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(Hartford, CT) CREC’s Montessori Magnet School’s courtyard is now a certified wildlife habitat, and this new designation means that the school community must take extra care of school grounds. On April 23, the school held a clean-up day. About 50 students, parents, and staff members helped to beautify the courtyard. They swept, weeded, and worked on planting and landscape projects, preparing the courtyard for its new monarch butterfly recovery garden.The courtyard earned its new wildlife habitat status from the National Wildlife Federation, and the school’s parent-teacher group will purchase a plaque that highlights this honor. A $500 grant from the Lego Community Fund and the Connecticut Forest & Park Association will help the school start its butterfly garden, providing the money needed to purchase plants that attract monarch butterflies. The grant will also allow the school to buy supplies to help with planting. In addition, funding from the two organizations will send two CREC Montessori Magnet School teachers to a day-long professional development session, which will teach them how to setup and maintain a monarch butterfly recovery garden. The teachers will also be provided with lesson plans that they can use with their students. CREC Montessori Magnet School teacher Nancy Rawn is leading the school’s efforts on this project and secured the grant for her school. “I am very excited to decorate the courtyard with plants that butterflies love,” she said.###The Capitol Region Education Council was established in 1966 and is celebrating 50 years of academic excellence. Working with and for its member districts, CREC has developed a wide array of cost-effective and high-quality programs and services to meet the educational needs of children and adults in the region. CREC brings five decades of experience in education, regional collaboration, and operations to provide innovative strategies and products that address the changings needs of school districts and their students, corporations, non-profits, and individual professions. CREC regularly serves 36 towns in Greater Hartford, offering more than 120 programs to more than 150,000 students annually. CREC manages more than 35 facilities throughout the area, including 18 interdistrict magnet schools. More information about CREC and CREC’s award-winning schools is available at www.crec.org....

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(Hartford, CT) Thirty high school students who participate in the Capitol Region Interdistrict Leadership Academy (CRILA) recently packed and delivered more than 10,000 meals to St. Francis Hospital’s Mount Sinai campus. “One thing that stuck out to me while we were working was that every action we did would help improve someone’s day,” said Jameson Toper, a student at CREC’s Academy of Aerospace and Engineering. “We may never meet that person, but knowing that we may have changed someone’s life with our simple project is a fantastic feeling.”CRILA is a program for high school juniors and seniors in Greater Hartford, and it is managed by CREC. It aims to provide a forum for students to practice ethical and collaborative leadership through research and community service. Participating students reside in 22 communities and attend 24 high schools in the Greater Hartford area.The students spent several months planning and organizing their community service project and raised more than $2,500 to support their efforts. On April 23, they met at CREC Discovery Academy in Wethersfield to pack thousands of meals. They then delivered the meals to the Joan C. Dauber Food Bank at St. Francis Hospital. “Creating and accomplishing our group service project was an experience that I will take with me for the rest of my life,” said Tate Knapp, a student at Wethersfield High School and a leadership academy participant. “It was remarkable that we, as a group, could collaborate to execute such an impactful project.”This selfless project was made possible because of the program’s commitment to leadership, teambuilding, and service. Last summer, students participated in a week-long formal outdoor leadership program at the Colorado Outward Bound School in Leadville, Colorado, and they learned lessons that they’ve used throughout this school year. The group also meets regularly to develop their leadership and problem-solving skills.The idea for their community service project came about because the students identified hunger as a major concern in the Hartford community. In March, the students visited the Joan C. Dauber Food Bank to hear from Joan Dauber, its founder, and to learn about the organization’s mission, activities, and major areas of need. “Food insecurity is a growing problem for many families in our community,” said Dauber. “The food donation from this project will provide much-needed nutritious food for families that are struggling day-to-day to survive.”###The Capitol Region Education Council was established in 1966 and is celebrating 50 years of academic excellence. Working with and for its member districts, CREC has developed a wide array of cost-effective and high-quality programs and services to meet the educational needs of children and adults in the region. CREC brings five decades of experience in education, regional collaboration, and operations to provide innovative strategies and products that address the changings needs of school districts and their students, corporations, non-profits, and individual professions. CREC regularly serves 36 towns in Greater Hartford, offering more than 120 programs to more than 150,000 students annually. CREC manages more than 35 facilities throughout the area, including 18 interdistrict magnet schools. More information about CREC and CREC’s award-winning schools is available at www.crec.org....

