On May 24, 2006, United Way hosted the Bridgeport Education Summit, sponsored by Pitney Bowes, at Central High School. The information from the Summit will inform Bridgeport Public Schools' Strategic Plan. Details will follow in our monthly Enewsletter and will be posted on this website.

Speakers of the Bridgeport Education Summit from left to right: Dr. John J. Ramos, Sr., Superintendent, Bridgeport Public Schools, Alyce Walker, President & CEO, Rhema Consulting, LLC, Allyn Briggs, Vice President & General Manager, Customer Care Services and Inside Sales, Marge Hiller, Executive Director, Bridgeport Public Education Fund, Mayor John M. Fabrizi, City of Bridgeport, Robert Francis, Executive Director, RYASAP, event sponsor, Michael Critelli, President & CEO, Pitney Bowes, Adrienne Farrar Houel, President, The Warrenton Network, Inc., Chair, Operation Graduation, and Merle Berke-Schlessel, Esq., President & CEO, United Way of Eastern Fairfield County.

VISION OF EDUCATION SUMMIT: Mobilize the community to create and sustain a shared vision for educational excellence in Bridgeport and to recognize that it is the entire community’s responsibility to ensure that all students graduate “college ready.”

To achieve the vision, we must:

• Develop a community that cares about and
  supports children;
• Engage parents as partners;
• Prepare our children to be ready to learn upon school entry;
• Design schools so that they work;
• Provide a continuum of supports in best-practice programs for youth;
• Evaluate programs and hold institutions, the community, and individuals accountable.

GOALS FOR THE EDUCATION SUMMIT

• To enhance the community’s understanding of the factors necessary for all students to graduate college-ready;
• To elicit input from all sectors regarding the current condition of public education;
• To develop an understanding of quality public education as a driving force for economic development;
• To provide critical community input that will assist Superintendent Ramos in the development and implementation of the 2012 Campaign: Bridgeport Public Schools’ Strategic Plan (BPSSP);
• To guide United Way of Eastern Fairfield County’s strategic investments under Operation Graduation.
  

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Develop a Community that Cares About and
Supports Children

Every person within a community holds some stake in the lives and education of its children. All people must realize that the resources that they possess can help to educate our children. All children must understand that they do live in an environment where people really care about them and want to see them succeed in whatever education or career path they choose to take. By including the entire community, children know about the support system that is ready to help them succeed.

Engage Parents as Partners

Parents are our children’s first and most influential teachers. We need to engage parents in the lives of their children and get them involved in their educations and school communities. As a community, we must support parent involvement and provide a variety of resources to help them help their children.

Prepare Our Children to be Ready to Learn Upon School Entry

Children are born learning. Parents must understand the importance of prenatal care, at conception, and early pediatric care for their babies to ensure the wellbeing of our children. We know that children need to be exposed to a variety of stimuli through age- appropriate materials that encourage their social-emotional, physical, cognitive, and language development. In addition, high quality early care and education experiences will help children to enter kindergarten ready to learn.

Design Schools so that They Work

Schools must support learning in the 21 st century by ensuring that all children graduate “college ready.” Transitions to school from early care and education settings or home must be put into place along with transitions and curriculum adjustments from grade schools to high schools. High school curricula must align with the needs of employers and colleges to ensure that students are prepared for the next phase of their lives. School days and school years must optimize the capacity of children to achieve.

Provide a Continuum of Supports in Best-Practice Programs for Youth

In order to protect the investment that we make in the education of our youth, we need to devise a formula for a series of best practice programs that begins with birth and continues throughout their educational careers, from pre-K to college. We must evaluate our staffing models and the qualifications that our staff possesses in addition to the student-teacher ratios of our public schools. We need to create programs that foster learning in a caring environment and that promote happy and healthy children to evolve from our school systems and community.

Evaluate Programs and Hold Institutions, the Community, and Individuals Accountable

In order to find out what works and what does not, we must evaluate our efforts. We must measure how effective our programs are by establishing indicators that show progress toward goals. Evaluation is what drives change and we must use the data that we have to move toward outcomes.

Steering Committee Agencies and Businesses

United Way of Eastern Fairfield County offers a special thanks to our community partners participating in planning the Education Summit Committee. If your business or organization has played a part in this process and has inadvertently been omitted from this list, please contact us.