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Receive your government benefits for your children!

The IRS is paying families up to $300 per child per month — support that is specifically designed to help low-income households. Any family with children can benefit and the IRS is making it easy to enroll.

However, there are still as many as 6,000 households in Fairfield County at risk of missing out on this benefit.

Now, we’re in a race against time to enroll as many families as possible ahead of the November 15 registration deadline.

Fairfield County’s Community Foundation has joined forces with the IRS-certified nonprofit SimplifyCT/GetCTC to help families get into this new program.

Signing up for the benefit is easy. Go to getctc.org/FCCF to sign up for this crucial benefit (in either English or Spanish).

There is also this toolkit to help you spread the word to others. It provides you with flyers, email messages, and social media posts that you can share in your network. Messages are available in both English and Spanish.

If you’d like more information to help spread the word, please email Patrick Gentile at patg@simplifyct.org.

Carver families go apple picking at Lyman Orchards

Recently, 58 Carver families from our elementary school programs at Brookside, Kendall, Naramake, and Tracey and our middle school programs at Nathan Hale, Roton, and West Rocks enjoyed a brisk fall day of apple picking at Lyman Orchards in Middlefield, CT.

Walking through row after row of trees on the orchard’s 1,100-acre property, each family happily filled their bags with delicious apples. Lyman Orchards was the natural choice for Carver’s first family engagement activity of the school year; it’s been ranked as the best location for apple picking in Connecticut and included on the Connecticut Office of Tourism’s “Six Things to Add to Your Fall Bucket List.” We wanted to ensure that our hardworking families had quality time together and the opportunity to experience this fun autumn tradition.

Community outings are offered to our families throughout the school year to strengthen Carver’s relationships with our student's parents and guardians. Parent/family involvement in their child’s education is the best predictor of student success*, which is why Carver includes parents and guardians in our programming. 

Carver communicates regularly with parents/guardians not only to provide updates on their children, but to involve them in program development and implementation as well. In addition to our community outings, we offer resources and programs for parents, such as financial literacy workshops. This holistic approach promotes student achievement by supporting and engaging families to help them create a positive learning environment for their children.

We encourage parents/guardians to consider the following strategies of involvement: 

  • Proactive and preventative communication with teachers and Carver employees

  • Supporting their children’s independence, such as encouraging them to take responsibility for their schoolwork

  • Providing structure at home

  • Linking education to future success

The First Congregational Church of Darien presents a Holiday Gift Fair to benefit local charities

Pop-up shops by local retailers and artisans will let you get a jump on your holiday shopping. November 17th from 5:30-8:30 and November 18th from 9 AM-4 PM, at 14 Brookside Road, Darien, CT. Admission is free and open to all. Vendors include Everything is Rosey, Monograms Off Madison, Peach Athletic Apparel, and many more. A portion of all proceeds will go to charity.

Carver hosts the first Norwalk Public Schools Choice Fair

The first annual NPS High School Choice Fair took place with great success in the Richard Whitcomb Gymnasium at the Carver Community Center last night.

Families joined staff representatives from high schools, pathways, academies, and various NPS departments to learn about the many opportunities available to our students. Here is news about this event at Nancy on Norwalk. Lottery applications for high schools are here norwalkps.org/choiceprograms.

We are grateful to have been able to support this important opportunity for families and for all the NPS staff members and students who helped support this event. The NPS Elementary School Choice Fair will be held in January.

NPS high school programs offer a wide variety of opportunities from hands-on industry experience to earning a college degree and health certifications and engaging with counterparts globally.

PreK through middle school students can take advantage of magnet programs focused on language, character, college and career readiness, and visual and performing arts.

NPS also prides itself on neighborhood schools, which build community and offer their own unique programs and educational opportunities. 

High School Applications are now available! Please click here to apply.

Deloitte employees return for IMPACT Day at the Carver Community Center

Deloitte’s IMPACT Day is an annual day of community service and a longstanding tradition at the Carver Community Center.

