The curriculum of community collaboration

(Above) Marisha Watts ’20 meets with her kindergarten class at Community First School in Hartford.

CCSU partners with Community First to open independent school in Hartford

By Leslie Virostek

How do you build a school from the ground up? How do you develop a curriculum from scratch? CCSU faculty from across the university and select students are not only pondering those questions in class but they are participating in the process, thanks to a partnership with Community First School, a new independent school in Hartford’s federally designated Promise Zone.

Dr. Kimberly Kostelis, dean of the School of Education and Professional Studies (SEPS), and Carol Ciotto, interim assistant dean for Accreditation and Partnerships, have been working with the Community First Advisory Group and Executive Director Tim Goodwin since the spring of 2019 to create a whole-family care, relationship- and place-based program for kindergarten and elementary school students.

On Aug. 31, the school opened for its inaugural year, welcoming its first class of 11 kindergartners. This smaller-than-anticipated cohort — one that allows for social distancing in the classroom — was a pandemic-related change of plans. But the new school’s innovative curriculum is surging full-steamahead, as is its ongoing partnership with CCSU. The school’s mission calls for building up curriculum each year to eventually serve students through Grade 8.

The kindergarteners’ teacher, Marisha Watts, is a 2020 CCSU graduate. For a brand-new teacher to start at a brand-new school might seem daunting to some, but Watts says taking the job was one of the best decisions she’s ever made. From the start, she felt that the school’s educational approach and embrace of both families and community resonated with her. She also felt that her education at CCSU — which prompted deep reflection on her teaching philosophy and illuminated the importance of relationship-building — prepared her well.

“While school prepares you for the next test, it also grants you the courage to face your fears,” she says.

A rotating group of “SEPS Scholars,” CCSU undergraduate students who are training to be educators in art, music, physical education, and dance, have joined Watts at Community First School and will begin teaching their specialties as part of the kindergartners’ weekly schedule. Two other SEPS Scholars in the field of elementary education also will lend a hand for general classroom activities.

Kostelis says the relationship with Community First provides unique opportunities to CCSU faculty and students.

“To be able to develop a curriculum, then see it come to life, and have our students be a part of delivering the curriculum they helped to create alongside our faculty — we don’t have that on a regular basis,” she says. “It’s not every year that schools are being started from the ground up.”

Kostelis hopes that eventually Community First can become a lab school for the university, with a deeper level of partnership enabling the involvement of more CCSU undergraduates. Goodwin says Community First is clearly benefiting from “the amazing resources” of CCSU and the fact that its curriculum “will be backed by one of the leading universities in the state when it comes to teacher education.”

But he notes the benefits go both ways. CCSU’s faculty have gained unique insights by tapping the knowledge of community elders, faith leaders, and parents who have participated in the development of the school and its mission.

The university also plans to begin sponsoring professional development sessions for Community First’s educators, parents, and community members on both campuses. Building deeper connections with local businesses and organizations is another ongoing pursuit.

More important, the partnership will impact the education of future teachers.

“We are going to do a lot in terms of helping students to see a new way — or an improved way — of working with students in urban environments,” says Goodwin.

Ciotto adds, “We are showing CCSU students that to truly impact the life of a student they are going to teach, and to help that student grow as best they can, they must strive to become an integral part of the community — that’s what’s really going to nurture a child’s educational achievement and success.”

To learn more about how you can support the CCSU SEPS Scholars program, visit www.ccsu.edu/SEPSScholars. To mail a gift, please use the enclosed envelope and make a note on your check that you are contributing to the SEPS Scholars program.

The Community First School mission

“By partnering with community groups and implementing a whole-family care, relationship-based, and place-based program, Community First School will empower children in Hartford’s Promise Zone neighborhoods to own their greatness, and become passionate, independent learners able to compete, collaborate, and innovate in a diverse world.”

The approach

CFS will combine a place-based philosophy with essential social and emotional supports and a strong community partnership initiative to deliver an experiential academic program with the highest expectations, honoring the value of each child and family, and incorporating community supported human services.

Student and family support services include field experiences, visual and performing arts, health and nutrition, financial planning, computer science, and other areas to ensure children have opportunities to build academic skill in preparation for high school and beyond, and families have the necessary supports to empower their lives and advocate for themselves and their children.