique role out-of-school time programs play in youth development compared with home and school, how parents assess quality in OST programs, and the impact of COVID-19 for summer 2021—and beyond.
And speaking of summer, a new report by the Afterschool Alliance and Edge Research shows participation in summer programs is higher than ever, but the demand is far from being met. For every child in a program, there’s another child waiting to get in.
Fairfield County Corporate Collaborative for Education Equity awards Carver a grant for summer programming
This new corporate collaborative awarded Carver a $50,000 grant for our summer transition program for rising 9th graders at Norwalk’s two high schools.
Six local businesses created a partnership with Fairfield County’s Community Foundation (FCCF) to establish the Fairfield County Corporate Collaborative for Education Equity.
A multi-year local impact and funding collective, the founding corporate members seek to foster educational equity in Fairfield County by helping to reduce and eliminate disparities that impact the region’s most vulnerable pre-K through 12th-grade students, parents, and guardians as well as teachers and staff.
Participating companies work with FCCF to support local nonprofit organizations and initiatives in the Greater Bridgeport, Danbury, Norwalk, and Stamford regions with financial contributions, employee volunteerism and expertise, mentorship and internship opportunities, and other resources.
“As business leaders, we have an opportunity to support our community’s economic recovery while also addressing the educational disparities that impact far too many children and families in our county. Now more than ever, supporting education is critical to promoting equity, fairness, and opportunity for all,” said Marc Lautenbach, President and CEO, Pitney Bowes, who first extended an invitation to the other companies to form the collaborative. “It is unacceptable that entrenched educational gaps sharply divide Connecticut students along racial, ethnic, and economic lines. Stepping forward to help reduce these gaps is the right thing for all of us, and for all of our stakeholders.”
“We are grateful for the leadership of Bank of America, First County Bank, Lapine Associates, Pitney Bowes, Synchrony, and Xerox in forging this new education-focused collaborative,” said Juanita James, President and CEO, Fairfield County’s Community Foundation. “By pooling their philanthropic resources, leveraging the influence of their respective corporate brands, empowering their employees, and aligning around specific projects we believe we can make a meaningful and measurable difference in helping to close some of the opportunity gaps that exist in our region.”
Local high school student is named semifinalist in the annual Profiles in Courage essay contest
Ridgefield High School student Julia Clavi was a national semifinalist in the annual Profiles in Courage Contest. She was among the top 15 student finalists. Her evocative essay on Jose Canales will be published on the Profiles in Courage website and she will receive a monetary award.
The annual Profile in Courage Essay Contest invites high school students from across the nation to write an essay on an act of political courage by a US elected official. The contest is a companion program of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award™, named for Kennedy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Profiles in Courage, which recounts the stories of eight US senators who risked their careers by embracing unpopular decisions for the greater good. This year, 2,290 essays were submitted from students in fifty states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico, and from US citizens in China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Luxembourg, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Spain, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.
The Profile in Courage Award is a private award given to recognize displays of courage similar to those John F. Kennedy originally described in his 1956 book, Profiles in Courage. It is given to individuals (often elected officials) who, by acting in accord with their conscience, risked their careers or lives by pursuing a larger vision of the national, state or local interest in opposition to popular opinion or pressure from constituents or other local interests. Two recipients, John Lewis (in 2001) and William Winter (in 2008), were designated as honorees for Lifetime Achievement. The winner is presented with a sterling silver lantern made by Tiffany's which was designed by Edwin Schlossberg. The lantern is patterned after the lanterns on the USS Constitution which was launched in 1797. It is the last sail-powered ship to remain part of the US Navy, and is permanently moored nearby.