Every year, volunteers from Deloitte’s Stamford office devote their IMPACT Day activities to refurbishing, organizing, and beautifying the Carver Community Center.

During their most recent visit, Deloitte employees helped Carver organize closet space and paint doors in the community center - tedious but necessary tasks that would have been difficult to complete without the help of Deloitte.

In the past, Deloitte has helped transform the community center by assisting with landscaping and painting the inside of the building. We’re grateful to them for the gracious work they do for Carver each year.

Many, many thanks to Deloitte and their employees for generously volunteering their time to support Carver!

If you’re interested in corporate volunteer opportunities, please reach out to Jim Schaffer at jim@carvercenterct.org.

The Hour: Norwalk high school choice fair set for Nov. 3 at the Carver Community Center

See the article here.

NORWALK — Incoming high school students can preview their options for the future at the district’s high school choice fair next week.

Norwalk Public Schools will host its school choice fair on Nov. 3 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Carver Foundation of Norwalk, at 7 Academy St. Reservations to attend are not needed.

Representatives from Brien McMahon and Norwalk high schools, the Center for Global Studies, and P-TECH Norwalk will be on hand to answer questions as well as representatives from the International Baccalaureate program, the Digital Media & Communications Academy, the Marine Science Academy, and the Healthcare Academy.

The Multilingual Learners Welcome Center and other district services will also be represented.

Applications for all high school lotteries will be available online this fall. Laptops will be available at the choice fair for those who need help completing lottery applications.

emily.morgan@hearstmediact.com

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After the Bell students embrace their heritage at Brookside Elementary School

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To mark the end of Hispanic Heritage Month, Brookside’s After the Bell program held a lively celebration that encouraged Carver students to explore their ethnic backgrounds.

Brookside Elementary School is situated in the Flax Hill neighborhood of Norwalk, a quick 10 minute drive from the Carver Community Center. Signs with the message, “Be kind at Brookside,” are scattered throughout the lawn and building. True to those words, when I arrived at Brookside and explained I was a Carver employee, I was warmly welcomed and led to the cafeteria, where Carver’s after-school program, After the Bell, was convened.

The cafeteria at Brookside was buzzing with excitement. Children were gathered around tables, adjusting the focal points of the afternoon: paper smocks they had created and decorated with flags of the countries their families came from.

I snapped a photo of one of the girls, her bright smile exposing missing baby teeth. Afterwards, I asked which countries the flags on her smock represented. “Honduras,” she said, pointing to a blue and white flag with blue stars, “and Costa Rica,” she explained as she pointed to the other.

Groups of students lined up to show off their unique creations. The countries represented included Peru, Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Italy, and the United States - serving as a reminder of the diversity among both Hispanic Americans and the students in Carver’s programs.

At the end of the festivities, students gathered around two piñatas they had crafted out of cardboard and paper-mâché. Laughter filled the gymnasium as each child eagerly took a swing, delighted by the promise of candy. When the piñatas were finally ripped apart, spilling out their sweet treats, the candy was gathered up and put into Ziploc bags for the students to take home. Everyone went home with a bag - demonstrating equity in action.

Carver’s commitment

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are at the core of Carver’s work. Established over 80 years ago as a community center to support black adolescents, Carver has always worked to provide equitable access to opportunity so children and youth can realize their fullest potential. We have since expanded our reach to ensure all students are benefiting from our work, regardless of their race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and native language. Carver is dedicated to fostering a positive, empowering learning environment in which all students experience a sense of respect, belonging, and worth. The Hispanic Heritage Month celebration at Brookside highlights that commitment.

Carver is grateful to Brookside’s After the Bell employees for their ingenuity and incredible support of Carver kids. Many thanks to Ms. Monica Cervantes, Ms. Andralee Davidson-Hunter, Ms. Fawnia Hennegan, Mr. Joe Lombardo, and Mr. Colin Page.