capss' innovation committee

ECAMP offers cooperating district students pathways to obtaining advanced manufacturing skills, industry-ready credentials, the opportunity to complete the 21-credit CNC Advanced Placement Certificate in CNC Machining during their high school course of studies or continuing on to finish the 37-credit Certificate in CNC Machining, Metrology and Manufacturing Technology at Goodwin College that is nationally recognized through the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC).

Canton High School's Mastery Project course will allow students to select an area of interest, and a style of learning in which to ultimately apply those skills and attributes gained through their previous courses and experiences.

At Manchester High School we are experimenting with an embedded reflection process that is designed to engage students in ongoing commentary about their growth toward the MHS Vision of a Graduate.

Guided by the Bolton Public Schools Portrait of a Graduate, the Class of 2020 will be the first graduating class required to demonstrate mastery in critical thinking, communication, creative and practical problem solving, citizenship, and self-direction.

In the summer of 2017, CREC Magnet Schools Superintendent Tim Sullivan collaborated with CREC’s app development team to create FlashFeedback. The software supports his vision for improved and more frequent informal observations of teachers. 

Students design solutions to authentic problems and present their original products to a panel consisting of community members, parents, educators, and/or administrators (similar to the show “Shark Tank”).

In Farmington, elementary schools have instituted a Challenge and Intervention Block Time in order to meet the needs of all learners.

Across all grades and content in Greenwich Public Schools, standards based curriculum is made flexible with the integration of curated curriculum playlists.

The summer math passport has redefined what it means to engage in math learning over the summer. Since starting it in 2017, it has more than doubled our participation in summer math work, while at the same time inspired families and the community to build positive attitudes towards mathematics!

By flipping a local budget process on its side, all board members of the district and the town developed a deep understanding of the district budget.

A WHPS Dyslexia Steering Committee was created in January, 2016 to determine implications of the state of Connecticut’s newly established requirements for the identification of Dyslexia as a Specific Learning Disability.

Want to truly personalize student learning and raise student voices?  Build a course where every written word is also spoken and permit students to declare their truths.

At the foundation of this innovative team is a unique set of by-laws that brings together student leaders from grades 9-12, and from a variety of student organizations, to promote student voice and student action in their school and local community.  

The goal of the Vernon Public Schools is 96% daily attendance.  Vernon is committed to working with families to achieve this goal.  

In the Meriden Public Schools innovative teachers are recognized through the I’m Charged! Program.

We have developed a new way to introduce the NGSS standards to elementary schools.

In Partnership with Trifecta Ecosystem and the City That Feeds Itself(c), CREC Magnet schools have installed aquaponics systems in 7 schools, both elementary and secondary.

The South Windsor Elementary STEM program was piloted during the 2016-2017 school year at Philip R. Smith School and met with great success.

Windham-ECO is a 4 year program that is open to all students entering 9th grade at Windham High School. Students earn a certificate in manufacturing from Quinebaug Valley Community College at no out-of-the pocket cost while attending high school.

Norwalk Public Schools has implemented a new and innovative personalized approach to math instruction at the middle school level in partnership with New Classrooms entitled “Teach to One”.

In Norwalk, we are committed to science education. We recognize that sparking an interest in STEM education at an early age is critical to foster passion and make science public.

In the last 5 years, the Waterford Public Schools technology committee has worked to embed computer science throughout the K-5 curriculum.

The Norwalk Public Schools have been managing a student-based budget model for several years. Each of our school's student-based budgets are approved annually by the school's School Governance Councils. 

Like most schools, we have identified regular attendance as a struggle.  In an effort to go beyond the usual interventions and think creatively about how we may solve the issue of chronic absenteeism, we developed the Attendance Matters Bus.

This curriculum prepares students to earn a certification recognized in the manufacturing industry through Mastercam University.

Third Grade Enrichment Clusters at Beecher Road School (Woodbridge) is a dedicated time built into the school week where groups of students who share common interests come together to advance their learning.

Essentially, a school-within-a-school, nearly 400 7th & 8th grade students in Shelton work together using the Habits of Mind as a frame for their interdisciplinary studies.

QR codes are posted throughout the classroom.  Using a QR code scanner, students access links that lead to documents with the pictures or articles students should view.

Schools across the county typically have mission statements, but relatively few are able to measure their students’ success in attaining the mission.