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(Hartford, CT) Our reliance on technology is changing the way we learn—and increasing our educational opportunities. CREC’s Technical Assistance and Brokering Services recently hosted a forum about the future of education. The forum sparked conversation about how students learn, how to make curriculum more accessible, and how online learning can help school districts save money. CREC recognizes that online learning can help students of all ages and abilities, and it partners with school districts throughout Connecticut to offer the CREC online portal. This education depository features more than 1,500 interesting courses that are available with a click of a mouse.The portal’s courses meet curriculum guidelines and are taught by certified teachers. The degree of difficulty appropriately corresponds with course levels, and each course is interactive, prompting students to be more engaged as they participate in online discussion threads, digital group projects, and virtual labs. While this style of learning, and the array of opportunities available, clearly helps students, online courses can also help school districts. Courses that would be cost prohibitive to offer in a traditional classroom can be offered for credit through the CREC portal. Online courses can also be a way for students to take classes that would not fit in their schedule otherwise. Of those who register for online instruction through CREC, 50 percent enroll in Advanced Placement courses. “My son is very interested in computer science and had exhausted the offerings at Glastonbury High School,” said Shari Maglio, of Glastonbury. “His computer programming teacher suggested an independent study of Java in preparation for the AP computer science A exam. CREC online learning offered him the opportunity to take the AP computer science A course through a virtual high school. The course offered the structure our son needed to ensure his success.”For more information on CREC’s online portal, visit https://crec.gennet.us. ###The Capitol Region Education Council was established in 1966 and is celebrating 50 years of academic excellence. Working with and for its member districts, CREC has developed a wide array of cost-effective and high-quality programs and services to meet the educational needs of children and adults in the region. CREC brings five decades of experience in education, regional collaboration, and operations to provide innovative strategies and products that address the changings needs of school districts and their students, corporations, non-profits, and individual professions. CREC regularly serves 36 towns in Greater Hartford, offering more than 120 programs to more than 150,000 students annually. CREC manages more than 35 facilities throughout the area, including 18 interdistrict magnet schools. More information about CREC and CREC’s award-winning schools is available at www.crec.org....

