of professional learning community time for high school teachers is a rare but critical component to success.“That time is also an investment, so you have to carve it out of your instructional day to allow these teachers to meet and collaborate, to build excitement and bring opportunity to the pathways that they’ll be teaching in,” she stresses. “It’s been a very across the board collaborative process with our unions, with our city folks, and then with private organizations that are excited to fund this very different type of idea. When we get going here, we will be the first wall to wall Academy in the Northeast.” Looking ahead, the focus will continue to be on growth and development of the academies. Dr. Casimiro discloses, “Our current class is in their sophomore year, so we’re rapidly developing curriculum with industry partners to make sure that when the students come up to the next grade level, we have the curriculum that’s going to prepare them for success.” Beyond this, attention will be on growing industry partnerships and spreading the word about the program. She concludes, “This is a community investment. It does help to build the workforce. It helps the local economy, but also the state of Connecticut in general.” “We know that we’re providing students with upward mobility, not just for themselves, but for their families.” 396 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 05, ISSUE 10
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