Below are some of the special programs offered by the Consolidated School District of New Britain. To get more information on any of the topics below, click on the icon that you want more information on.
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Substance Abuse and Violence Prevention Education
The mission of health education is to empower students to achieve their fullest potential for the betterment of self, family and community by maintaining the highest level of health. During the school year, students are provided with knowledge, skills, and decision making strategies to create positive attitudes and behaviors. The dynamic interaction and interdependence of physical, mental, emotional and social health involve a person's total being and is the essence of a healthy person.
The District and the non-public schools of New Britain received financial support from the Drug Enforcement Program (DEP) and Safe and Drug Free Schools (ESEA) grants for a substance abuse and violence prevention curriculum. With these grants, the District supports a drug education teacher, a social worker at New Britain High School to run support groups for youth with substance abuse problems, teacher stipends to organize and advise substance abuse programs at the high school and middle schools, and a .5 drug education social worker at the elementary schools. "Here's Looking at You, 2000" curriculum material and teacher training were also provided.
District teachers taught substance abuse and violence prevention as part of a comprehensive K-12 health curriculum and continued to integrate the regular academic program with substance abuse and violence prevention education. Fifth grade students from the elementary schools take part in the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program. DARE is a collaborative effort between the New Britain Police Department and the District.
The District continued to implement a "Character Counts" program which teaches social skills and personal responsibility. It is based on the six values of Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring and Citizenship. Several elementary and middle schools have implemented successful "Character Counts" programs to strengthen students' values.
In addition, the high school has established an after school program, "Athletes Against Drugs," where athletes become positive role models and peer advisors to elementary students.
Officer Carol Zesut coordinates the "Gang Resistance Education and Training Program" (GREAT) for middle school students. This program is also a collaboration of the schools and police department.
Student members of the middle school peer advisors' group participate in the Mayor's Alcohol and Drug Prevention Family Fun Day.
National Red Ribbon Week, the yearly campaign to create an awareness of alcohol and other drug problems facing every community, is implemented. The result of the cooperation among parents, staff and community is one message: "Say NO to drugs, alcohol, nicotine, and violence."
Focal points for the Professional Development program are training in the educational uses of computers and other technology, expansion of teaching strategies to implement the mathematics program, continued emphasis on strategies to implement the language arts program, the expansion of innovative practices and the integration of instruction, and updating techniques for working with English language learners. In-service sessions were also offered to address reading and writing, classroom management, a number of special education topics and the development and use of student assessment practices.
Four half-days are devoted to training in topics important district-wide. Another four half-days are dedicated to sessions determined by administrators and staff at each school based on the findings of their Strategic School Plans. One of the District half-days was devoted to sharing instructional expectations, materials and techniques to increase student achievement in a variety of grade levels and content areas.
Training also takes place immediately prior to the start of the school year through the New Britain Professional Development Institute. Thirty-two separate sessions are conducted during the summer institute. The magnet school program and schools participating in the Partners for Learning in Urban Schools (PLUS) grants conduct school-specific training and during the last week of June. Administrators are provided sessions in teacher supervision and evaluation as well as sessions focused on effective planning and decision making. The Professional Development Program offers over 6,000 hours of training to all levels of staff.
The Fine Arts program provides extensive opportunities for all students, from initial exposure and exploration through intensive performance training, in a variety of the arts. Ongoing "Arts in Education" programs includes special programs for 4th and 7th graders at the New Britain Museum of American Art, the "Fidelio" programs for interdisciplinary art and music in grade 4, the Lions Club sponsored "Safari" program to the New Britain Library and Youth Museum for grade 3, a percussion workshop for middle and high school students sponsored by the New Britain Symphony and plays at CCSU for high school students. In the visual arts, students participate in the "Holiday Card" program for Channel 30, the Webster Bank Citywide Art Contest, The Herald Design an Ad Contest, the Bicycle Safety Contest for the New Britain Police Department, the Scholastic Art Contest, and the Sixth Congressional District Art Contest. Working with Farmington and Plainville schools, many students and staff participated in projects and events during the summer and the school year sponsored by the Interdistrict Multicultural Arts grant awarded by the State Department of Education.