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(Hartford, CT) For 50 years, the Hartford Region Open Choice Program has helped to reduce the racial isolation of Hartford and suburban students, while ensuring that all students have access to a high-quality, integrated education. The program began in 1966 during the civil rights movement as Project Concern and was managed by the Hartford Board of Education. It became the statewide Open Choice program in 1997 after the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled in the Sheff vs. O’Neill case that “students in Hartford suffer daily from the devastating effects that racial and ethnic isolation, as well as poverty, have on their education.” The Sheff vs. O’Neill decision charged that Connecticut’s system of separate city and suburban school districts led to racially segregated schools and was a violation of Hartford children’s rights to equal opportunity.The Hartford Region Open Choice Program, alongside magnet schools and other regional programs, is a key part of the strategy to address the endemic segregation between Connecticut’s small communities. The Open Choice program allows children who live in Hartford to attend suburban schools and students who live in suburban communities to attend school in Hartford. When the program began, there was not universal support for integration, and many community members were not in favor of allowing students to access educational opportunities across district lines. “Fifty years ago, it took a lot of courage to make change happen,” said CREC Executive Director Greg Florio. “Change usually requires a lot of courage.”In 1966, the five districts of Farmington, Manchester, Simsbury, South Windsor, and West Hartford, took the first courageous steps to establish the program in partnership with community leaders and parents. In the first school year, the five founding districts offered 252 seats to Hartford students in their local public schools. At the time, and in the years since, the school districts fought to overcome challenges, such as the negative perceptions that some suburban, white families held about Hartford students and families of color. But the program continued to grow, and as communities began to see the benefits and the results, new districts signed on to participate. Today, the program is managed by CREC, an agency that is also celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and there are 28 participating districts that serves nearly 2,300 students. The program is nationally recognized as a model for interdistrict cooperation and for breaking down racial barriers. “We need to celebrate that success,” said Donald F. Harris, Jr., chairman of the CREC Council. The Open Choice program kicked off its year of celebration Tuesday with a legislative reception at the Capitol in Hartford. During the event, it recognized the program’s founding districts and their commitment to the program.“Racially integrated schools provide many benefits for all students including cross-racial understanding, reduced racial prejudice, improved critical thinking, and academic achievement,” said Charlene Russell-Tucker, chief operating officer for the Connecticut State Department of Education. “To ensure the program continues to thrive, we know that it’s critical for our Open Choice districts to have purposeful conversations about what it means to be an Open Choice school community.Florio acknowledged the State Department of Education and the Connecticut state legislature for providing crucial support for the Open Choice program. “We thank those who helped to advocate for the program, because without your efforts to find funding, it would not have been possible to serve the thousands of students who have benefitted.”A second celebration for students, alumni, and supporters of the program will be held this summer, and the program is working to reconnect with its nearly 4,500 alumni through its website: www.crec.org/choice. While 2016 is a year of joy and reflection for both Open Choice and CREC, it is also an opportunity to prepare for the future. While progress has been made, more needs to be done. It has been 20 years since the Sheff vs. O’Neill ruling, and the state has fallen short on its goal to substantially increase the number of students enrolled in the program. One-third of the suburban districts enroll fewer than 2 percent of their students from Hartford, while the program’s target for districts is to enroll more than 4 percent. CREC is working with partners to identify ways to increase participation while ensuring success for students and improving the reputation of the program within communities. In towns like West Hartford, the conversation has shifted over the past 50 years. It is no longer about determining the benefits of an integrated education for minority or non-minority students, but about the rich benefits of an integrated education for all students.“Over the past 50 years, West Hartford feels fortunate to have supported, nurtured, and educated hundreds of students from Hartford, and we look forward to impacting the lives of so many more,” said Tom Moore, Superintendent of West Hartford Public Schools. The results of the Open Choice program are inspiring, Florio said, explaining that the program has changed and developed, but remains true to its mission.###The Capitol Region Education Council was established in 1966 and is celebrating 50 years of academic excellence. Working with and for its member districts, CREC has developed a wide array of cost-effective and high-quality programs and services to meet the educational needs of children and adults in the region. CREC brings five decades of experience in education, regional collaboration, and operations to provide innovative strategies and products that address the changings needs of school districts and their students, corporations, non-profits, and individual professions. CREC regularly serves 36 towns in Greater Hartford, offering more than 120 programs to more than 150,000 students annually. CREC manages more than 35 facilities throughout the area, including 18 interdistrict magnet schools. More information about CREC and CREC’s award-winning schools is available at www.crec.org....

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(Hartford, CT) This month, schools, organizations, and families across the country are raising awareness of autism, one of the fastest-growing developmental disorders in the United States.There is no cure for autism, but studies show that early diagnosis and intervention can lead to significantly improved outcomes. That’s where Kathleen Dyer, the clinical director for the CREC River Street School Autism Program at Coltsville, can help. Every day, Dyer helps teachers, students, and families navigate the disorder. Her goal is to improve the quality of life for children with autism by providing opportunities to develop the skills needed to be more productive, independent, and engaged members of the larger society.Sending a child who has autism to school can be both an exciting and anxiety-provoking experience. In honor of Autism Awareness Month, Dyer shares the following tips, which will help make school a more successful experience for children who have autism and their loved ones:Help your child adjust to their classroom. Exposure and predictability will improve their comfort level. Visit your child’s classroom when there are no students, bring a familiar toy with you, and let your child play in the classroom by themselves. Take pictures while there to show your child later, meet the teacher, and get pictures of your child’s classmates. Take your child to the playground. Let them use the swings and the slides before other children arrive. Exposure to the equipment can increase familiarity and comfort during recess.Use pictures to help your child understand what to expect each day. Picture boards and other types of activity schedules can feature images that depict arrival and departure times, classroom activities, and recess.Remember that school is a partnership. You are part of your child’s teaching team, and it is important that you get to know your child’s teacher and establish a regular system of communication. Let your child’s teacher know what your child likes. Teachers can use these preferred items and activities to help make the classroom a fun place to be.Help your child’s teacher by providing them with information about how to better communicate and respond to your child’s challenging behavior. Your child’s home life is important too! Let your teacher know if there are any disruptions to your child’s sleep schedule, or if they are any changes to their eating habits or overall health.As with anything, it can take time for your child to settle into a routine. Be patient, and you will see results!###The Capitol Region Education Council was established in 1966 and is celebrating 50 years of academic excellence. Working with and for its member districts, CREC has developed a wide array of cost-effective and high-quality programs and services to meet the educational needs of children and adults in the region. CREC brings five decades of experience in education, regional collaboration, and operations to provide innovative strategies and products that address the changings needs of school districts and their students, corporations, non-profits, and individual professions. CREC regularly serves 36 towns in Greater Hartford, offering more than 120 programs to more than 150,000 students annually. CREC manages more than 35 facilities throughout the area, including 18 interdistrict magnet schools. More information about CREC and CREC’s award-winning schools is available at www.crec.org....

