Last week, North Branford Public Schools (NBPS) Superintendent Scott Schoonmaker and Director of Curriculum and Instruction Tracy Wootton received notification of a School Improvement Grant (SIG) award which will provide $550,000 in 2018-19, and, based on availability and grant application compliance, could provide a total of $1.5 million in grant monies to NBPS over the next three years (through 2020-21). 

The grant will be used at North Branford Intermediate School (NBIS). The North Branford SIG plan request includes funding for two instructional coaches for NBIS (one literacy coach and numeracy coach), certified reading specialist services, before and after school tutoring, research-based intervention programs, technology, professional learning resources for administrators and teachers, and numerous other professional services.

The School Improvement Grant (SIG) grant award includes a one-time award for pre-implementation activities, and three full years of implementation of the evidence-based supports. The North Branford SIG award for the 2018-2019 school year is approximately $550,000 ($147,702 for pre-implementation and $401,934 for Implementation Year 1). The entire award for the grant period, which closes with the 2020-2021 school year, is approximately $1.5 million pending availability and compliance with the grant application.

In July 2018, NBPS Superintendent's Office and the Office of Curriculum and Instruction, on behalf of NBIS, submitted a SIG application and plan. Connecticut Title I schools designated as Turnaround and Focus schools through the 2015-16 Next Generation Accountability System results were eligible to participate in the highly competitive SIG competition.

The application required eligible school districts to compete for funds through submission of well-developed applications and transformative plans that included the district's strategy and structure to support school turnaround efforts at the district level; results of school-based needs assessments that included input from multiple stakeholder groups; a comprehensive and bold school improvement plan that articulated strategies in the areas of talent, academics, culture and climate, and operations, that have the potential to advance school performance and dramatically improve student achievement, and a comprehensive budget request sufficient in size and scope to support full and effective implementation of the selected evidence-based supports for a period of no less than three years.

The SIG Plan targets five areas including: an intensive focus on designing and implementing a rigorous, aligned, and engaging academic program and improving classroom instruction through ongoing, data-driven collaboration; a concerted, systematic effort to create a shared understanding of high-quality instruction and develop a more effective educator evaluation and development system;  expansion of time and resources dedicated to instruction and tutoring in core academic subjects; further engaging parents and families as partners in the educational process; and confining reliance on outside expert consultants to build teacher capacity and jump-starting changes that instructional leaders and teachers can sustain.