Dr. James H. Naylor/CCSU Leadership Academy

Program Overview:

Beginning July 1, 2011 I am proud and excited to announce that Naylor School will open its doors as the Dr. James H. Naylor/CCSU (Central Connecticut State University) Leadership Academy (NCLA).  Due to our success both academically and in meeting the social-emotional needs of our students, we have been approved by the Hartford Board of Education to receive Academy status.  

The Dr. James H. Naylor/CCSU Leadership Academy will remain a Preschool through Grade 8 learning environment that prepares students, teachers and professionals-in-training, utilizing current research and best practices, to be leaders in classrooms, school and the community.  Naylor and CCSU will work collaboratively to enrich students’ lives by providing the tools to succeed as responsible, respectful and productive citizens.  

The Dr. James H. Naylor/CCSU Leadership Academy will use a Professional Development School construct as its foundational model.  The major components of this model are:

• Teacher candidates from all levels of the teacher certification programs are involved in virtually all classrooms at Naylor
• University classes meet at Naylor.
• CCSU students and faculty from the wider university community participate in joint projects and events.
• A CCSU Teacher Education faculty member is on site participating in planning, governance, professional development and all aspects of school/community life.
• Naylor teachers and administrators host and support teacher candidates at the undergraduate, graduate and doctoral levels and participate at CCSU in advisory roles and as regular contributors to teacher education courses. 

Achieving Academy status and expanding our partnership with CCSU means that several major changes and expectations will be implemented.  First, our school hours will be longer.  Breakfast will begin at 8:15 am in our cafeteria and instruction will start at 8:45 am.  Dismissal will now be at 3:40 pm.  In addition, there will be early dismissal of students every Thursday at 12:45 pm for teachers, professors and teacher candidates to work collaboratively. The focus will be to assess and plan new approaches to teaching, learning and leadership through the monitoring of student progress.   Second, a new uniform with logo has been designed to align with our theme and partnership.

I invite anyone interested in attending the Dr. James H. Naylor/CCSU Leadership Academy to come visit our school, our neighborhood, our community.

Program Offering/Key Fact:

Promise 1 -- Caring Adults 

In addition to a dynamic Naylor School faculty and staff comprised of a blend of veteran and new members, 200+ CCSU students and faculty from every school in CCSU participate actively throughout Naylor as Mentors, classroom assistants, 1 year M.A.T. practicum students, student teachers, Nursing, Social Work and Marriage and Family Therapy interns, etc. (See Fieldwork Overview handout).

We have celebrated our first year with a full-year Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) Program operating in the building, staffed by CCSU licensure interns supervised collaboratively by Naylor School Psychologist and administrators and CCSU MFT faculty members. The Naylor-CCSU Community School Family Support Program combines work of MFT, Nursing, Social Work, and SPED interns and practicum students supervised collaboratively by Naylor school psychologist, social worker, special education staff and school administrators and CCSU faculty members.

We work with a variety other community partners, including the Hartford Police Department, Charter Oak Cultural Center, Boy Scouts of America, HART, and The Hartford Youth Foundation to offer outreach and to create opportunities for connections with caring adults within the Naylor-CCSU Community School setting.

Naylor-CCSU Community School Mentoring Program pairs @ 100 college students per year with middle school students for 1-1 collaboratively supervised mentoring focusing on leadership, service, college awareness and the building of caring relationships.

Promise 2 – Safe Places 

We work to create Naylor-CCSU Community School as a hub of our community, a place in which all members feel safe and where everyone develops leadership skills and builds the capacity to advocate for themselves and their families. 

We enlarge the safe place created by Naylor-CCSU Community School through a variety of after-school programs held at the school site, on CCSU campus and facilitated through community partners such as COMPASS and HART. Through C.I.A., Mentoring, Marriage and Family Therapy programs and activities, we are building capacity and offering support for faculty, students and families. Leadership development and reciprocal learning are key partnership goals, with cross grade-level learning and teaching, M.S. students teaching and participating in civic agency on CCSU campus, ESL programs offered for families, etc. Connections to Barnard International Community Education Program (B.I.C.E.P.) and the Hartford Immigration Center will lead to cultural sharing and more services and supports for all community members.

Promise 3 – A Healthy Start 

Teachers and student teachers help students at Naylor-CCSU Community School track their fitness levels and use data to improve their health. Collaboration between Naylor staff and CCSU Nursing, Teacher Education and Fitness faculty and students resulted in distribution of a community health survey and a Family Health Fair in Spring 2008. The fair was attended by families, Naylor and CCSU students and faculty and community partners. A collaboratively designed school-wide Health Week is planned for Fall 2009. In addition, CCSU interns and practicum students and faculty from Nursing, MFT and Social Work collaborate with Naylor professionals to provide programs and services in support of mental health and healthy behaviors for children and families. 

Hartford Hospital and The Hispanic Health Council offer support related to health and nutrition and community outreach. Kiwanis, COMPASS, Footlights, Hartford Youth Dance Initiative, the Hartford Police Department offer fitness and sports-related programming. And Klingberg Family Institute will soon offer specific psychiatric services on site as part of our Naylor-CCSU Community School Family Support Team.

Promise 4 – Effective Education 

Working as partners allows us to provide extra academic support for students at every grade level and to share in relevant data collection and analysis related to student success. Collaboration with CCSU’s Institute for Municipal & Regional Policy will soon provide an overview and analysis of the impact of some specific programs and interventions such as our Comprehensive Student Intervention (C.S.I.) program, Middle School Mentoring and Life Skills Crisis Intervention (LSCI) training on student behavior and academic success.

Inclusion and co-teaching occur and are supported at every grade level, beginning with a nationally recognized full-inclusion co-taught PK program on site and continuing through grade 8. Ongoing connections with the Literacy Council, Mega Education, Smarties, CCSU Planetarium, and The Hartford Public Library enrich the academic environment, and a new partnership between Naylor-CCSU Community School, CCSU Teacher Education and The Goodspeed Opera House will soon bring actors and workshops to Naylor and students to the Opera House for dynamic learning experiences.

Naylor and CCSU students engage in authentic learning tasks through community-based multi-disciplinary cross-grade-level projects such as the annual (9 years) spring Pond Study Project. Middle school students and CCSU Mentors engage in leadership and problem-solving experiences through the Citizens In Action (C.I.A.) Microsociety Program, and through studying and presenting together at Naylor and at CCSU classes. Naylor middle school students complete and present Learning Portfolios to families, teachers and CCSU mentees as part of the development of organization, reflection, leadership and academic planning skills.

Promise 5 – Opportunities to Help Others 

Our partnership creates a variety of opportunities for service and collaboration and provides multiple models for shared growth. Through the newly created B.I.C.E.P project, Naylor and CCSU faculty, students and families will participate in cultural exchanges and act as conversation partners, developing language and citizenship capacity. Through CIA, Mentoring projects and Friends of Goodwin Park, students will provide service within the school and throughout the community. Further civic agency connections to CCSU will occur through Anthropology and Psychology courses. 

All Naylor staff members who are eligible for training as Cooperating Teachers and Mentors are trained, all staff members are encouraged to support the development of future professionals, and many students who complete fieldwork or student teaching with us commit to teaching in urban settings.

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