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(New Britain, CT) Fifteen students from CREC’s Medical Professions and Teacher Preparation Academy recently competed in the National Competitive Events Program at this year’s Connecticut HOSA State Leadership Conference.Katherine Mason, a junior who lives in Bristol, won second place in an epidemiology event. HOSA is a national organization for future health professionals, and the group’s state conference was held March 22 at Gateway Community College in New Haven. There is a HOSA chapter at the CREC Medical Professions and Teacher Preparation Academy.The National Competitive Events Program featured several competition categories, including health science events; health professions events, emergency preparedness events; and teamwork events. ###The Capitol Region Education Council was established in 1966 and is celebrating 50 years of academic excellence. Working with and for its member districts, CREC has developed a wide array of cost-effective and high-quality programs and services to meet the educational needs of children and adults in the region. CREC brings five decades of experience in education, regional collaboration, and operations to provide innovative strategies and products that address the changings needs of school districts and their students, corporations, non-profits, and individual professions. CREC regularly serves 36 towns in Greater Hartford, offering more than 120 programs to more than 150,000 students annually. CREC manages more than 35 facilities throughout the area, including 18 interdistrict magnet schools. More information about CREC and CREC’s award-winning schools is available at www.crec.org....

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(Bloomfield, CT) In February, student-athletes at CREC’s Metropolitan Learning Center for Global and International Studies spent an afternoon writing letters to U.S. soldiers. Each sports season, the school’s middle and high school student-athletes complete a community service project. Writing letters to soldiers stationed on the USS Kearsarge in the Gulf of Aqaba was the project selected for this winter. The initiative was suggested by Zanagee Artis, a sophomore boys basketball player from Clinton, and a teacher at the school knows soldiers stationed on the U.S. Navy assault ship.“I was inspired to mail letters to show appreciation to service members who are spending time away from their families to protect us,” Zanagee said. “Many kids don’t know what it is like to be away from your families for so long, and I think it was important to teach the students about the commitment and sacrifice these men and women give for our safety and freedom.”On the day the letters were written, each winter sports team was represented, and the students were encouraged to personalize their letters and ask the soldiers questions. A few students also presented military-related projects. For example, Emily Godeck, a sophomore girls basketball player from Broadbrook, shared her International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme personal project about the military. Christopher Rivera, a senior boys basketball player from Windsor, presented his project titled, “The Emotional Effect on Kids with Military Deployed Parents.” The letters to the soldiers have been mailed, and the school hopes to receive responses by the end of the school year. ###The Capitol Region Education Council was established in 1966 and is celebrating 50 years of academic excellence. Working with and for its member districts, CREC has developed a wide array of cost-effective and high-quality programs and services to meet the educational needs of children and adults in the region. CREC brings five decades of experience in education, regional collaboration, and operations to provide innovative strategies and products that address the changings needs of school districts and their students, corporations, non-profits, and individual professions. CREC regularly serves 36 towns in Greater Hartford, offering more than 120 programs to more than 150,000 students annually. CREC manages more than 35 facilities throughout the area, including 18 interdistrict magnet schools. More information about CREC and CREC’s award-winning schools is available at www.crec.org....

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