Student performing groups are visible and active in the community throughout the year. Groups from every school visit the Salvation Army "Holiday Castle" in December in addition to visiting local convalescent homes, nursery schools and hospitals. Holiday concerts, special programs and spring concerts are presented at all schools. At New Britain High School, the Concert Choir presents both a Winter and Spring concert. The NBHS Madrigals present their annual "Madrigal Feast" in December, as well as appearing on TV, radio and in performances throughout the State. The Show Choir is featured in "On Stage" in April along with the Stage Band. These groups are invited to participate in public events throughout the spring. The Madrigals, Show Choir and Women's Chorus win awards at national competitions. The NBHS Golden Hurricane Marching Band was a highlight of the fall football games. They are in high demand to appear in parades throughout the state. Student artists are featured in exhibits at City Hall, the Webster Bank/New Britain Museum of American Art, and the Rogers Gallery at the YWCA. A very special event is the art exchange with our sister city of Atsugi, Japan.
Identification of gifted and talented students occurs through a screening and application process based on multiple criteria designed to give students every opportunity to qualify for the program. Students may be referred for identification by school staff or parents at any grade level. The most traditional time for referral is at the end of the grade 3 year. Grades, teacher evaluation, test scores and a writing sample are used as basic criteria to screen students for eligibility for the gifted program. Additional information and criteria is applied when necessary to assist in the application process. Acceptance into the talented program for high school is based on teacher or artist recommendation, portfolio assessment, or an audition.
Students are eligible to be identified for the Gifted and Talented Program from grades K-5, but programs for the gifted is not start until grade 4. The elementary programs for grades 4 and 5 is held after school one day per week in each building. Middle school students are serviced one day per week at New Britain High School by specially trained teachers of the gifted. The high school program is an independent study model under the guidance of a gifted department staff member. The talented program begins in high school for students identified with exceptional talent or promise in music, art, dance or drama. Performing groups generated from the talented program are the Jazz Band, the Gospel Choir and Latin Dancers.
An extensive number of extracurricular activities are offered in the District. These encompassed before and after school programs, as well as some activities on Saturdays and during vacation periods.
Two elementary schools are sites for the YWCA's Fore'n'Aft childcare program. There are many enrichment and remediation activities after school funded through state grants, parent groups and school funds. Over 3,200 elementary students participate in one or more activities. Sixty-seven agencies provided activities and 57 volunteers help provide programming. The New Britain Art League, YMCA, the New Britain General Hospital and others provided special programs.
The middle schools offer an array of enrichment opportunities such as yearbook and school newspaper. Some offer a drama club and community service. The New Britain Parks and Recreation Department provides "Exercise the Right Choice" at all three middle schools. Peer mediation, STRIVE, homework clubs, the Connecticut Pre-Engineering Program, student councils, ski clubs and music performance groups are other after school activities. The middle school have intramural sports for boys and girls.
Junior Achievement programs were presented at all the middle schools and many of the elementary schools. The Boy Scouts' "Learning for Life" program was a success at Chamberlain, Jefferson and Smalley.
The Attendance Officer position has been in place for over three years. Two Attendance Offices serve Districtwide under the supervision of the Assistant Superintendent of Business and Operations and in collaboration with the Department of Pupil Services.
The District is in its seventh year of implementing a program to comply with Public Acts 90-240 and 91-303 which address truancy. The attendance improvement initiative is directed toward the community, schools and families. Every year, all families will students registered within the District receive a copy of the Attendance Policy (English or Spanish) which was most recently approved by the Board of Education in March 1994.
