October 4, 2006

WASHINGTON – Connecticut schools will receive a five-year grant of $2,976,074 from the Department of Education’s Smaller Learning Community Program (SLC), Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Joe Lieberman (D-CT) announced today.  The SLC grant supports the development of small, safe, and successful learning environments in large high schools.

“Every school should have the resources to provide each of its students with a decent education, and in turn, an opportunity to achieve future goals,” said Dodd. “This funding will help ensure that every child’s voice is heard and that individual needs are addressed, two key elements of setting students on the path to success.”

“It is our goal to give Connecticut’s youth the educational support they need to build a strong and successful future,” said Lieberman.  “A smaller learning environment not only provides students with an easier path to higher education but also creates a sense of community and connection that will have positive affects on attendance, reliability, and learning.”  

The Smaller Learning Community program was authorized in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Grants may be used for strategies such as creating schools within schools, career academies, restructuring the school day, instituting personal adult advocates, developing teacher advisory systems and other innovations designed to create a more personalized high school experience for students and improve student achievement and performance.