The District's Attendance Review Committee is composed of representatives of the local counseling agencies, the YMCA, YWCA, DCF, the Youth Services Bureau, Boys' and Girls' Club of New Britain, the Police Athletic League, the State Department of Social Services, the Visiting Nurses' Association, the New Britain General Hospital Child Protection Team, the Police Department Youth Bureau, Juvenile Court, and the Attendance Officer who coordinates the committee. This committee meets bimonthly with families to address their needs and develop strategies for improved attendance. During this past year, the committee met with families of elementary and middle school truant students. As a result, ninety-five percent of the elementary and middle school truant students who were reviewed and assisted by this committee demonstrated a marked improvement in their attendance. This data clearly attests to the value and importance of an early intervention approach to truancy and to the problem solving efforts of the community-school-family based approach.
Throughout the year, the Attendance Officers continue participation on the truancy task force of the Connecticut Safe Schools and Communities Coalition, as recognized in the final report of the Comprehensive Service Plan for Children of Families with Service Needs. The work was instrumental in shaping legislation on truancy. New legislation is proposed to strengthen outreach and services for community-based interventions on truancy.
In its third year is a summer mentoring program for youth at risk entering grades 6 and 9. Twenty-one students are serviced. By establishing a strong personal bond, positive role model and interest-based educational experience, a value for school and raised self-esteem are established, ultimately increasing school attendance.
The Early Intervention Program (EIP) assists students who have problems with learning or with classroom behavior. Every school has an Early Intervention Team which has been trained to work with classroom teachers. A classroom teacher and a team member work together to design strategies to help the student overcome learning problems in the regular classroom. These interventions are usually implemented by the classroom teacher. The EIP team member then works with the teacher and assists in measuring the student's progress.
The program results in a significant reduction in the number of students placed in special education programs. After Thirteen years of EIP, the special education rate of placements has fallen from ninety percent of all referrals made in 1985-86 to 6.4 percent of all referrals made. The national placement rate for special education is approximately eighty percent of all referrals made. Most students' needs were met by support services in the regular classroom.
This was the second year of a new pilot project within EIP. The position of EIP Resource Teacher was developed and funded by Title I. Throughout the year, the Resource Teacher worked with EIP building teams at Holmes and Vance to shift more of the ownership of the program from special education to regular education staff. As part of this project, the EIP teacher develops a cooperative EIP training program with CCSU counseling graduate students. The graduate students provide the EIP interventions directly to referred students in the regular education classrooms. The data indicates effectiveness with student accomplishment of the pre-selected academic objectives in almost every case. Classroom teachers are also pleased with the tutorial assistance received from the trained graduate student tutors.
Priority Schools Funded Programs
New Britain qualifies for a $1,542,437 Priority Schools grant. In part, the Priority Schools grant is based on the District's high proportion of needy children. Stipulations guiding the grant directs that Priority funds be used for all-day kindergarten, parent involvement, dropout prevention, after school programs and early literacy programs. New Britain submits plans for the following approved programs:
 | Parent Volunteer Organizations |
| Strategic School Plans |
| Early Childhood Home Outreach Program (ECHO) |
| Extended Day Kindergarten |
| Kindergarten Early Literacy (KEL) |
| Classroom trained in early literacy techniques such as the First Steps program |
| Family Resource Center |
| Dropout Prevention |
| After School Programs |
| School Readiness/Quality Enrichment |
Working in collaboration with the Mid-Connecticut Workforce Development Board, the YWCA of New Britain and the Opportunities Industrialization Center, New Britain Adult Education has the Learning Center, a comprehensive adult learning site, at 136 Main Street and at the YWCA, 22 Glen Street. Participants receive academic and vocational training at a convenient, central location in the community.
The 20/20 Plan is one of the largest school construction program in the State of Connecticut. Project work is valued at over $159 million. The program is managed by the School Building Committee. The program is designed to meet the public school building needs in the City of New Britain well into the next decade. Project work has been broken down into three phases:
